Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing holiday season. I’m feeling rested and refreshed, so let’s take a look at some of the recent developments in down-ballot races across the country.
- NY-19: Strike three! After uber-wealthy self-funding Republican Andrew Saul pulled the plug on his congressional campaign against freshman Rep. John Hall after some shady ethics violations came to the fore, some Republicans hoped that former state assemblyman Howard Mills would be an adequate replacement. Too bad he said no in late November. The next great hope for the NRCC, assemblyman Greg Ball, announced yesterday that he won’t run, either. This leaves the GOP’s ball in the hands of Iraq war vet and wingnut Kieran Lalor. Will the Republicans really end up without a top flight challenger in a district that they held for 14 straight years before Hall’s win?
Perhaps now is a good time to revisit Ball’s sage words from November, when the GOP line on the NY-19 ballot was his for the taking:
Ball is concerned about the electoral outlook for the GOP in the 2008 election cycle.
“George Bush has not only hurt the Republican Party, he’s left the nation without leadership,” the Republican state lawmaker said. “It’s going to be a tough year to run as a Republican at the national level.”
- IN-02: Speaking of the GOP’s bare shelf, a whole year has passed and Indiana Republicans are still lacking a challenger to frosh Rep. Joe Donnelly. Has NRCC Chair Tom Cole really gone through his entire Rolodex of ethically-challenged Republican millionaires who live in this R+4.3 district? (H/T: Blue Indiana)
- Kentucky: The Lexington Herald-Leader’s blog has a thorough run-down of all the upcoming down-ballot special elections in the weeks and months ahead in Kentucky. The first two happen next week.
- NM-Sen: New Mexico’s very own Dr. Doolittle, political gossip blogger Joe Monahan, has been talking to “the alligators” again, and this time they’re telling him that Steve Pearce outraised Heather Wilson in the fourth quarter by a margin of $450,000 to $350,000. Seems kinda low-ish to me, but I suppose that’s probably the end result of having the state’s GOP money divided between two of their heaviest hitters.
- NM-02: State Rep. Joe Cervantes (D) has dropped out of the race to replace Steve Pearce, leaving former Lea County Commissioner and oilman Harry Teague and Dona Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley as the only top-tier candidates left in the Dem field. Monahan thinks the news will favor Teague, a conservative Democrat, but McCamley’s fundraising has been solid and he’s been running for quite some time. It’ll be interesting to see how this one shakes out.
- MN-03: MNPublius is hearing rumors that GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad’s retirement is definite. Let’s hope that they’re true!
- IL-18: Aaron Schock, a 14-year old GOP state legislator and nuclear proliferation advocate, is doing his best to avoid any foreign policy debates with his primary opponents for the open seat of retiring Rep. Ray LaHood. I guess Schock has now fully realized that his “ideas” of selling nukes to Taiwan don’t play so well outside of his local college Republican chapter.
- IN-07: State Rep. Joe Orentlicher is the first to file for the Democratic nomination to succeed the late Rep. Julia Carson. Carson’s grandson, newly-elected Indianapolis city councilor will make his decision soon, but it’s looking like he’ll throw his hat into the ring. It’s also looking like the special election to fill the seat may be pushed back until May.
The big news so far, no Republican has filed against Chet Edwards (TX-17 R+18). It is looking like Dems may have a full state wide ticket and will get a good number of the U.S. House seats challenged. Republicans will be . . . worse off.
I liked the video of young Bill McCamley. I know nothing of the others. But I am sorry to see most of these races shaping up without a Hispanic challenger for a spot in the state’s 5-member Congressional delegation. Well, I guess NM-03 is still open.
Sometimes I yearn for the good old days of the smoke-filled rooms, 😉 , when a Democratic ticket in NY would be “balanced” with at least one candidate from upstate and one from the suburbs, with two or more from the City, for the statewide spots. Usually one would be Jewish and one would be Catholic, and they tried to get in one non-ethnic, one Irish, one Italian, one Black, one Hispanic, and nobody felt left out. That system produced some amazingly well qualified and excellent political leaders among the state’s Governors, Lt. Govs, Attorneys General, Controllers, and U.S. Senators.
I’d be scared to have him in the House.
Frackin’ excellent roundup. You ARE refreshed!
A mainstream, Reagan Republican like Lalor could only be called a “wingnut” by a drooling left winger. Have fun at your next Code Pink meeting.
Actually Aaron Schock only looks and behaves like a 14 year old. His official state bio says that he was born in 1981.
As reported by KTVU 2 two minutes ago. State Sen. Jackie Spears is likely to run.
If I’m not mistaken, NY 19 was held by the Republicans for a lot longer than 14 years. Sue Kelly held it for 12, but Republican Hamilton Fish IV also represented much of the same territory back to 1969. Due to heavy redistricting, it’s open to some debate how long that district was represented by any individual or party, but it’s fair to say that area leaned Republican for decades before Hall won last year.
where we consider “mainstream, Reagan Republicans” as wingnuts.
Look out behind you; two gay Mexican atheist abortion doctors are being married by a Muslim while burning the American flag!
he’s made some ridiculous statements before with his Eternal Vigilance Society… and to other groups too.
Lalor is to the right of Greg Ball… so… i dunno, he’s fairly deep conservative in a district who hasn’t voted like that in ever.
Pennsylvania 5 – Congressman John Peterson (R) to retire.
http://rollcall.com/