Month: November 2007

Tough news, sports fans:

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said Wednesday that he will seek reelection in 2008, casting aside rumors of his impending retirement.

Cochran, who will turn 70 next month, has not raised a lot of money this cycle but had previously said he planned to run for reelection.

“While I delayed making this decision until after our state and local government elections were over, there is no reason to delay any longer,” Cochran said in a statement. “I have enjoyed serving in the Senate, and I am highly honored to have had the support and encouragement to continue this service from friends throughout the state.”

Blah blah blah. Anyhow, this would have been a fun race had former state AG Mike Moore (D) gotten involved. Will he ever have another shot? There was some speculation that Sen. Trent Lott, whose home was destroyed in Katrina, might retire last year, but that of course didn’t happen. Gov. Haley Barbour was just re-elected this year, and Cochran’s seat presumably will be safe next year.

I don’t doubt that Moore is enjoying life right now, but if he wants to get back into politics, what’s his angle?

(Hat-tip: TPM EC.)

After Rep. Jim Ramstad (R) announced his retirement in September, state Sen. Terri Bonoff (D) jumped into the race quickly, and succeeded in clearing many of her potential primary competitors from the field after raising nearly $90K in a week.  But, it looks like she’ll be getting some company very soon in Republican-turned-Democrat Jim Hovland, the mayor of Edina:

Edina Mayor Jim Hovland said at a local DFL meeting Monday that he would file papers “in the next couple of days” for a run at the congressional seat being vacated by Republican Jim Ramstad next year.

In recent interviews, Hovland has made it clear that he was leaning strongly toward a run, but has previously left himself an out.  However, according to more than one attendee of Monday’s Senate District 41 meeting, he is now making it about as official as can be. […]

At least one activist at the SD41 meeting Monday said he would be supporting Hovland, saying he is “convinced he [Hovland]’s pretty darn progressive for a reformed Republican.”

A third candidate, Iraq War vet Ashwin Madia, is also in the race (and his online fundraising suggests that he’s taking it seriously).

MNPublius has video of all three candidates.  I’ll be interested to see how this one shakes out.

Garin-Hart-Yang (D) for Dan Seals (11/5-7, likely primary voters):

Dan Seals (D): 58%
Jay Footlik (D): 6%
Undecided: 36%
MoE: ±5.0%

Nice lead for Seals there.  Undoubtedly, much of this has to do with the great deal of residual name recognition that Seals enjoys from his ’06 campaign (the poll pegs him at 69% name recognition among likely primary voters; Footlik’s at 24%).  Footlik begun running biographical television ads right around the time the poll was conducted, so their impact wasn’t measured here.

Still, with a lead this large, Foolik would have to swamp out Seals in expenditures in order to claim the nomination.  With only three months left to go until the primary, that looks to be a pretty tall order.

Fresh off their upset win over the Democratic mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson, Indiana Republicans are setting their sights on a bigger target: Rep. Julia Carson.

Carson, who has battled chronic health problems in recent years, was a rare Democratic incumbent in a safely blue district who had an uncomfortable race in 2006, winning by a 54%-46% margin to an underfunded challenger in a district that gave John Kerry 58% of its vote in 2004.  According to Roll Call, the district’s Republicans are sensing vulnerability, and are aiming to field a viable candidate:

“Certainly after Tuesday, everything is possible,” said Cam Savage, spokesman for the re-election campaign of Gov. Mitch Daniels (R). “Republicans are feeling very good about their chances in the county. Republicans are very energized. They have the mayor’s office for the first time in eight years and all the support that goes with it.”

Savage added that his camp is focused on carrying Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, in 2008.

Many Republicans look to state Rep. Jon Elrod to run for Carson’s seat if it becomes open. Elrod proved his electability in a Democratic district, even beating the state lawmaker who redrew the district maps in 2001.

“This guy beat the guy who drew the maps for the Democrats,” said Howey. “They need to take him very seriously.”

According to the Howey Political Report, Elrod will make a decision sometime this week:

State Rep. Jon Elrod told WXNT’s Abdul in the Morning that he will decide sometime this week whether he will challenge U.S. Rep. Julia Carson. “We have no idea who might be on the other side. There may be other Republican challengers. You weigh all those things and decide whether you still want to get in,” Elrod, R-Indianapolis, said. “I’ve got a lot of decisions to make. I’ve got a lot of people to talk to in the next few days. We decided we had to set a date to stop all of the speculation and either get on the horse and ride or put it back in the stable.”

Bottom line: if Carson stays on the ballot, there will be serious doubts over her ability to campaign, and an undeserved opportunity for the GOP would stay on the table.

Less than a week after Emily’s List broke with its protocol and endorsed netroots heroine Donna Edwards over corporate Dem incumbent Rep. Al Wynn, NARAL Pro-Choice America responds by formally endorsing Wynn:

“In the 15 years that he has represented his district in Congress, Rep. Wynn has voted pro-choice 126 times on 127 votes that dealt with women’s reproductive health,” NARAL President Nancy Keenan said in a statement.

NARAL could have joined ranks with the broader progressive and netroots groups propelling Edwards.  Instead, they are endorsing a man with the following track record of corporate activism:

Wynn voted for the resolution authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq (aka the AUMF)

He voted for the odious bankruptcy bill

He voted for the 2005 energy bill, which was little more than a huge mess of subsidies for Dick Cheney’s oil buddies

He co-sponsored the anti-net neutrality COPE Act and also voted against Rep. Ed Markey’s pro-net neutrality amendment to the bill

One of these groups seems to understand what movement building means; the other clearly doesn’t.

(From the diaries – promoted by James L.)

Crossposted at DraftKleeb.com

Omaha World Herald reports:

Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey shut the door on a U.S. Senate bid Tuesday, but kept his options open for a possible run for a third term as mayor.

In deciding against a Senate run, Fahey said he was committed to getting several things accomplished as Omaha mayor, such as securing a long-term contract to keep the College World Series in Omaha.

“All the things I have on my plate, at this time, there are large items that need to be completed,” Fahey said. “And, I didnt think it would be fair to the people who elected me, if I left in midstream to go campaign.”

Fahey said he would decide sometime next year whether to run for re-election.”

This opens the door for Scott Kleeb to throw his hat into the ring.  Make sure to head over to DraftKleeb.com and show your support by signing the petition or donating to his potential campaign.

I want to thank Mayor Fahey for making a quick decision.  Scott Kleeb said he would wait until Fahey announced.

The nomination to succeed Rep. Tom Udall is not the only prize that ambitious New Mexico Democrats are competing for this primary season — the nomination to contest the Republican-tilting open seat of Rep. Steve Pearce is drawing plenty of Democratic names.  Here’s the Dem field so far:

Bill McCamley, a Doña Ana County Commissioner who’s been running for most of the year.

Al Kissling, a retired Presbyterian minister and the ’06 nominee.

Harry Teague, a former Lea County Commissioner and oilman, known as a conservative Democrat.  He raked in $175,000 at his first fundraiser and also has the capability (and willingness) to self-fund.

Joseph Cervantes, a state Representative, who announced his candidacy this evening.  Cervantes may have the advantage of being the only Hispanic name on the ballot in the primary.

Frank McKinnon, a businessman from Roswell.

I don’t know any of these candidates well enough to ascertain “electability”, but a few look like credible options.

No doubt about it: at a PVI of R+5.7, this is a pretty red district.  But the cash-strapped NRCC is stressed about the possibility of needing to mount a defense here.  Perhaps one of these Democrats will confirm the GOP’s worst fears.

One wrinkle, though, as mentioned in the diaries by fbihop:

What makes this so interesting is not every candidate will get their names on the ballot.  In fact, at most, four candidates from each party will get their names on the ballot, thanks to a new law enacted by the state legislature this past session.  To get his/her name on a ballot, each candidate must garner the support of 20 percent of convention goers.

With Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young both embroiled in federal corruption investigations, could this story of Alaska in 2008 be encapsulated in the following quote?

“These disclosures have come as a real shock, because of revelations of what was going on, and because Alaskans have always felt that they are special,” said Vic Fisher, 83, one of four surviving members of the convention that only a half-century ago wrote Alaska’s state constitution. “And that this thing is ruining our national reputation.”

Stevens and Young are going to end up on the wrong side of the broom.

With Tom Udall entering the race for the open Senate seat of the retiring Pete Domenici, there is yet another open House seat in New Mexico.  And Santa Fe green developer Don Wiviott is going to switch his campaign over from the Senate race to the race for the now-open Third Congressional District seat.

Democracy for New Mexico first reported on the change, saying, “Don intends to seriously explore running for Congress in NM-03.”  Later yesterday, Heath Haussamen got a quote from Wiviott saying he would officially change over to the House race.

Read what he had to say under the fold.  Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP.

Wiviott said Udall is a friend, in addition to being his congressman. He will defer to him in the Senate race, but said he plans, in running for Udall’s House seat, to stay in the fight to end the Iraq war, protect the environment and improve the education system.

Wiviott loaned himself $400,000 and raised an additional $137,189, so he will enter the House race with a significant amount of campaign cash to play with.  It will be some time before we find out exactly who will oppose Wiviott.  We know, however, that state Rep. Peter Wirth will not seek the job.

As for the Democratic side of the Senate race, Jim Hannan said immediately following Domenici’s retirement a month ago he would drop out of the race if Udall stepped in.  But Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez and Mother Media editor Leland Lehrman both vowed to stay in the race for the US Senate seat.

Chavez’s campaign manager was confident in Chavez despite the Udall entry into the race.

Chavez’s campaign manager Mark Fleisher said today that the mayor believes he absolutely can beat Udall. Fleisher says the mayor is known around the state probably as well as Udall.

Udall and Chavez’ opponent Lehrman issued a press release explaining why he would not back off his run for Senate:

Although his votes on the environment and civil liberties make us all proud, his Washingtonian willingness to avoid tough issues means that he cannot be trusted with the leadership role a US Senator must take.

One example Lehrman gave was Udall’s vote to table a bill which would start impeachment hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney, a proposal set forth by Dennis Kucinich.

Follow this link for a cool new SSP feature: a sortable calendar containing congressional filing deadlines, primary dates and run-off dates. The best part is that you can click on the column headers to re-arrange the list. So you can view things alphabetically by state, or chronologically by filing deadline or primary date.

We’ve drawn on data collected by the FEC (PDF), so it should be accurate. But if you notice anything that looks amiss, kindly let us know. Please note, though, that the SSP calendar does not contain presidential data. The FEC file does have that information, and the Green Papers does an admirable job of keeping up-to-date with the constantly shifting presidential primary calendar.

In any event, please check out our calendar and let us know if it works for you. I’ve tried it successfully in both Firefox and IE for Windows, but not on a Mac. Just make sure you have JavaScript enabled. We’ll also place a permalink to it in our new “Resources” section on the right-hand sidebar. (Look just below the “About the Site” section.)  Thanks, and enjoy!