Author: DavidNYC

1:29pm: James Hell here. DavidNYC sends an update from another dimension: State Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, who represents the Lake Mills area, said Prosser picked up only 2 votes in Lake Mills, pending the count of 24 handwritten ballots.

12:37pm: Great news – those “missing” two precincts in West Allis (suburban Milwaukee County) were either empty or already counted. So MKE is done and Kloppenburg’s vote lead remains unchanged at 224. Now we just wait for Lake Mills (JeffCo) to count. And then, of course, on to the absentees.

11:41am: The final precincts in Juneau and Taylor came in, reducing Kloppenburg’s lead to 240 votes. So now we wait on West Allis and Lake Mills.

11:25am: The town of Lake Mills in Jefferson Co. is apparently having issues with its vote count.

11:14am: AP just made some adjustments to previous counties, so now KloJo’s lead is at 311.

11:04am: We’re using this link for Jefferson & this link (PDF) for Taylor.

10:59am: The AP has finally caught up with us and is also showing the same lead. There are five precincts left: 1 each in Jefferson, Juneau, and Taylor, and 2 in Milwaukee. We believe the Jeff and Taylor precincts are less Prosser-leaning than their counties, while the Milwaukee precincts (suburban West Allis) are much more favorable to Prosser than MKE as a whole. As for Juneau, that’s in the good lord’s hands.

10:40am (David): We show JoAnne Kloppenburg with a 369 vote lead right now, with Sauk and Ashland complete.

8:57am: The JS is reporting that the last two Milwaukee County precincts are in West Allis, which gave Prosser 63% in the first round.  If indeed the case, those Sauk/Ashland precincts will have some heavy lifting to do.

8:45am (Jeff): Those Milwaukee County precincts were not particularly helpful for KloJo, who is now 606 votes back per our count. This leaves 19 precincts outstanding, if you take the fact that Crawford and Dane are in fact fully reporting.

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And we’re back!

Results:

Wisconsin: AP | Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

There are several elections around the country tonight. The main event, of course, is the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, pitting incumbent David Prosser against JoAnne Kloppenburg. Also in the Badger State, Democrat Chris Abele faces off against Republican Jeff Stone for Milwaukee County Executive. Polls close at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central. AP results will be here.

Elsewhere, there’s the first round of the Las Vegas mayoral election tonight, and there are a bunch of city council runoffs in Chicago (the first real test of Rahm Emanuel’s power). And there’s also a special election for South Carolina’s vacant 64th state House district.

So, toss in your predictions in comments. Also, if you know of any good local websites reporting results for these races, please share those as well.

UPDATE: I also added a poll on the Supreme Court race.

The wait is over, folks:

And so it goes:

Former appointed Sen. George LeMieux announced this morning that he’s seeking the GOP nomination for Senate in 2012. LeMieux launched a campaign website and made a video announcement on the conservative Shark Tank blog, a favorite venue for Marco Rubio during his successful 2010 candidacy.

LeMieux joins state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, in the GOP primary race. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton is also exploring a run. All are eyeing the seat of two-term Democrat Bill Nelson.

I find George LeMieux so boring that I just have nothing else to say at this moment.

Senate:

• AZ-Sen: Rep. Jeff Flake (R) will apparently announce a haul of more than $1 million in Q1.

• OH-Sen: A spokesman for Treasurer Josh Mandel says he’ll file paperwork with the FEC “very shortly,” but it’s not clear from the writeup whether this means an exploratory committee (what I’m guessing) or if it’s the real thing. Also of note: Rep. Pat Tiberi (R), whose name first came up as a possible candidate less than a week ago, quashed any notion that he might run against Sherrod Brown last Friday.

• VA-Sen: If you want to believe CNN’s sources, Tim Kaine will announce a Senate bid in the next two weeks.

• WA-Sen, WA-10: Sue Rahr, the conservative King County Sheriff who inherited the job from now-Rep. Dave Reichert, said through a spokesman that she has no intention of running against Sen. Maria Cantwell – a rumor that seems to have gotten shot down before we’d ever heard of it here at SSP. However, a political consultant of Rahr’s thinks the sheriff (who supposedly has crossover appeal) could run in Washington’s new 10th CD, if a district emerges out of Reichert’s 8th centered in the area north of I-90.

Gubernatorial:

• ME-Gov: Will Paul LePage be the next Rick Scott? Like Florida’s governor, Republican members of LePage’s own legislature are starting to turn on him; eight state senators penned an op-ed declaring : “‘Government by disrespect’ should have no place in Augusta, and when it happens, we should all reject it.”

• MO-Gov: I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better for Republican LG Peter Kinder. Trying to push back against revelations that he spend taxpayer money to spend two months a year in St. Louis luxury hotels to attend baseball games, society balls, and teabagger conclaves since 2006, Kinder claimed that his office had been reviewed by two different state auditors, both of them Democrats: Susan Montee and Claire McCaskill (yes, her). The problem? Montee’s audit faulted Kinder for “numerous mathematical errors and inconsistencies” regarding employee pay, and McCaskill’s found that Kinder used a state-owned care for personal use. I’m sensing a theme here.

• WA-Gov: Could Christine Gregoire’s claim to be undecided about seeking a third term really just be a way to ward off lame-duck syndrome? That’s Jim Brunner’s guess. The Seattle Times reporter points out that campaign finance filings show the Democrat had just $44K on hand at the end of February. At the comparable reporting deadline during the prior election cycle, she had $1.2 million in the bank. Meanwhile, other likely candidates are flush: Republican AG Rob McKenna has raised $800K and has $400K on hand, while Rep. Jay Inslee (D) had $1.2 million in his congressional account at the end of last year. The piece also notes that another possible Dem candidate, state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, has recently discussed a potential run for Lt. Gov. instead. (She’d have to primary Brad Owen, who has been in office since 1997, or push him into retirement.)

House:

• FL-22: Whoa, I was definitely wrong to dismiss “no not that” Patrick Murphy as a Some Dude. One article described him as a 28-year-old accountant, but he’s got family money – and, evidently, good connections. Murphy says he raised a majorly impressive $350K in less than a month, and only $30K of that is his own money. Even fundraising machine Ron Klein raised “only” $153K in the comparable quarter in 2005 (before he was first elected).

• NM-01: Terry Brunner, a former state director for the retiring Jeff Bingaman, had previously said he was thinking about running for his old boss’s seat, but now says he’s considering a run for the 1st CD instead.

• NV-01: Jon Ralston thinks former 3rd CD Rep. Dina Titus will run for Shelley Berkley’s seat if the latter runs for Senate, but this is definitely a case of Schrödinger’s Seat.

• OR-01: Former state Rep. Greg Macpherson is the first big-name Dem to say he’s considering a primary challenge to embattled Rep. David Wu. He wants to wait until the district lines become clear, saying he’ll only run if he lives in the district. (He doesn’t live there now, but I suppose he could move even if redistricting doesn’t help him, so I’m not sure how big an obstacle that is.) He also says he’s considering a primary challenge to state AG John Kroger, the man who beat him in the Dem primary for that office in 2008.

• WI-07: Feeling the heat, Rep. Sean Duffy offered a half-assed non-apology, saying his “words were admittedly poorly chosen” when he whinged about getting paid only $174,000 a year as a member of Congress.

Other Races:

• Wisconsin Sup. Ct.: Surprise, surprise: “Citizens for a Strong America,” the potemkin right-wing group responsible for several attack ads in the race (including one even PolitiFact rated “pants on fire”) turns out to be just a clone/offshoot of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers’ arch-evil front group.

• Special Elections: After a few weeks without any state lege races, Johnny Longtorso is back:

While everyone will be focused on the Wisconsin Supreme Court election (which is a phrase I never thought I’d type), there is one special occurring on Tuesday in South Carolina’s HD-64, though it’s in a safe Democratic seat. Democrat Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Manning, will face off against Republican Walter Sanders.

Also, a quick shout-out to Republican Mike “Pete” Huval, the newest member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from HD-46. He defeated another Republican (no Democrat ran) on Saturday for the seat vacated by now-State Sen. Fred Mills.

Remainders:

• Maps: The National Journal has an interesting set of maps which focus on a theme that DCCyclone has been hitting in comments: Namely, because of population growth among minorities, the share of the white vote that Obama needs in 2012 is lower than it was in 2008, assuming minority support for Obama stays the same. In a very pessimistic scenario where his minority support falls 10%, Obama would only lose three states he otherwise won in 2008 (FL, IN & NC), assuming he keeps the same share of the white vote. (But note that that latter assumption is unnecessary: Even under the reduced minority support scenario, Obama’s white support could also drop considerably in many states and he’d still win.)

• Votes: A new study (full paper here) says that Dems who votes “yes” on healthcare reform saw their reelection margins reduced from 6 to 8 points. Something about this study seems incomplete to me, though, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’ll be really curious to read your thoughts in comments.

• VRA: This is interesting: Black lawmakers in Georgia have filed a lawsuit challenging to dissolve the charters of five very white cities in DeKalb and Fulton Counties. The plaintiffs argue that these cities, all formed between 2005 and 2008, were created to dilute minority voting power, and hence violate the VRA. Apparently, this is a novel application of the Voting Rights Act, so we’ll see how it unfolds.

• Passings: Very sad news: Former Rep. John Adler, a longtime state Senator who served one term in NJ-03 before losing last year, passed away at the age of 51. Last month, Adler contracted an infection which led to heart disease from which he never recovered. His father also died young of heart disease, something Adler would mention on the campaign trail when describing his family’s struggles after his father’s death. As a state legislator, one of his signature accomplishments was a smoke-free air bill which banned smoking in many public places. He leaves behind a wife and four children.

In other news, former TN Gov. Ned McWherter also passed away yesterday. McWherter, who was 80, served two terms as governor in the late 80s and early 90s. One of the things McWherter is probably best known for is the creation TennCare, the state’s expanded Medicaid program. His son Mike ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor last year.

Redistricting Roundup:

• Arkansas: Rob Moritz of the Arkansas News Bureau has a good rundown of what’s going on with Democrats’ controversial redistricting plan, dubbed the “Fayetteville Finger.” The plan has passed in the House but has stalled in the Senate, where a vote won’t come until Thursday at the earliest. At the end of the piece, Moritz details several different alternate proposals pending in the Senate.

• Louisiana: A piece from Sunday’s Times-Picayune said that votes were possible on Monday in the House and Senate on congressional maps, but I’ve not yet seen any subsequent coverage.

• Michigan: Aaron Blake’s redistricting series takes him to Michigan, where he has a good explanation of just how difficult it will be for the GOP to shore up its current situation.

• Missouri: Check out this Google Maps version of the state House’s proposed new federal district lines.

• New Jersey: Republicans started bitching and moaning about the state’s new map even before it was officially chosen, but so far, they haven’t said whether they’d challenge the map in court. Not really sure what grounds they’d have even if they wanted to give it a go.

• Nevada: The LVRJ has a piece on the debate in Nevada over whether to create a majority-Hispanic district, or whether to keep Hispanic voters spread out to keep all districts more Dem or more competitive. Most Republicans obviously like the former idea, while Dems (including some Latino lawmakers) are understandably skeptical. Also, it looks like abgin must have trekked all the way from Basque Country to make a presentation at a public hearing in Vegas last weekend: The LVRJ says that “[s]everal interest groups presented proposed maps, including one that likely wouldn’t pass legal or political muster because it would create four new vertical congressional districts stretching from North to South.”

• Texas: Ah, redistricting cat fud – it has a stench all its own. GOP Rep. Lamar Smith is apparently taking the non-insane view that Hispanic growth and the VRA require that two (well, at least two) of Texas’s four new districts be majority-minority, and he’s been working with Dem Rep. Henry Cuellar to create a compromise map. This has infuriated fellow Republican Rep. Joe Barton (aka Smokey Joe), who insists that at least three if not all four of the new seats be Republican-favored. And folks, the cat fud is real. Sayeth Politico:

Barton has harshly criticized Smith during Texas GOP delegation meetings, launching a profanity-laced tirade at Smith during one session early last month, and he’s privately tried to oust Smith as the lead Republican negotiator on redistricting.

Politico’s sources say that Smith is still favored among members of his own party, but that Gov. Rick Perry may be leaning toward Barton. Perry’s alleged plan is to skip DoJ pre-clearance and go directly to federal court, perhaps hoping for a friendly conservative panel (backstopped by an unquestionably conservative Supreme Court), so that could turn Barton’s dream into a reality… but I still think it’s a serious stretch. The piece also reports that proposed maps have been circulated among Republicans, but of course, no one’s sharing any copies.

House:

• CA-36: Janice Hahn took 57% of the vote at a Democratic Party caucus on Saturday, just shy of the 60% necessary to win the party’s formal endorsement. Debra Bowen scored 39%, while Marcy Winograd took 2%. Hahn did score the backing of the California Labor Federation, a large labor umbrella organization.

On the campaign trail, Hahn has now started emphasizing that she’s a lifelong Democrat, alluding to the fact that Bowen was a Republican until 1984. A spokesperson shot back: “Yes it’s true, Debra Bowen has only been a Democrat for nearly 30 years.” I’m not sure this line of attack is going to work.

• FL-14 (?): The question mark is our new way of indicating we aren’t really sure what district we’re talking about – and it’s not because we’re clueless morans. Rather, with redistricting afoot, we sort of have a Schrödinger’s Seat problem in many states. Case in point: Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall (R) just created an exploratory committee for the 14th CD… but that, of course, is Rep. Connie Mack’s district. Hall says she has no intention of primarying him, but that she just wants to get ready because she thinks a new seat will get created in her area. (I’ll also point out that in his “I’m not running for Senate” announcement, I don’t think Mack actually said he was running for re-election, so maybe his seat could open up, too.)

• FL-19 (?): Hmm, maybe this question mark thing is going to get old very fast. Ultra-right-wing radio nutcase Joyce Kaufman (“If ballots don’t work, bullets will,” she said at a teabagger rally) says she won’t rule out a run for Congress, though she sounds very dubious on the idea. (She was a barker for Allen West and very briefly was anointed as his Chief of Staff, before that idea completely blew up.) She currently lives in Rep. Ted Deutch’s very blue district, so she’d have to get very lucky with redistricting to have any kind of chance.

• IA-02: No real surprise: Rep. Dave Loebsack says he’d like to represent the new 2nd CD in the map just put forth by the state’s independent redistricting commission. The new version of this southeast Iowa district contains a bunch of the same territory as the old IA-02, except for Loebsack’s home – though he’s not far outside the border. (He hasn’t said whether he’d move, though he probably wouldn’t have to.) Also of note, Christie Vilsack lives in the new 2nd, though she hasn’t commented yet. Bruce Braley says he’ll stay in the 1st, but his 2010 opponent, Ben Lange, might move into the 2nd.

In related news, Brian Kennedy, a former state GOP chair, thinks that this won’t be the final congressional map (the legislature can send the commission back to the drawing board), in part because the state House and Senate maps also throw a bunch of incumbents together. But columnist Kathie Obradovich thinks that lawmakers might be inclined toward this set of maps because the next batch could be a lot worse. In fact, in 2001, 50 members of the House and 20 senators were placed in districts with fellow incumbents, while only 27 and 14, respectively, are now. So

• MI-09 (?): This comes as little surprise (see SSP Amazing Digest #328), but Marty McFly Knollenberg plans to travel back in time form an exploratory committee to undo avenge his father’s loss to Rep. Gary Peters in 2008.

• NM-01: We’re off to the races! Dem Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas says he’s thinking about running for Rep. Martin Heinrich’s now-open seat. (State Sen. Eric Griego (D) announced an exploratory committee last Friday, just before Heinrich declared for Senate.) Also over the weekend, Albuquerque Councilor Dan Lewis became the first Republican to formally join the race. Former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones (R) has already filed an exploratory committee.

• NY-14: LOL – Reshma Saujani, who tried to convinced voters she was a better Democrat than Rep. Carolyn Maloney, is now a member of the deeply lame “non-partisan” group “No Labels.” Good luck ever trying to win a primary in this town again.

• NY-26: It’s official: Thanks to screwing up his own paperwork, teabagger David Bellavia is off the ballot… and the Federalist Party sleeps for another 200 years.

• TN-09: Another member of the extended Ford clan says he’s thinking about challenging Rep. Steve Cohen: Twenty-five-year-old Justin Ford (a cousin of Harold Jr.), who was just elected Shelby County Commissioner last year. Jackson Baker of the Memphis Flyer notes that this would be the 4th Ford to face off against Cohen: Harold Jr. (1996), Joe Jr. (2006), and Jake (also 2006). Baker also reminds readers that Harold Ford, Sr. endorsed Cohen last year, which probably means that Justin is just goofing around trying to get his name rec up a bit. (I mean, he conducted this interview while on an elliptical trainer, almost a scene out of Law & Order.)

Other Races:

• NYC-Mayor: Marist took another early look at the Dem primary for mayor in my hometown. They forgot to poll DavidNYC, so take this one with a grain of salt:

Anthony Weiner (D): 18 (21)

William Thompson (D): 15 (16)

John Liu (D): 13 (10)

Christine Quinn (D): 13 (9)

Bill De Blasio (D): 9 (8)

Scott Stringer (D): 4 (4)

Undecided: 27 (32)

(MoE: ±5%)

I will also take this opportunity to remind folks about Bill De Blasio’s views on Wall Street.

• OH Referendum: Gov. John Kasich signed the anti-union bill known as SB5 into law late last week, triggering a 90-day period for opponents to gather some 231,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot for voter approval (or disapproval) this November. I’ll note that in 1958, in an uncannily similar situation, a “right-to-work” law was also placed on the ballot in Ohio (354K signatures were required)  –  and got destroyed, 63-37. Let’s hope history repeats.

Redistricting Roundup:

• California: Anyone here from the Great Bear Republic? Anyone a redistricting nerd? Well now the next five months of your social calendar are set: CA’s redistricting commission is hosting public hearings, starting this week in Sacramento and going all the way through August. Have fun!

• Illinois: There are so, so many great maps produced on this site every week that I hesitate to call special attention to any one of them. (I love all my gerrymandered children equally!) But I think you’ll agree that silver spring’s proposed 14 D, 4 R plan for Illinois is such a wickedly brilliant work of art and science that it deserves a shout-out. If you know anyone in the IL lege, please pass this diary on to them!

• Louisiana: The state House and Senate are both taking up federal maps today, with the House considering three different plans while the Senate has settled on just one. These maps have all passed out of committee, so each full body could potentially vote today. However, differences will still need to be ironed out between the Senate plan (assuming it passes) and whichever map the House chooses. The second link contains the greatest detail, including some actual maps and some alternate options that were voted down.

• Missouri: The state Senate apparently passed its version of a new congressional redistricting plan, and it’s reportedly similar to the House’s map that we saw last week, but I haven’t been able to find the actual map yet. Let us know if you see it in comments.

• North Carolina: Interesting: Rep. Mike McIntyre is reaching out to his constituents, asking them rhetorically if they want their “next Congressman to be from Raleigh, Goldsboro, or Charlotte?” McIntyre wants his southeastern district kept intact, so he’s asking supporters to tell members of the state legislature that they want the same thing. I’ll be curious to see if other members of Congress try this same tactic.

Senate:

• CT-Sen: Former SoS Susan Bysiewicz said that she raised over half a mil in Q1. She also continued a theme of attacking Chris Murphy as some kind of skeezy Washington insider, saying “I’m sure the corporate PACs and DC lobbyists are lining up to support other candidates.” Murphy is the only other announced candidate.

• FL-Sen: Adam Smith of the St. Petersburg Times tweeted last Wednesday he expects George LeMieux (R) to announce “next week”… which means this week.

• IN-Sen: Rep. Dan Burton, one of the most disliked Republicans in the state of Indiana, channels his inner Tobias Fünke (the man inside him?) and says, “I’m supporting Dick – there’s two Dicks in the race.” That’d be Richard “Dick” Lugar and Richard “Dick” Mourdock. Oh Burton, you blowhard!

• KY-Sen: I can’t really believe Rand Paul is serious about a presidential bid, but then again, I thought the same thing about Michele Bachmann and was clearly wrong about that. Still, I’m mostly amused by the fact that he met with Iowa Republicans (including Gov. Terry Branstad) in Des Moines this past weekend. Rand might be trying to set himself up for a run in 2016… or he could also be doing a good job of inviting a primary challenge if he seeks re-election.

• MA-Sen: Teabaggers being pissed at Scott Brown are nothing new – though I do find their naivety endearing. (What did they think they were going to get?) What’s sad is that one of their self-anointed leaders, some guy named Judson Phillips, can only muster up this in response to Brown’s latest outrage (calling to reduce budget cuts): “Perhaps the Massachusetts Tea Party will step up with someone to challenge him in 2012.” A resounding call to arms this ain’t.

• ME-Sen: Freshman Sen. Pat Toomey says he won’t endorse Olympia Snowe in her bid for re-election. Toomey, don’t forget, has some residual teabagger cred, given that he was president of the Club for Growth.

• MO-Sen: Citizens United (yes, that Citizens United) just gave GOP Rep. Todd Akin $10K in the hopes of luring him into the Senate race. I was wrong about Trent Franks, but I really do feel like Akin will get in here.

• MT-Sen: Republicans think they get lots of mileage out of attacking “welfare,” but Denny Rehberg took this trope several steps further, declaring that Pell Grants are “turning out to be the welfare of the 21st century.”

• NV-Sen: Rep. Shelley Berkley says she’s heartened by the internal poll numbers she put out last week (42-38 over Republican Dean Heller), she still hasn’t made up her mind, though now says she’ll decide “fairly soon,” whatever that means.

• NY-Sen: Kirsten Gillibrand set a personal record with her 1Q fundraising, taking in over $3 million.

Gubernatorial:

• KY-Gov: Despite opposing the expansion of gambling in the state – a very big and very contentious issue – State Senate President (and GOP gubernatorial nominee) David Williams lost over $36,000 in casinos from 1999 to 2002, according to court documents related to his divorce.

• MO-Gov: Did GOP Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder just neutralize the whole “Air Claire” business? It turns out that Kinder, widely expected to run for governor, has spent an average of two months a year staying at St. Louis luxury hotels, all at taxpayer expense, including trips for society balls and baseball games.. You really need to read the whole piece to get the full flavor of Kinder’s abuse of his office. Kinder also told a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch “I’m not talking to you,” then hung up the phone. This story’s going to get worse, not better.

• UT-Gov, UT-Sen: As we’ve noted previously, the teabaggers are gunning for Gov. Gary Herbert, thanks to his support for immigration bills that are insufficiently punitive, in their view. Now the name of another potential primary challenger has surfaced: state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom. The linked article also says that David Kirkham, a key teabagger who helped oust Bob Bennett last year, is suggesting that Herbert, rather than Orrin Hatch, may be his compatriots’ number one target this cycle. Hatch previously refused to take a position on his home state’s legislation, but let’s see if he turns on Herbert in the hopes of re-directing the teabaggers.

• WV-Gov: Julie Sobel at the Hotline has a complete wrapup of fundraising numbers for all the major candidates, both Dem and Republican, in the WV gubernatorial race.

Other Races:

• Wisconsin Sup. Ct.: On Twitter, when Sarah Palin announced she was backing David Prosser, I called it the kiss of death. J. Pilmanis said no, she kissed a corpse. We’ll find out for sure tomorrow! Anyhow, the ad wars have, of course, gone full-tilt in the final days of the campaign. Here’s a roundup of some that we’ve seen:

• WMC attacks JoAnne Kloppenburg for not being “tough on crime” in one spot, and praises Prosser for his supposed law-and-order credentials in another
• GWC has another ad hitting the Prosser=Walker theme once more; they also whack him hard for his “total bitch” outburst in a 15-second spot
• Citizens for a Strong America has Troy Merryfield talking to the camera on behalf of Prosser; he excoriates the GWC’s ad which attacked Prosser for failing to prosecute the priest who abused Merryfield
• TPX hits the usual mouth-breather themes; amusingly, they tout “Democrat” Gov. Patrick Lucey’s endorsement of Prosser, which he withdrew just the other day

After the revelations of the past few days, this news comes as no surprise, but it’s still welcome nonetheless:

By a vote of 6-5, the commission to redraw the state’s 40 state legislative districts has passed a new map drawn by Democrats.

Tiebreaker Alan Rosenthal sided with the Democrats after spending a month on the commission, and the last week holed up at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick.

“I wanted it to be a tough decision. It was. It took five hours of deliberations before I decided on the Democratic map,” said Rosenthal, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University.

Rosenthal said it was the “more conservative, less disruptive map”

“It is a map, I believe, that gives the minority party a chanee at winning control fot he Legislature, even in what is essentially a Democratic state,” he said. “I’ve tried to be diligent, I’ve tried to be honest, and I’ve tried to be fair in my participation.”

The map (click image for full size):

A PDF version of the map can be found here.

UPDATE: This site from the NJ Democratic Party has town & demographic breakdowns for the Dem map.

UPDATE 2: I’ve crunched the Obama/McCain percentages for each of these districts, based on the town breakdowns at the link above. Important note: The numbers for districts 28, 29, 31 & 33 are incomplete. Newark is split between the first two, and Jersey City is split between the second two, but we don’t know the exact splits. Also, two portions of district 9 and one portion of district 13 is described as “county subdivisions not defined” in the spreadsheet – not clear what that means. Full table is below the fold. I’m now convinced I made an error somewhere along the way and that these numbers are not accurate. I’m going to take the table down until I can figure out what happened.

(Bumped – promoted by DavidNYC)

Do you write about politics (or any other topics) at a blog of your own? Do you jabber about elections on Twitter? Take the chance to pimp either or both in this thread – let fellow Swing Staters know all about your other digital homes!

Well, I have to say, this surprises me:

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) has announced he will not run for Senate, despite openly discussing the possibility for weeks.

Franks had been preparing to challenge Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in a GOP primary for the seat left open by Sen. Jon Kyl’s retirement.

“After diligently and prayerfully trying to consider every aspect a potential Senate bid would entail, I have sincerely concluded that mounting a Senate bid at this time would not be what is best for my family, nor what would best allow me to serve my country at this critical time in her history,” Franks said in a statement released from his Congressional office.

If this is an April Fool’s “joke,” I will murder someone. Dave Catanese probably wants to throttle someone, too. Anyhow, I really figured Franks would make a go of it – Jeff Flake’s apostasy just presents too juicy a target for some winger not to go for it. The thing is, Franks was probably their strongest guy. The other three GOPers in AZ’s House delegation are all freshmen (and include the comical Brock Landers Ben Quayle).

So who could do it? Would John Shadegg come out of retirement? J.D. Hayworth make another run? Is this the opening Joe Arpaio’s been looking for? Who are your suggestions for the Great Conservative Hope to take on liberal RINO Jeff Flake?