SSP Daily Digest: 4/3

NY-20: Jim Tedisco has moved into a 12-vote lead as the counties continue to engage in recanvassing of the lever-pull machines, which will continue next week. (Paper ballots are impounded at least until the scheduled court hearing on the 6th.)

In other news, Tedisco stepped down from his role as minority leader in the Assembly today. (That shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a sign of confidence in winning the election; he was facing a no-confidence vote from his caucus.)

SD-Sen: The 2010 South Dakota senate race isn’t looking very fruitful for Dems, even in the unlikely event we run a top-tier recruit. (If Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin goes for a promotion, at this point she seems more interested in governor.) R2K polls SD for Daily Kos and finds that John Thune runs ahead of both ex-Sen. Tom Daschle, 53-40, and Herseth Sandlin, 51-39. All three have pretty good favorables; South Dakotans just seem to prefer to keep Thune where he is.

CT-Sen: In the wake of yesterday’s terrible poll, a primary challenger to Chris Dodd has already popped out of the woodwork. Roger Pearson, the former First Selectman of Greenwich, has formed an exploratory committee. He seems little-known outside (or even inside) of Greenwich, but we’ll have to see if he can catch an anti-Dodd wave.

AL-Gov: Looks like the Democratic primary for Governor is about to get pretty crowded; state Sen. Roger Bedford is now openly mulling a run, and the inside chatter appears that the controversial but powerful northern Alabama legislator is pretty serious about a bid.

Meanwhile, ArturD2 is kvetching like a five year-old over the probable entry of Ag Comm’r Ron Sparks into the race. (J)

NH-Sen: Despite entreaties from the NRSC, Judd Gregg says he won’t seek re-election. Apparently, he wants to devote all his time to supporting the president’s agenda in the Senate. (D)

CO-Sen: Appointed senator Michael Bennet pulled in startling fundraising numbers for the 1st quarter, raising $1.37 million. Bennet is facing a paltry field of GOPers so far (with ex-Rep. Bob Beauprez their best bet), so this may actually serve more to cause former state house speaker Andrew Romanoff to think twice about a primary challenge.

AK-Sen: With charges dropped against Ted Stevens, Alaska GOP chair Rudy Reudrich wants a do-over on last year’s election. Gov. Sarah Palin also endorsed the idea, despite her taking an anti-Stevens stand in the closing weeks of the election. However, Rep. Don Young doesn’t support the idea, saying Mark Begich “will be in the Senate and will do a good job.” (In fact, Young has a totally different idea: Stevens should run for governor in 2010 against Palin.) Stevens’ friends in the Senate also seemed resigned to the election being over.

RI-Gov: Ex-Sen. Lincoln Chafee seemed to back off a bit from previous statements that he will be running for governor as an independent, saying that he will decide by May whether or not to run, once his current position (teaching at Brown) ends.

Votes: Yesterday was the big vote in the House on the Obama budget. After a lot of public vacillation, even Joe Cao voted no, joining every other Republican. 20 Democrats voted no; it’s a who’s who of who’s vulnerable (with a few entrenched Blue Dogs joining them): Barrow, Boren, Bright, Childers, Donnelly, Foster, Griffith, Kosmas, Kratovil, Kucinich, Markey, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, Minnick, Mitchell, Nye, Perriello, Taylor, and Teague. The only ‘nay’ votes in districts won by Obama were John Barrow (who’s actually been fairly cooperative so far this session), Bill Foster (usually a good guy, but a deficit hawk), and Dennis Kucinich (who assumedly voted against the budget from the left for not containing enough magic ponies). In the Senate, a few hours later, Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson were the only defections.

NASA: Here’s a guy we’re glad to see land on his feet: Nick Lampson, who used to represent NASA’s Houston-area facilities in TX-22, is now on the short list of potential NASA Administrators. Even Pete Olson, the guy who defeated Lampson, is advocating for Lampson.

80 thoughts on “SSP Daily Digest: 4/3”

  1. but did you guys hear that apparently Blago tried to extort Rahm as a congressman?

    Extort Rahmbo?  Doesn’t he know who he’s messing with?

    btw, in case you haven’t read it everywhere else yet, the Iowa Supreme Court dropped a unanimous ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.  Unlike California, the proposition process is much more difficult and must be passed in two consecutive sessions by the legislature (in which key members are saying it won’t happen).  So this one looks safe for a long while.  Imagine that…Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and probably Vermont soon.  I’m hearing New Hampshire isn’t that far back either.

  2. What a pleasant surprise this is.

    http://www.desmoinesregister.c

    Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman

    The Iowa Supreme Court this morning upheld a Polk County judge’s 2007 ruling that marriage should not be limited to one man and one woman.

    The ruling, viewed nationally and at home as a victory for the gay rights movement and a setback for social conservatives, means Iowa’s 5,800 gay couples can legally marry in Iowa beginning April 24.

    There are no residency rules for marriage in Iowa, so the rule would apply to any couple who wanted to travel to Iowa.

  3. I guess I don’t find it too surprising that Olsen supports Lampson for NASA.  Olsen is a lightweight and needs NASA funding for his district or else his constituents might get mad at him.  So, of course, he’d be happy to have Lampson work hard and use his influence to help his district.  Somehow that doesn’t seem right and part of me would be happy to see the residents of TX-22 suffer for their decision, even though I know it’s not right.

  4. It seems patently ridiculous to me and I think I’d say the same if the boot was on the other foot.  

  5. we might have actually gotten a Democrat if either he or Susan Parker ran for that seat instead of the down the line Repub-voting Parker Griffith.

  6. Politics1 says he’s an “attorney and tennis sports agent”, but doesn’t list his political experience.  Same person, I’d assume?

  7. According to http://www.thealbanyproject.com, Murphy has just picked up 33 votes to regain the lead by 15!  Delaware County (carried by Tedisco) completed counting their absentees, and Murphy picked up a net of 20.  Murphy also gained 13 in Dutchess County where they are still counting.

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