Author: Trent Thompson

MLK Day Round-up

Let's take a look back at some of the stories that fell though the cracks over the past week or so:

    CT-4: The beneficiary of a Swing State Project co-sponsored blograiser, Jim Himes is stretching every last dollar in his campaign against Chris Shays. In other news from the district, it appears that Shays' congressional staffers are jumping ship before it goes under.

    FL-10: Confronting retirement rumors, Bill Young, the longest-serving Republican in Congress told local reporters, “Unless I tell you something different, just assume that I am running.”

    FL-24: Democratic challenger Suzanne Kosmas has raised over $350,000 in her bid to unseat Rep. Tom Feeney, an amount the Kosmas campaign claims “outpaced Feeney's best fundraising quarter of his Congressional career on record.”

    KY-Sen: Businessman Greg Fischer joins the Democratic race to ditch Mitch McConnell.

    OH-10: Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson endorsed one of Special K's primary opponents, councilman Joe Cimperman.

    TX-22: Republican Dean Hrbacek, running against incumbent Nick Lampson, sent out a direct mail piece featuring a “computerized composite of Hrbacek's face and someone else's slimmer figure, in suit and tie, from neck to kneecaps.”

    VA-House:  With Democrats taking a majority in the Virginia state senate, the party firmly has a seat at the redistricting table. Seeking to avoid a stalemate with the GOP-controlled state house, Gov. Tim Kaine is pushing a plan for nonpartisan redistricting.

OR-Sen: Novick Campaign Attempts to Manufacture Sham Endorsement

Last July, when Speaker Jeff Merkley entered the US Senate race, Steve Novick promised Oregon voters an “inspired primary where each of us makes our case for why we must replace Gordon Smith and presents our respective visions.” While there were early signs Novick might not be planning to run such a campaign, things have taken a recent turn for the worse. 

All the signs point to members of the Novick campaign attempting to create a local chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America with the intention of receiving its endorsement:

On Tuesday, the Merkley campaign got an email inviting Jeff Merkley to an endorsement meeting this Saturday for the Portland chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America.

Four days notice is pretty tight for an endorsement meeting, but that was only the first red flag.

The email was sent by the “State Coordinator” of the Progressive Democrats of America…. Liz Kimmerly. Who is Liz Kimmerly? She's a senior staffer for the Novick for Senate campaign.

That's right: The endorsement process by which the PDA would endorse a U.S. Senate candidate is being organized by the staff of one of the candidates.

Further implicating the Novick campaign staff, it appears that the local chapter planned to disregard the national organization's guidelines for endorsements, which require “a written questionnaire prior to the interview and 30 days notice to all local PDA members about the interview meeting.” And perhaps most unsettling, the national PDA says the Portland chapter was a mere “48 hours” old at the time the endorsement meeting was announced.

Apparently, the Novick campaign is “so desperate for their first organizational endorsement that they tried to fake one” by “setting up a shotgun chapter of a national organization in order to get their endorsement.” If nothing else, this whole ordeal is embarassing to the Novick campaign; these aren't the sort of dirty campaign tricks Democrats should be using against each other in a party primary.

Update: While nothing takes away from the hard facts of the matter, it's worth noting for disclosure reasons that Kari Chisholm, author of the BlueOregon piece, works as a consultant for the Merkley campaign. In this instance however, the message remains unchanged and speaks for itself regardless of the messenger.

MS-Sen-B: Mike Moore is Out

In an “Open letter to Mississippians,” former AG Mike Moore announced he's not interested in the US Senate:

I met with the leadership in the U.S. Senate while I was in town and talked with many of my friends, former attorneys general who serve their states well as U.S. Senators. The message was clear – the job of Senator is important and fulfilling; the polls show I could win; and I would have the money I needed to win the race. It all just came down to whether it was best for me and my family. The truth is I made my decision four years ago, and it has been a good one for my family and me. In the last four years I made every baseball game Kyle had, Tisha and I have had much more family time, and I have been fortunate in my law practice.

… 

The point is I am happy doing what I am doing, my family is happy, and I look forward to making a big difference in my state and nation. I have seriously considered the U.S. Senate vacancy as my friends urged me to do, but I have always known that what I am doing now is good enough for me. I appreciate all the encouragement to run.

Moore was likely Democrats' best shot at picking up retiring Sen. Trent Lott's seat, but former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is still looking at the race and could make it competitive.

OH-05, VA-01: Results Open Thread

RESULTS: Ohio SoS | VA SBoE

9:33 PM ET (David): AP calls it for Latta.

9:03 PM ET: About a third of precinct are now reporting and Latta is maintaining a 55%-45% lead.
8:42 PM ET: 11% of precincts are now reporting in Ohio and Latta has a 56%-44% lead over Weirauch. As a side note, it appears that the SOS' RSS feed is updating a bit quicker than the main site as it was displaying these results a few minutes earlier.
8:30 PM ET: I think we can officially put a nail in Forgit. With 93% of precincts reporting, he's still at 35%.
8:21 PM ET: With 2% reporting in Ohio, Latta is up 53-46.
8:07 PM ET: 75% of precincts are reporting in VA-01 and Forgit is still holding steady at 35%.
7:51 PM ET: Results are starting to trickle in for OH-05. With what appears to be a single precinct reporting, Latta is up 75-69.
7:41 PM ET: With just over half of the precincts reporting, Forgit's still sitting at 34%. Even Kerry was able to garner 39% in this district.
7:30 PM ET: Polls just closed in Ohio; we'll know shortly whether Weirauch was able to seal the deal.
7:27 PM ET: With about a quarter of the votes in, Forgit is still down by a 2-1 margin. Looks like it won't be a long night in Virginia.
7:17 PM ET: Early returns (10% reporting) show Republican Rob Wittman up 2722-1330 over Democrat Phil Forgit.

Polls should be closing shortly as voters in Ohio and Virginia choose replacements for Republican Reps. Paul Gillmor (OH-05) and Jo Ann Davis (VA-01). Unfortunately, James is still in transit and unable to join us tonight, but I'll try my best to fill his liveblogging shoes.

Up above, I've posted links to sites that should update with results throughout the night. But if they don't come through for us, I'll update accordingly. If you happen to find a better results page, let me know in the comments.

It'll probably be a while before any votes actually get counted, so treat this as your final chance to lock in predictions.

LA-Sen: Kennedy Raising Money to Challenge Landrieu

Political Wire reports that Louisiana Treasurer (and former Democrat) John Kennedy intends to challenge Sen. Mary Landrieu next year. Kennedy has apparently already begun raising campaign cash and has been shopping around the results of a Zogby poll showing him leading 45% to 38%.

To see the results of the poll, you can visit Kennedy's excellent campaign website, hosted by Geocities. I suppose he needs to raise all that money to pay for real hosting.

MS-Sen-B: Draft Mike Moore Effort Launched By Local Activists

Local activists in Mississippi are hoping to make Mike Moore's decision whether or not to run for the US Senate a little easier by launching a draft effort. In the interest of disclosure, I helped out with the technical aspect of launching the site, but it's really the work of the local grassroots on the ground in Mississippi.

John Leek, editor of Mississippi political blog Cotton Mouth, is spearheading the effort and had this to say: "Mike Moore has been a tireless advocate for justice, both in his public capacities as District Attorney and Attorney General, and in his private practice where he represents those denied legitimate insurance claims as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  It is this sense of compassion and integrity that our nation so desperately needs today, and Mike Moore will carry those values to the US Senate."

On the web: We Want Mike Moore 

MS-Sen: Cochran Delays Announcement

Building upon retirement rumors, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) told a local paper he'll make up his mind about running for re-election within “a few weeks.” I generally believe that a sitting politician who delays announcing their re-election plans is leaning against another term. 

The article also notes that Cochran is enjoying less influence in the Senate under the Democratic majority, having lost his committee chairmanship and other perks. In addition, Cochran told the paper in an interview before last year's election that his plans would be impacted by which party took control of the Senate. And we all know how that turned out.

While Cochran could probably hold his seat as long as he wants it, an open seat would present an opportunity for popular Mississippi Democrats such as former AG Mike Moore or former Governor Ronnie Musgrove.

(h/t to S2G) 

NJ-03: Saxton to Announce Retirment

New Jersey political insiders say Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) will announce his retirement as early as this afternoon. With a PVI of D+3, this district should be a top Democratic pick-up opportunity for 2008.

State Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) has been running a strong challenge to Saxton and should be a formidable candidate for the open seat.

UPDATE (David): It's official. 

KY-02: Democrats Line Up a Strong Challenger Against Lewis

Kentucky Democrats aren't wasting any time after ousting Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher. Capitalizing on the momentum coming out of Tuesday's election, they're already planning strong challenges to members of the state's Republican congressional delegation. The first target appears to be Rep. Ron Lewis, who will soon face off with State Senator and former Agriculture Commissioner David Boswell: 

Democratic State Sen. David Boswell of Owensboro said he is planning a press conference “in the very, very near future” to officially announce his candidacy to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis of Cecilia.  “I do plan to run for the U.S. Congress in the 2nd District,” Boswell said yesterday. “I think people, overall, are ready for change. They're ready for a new guard.”  Boswell, who was agriculture commissioner from 1984 to 1988 and has been a senator since 1991, said the win by fellow Democrat Steve Beshear in Tuesday's governor's race gives him and other potential candidates for next year's election a huge boost.

However, Lewis' district might be a tough nut to crack as it clocks in with a PVI of R+12.9. While Kerry took 34% of its vote in 2004 and Gore only claimed 37% in 2000, Lewis was softened up a bit in 2006 by a challenge from state Rep. Mike Weaver (D), who held him to a 55%-45% win.  Weaver's campaign never really caught much traction, despite the DCCC's hope that he was a top tier recruit.  We'll see if Boswell can mount a more effective campaign, but Mark Nickolas over at the BluegrassReport feels good about him. 

Kentucky Democrats are also hoping to recruit State Auditor Crit Luallen to take on US Senator Mitch McConnell. Luallen cruised to re-election with 59% on Tuesday night and could offer McConnell a strong challenge.

NM-Sen: Chávez Attacks Udall… Again

Apparently frustrated with attempts by local activists to Draft Tom Udall into the US Senate race, Democrat Marty Chávez is back on the attack:

“This will not be a sweet primary. It just won’t,” Chavez said during a telephone interview. “The contrast in records between me and the Congressman won’t situate him well for the general election.”

In other words, Chávez claims Udall is too liberal for New Mexico. Nice to see the GOP talking points being broken out so early in the campaign, even before Chávez's potential primary opponent has made a decision about the race.

However, Chávez's attempts to paint Udall as a politician “so far to the left” clash with what he had to say about the congressman in a conversation with local bloggers:

“If you look issue by issue I doubt you’ll find much difference … You will find that we will vote together almost all the time.”

Perhaps it's a good thing Udall is holding off on announcing his intentions; it'll give Chávez the time he needs to decide whether Udall is a “great congressman” with an admirable voting record or an out-of-touch liberal.

(H/T: TPM EC)