Campaign and Election News – Covering Key Races Around the Country
SSP Daily Digest: 5/11 (Morning Edition)
KY-Sen: Wendell Ford, the Democrat who held this seat before retiring Sen. Jim Bunning, endorsed AG Jack Conway. Conway is running a TV ad touting the endorsement, but no word (sigh) on the size of the buy. Meanwhile, Rand Paul is sticking both thumbs in the eye of the Kentucky GOP establishment: He says he’s not sure if he’ll support Mitch McConnell as Republican Senate leader. Given that McConnell has done everything in his power to flush Paul down the toilet, this isn’t so shocking, but it is extra-juicy.
NY-Sen-B, NY-14: The Working Families Party endorsed both Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Carolyn Maloney. NY-14 wannabe Reshma Saujani whinged about the “establishment endorsing the incumbent,” which is pretty rich, given that she herself signed a letter last summer asking Maloney not to challenge Gillibrand. Not too surprising, though, given that Saujani claimed last week she hasn’t “issue-tested or poll-tested” – even though she conducted a $50,000 focus group earlier this Spring.
MI-Gov, MI-12: Troy businessman David Kniffen’s gubernatorial signature drive fell short, so he’s decided instead to run against Rep. Sandy Levin in this D+12 district.
CA-36: Blue America PAC has thrown down a $13K independent expenditure on behalf of Marcy Winograd, who is challenging Dem Rep. Jane Harman in the primary.
FL-22: After attacking Marco Rubio for going ever-so-slightly wobbly on Arizona’s new immigration law, Allen West has now turned his fire on Jeb Bush. Even if this guy somehow wins, he’s going to have a hard time staying on anyone’s good side.
HI-01: Another one of those polls with too many significant digits: An outfit I hadn’t previously heard of, Aloha Vote (which is a subsidiary of a Mass. consulting shop called Merriman River Group), has Charles Djou at “39.5”, with Colleen Hanabusa and Ed Case at “25.5” apiece. Half of the sample had already voted, and among that group, Djou was at 45%.
IA-01: Some Dude Mike LaCoste is dropping out of the GOP primary less than a month before election day. A couple of Republicans remain in the race against Rep. Bruce Braley, but really, the GOP has wound up with stems and seeds here.
NC-08: Three Republicans who failed to make the runoff in the race to challenge Rep. Larry Kissell – Hal Jordan, Lou Huddleston, and Darrell Day – all endorsed rival Harold Johnson today, over crackpot freakazoid Tim D’Annunzio. What’s more, Johnson is in DC today and tomorrow to meet with NRCC chief Pete Sessions and other key GOP honchos. Dems just have to hope that D’Annunzio, who’s already plowed a million of his own into his campaign, keeps spending like an RNC official at a bondage club.
NY-01: A nice score for Rep. Tim Bishop: Bill Clinton is doing a $1000-a-head fundraiser for him in NYC on June 2nd.
NY-13: Though he’s repeatedly denied his interest, GOP ex-Rep. Vito Fossella – best known for a drunken driving arrest and fathering a child with a woman other than his wife – is supposedly interested in making a comeback attempt. In other words, he’s got perfect Republican values. Fossella would have to make a decision by next month, when nominating petitions must be circulated.
PA-12: Crikey – another quarter mil on paid media from the NRCC on this race. You can see the new TV ad, which hits Pelosi, here.
WI-07: It looks like Dems are quickly rallying around state Sen. Julie Lassa to fill retiring Rep. Dave Obey’s considerable shoes. Lassa has held office since 1998, first as a state representative, then as a state senator since 2003. She would not have to give up her current office to run for Obey’s seat. Meanwhile, Wausau attorney Christine Bremer says she won’t run, while state Rep. Donna Siedel sounds like she’s still considering it (albeit tepidly).
65 thoughts on “SSP Daily Digest: 5/11 (Morning Edition)”
Julie Lassa teamed up with the Republicans to bury the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act in the State Senate’s Health Committee this spring. I’m actively seeking to recruit a candidate to take her on in the Primary.
(The Committee’s 4-3 Democrats. The Chair, Jon Erpenbach was our Senate sponsor. He decided not to call an official vote he was sure to lose without Lassa’s support, after offering her the opportunity to amend the bill to her liking.)
Merriman River Group was one giving Scott Brown a 10-point lead in the MA-SEN special election about a week before the election. Maybe a Republican lean. Maybe not. I assume HI-01 is gone, at least for 6 months.
Of course he’ll support McConnell. If the Repubs make gains in the Senate this Novemebr (a certainty really) then McConnell will not be seriously challenged. Paul will of course fall into line/fold like a lawn chair/insert your own euphemisms here lol.
State Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker will not run for Obey’s seat:
Voters today are voting to fill the vacant seats in GA-09, State Senate Districts 42 and 49, and State House District 12. Republicans hold all of these but SD-42. I would be absolutely shocked to see any of these seats flip. In fact, we’re not contesting SD-49 (although there is a Libertarian running) and they’re not contesting SD-42 (although there is a Libertarian and an independent running).
Of special note is SD-42, where Jimmy Carter’s grandson is running. Either Democrat in that race sounds fine.
Anyone have any updates on Beau Biden. Heard he’s in the hospital but news outlets haven’t said why. Speculation is neurological but I don’t know of any such past history with him.
hope he helps out conway; i think conway can take out rand paul BUT i am just not sold on mongiardo; that seat will be tough for ANY democrat to win in this cycle
Two have dropped out since filing for the seat, but their names will stay on the June 8 ballot. I don’t suppose that will matter much, because Ben Lange seems headed to win the primary and lose big to Bruce Braley.
Here in Georgia, State Representative Jay Shaw (D) announced he would not seek re-election after he was named to the state transportation board. His son Jason entered the race very soon after. However, Jason Shaw is running as a Republican!
It’s not unheard of for a politican to be succeeded by a family member. See, for example, Doris Matsui and Jean Carnahan replacing their husbands or Duncan Hunter, Jr. replacing his father. But has there ever been a case before where the succeeding relative was from the other party?
Snarlin’ Arlen’s attacks are backfiring as people begin to realize Specter is out only for Specter. Franklin & Marshall College will release a poll tomorrow showing the similar results of a 5 point lead for Sestak against Specter. It is past time to retire Arlen Specter. Obama backed the wrong candidate.
I’ve lost a lot of respect for Winograd after the stunt she and her supporters pulled at our state convention a few weeks ago, staging that floor fight and acting all around like whiny sore losers. The feeling I got after talking to several Bruin Democrats who were there was that while before that, they may have been neutral or even cheering on Marcy, after that display, they were completely turned off by the spectacle.
Given the adage that one’s supporters do reflect upon the candidate, I just don’t think Winograd’s that serious of a candidate. Not to say she doesn’t have the money or the chance to win, but gawd, the sore loser smell coming from them was overpowering. The actual delegates from CA-36 voted overwhelmingly to endorse Harman over Winograd; it wasn’t even close. Harman easily got the 60% she needed for the official state party endorsement. (And the complaints I’ve seen that those delegates were hand-picked by Harman is bullshit. About 2/3s of the delegates are elected by regular ol’ Democrats living there; had Winograd tried persuading them, no way Harman gets a whopping 86% of the vote.)
So then Winograd challenges it anyway, to force the ENTIRE state delegation to vote on CA-36 (i.e., to open it up to people who know much less about the district), and she STILL lost by a wide margin, and then complained the vote was stolen from her, or that it wasn’t counted properly, and any other conspiracy designed to keep her down. The challenge reminded me of Norm Coleman suing to keep Franken out of the Senate seat, all the way to the state Supreme Court.
And yes, I expect I’ll be attacked for daring to speak ill of Winograd or her supporters.
The silver lining seems to be that if Allen West does win, he’ll be so amazingly Bill Sali-like that everyone in the district will probably hate him within two years.
Long-shot candidate Rod Roberts is up on tv in a few cities. Terry Branstad has been advertising in all the major Iowa markets for more than a month. Bob Vander Plaats hasn’t run any tv or radio ads yet that I am aware of.
The primary is on June 8, but early voting has already begun.
Julie Lassa teamed up with the Republicans to bury the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act in the State Senate’s Health Committee this spring. I’m actively seeking to recruit a candidate to take her on in the Primary.
(The Committee’s 4-3 Democrats. The Chair, Jon Erpenbach was our Senate sponsor. He decided not to call an official vote he was sure to lose without Lassa’s support, after offering her the opportunity to amend the bill to her liking.)
Merriman River Group was one giving Scott Brown a 10-point lead in the MA-SEN special election about a week before the election. Maybe a Republican lean. Maybe not. I assume HI-01 is gone, at least for 6 months.
Of course he’ll support McConnell. If the Repubs make gains in the Senate this Novemebr (a certainty really) then McConnell will not be seriously challenged. Paul will of course fall into line/fold like a lawn chair/insert your own euphemisms here lol.
State Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker will not run for Obey’s seat:
http://www.wausaudailyherald.c…
Same for State Senator Pat Kreitlow, and he’s endorsing Lassa:
http://wispolitics.com/index.I…
Voters today are voting to fill the vacant seats in GA-09, State Senate Districts 42 and 49, and State House District 12. Republicans hold all of these but SD-42. I would be absolutely shocked to see any of these seats flip. In fact, we’re not contesting SD-49 (although there is a Libertarian running) and they’re not contesting SD-42 (although there is a Libertarian and an independent running).
Of special note is SD-42, where Jimmy Carter’s grandson is running. Either Democrat in that race sounds fine.
Anyone have any updates on Beau Biden. Heard he’s in the hospital but news outlets haven’t said why. Speculation is neurological but I don’t know of any such past history with him.
hope he helps out conway; i think conway can take out rand paul BUT i am just not sold on mongiardo; that seat will be tough for ANY democrat to win in this cycle
Two have dropped out since filing for the seat, but their names will stay on the June 8 ballot. I don’t suppose that will matter much, because Ben Lange seems headed to win the primary and lose big to Bruce Braley.
Here in Georgia, State Representative Jay Shaw (D) announced he would not seek re-election after he was named to the state transportation board. His son Jason entered the race very soon after. However, Jason Shaw is running as a Republican!
It’s not unheard of for a politican to be succeeded by a family member. See, for example, Doris Matsui and Jean Carnahan replacing their husbands or Duncan Hunter, Jr. replacing his father. But has there ever been a case before where the succeeding relative was from the other party?
Snarlin’ Arlen’s attacks are backfiring as people begin to realize Specter is out only for Specter. Franklin & Marshall College will release a poll tomorrow showing the similar results of a 5 point lead for Sestak against Specter. It is past time to retire Arlen Specter. Obama backed the wrong candidate.
I’ve lost a lot of respect for Winograd after the stunt she and her supporters pulled at our state convention a few weeks ago, staging that floor fight and acting all around like whiny sore losers. The feeling I got after talking to several Bruin Democrats who were there was that while before that, they may have been neutral or even cheering on Marcy, after that display, they were completely turned off by the spectacle.
Given the adage that one’s supporters do reflect upon the candidate, I just don’t think Winograd’s that serious of a candidate. Not to say she doesn’t have the money or the chance to win, but gawd, the sore loser smell coming from them was overpowering. The actual delegates from CA-36 voted overwhelmingly to endorse Harman over Winograd; it wasn’t even close. Harman easily got the 60% she needed for the official state party endorsement. (And the complaints I’ve seen that those delegates were hand-picked by Harman is bullshit. About 2/3s of the delegates are elected by regular ol’ Democrats living there; had Winograd tried persuading them, no way Harman gets a whopping 86% of the vote.)
So then Winograd challenges it anyway, to force the ENTIRE state delegation to vote on CA-36 (i.e., to open it up to people who know much less about the district), and she STILL lost by a wide margin, and then complained the vote was stolen from her, or that it wasn’t counted properly, and any other conspiracy designed to keep her down. The challenge reminded me of Norm Coleman suing to keep Franken out of the Senate seat, all the way to the state Supreme Court.
And yes, I expect I’ll be attacked for daring to speak ill of Winograd or her supporters.
The silver lining seems to be that if Allen West does win, he’ll be so amazingly Bill Sali-like that everyone in the district will probably hate him within two years.
Long-shot candidate Rod Roberts is up on tv in a few cities. Terry Branstad has been advertising in all the major Iowa markets for more than a month. Bob Vander Plaats hasn’t run any tv or radio ads yet that I am aware of.
The primary is on June 8, but early voting has already begun.