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

  1. I heard the DCCC is targeting my district for 2010! I’m so excited. I’m a Declined to State, but John Campbell’s office never returns my emails and when I call I get rude responses from staffers.

    Does anyone know if there are any polls comparing Campbell and Beth Krom?(I doubt it).

    Anyways, go Beth go!

  2. I hate to rain on our parade. The republicans has a toehold in the NE. However, a number of effete democratic politicians are woking hard to give them a foothold.

    1. CT senator – This week Chris Cillizza listed the winners and losers during Obama’s first 100 days. Chris Dodd is basking in the glory of being the only active democratic politician among the losers. Dodd needs a kick in the pants. The question is do we do it ourselves or do we wait for the republicans to do it in the election. The louder we ask this question the better.

    2. MA governor – If William Weld decides to go back to MA and run for governor, I will not be surprised by Deval Patrick’s 25 point loss. Fortunately for Patrick, in these lean times, the governor’s job in MA is not very attractive. Weld can run as democrat or republican or independent and he probably will win by a large margin.

    3. NY governor – Everday in the governor’s mansion in Albany, David Paterson asks:

    Mirror, Mirror on the wall

    Who is the worst democratic governor of them all?

    Depending on the dew point, the phase of the moon and other important factors, the mirror shows Patrick or Corzine or Richardson. A relieved Paterson then goes back to his job of digging a bigger, better and deeper hole for himself and (hopefully not) his party.

    NY is going to lose at least 1 congressional seat in 2010. And our hold in the state senate is rather tenuous. Paterson is aware of these problems facing us. However, he seems to be unconcerned.

    4. NJ governor – I know very little about NJ and NJ politics. Besides I am not going to call a 6 ft 3 in former marine sergeant effete. I am sure Andgarden will keep us informed.

  3. for 2010 it’ll be ensuring it stays that way and then also picking off the last three R seats in New York… NY-23, NY-26 and NY-03.

    But this year it is making sure we keep our two town council seats in my town and seeing if we can pick up a few additional offices like Town Supervisor, Town Clerk and Highway Superintendent.

    There will also be a strong battle for control of the Rensselaer County Legislature this year. Should be a busy, fun, challenging and entertaining year.

  4. More so than Susan Bysiewicz.

    Who is herself more attractive than Sarah Palin.  (Take that, Sarah!)

  5. My grandmother and the matriarch of my family passed away peacefully Thursday morning 4/30 in her sleep just past midnight here in Central Florida.  She was 85 years old and amazingly battled lung cancer for more than 7 months.  She was born and raised in Louisville, KY and a graduate of the University of Lousiville.  She was a lifelong Republican of the Rockefeller sort, though towards the end of her life she voted mostly for Democrats.  Her final vote was cast for Barack Obama for President last year, which brought her much joy and peace.  She enjoyed Bridge, Slingo and board games of all sorts and was the biggest Atlanta Braves and Orlando Magic fan I know.  She will be missed greatly.

  6. Real nice.  An immigrant is beaten to death in what is obviously a hate crime and the perpetrators get convicted of simple battery by an all-white jury.  Sickening.  The more things change in this country the more they stay the same.

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/

    Two Pennsylvania teens were acquitted of murder, aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation charges Friday in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant last summer.

    However, a Schuylkill County jury found Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak guilty of simple assault stemming from the death of Luis Ramirez, who died of blunt force injuries to the head after a fight with the defendants and their friends.

    Donchak, 19, was also found guilty of providing alcohol to the group of teens that encountered Ramirez the night of July 12 on a residential street in the rural mining town of Shenandoah.

    Prosecutors alleged the teens baited the undocumented Mexican immigrant into a fight with racial epithets, provoking an exchange of punches and kicks that ended with Ramirez convulsing in the street, foaming from the mouth.

    He died two days later in a hospital in Danville.

    Piekarsky, 17, had faced a charge of third-degree murder for allegedly delivering a fatal kick to Ramirez’s head after he was knocked to the ground. He also was found not guilty of ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault and attempting to solicit a cover-up.

    An all-white jury of six men and six women heard from several prosecution witnesses, including a juvenile co-defendant and another teen who pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in the fight.

    While the jury heard conflicting accounts about who initiated the encounter or delivered the final kick to Ramirez’s head, defense lawyers attempted to place the blame on another co-defendant, who is facing charges in juvenile court, and Colin Walsh, who has pleaded guilty to violating Ramirez’s civil rights.

    The juvenile admitted on the stand to shouting “go home you Mexican [expletive]” after the first fight dispersed, prompting Ramirez to turn back and attack him.

    The juvenile’s testimony was corroborated by Walsh, who admitted to punching Ramirez and knocking him to the ground after he charged the juvenile.

    Both witnesses said Piekarsky delivered the final blow to Ramirez’s head while he was on the ground, but others testified that they couldn’t be certain who had actually kicked him.

    The incident drew national attention to the small town of Shenandoah, highlighting issues of race relations.

  7. It’s May 5 with a barn burner between the Republican and the Democrat.  Anchorage has a bit more than 40% of the state’s population and is 50/50 D/R.  One recent race was decided IIRC by 43 votes.  Both Tony Knowles and Mark Begich were Anchorage Mayors so this is our bench in the state.

    In the first round, the Republican got 43% while 3 Democrats combined for 42%.

  8. Does anyone know where I can find a list showing whether each state has closed or open primaries?  So far, all I can remember off the top of my head is that Texas has open and Pennsylvania has closed.

    Also, are closed/open primary laws/regulations ever different between different levels of races (e.g. closed presidential but open gubernatorial)?

  9. I haven’t been able to find a really good babka anywhere since the old European bakery on St Laurent in Montreal closed years ago (I also loved their poppy hammentaschen, even more amazing than the babka – but at least Cheskie Hasadic bakery up in Mile-End has managed to replace those)

  10. Got word that Entenza will be endorsed by a big name come Monday or maybe later on in the week.  They’re an elected official and I’d say must really support Entenza as this person didnt endorse anyone in the Senate race, and this is damn early to be giving out an endorsement.

    The list of people already endorsing Entenza are

    Sen. Dick Cohen

    Rep. Jeanne Poppe

    Rep. Gene Pelowski

    Rep. Bobby Joe Champion

    Rep. Carlos Mariani

    Rep. Cy Thao

    Rep. Tim Mahoney

    Rep. Sheldon Johnson

    Former Rep. Shelley Madore

    Former Rep. Connie Bernardy

    Former St. Paul City Council Member Jay Benanav

    Former St. Paul DFL Chair Stu Alger

    Former DFL Feminist Caucus Chair Mari Pokornowski

    Minneapolis School Board Member Peggy Flanagan

    And I’ll say now, this endorsement is a bit of a game changer for me, very solid progressive and one of my favorite Minnesota elected officials.

    I kind of think Entenza will get the nomination because he is steamrolling along for now as the only tier 1 official nominee in the race.  Coleman and Rybak get huge set backs for having to run in respective mayoral elections in November so they can’t formally start until after that (other inside info said they are both all but certain to enter), and I dont see much talk or action on the Dayton side.  Kelliher I doubt will run now because she is actually the only tier 1 candidate with anything to lose, a state house seat.  With both mayors probably getting in, too big a chance to lose the Speakership.  So for now, Entenza seems to be the only person actually running for Governor.

    Once the summer starts and the legislative session is over (unless there is a special session) and the Senate election, I expect the Governor’s race to heat up.

    PS, Im still undecided on the Gov’s race, this isn’t me supporting or endorsing Entenza, but I’m leaning pretty strongly towards him.  Coleman and Rybak are both great candidates and impressive in their own right in many ways as well.

  11. Adam Kokesh has been active in Iraq Veterans Against the War and has Libertarian sympathies. He’s gearing up for a run against Ben Ray Luján (D-NM01). See The New Mexican.

    He’s collecting commitments of support at DraftKokesh.com. He’s at 1,369 pledges within a couple days.

    When I asked Adam about issues on his Facebook page he responded he’d have more detailed issue statements later, but right now his issues are:

    1. He’s against the indefinite occupation of Iraq;

    2. He doesn’t like the troop surge in the Afghanistan/Pakistan theater;

    3. He’s against corporate bailouts; and

    4. He opposes torture and how the government has handled things when the use of torture was confirmed.

    He’s also quick to point out that the Democrats tapped the dissatisfaction about Iraq war and occupation to take power, but then they kept funding the occupation and have yet to commit to a complete withdrawal.

  12. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30

    Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described “bleeding-heart conservative” died Saturday.

    His spokeswoman Bona Park and longtime friend and former campaign adviser Edwin J. Feulner confirmed that Kemp died after a lengthy illness.

    Kemp had announced in January 2009 that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said he was undergoing tests but gave no other detail.

  13. This may have already been posted somewhere else, but this sounds like it would interest a number of people here, given the number of redistricting diaries posted here recently.

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyo


    First a note on the tool: Next week I’m releasing this easy-to-use web tool for free for anyone to play redistricting. It currently supports Florida, Texas and Washington. I’ll be bringing other states online in subsequent weeks. Check back Monday for a diary on the tool. It uses 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data plus 2007 population estimates (by county).

  14. Ringgold businessman Jeremy Jones (who reminds me of Joe the Plumber) and Former State Transportation Board Mike Evans (who reminds me of hockey analyst Barry Melrose) have joined the race.  Both are certified wingnuts.  Jones was a speaker at a teabagger rally and the newstory heralding Evans’ arrival in the race said this:

    [blockquote]Evans, who served four terms in the Georgia House, said he is running to protect homeowners, retirement funds and small businesses from what he calls “Obama liberalism.”

    “From job losses to stock losses to the housing market, these are difficult times for everyone,” Evans said in a statement. “This decline will likely get much worse because of the dangerously radical agenda of President (Barack) Obama and Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi.

    [/blockquote]

    You can see the other possible candidates here:

    http://2010garacetracker.wetpa

    1. although to make it good you’ve got to make it sweet enough that you can only eat a little bit at a time whereas you can eat much more babka. So it’s a tossup that leans towards babka.

      Which makes me think that SSP should start a best food rankings. Likely D is delicious. Likely R is repulsive. We don’t even have to change the ranking categories.  

    1. Democrats are likely pick up more seats in the New York state senate.  There’s a bunch of really blue seats with longtime GOP incumbents that are getting up there in age.  With Murphy’s win upstate, I don’t see NY Republicans getting back in the game anytime soon.

  15. This is a seat where there have been recruitment failures two cycles in a row and we seem headed for a third.  With the funding we had, a quality candidate would have cleaned up in either 06 or 08.  

    Against Gerlach we should do better but we may even have an open seat!

    Apaprently, the best we can do is a former reporter that no one remembers whose claim to fame is that his father was a Congressman FROM LONG ISLAND THREE DECADES AGO.  

    A quality candidate (and, yes, that includes both Josh Shapiro and Joe Torsella even though neither lives in the district, but also includes a number of others) wins this seat going away.  

    Pick it up DCCC!  Now!  

    1. next cycle. After that, draw a map that’s much more favorable to Democrats.  

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