• NY-23: Well, it didn’t take long for Doug Hoffman to start bringing the crazy. (Maybe his new mentor Glenn Beck is already rubbing off on him.) First came the unconceding (and un-unconceding, as the absentee count wasn’t getting him any closer), but now he’s sending around a fundraising letter saying that “ACORN, the unions, and the Democratic Party” “tampered” with the election results, and that he was “forced to concede” on election night. Hoffman presents no evidence, the Republican elections commissioner of Jefferson County says that’s “absolutely false,” and the Owsego County Republican party chair says that’s “not accurate,” but why should that stop Hoffman? It’s actually a good argument to make, considering that it came out today that more than half of all Republicans polled by PPP think that ACORN stole the presidential election for Barack Obama (by stuffing the ballot boxes with more than 9 million votes, apparently). Meanwhile, aware of the risk next year from hordes of revenge-seeking teabaggers, the DCCC added new Rep. Bill Owens to its Frontline list of key defenses.
• KS-Sen: A lot of smoke seems to be pouring out from under the hood of Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt’s Senate campaign, and this can’t help matters. Tiahrt’s campaign’s field coordinator in the state’s most populous county (Johnson Co., in the Kansas City suburbs) resigned after it was revealed he had been arrested in July for an alleged sexual assault in 2008.
• MA-Sen: With the fundraising reporting deadline past for the Oct. 1-Nov. 18 period, Rep. Michael Capuano reported raising $1.8 million during the period, leaving him with $1.1 million cash on hand. That’s dwarfed by AG Martha Coakley, though, who reports via press release that she raised $4.1 million during the same period It looks like Coakley’s press release reported cumulative totals – she actually raised around $2 million, with $1.9 million cash on hand left.
• UT-Sen: Lawyer Mike Lee (son of Reagan-era Solicitor General and former BYU president Rex Lee) is in Washington DC this week and is making a big play for Club for Growth backing in his potential primary duel with incumbent GOP Senator Bob Bennett. Bringing the CfG into Utah would open up one more front in the GOP civil war.
• TN-Gov: The Democratic primary field in the Tennessee governor’s race is as clear as mud, and current governor Phil Bredesen isn’t clearing anything up. He confirmed that he won’t endorse anybody.
• CO-04: There’s one more candidate in the GOP field in the 4th, and he’s pretty explicit about his status as what’s come to be known at SSP as “Some Dude.” Dean Madere works for a heating and air-conditioning company, and is a self-proclaimed “regular guy” who’s upset about the country’s direction (and, surprise surprise, is a member of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 movement).
• FL-24: He seems a little late to the party, but one more elected Republican is getting into the field in the 24th: former Winter Springs mayor (from 1998 to 2002) Paul Partyka. Winter Park city councilor Karen Diebel and state Rep. Sandy Adams are already in the hunt to go up against freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.
• IA-03: There were rumors of a top-rate Republican challenger to Rep. Leonard Boswell, and we got our first look at him: former Iowa St. wrestling coach Jim Gibbons. Gibbons doesn’t have previous electoral experience (and isn’t guaranteed a free path in the primary, as state Sen. Brad Zaun had sounded likely to run), but college wrestling is a high-profile sport in Iowa. (Maybe he and Linda McMahon win, they can form the Congressional Wrestling Caucus.)
• MN-06: State Sen. Tarryl Clark got a high-profile endorsement as she preps for a Democratic primary fight against Maureen Reed in the 6th. Al Franken threw his support behind Clark.
• TX-23: Rep. Ciro Rodriguez got a second GOP opponent; former CIA agent Will Hurd filed to run in the 23rd. Hurd will face a GOP primary against wealthy lawyer Quico Canseco, who lost the 2008 primary despite establishment backing.
• Ads: The NRCC is dipping into its skimpy funds to hit three veteran Dems who voted “yes” on health care with weeklong runs of TV spots: Reps. Vic Snyder, John Spratt, and Earl Pomeroy. Snyder seems to have a real race on his hands against Tim Griffin and Spratt is up against a state Senator, but Pomeroy faces only token opposition so far.
• Fundraising: This is odd; the NRCC and NRSC have canceled their President’s Dinner for next year. The joint fundraiser, held in June each year, is one of the Republicans’ biggest fundraising nights of the year. (Remember the brouhaha last year when Sarah Palin couldn’t decide whether or not she was headlining the fest.) The committees are exploring other more effective ways to fundraise now that they, uh, don’t have a Republican President anymore.
• Election law: Important election reforms passed the state House in Ohio yesterday, although it remains to be seen what happens in the GOP-held Senate. Reforms include: increasing number of locations for in-person early voting, requiring absentee ballots to be ready earlier, simplifying voter ID requirements, reducing the number of categories that require provisional ballots, adding automatic motor-voter and high-school-graduation registration, and automatically updating voting records upon changes to driver’s license records.
Rubio’s biggest problem could be peaking TOO SOON.
Crist is looking like the melting witch in Wizard of Oz.
Sounds like an internal poll done by The Research Group. No idea if this company has any real track record. I really doubt Boyd loses that primary. If he does we’re in serious trouble. Lawson is probably unelectable against even a 3rd tier repub candidate.
http://allawsonforcongress.com…
Yay, a candidate with a fun name!
Speaking of which, the whole NY-23 business these past few months kind of made me miss Tedisco…
The Watertown Daily Times reports that Owens has clinched the election. He now leads by 3,105 with 3,072 absentee ballots left to count. Owens’ lead is likely to grow because a majority of the uncounted absentees are from counties that he carried.
Sink loses 32 to 35.
However a majority of the undecided voters are Democrats.
The undecided are:
36% Dems, 23% GOP 37% I (sink wins I 32% to 31%).
Franken’s former Deputy Finance Director, Lauren Beecham, whose also a friend from college, was announced as Clark’s new Finance Director a couple of days ago.
Wonder if she worked Franken for the endorsement at all.
Remember when everyone poo-poo’d Clark because she was the cause of Tink dropping out of the race. Case in point. You dont get the endorsement from your state’s sitting Senator in a contentious primary/endorsement without being the real deal.
In fact, can I finally be done trying to convince the poo-poo’ers on this one? Im not saying Clark will win but she is certainly running the campaign Tink didnt. Its not some feel good love-fest of lets work together and get things accomplished message but rather, this woman is an absolute embarrassment and is doing nothing for the folks of MN-6. (I love calling constituents folks.)
http://www.politicsinminnesota…
Quist was teabagging before teabagging was cool. He ran against moderate sitting governor Arne Carlson in 1994, winning the Republican convention endorsement before getting crushed in the Primary. FWIW his wife is Michelle Bachmann’s state director.
Candidates like Quist are why I don’t worry to much about 2010. Maybe a moderate Republican would have a small chance against Walz in 2010 if it was a wave year but a wingnut like Quist will get crushed no matter the national mood.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBI…
Wonder how long before the talking heads start questioning whether Oprah will be Obama’s running mate in 2012.
State Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale told CQ Politics today that he plans to run against Boswell too. Zaun said he will formally announce his candidacy sometime after December 1.
Zaun was just re-elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008, so he won’t have to give up his seat in the upper chamber if he loses the GOP primary or the general election.
What puzzles me is why so many Republicans are seeking this position. Even if a Republican beats Boswell, he is likely to be thrown into a 2012 primary against Tom Latham in a redrawn IA-03. Few people would choose a freshman over a nine-term incumbent with a seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Actually your proposed caucus already has a member. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was a two-time NCAA wrestling champion at the University of Wisconsin.
http://www.rasmussenreports.co…