SSP Daily Digest: 6/2

UT-Sen: Democrats nailed down a candidate in dark-red Utah, not a likely place for a pickup but somewhere we want to be standing by to clean up in case the Republican primary turns into an insane bloodbath: Sam Granato, the head of the state Liquor Control Board.

Speaking of which, a third challenger just got into the GOP primary against long-time incumbent Bob Bennett: businesswoman and activist Cherilyn Eagar, who’s never run for office before but seems connected to some of the fringier members of Utah’s legislature, such as state Senator Margaret Dayton, who praised Eagar in that: “She’s a very impressive woman in her looks, intelligence and presentation.” Eagar’s rationale is that, in her words, “Utah’s conservative principles are no longer being represented in the U.S. Senate and no conservative has entered this race,” which seems bizarre considering that AG Mark Shurtleff and former Utah County GOP chair Tim Bridgewater are already challenging the very conservative Bennett from the right. Eagar also offered up this very strange mix of literary allusions: “Gulliver has been tied down by socialist gnomes for many years, but he’s starting to wake up.”

AZ-Gov: Arizona’s AG Terry Goddard is probably the Dems’ best chance to take back this seat, which just went to Republican ex-SoS Jan Brewer when Janet Napolitano vacated it (Brewer has not announced whether she’ll run for a full term). He recently stated that he “intends” to run for governor. (Arizona Republicans then tried to invoke Arizona’s resign-to-run law, which would require him to give up his AG job to become a governor’s candidate; so this weekend Goddard issued a lengthy explanation of why “intent” doesn’t make him a candidate.)

NM-Gov: Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has been considered Bill Richardson’s heir apparent in 2010, but it seems like she may not get a free ride on the way to the nomination. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, according to his Facebook page, has formed an exploratory committee. Denish has a $1.7 million headstart on fundraising, though.

MD-04: Rep. Donna Edwards, who won a surprise primary in 2008 against out-of-touch incumbent Al Wynn, but is facing some within-the-district misgivings from local Jewish leaders (apparently up to 15% of the active electorate in her district is Jewish). This turns mostly on her decision to vote ‘present’ on January’s resolution recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself and condemning Hamas. State Delegate Herman Taylor has been gauging support within the Jewish community for a primary challenge to Edwards. While this wouldn’t seem to be a dominant issue in this African-American-majority district, two successful primary challenges from the right in 2002 (Artur Davis over Earl Hilliard in AL-07 and Denise Majette over Cynthia McKinney in GA-04) focused largely on Israel policy.

MD-06: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, who turns 83 tomorrow, is often the source of open seat speculation. However, today he announced that he’ll be back for another term in his R+13 district in Maryland’s rural west.

SC-04: As an occasionally sane Republican (who voted for the bailout and against the Surge) in an R+15 district that’s an evangelical hotbed, Rep. Bob Inglis seems vulnerable this year, as the revved-up base seems less and less tolerant of apostasy. State Sen. David Thomas announced he’s seriously thinking of challenging Inglis and will make his announcement within days; Solicitor (equivalent to DA) Trey Gowdy also just announced that he’s entering the race. They’ll join an already crowded field including businessmen Andrew Smart and Jim Lee and professor Christina Jeffrey. While Inglis looks poised to win against this fractured field, if he does it with less than 50%, he’s facing a one-on-one runoff.

Gay marriage: The New York Senate is the only remaining obstacle to gay marriage in New York, and now state Senator Thomas Duane, prime mover of the legislation, says he now has the votes to get it passed (without naming names). Meanwhile, it’s not full marriage, but Nevada is poised to adopt domestic partnership. Over the weekend, both chambers of the legislature just overrode Governor Jim Gibbons’ veto of previously passed domestic partnership legislation (there was doubt whether it could clear the Assembly, where it passed by a bare 28-14 margin).

Meta: Wow, that year went fast: it’s my one-year blogiversary on SSP’s front page. Thanks to David and James for taking an interest in my writing, and to all the readers and commenters as well.

MD-04: Wynn Will Resign, Endorses Edwards

Incumbent Rep. Al Wynn, defeated by netroots heroine Donna Edwards in the February Democratic primary, will resign his seat in June:

Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.), who lost the Democratic primary to challenger Donna Edwards, is leaving the House in June to join a law firm, according to Democratic aides. Wynn will be making an official announcement today.

In a gesture of solidarity with Edwards, Wynn magnanimously endorsed his former opponent for a full term, and hoped that his early departure would allow Edwards to build up her seniority in the House:

Wynn claimed that his departure will allow Edwards, who was heavily favored in the November general election, to win a special election to fill his seat and thus go before voters on Election Day as an incumbent. […]

“My leaving early will also allow our Democratic nominee Donna Edwards the opportunity to successfully navigate a special election and be sworn in this summer. This will not only give her seniority in the incoming congressional class of ’09, but more importantly, will allow her to get off to a fast start in serving the citizens of our community. I offer her my best wishes and stand ready to assist in any way possible.”

It’s unclear if or when Gov. Martin O’Malley will call a special election, but we’ll keep you posted.

Next Democrat to retire?

The markers that identify a likely retirement are a bit hazy and sometimes they move quickly.  A likely retiree may be a bit up in years, in bad health, not fund raising, facing a difficult race, facing opposition within his own party.  He or she may even be facing legal troubles. Among the likely contenders are Bill Jefferson, Vic Snyder, Leonard Boswell.  Age and seniority alone might make John Dingell a possibility but I think that he will have to die in office or be seriously disabled.

Jefferson comes from a safe district but he has been indicted and has just $29,000 cash on hand.  Considering his possible legal bills that is frightening (see Don Young for instruction).  It is likely that post Katrina, the Republicans will try to conbine Jefferson’s LA-2 and Melancon’s LA-3.  This could be the time for an ambitious and less tarnished NOLA pol to push Jefferson out.

Boswell is sitting pretty with over $700,000 cash on hand.  Still, he’s 67 and has experienced bad health.  I saw a tape of him in 2006 and he looked grandfatherly and sluggish.  Boswell is facing energetic progressive legislator Ed Fallon in a primary.  Fallon carried the Des Moines based district when he ran for Governor.  Unlike in 2006, Boswell is not facing a top tier Republican challenger like Jeff Lamberti.

Vic Snyder pulled a miracle, again.  For the third straight quarter, Snyder has failed to raise even a nickel.  Zip, zero, nada.  He’s got a comfortable seat representing Little Rock.  Snyder can self fund a bit.  The man is both a physician and a lawyer.  He has no opponent and got nearly 60% of the vote vs. Andy Mayberry in 2006.  

Al Wynn is being out fund raised by Donna Edwards.  He certainly has friends in the telecom business.  I figure Wynn to go down fighting but Maryland’s primary is on February 12.  One spin of the dice and the precarious Mr. Wynn could be retired within the week.

Dennis Kucinich is being out raised, too.  He’s got several opponents and Cimperman is well funded and feisty.  Dennis is facing a March 3 primary.  Retire into the sunset like Tancredo or Duncan Hunter?  Nah.  Be defeated?  Possible.

Yvette Clark is young, a freshman.  Still she doesn’t have a ton of cash and suffered from bad health earlier in the session.  The seat was highly competitive when open, but just among Democrats.  Clark is a maverick who was early pushing impeachment.  New York’s primary is not until September.

MD-04: More & Better Democrats, Donna Edwards Edition

One of the first candidates of the 2008 cycle that we added to the Blue Majority ActBlue list was Donna Edwards. By now, I’m sure many Swing State Project readers are intimately familiar with this race. Maryland’s 4th CD is a whopping D+30. By way of contrast, there isn’t a single red district that’s this Republican (UT-03 is R+26), so you know this is extremely solid blue ground.

And it should, therefore, be home to a loyal team player, a progressive leader who has the luxury of taking bold stands which also happen to be perfectly in tune with his or her constituents. After all, you don’t vote 78% for John Kerry and hope you wind up with a Lieberdem representing you.

But sadly, that just about describes Al Wynn. If you looked at his voting record alone and were feeling extremely charitable, you might imagine he sits in a precarious seat. Of course, it’s not even close – but take a look at a few of the gems he’s managed to rack up on his resume:

Needless to say, MD-04 deserves a lot better. And that’s why Blue Majority – along with a wide array of other blogs and coalitions – is supporting Donna Edwards. Edwards, you may recall, pummelled Wynn within an inch of his political life last year – as a mostly unknown, surprise challenger, she came within just 3.5% of victory.

Next year, Edwards – a bonafide movement progressive – has the chance to finish the job. Wynn, who somnambulated through his last election, has sensed the threat and called in some big establishment guns to raise mega-bucks for him this weekend. The netroots are pushing back, with the goal of raising $100,000 for Edwards by Sunday.

Many hands, as they say, make light work, and I think, on the strength of this broad blogosphere-wide push, we can hit this goal. Donations of any size help, and with the primary still ten months away, small donor list-building is still a valuable exercise, especially for an insurgent candidate like Edwards. So if you can pitch in, please do so!

And, as always, if you’re able to give, please let us know about it in comments.