Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?

Welcome to the Weekly Open Thread, Holiday Edition. Things are getting awfully quiet on the non-presidential horserace front, but I suspect that once the holidays are over and we’ve got our nominee figured out, things will heat up considerably.

In the meantime, for those of you with time off, I hope you all enjoy yourselves! Happy holidays!

20 thoughts on “Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?”

  1. Personally I am most interested in the following races:

    MD-04 I want to see Donna Edwards take out Al Wynn.

    IL-03 Another chance to take out a Horrible Democrat.

    MN-Sen I really want to see Franken take back Wellstone’s seat.

    IL-14 Taking Hastert’s seat would be so sweet.

    What about everyone else?

  2. he’s been attacking bush’s foriegn policy and now rice’s involved.  on the one hand it’s crazy to attack a sitting president of the party you’re trying to get the nomination, regardless of how unpopular he is.  but, he knows people are going to want a new type of foriegn policy, so maybe he’s trying to appeal to the ind voters.  if that’s the case, he’s pretty cocky to think the nom is all sewn up.

  3. House

    AK-AL

    UT-02

    ID-01

    WY-AL

    AZ-01

    AZ-05

    AZ-08

    NM-01

    NM-02

    NM-03

    TX-22

    TX-23

    NE-03

    KS-02

    IN-08

    IN-09

    OH-02

    OH-05

    OH-15

    OH-16

    GA-08

    GA-12

    FL-09

    FL-10

    FL-13

    FL-16

    FL-21

    FL-22

    FL-25

    VA-01

    MA-05

    Sorry, I still haven’t learned my California, Pennsylvania, Texas, or New York races.

    Senate:

    AK

    ID

    OK

    KY

    MS

  4. Two college professors, friends named Jim Burkee and Jeff Walz are running for Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional seat.

    One’s a Democrat and the other a Republican.

    Both want the 30 year incumbent to be defeated.

    What makes this race unique is two aspects.

    They run ads together, suing both their names and one issue.

     The old guard in Washington has to go.

    The other aspect, and this is a first for American politics.

    Burkee and Walz applied to the FEC to COMBINE their campaign funds.

     In Advisory Opinion 2007-24, the FEC unanimously concluded that Democratic candidate Jim Burkee and Republican candidate Jeff Walz may jointly raise and spend funds for their campaigns in Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional district, as long as they adhere to existing FEC rules for cost allocation and joint fundraising.

    I suspect this will get media attention, for it’s funding combo alone.

    It will also highlight Sensenbrenner’s own antics when he Chaired the House Judiciary..and his top ranking of lobby trip taking and gift acceptance.

    Check it out…

    http://www.burkeeandwalz.com/exp/

    The site has news reports about the two.

  5. a typo in my first post on WI- 5th

    They run ads together, suing both their names and one issue.

    CORRECTION:

    They run ads together, USING both their names and one issue.

  6. First and foremost, I’m watching Andrew Horne prepare to go head to head with McConnell.  Who knows if anyone can beat Mitch, but I think Horne has as good a shot as any.

    I’m also watching Al Franken in MN.  I think he’s got a lot of punch and I hope the people of MN put him on the ticket.

    And I hadn’t yet looked at any House races until the mention above about the WI-05 seat.  Hell I’d support the opposing Republican in that primary.

  7. The most important race for me in 2008 (besides the Presidential) is the Senate race in Kentucky.  Mitch McConnell has to go, and Andrew Horne is the guy to take him down!!

    1. It would be a very good thing to draw down Barletta’s ability to raise money and discourage him from seeking higher office. I think he’s a dangerous demagogue and folks around here – I live in central Pennsylvania – are all too capable of lifting him into the first Pennsylvania Senate seat that comes open.  

  8. This one hasn’t gotten much attention so far, but it deserves plenty.  In Kentucky, former Marine Lt. Col. Andrew Horne is running for the Democratic nomination to take on Mitch McConnell.  Horne is by far the best candidate, not only does he have the credibility to challenge McConnell on security issues, he is also fantastic on a host of other issues such as health care.

    A lot is going to have to happen with raising money, but Horne has what it takes to beat McConnell, and this is a race to watch.

  9. PA-08. This really ought to be a Republican target, but I’m waiting with baited breath for the Republicans to find a candidate. Mike Fitzpatrick seems not to want a renomination (it’s been open for him to take, but he hasn’t stepped up and taken it), and I hear that prospective Tom Manion canceled a press conference a few weeks ago. Some of the local Republican state legislators have garnered speculation, but they’ve been frozen out so far because Mike Fitzpatrick can’t make up his mind; and at this point, I don’t know who’d want to engage Murphy’s warchest.

    IL-14. Anyone seen a recent poll on the Foster-Laesch primary here?

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