The transcript of McConnell’s comments read, “If I knew I could suspend you from practicing law in the state of Georgia for the rest of your life I would do so. You’re an abomination as far as I’m concerned.”
Tag: GA-Gov
SSP Daily Digest: 6/28 (Afternoon Edition)
• CO-Sen: Politico’s Dave Catanese has an interesting profile on Ken Buck, who’s looking likelier and likelier to wind up as the GOP’s nominee in the Colorado Senate race. With a litany of fringy comments on eliminating Social Security, student loans, and the Dept. of Education, and on supporting “birther” legislation, the question is whether he’s poised to complete the troika of candidates (along with Rand Paul and Sharron Angle) whose very over-the-topness allows the GOP to pull defeat from the jaws of victory. Buck tells Politico that he “doesn’t recall” making some of those statements, and is seeking to walk back some of the most controversial. Not coincidentally, the US Chamber of Commerce just announced today that it’s backing Jane Norton in the primary, specifically citing electability and even taking an ad hominem swipe at Buck backer Jim DeMint.
• IA-Sen: Roxanne Conlin got the support of EMILY’s List last Friday. Conlin has her own money, but to make any headway against Chuck Grassley, she’ll need every penny she can round up.
• IL-Sen: Alexi Giannoulias has been subpoenaed to testify in Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial (although it’s unclear whether he’ll actually ever have to take the stand). While there isn’t any suggestion that Giannoulias has done anything wrong, any mass-mediated association at all with the toxic Blagojevich isn’t good for Giannoulias; if nothing else, it might remove the local media’s target off Mark Kirk’s back, where it’s been squarely located for the last few weeks. The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet is still keeping the pressure on Kirk, though, at least for now; her latest column excoriates Kirk for his non-disclosure and secretiveness, which has been a constant throughout his campaign even before his house of cards started falling down.
• MO-Sen: Even if I were a Republican I can’t imagine wanting to be seen in the same place as Karl Rove, but Roy Blunt — about as transparently power-hungry a member of the GOP Beltway establishment as can be — has always seemed strangely unconcerned about the optics of what all he does. Rove is hosting two fundraisers today for Blunt in the Show Me State, in St. Charles and Springfield.
• SC-Sen: Although it was looking like the Alvin Greene story was starting to go away, with the state Democrats’ decision not to challenge his primary victory and the state election board’s decision not to investigate, the story may get a few more chapters. The state ethics and disclosure commission and the state’s 5th circuit solicitor, instead, will get involved; they’re going to look into whether any laws were broken in his financial disclosures, and they may subpoena bank records to find out. At issue, of course, is where Greene came up with the $10K to pay his filing fee; if nothing else, if he had $10K sitting around, he shouldn’t have qualified for a public defender because of indigence. Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s been announced that Greene is no longer being represented by the 5th circuit’s public defender in his upcoming trial on obscenity charges.
• WA-Sen: Dino Rossi won’t be doing any more get-rich-quick real estate seminars in the midst of his Senate campaign. And here’s the weird part… it wasn’t because of his own decision, because of the terrible PR that’s likely to result. Instead, it was the decision of the seminar’s organizers, who called off the last seminar in the series this week. They were worried about how Rossi’s presence made them look bad, in terms of politicizing their ostensibly agenda-free program.
• FL-Gov: Does some sort of critical mass result when two of the most unlikeable Republicans — not in terms of policy, just in terms of purely personal characteristics — get together in one place? Newt Gingrich just endorsed Bill McCollum. Meanwhile, Bud Chiles has been enduring a lot of pressure from Democratic friends and well-wishers to get the heck out of his indie bid and not risk being a spoiler, but he’s standing pat for now.
• GA-Gov: Here’s some bad news for Dems in Georgia: weirdo teabagging millionaire Ray Boyd says he won’t follow through on his plans to run a $2 million independent campaign for governor. He was having trouble gathering the requisite signatures, and decided not to throw good money after bad. (Recall that he spent a few days in the GOP primary field before storming out, unwilling to sign the party’s “loyalty oath.”) With Boyd poised to draw a few percent off the electorate’s right flank, his presence would have been a big boost to Roy Barnes in his gubernatorial comeback attempt.
• MA-Gov: The Boston Globe, via Univ. of New Hampshire, has a new poll of the Governor’s race; while Deval Patrick has a significant lead, the poll seems to be good news for Republican Charlie Baker, and moreover the RGA, as it seems to vindicate their strategy of hitting out first at independent candidate Tim Cahill to try to make it a two-man race. The GOP’s ad blitz designed at wiping out Cahill seems to have taken him down a few pegs, as UNH sees the race at 38 Patrick, 31 Baker, 9 for Cahill, and 2 for Green candidate Jill Stein. (The previous UNH poll, from January against the backdrop of the MA-Sen election, was 30 Patrick, 23 Cahill, 19 Baker.) One other intriguing tidbit that’s gotten a lot of play today: for now, Scott Brown is the most popular political figure in the state, with a 52/18 approval, suggesting that unseating His Accidency in 2012 won’t be the slam dunk that many are predicting.
• MD-Gov: It was the last day for Bob Ehrlich’s talk radio show on Saturday. Ehrlich will be officially filing to run for Governor before the July 6 deadline. Of course, he’s been saying he’s a candidate for months now, but has held off on the official filing to keep on the air as long as possible to avoid prohibitions against that sort of illegal in-kind contribution to his campaign.
• MI-Gov: Rep. Peter Hoekstra has been seemingly losing a lot of endorsement battles in the last few weeks, but he pocketed a few helpful nods. One is from right-wing kingmaker Jim DeMint, who stumped with Hoekstra on Friday. The other is from the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, which gave a split endorsement to local boy Hoekstra and Mike Bouchard. (The statewide Chamber has already endorsed Mike Cox in the GOP primary.) GRACC also endorsed Steve Heacock in the GOP primary in Vern Ehlers’ MI-03, and Bill Huizenga in the GOP primary in Hoekstra’s MI-02.
• AL-02: Rick Barber seems to be reveling in his viral video celebrity, rolling out an even more feverish ad involving his hallucinations about the Founding Fathers and various other liberty-related heroes. Today’s ad includes a conversation with Zombie Lincoln, who compares health care reform to slavery.
• ID-01: Here’s more evidence that the ID-01 Republican primary really was a win-win situation for Democrats. State Rep. Raul Labrador is backing down from his withering critiques of his possible-future-boss John Boehner, upon the realization that he’ll need the NRCC’s financial help to get to Congress in the first place (seeing as how he currently has $35K to work with). Labrador had previously criticized Boehner by name for helping drive the Republican party into the ditch and letting the Dems take over in 2006.
• MS-01: Could Rep. Travis Childers rack up enough right-wing endorsements to save his bacon against Alan Nunnelee this cycle? Fresh off his NRA endorsement last week, now he’s gotten the endorsement of the National Right to Life.
• Polltopia: Daily Kos’s Steve Singiser is putting his freakishly comprehensive personal database of poll data to good use. He finds that there is, indeed, a wide disparity in internal polls released by the two parties compared with the previous few cycles, when Dems released more internals as they seemed to have more good news to report. (This cycle has a 3-to-1 GOP advantage; even in the fairly neutral year of 2004, it was about even between Dems and the GOP.) The caveat, however: most internals were released in a flurry in the last few months before the general elections, and this kind of early flooding-of-the-zone with internals is pretty unprecedented, so it’s still hard to interpret what it means.
SSP Daily Digest: 6/22
• AZ-Sen: Chances are you’ve already seen this video, but if you haven’t, check out ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth going the full Matthew Lesko, pitching seminars for how to get free government grant money. Typical teabagging mindset at work: I hate the gub’ment! Except when it’s giving me money for doing nothing!
• CT-Sen: Linda McMahon, I’m sure, is from the “all PR is good PR” school, but this still has to go in the “bad PR” column. The widow of a professional wrestler who died in a 1999 stunt gone awry is suing both the WWE and McMahon personally.
• NH-Sen: Making your first TV ad a negative one isn’t really a sign of strength, but in this case, I’m sure Paul Hodes thinks he has something potent here. His first ad hits Kelly Ayotte for being asleep at the switch as AG during the collapse of Financial Resources Mortgage. Hodes’ ad includes footage of Ayotte’s widely-panned testimony before state legislators last week, framing it as an almost-Gonzales-esque litany of evasions.
• NY-Sen-B, NY-Gov: Quinnipiac polls the Empire State, and like Rasmussen, finds intensely competitive races brewing… oh, who am I kidding; Dems are crushing, as usual. Kirsten Gillibrand beats Bruce Blakeman 46-26, and beats David Malpass 47-25. Blakeman beats Malpass 14-11 in the GOP primary. Interestingly, they seem to have decided not to poll Joe DioGuardi (who other polls have seen as the GOP primary’s frontrunner) this time, who did not get a ballot slot at the convention but seems to be at work trying to petition on. On the gubernatorial side, Andrew Cuomo beats Rick Lazio 58-26 and beats Carl Paladino 59-23. Lazio wins the GOP primary over Paladino, 46-17.
• FL-Gov: Bill McCollum got a lifeline of sorts from the Tea Party community, with an endorsement from ex-Rep. Dick Armey, now one of the movement’s chief cat-herders at FreedomWorks. This looks like an endorsement from Armey individually, though, not from FreedomWorks. Filing day also came and went: independent candidate Bud Chiles filed at the last moment, and Alex Sink also found herself with an unexpected Democratic primary challenger, although one of the “perennial candidate” variety (Brian Moore).
• GA-Gov, GA-Sen: SurveyUSA takes a look at the Georgia races, but unfortunately only at the already-thoroughly-polled primaries. On the Dem side, ex-Gov. Roy Barnes’ comeback is well underway; he’s out of runoff territory at 63, leading Thurbert Baker at 13, David Poythress at 5, Dubose Porter at 4, and three Some Dudes at 1. On the GOP side, the question seems to be who makes the runoff against John Oxendine. Oxendine is at 34, followed by Karen Handel at 18 and Nathan Deal at 17. If Eric Johnson’s late push is going to succeed, he has a big climb: he’s at 6, down near the weirdos like Ray McBerry (at 3). They also look at the Democratic Senate primary (Michael Thurmond leads 68-11 over R.J. Hadley), and some downballot races too (click the link for those… maybe most interesting, Carol Porter, wife of Dubose Porter, is doing a lot better than her husband; she’s leading the Dem Lt. Gov. primary).
• CT-04: After having had to pull the plug on his campaign after he wound up without enough valid signatures to qualify, Tom Herrmann (First Selectman of Easton) threw his backing to state Sen. Dan Debicella in the GOP primary.
• FL-08: Here’s some more grist for the mill for those who think that the local Tea Party is nothing more than an Alan Grayson plant to split the conservative vote in November: one of the candidates running for the State House under the Tea Party aegis is Victoria Torres, a consultant who did $11,000 worth of polling work for Grayson. (Amusingly, her polling “firm” is named Public Opinion Strategies Inc., not to be confused with the prolific Republican internal pollster Public Opinion Strategies.) Meanwhile, appointed Sen. George LeMieux just threw his support to ex-state Sen. Daniel Webster, despite the NRCC’s seeming preference in the GOP primary for businessman Bruce O’Donoghue.
• IA-03: It’s not surprising this is a close race, given Rep. Leonard Boswell’s long history of underwhelming performances, but these numbers may a little too-good-to-be-true for GOP state Sen. Brad Zaun. His internal (taken by Victory Enterprises) gives him a 41-32 lead over Boswell. The party registration composition looks hinky (43 D-38 R-19 I, instead of 38 D-30 R-32 I), but it still should be a big red flag for Boswell.
• KS-03: State Rep. Kevin Yoder’s new web video has him walking with his wife through a field, with several small children in tow. There’s one slight problem: Yoder doesn’t have any kids. (Yoder’s CM believes that the kids in question are nieces and nephews, not rentals.)
• LA-02: Bayou Buzz points to a couple possible speedbumps on the road for Democrats expecting to take back the 2nd from accidental freshman Rep. Joe Cao, in the form of two potential independent candidates. Orleans Sewerage and Water Board member Tommie Vassel, and prominent black minister Byron Clay, are both floating the idea of independent bids. That’s presumably to avoid the pileup of establishment candidates (state Reps. Cedric Richmond and Juan LaFonta) in the Dem primary, but the questions are a) whether they pull the trigger and b) if so, are they well-known enough to create a big-enough spoiler effect to save even Cao?
• MS-01: Facing a strong challenge from state Sen. Alan Nunnellee, Democratic Rep. Travis Childers could use some good news, and he just got some: he got the endorsement of the NRA.
• NY-16: This is the first (and apparently last) I’d heard of state Assemblyman Michael Benjamin’s interest in running in the Democratic primary against Rep. Jose Serrano. Benjamin said he won’t run against Serrano this year, but is watching with great interest to see what happens with redistricting in 2012; he might run then if a second majority-minority seat centered in the Bronx gets created.
• PA-03: The Susan B. Anthony List (the bizarro-world version of EMILY’s List, focused on electing anti-abortion candidates) has Kathy Dahlkemper in its sights after her vote in favor of HCR. They’re laying out $300K to help her GOP opponent Mike Kelly.
• SC-04: Politico has a look at how Rep. Bob Inglis has gotten very little help from his congressional Republican colleagues, suggesting that they (like us) have been doing the Inglis Deathwatch for the last year and, whatever they may think of him personally, don’t see him as a good repository for their political capital. Inglis, who’s likely to lose the GOP runoff to the more rhetorically-conservative Trey Gowdy tonight, has received money from only two GOP colleagues this cycle (both of whom are also despised by their bases: Lindsey Graham and Dan Burton). He hasn’t gotten any NRCC help either, despite their earlier all-out efforts to help fellow incumbent Parker Griffith in his primary.
• VA-02: One other GOP internal poll to report: Scott Rigell has one from POS, giving him a 41-35 lead over Democratic freshman Rep. Glenn Nye. (No other details about the poll were discussed.) This comes in the context of a larger question over the recent blitz of GOP internal polls, and strange silence on the Democratic end: do the Democrats just not have good news in those districts to counter with, or (as many have speculated) are they engaged in a bit of expectations gaming/rope-a-dope?
• $$$: Remember how fearsome the Karl Rove-founded 527 American Crossroads was going to be, and how it was going to be some sort of unstoppable killing machine? The big-donor-oriented group set a target of $52 million raised this year, but they’ve raised a grand total of $1.2 million so far, with a whopping $200 last month. (That’s not $200K… it’s $200.)
• Polltopia: With everybody seemingly buzzing about the “enthusiasm gap!” all the time (or maybe that was just for the duration of yesterday, a lifetime ago in politics), PPP’s Tom Jensen simply shrugs. He points to huge GOP enthusiasm advantages in his polling of recent races like PA-12 (where the GOP lost) and NJ-Gov (where the GOP only narrowly won). He also points to Democratic advantages in generic ballot tests among likely but only the “somewhat excited” or “not very excited.” As long as those less-excited voters still show up (as they did in, say, PA-12), their votes still count just as much.
Rank of senate and gubernatorial races by last no-Rasmussen polls average (updated)
Taking the last non-Rasmussen polls (four as maximum) and calculating the average between the key numbers of the polls we have the next rank:
(Begining from the number of democratic senate seats and the number of democratic governors what need not run for reelection this year, the first number mean the number of democratic senate seats and governors what dems would have winning until every race of the list.)
(When I tell not the number of polls is because they are four or more)
(I bold emphasize the race with a negative poll what include an outsider key value what make down the average).
RANK OF SENATE AND GUBERNATORIAL RACES BY LAST NO-RASMUSSEN POLLS AVERAGE
41 senate seats in the democratic caucus need not run this year.
07 democratic governors need not run this year.And taking L Chafee and C Crist as friendly candidates:
42S +??.??% VT-Sen 0 polls
43S +??.??% MD-Sen 0 polls
44S +??.??% HI-Sen 0 polls
08G +38.50% AR-Gov 2 polls
09G +37.75% NY-Gov
45S +36.67% NY-Sen 3 polls
10G +23.50% NH-Gov
46S +22.75% OR-Sen
47S +21.00% NY-Sen(s)
11G +20.00% RI-Gov 2 polls
48S +19.25% CT-Sen
49S +15.67% WI-Sen 3 polls
12G +10.67% HI-Gov 3 polls
13G +09.00% AZ-Gov
14G +07.67% CT-Gov 3 polls
15G +07.50% MA-Gov
16G +07.00% MD-Gov
17G +06.25% CA-Gov
50S +06.25% WA-Sen
51S +06.00% FL-Sen
18G +05.25% OH-Gov
19G +04.00% NM-Gov 2 polls
52S +04.00% CA-Sen
53S +03.00% OH-Sen
20G +02.00% MN-Gov
21G +02.50% OR-Gov 2 polls
22G +02.00% VT-Gov 1 poll
23G +01.75% CO-Gov
54S +01.50% CO-Sen
55S +01.25% PA-Sen
56S +01.00% MO-Sen
57S +00.75% NV-Sen
24G =??.??% ME-Gov 0 polls25G – 00.50% IL-Gov
**** – 00.75% NJ-Gov
58S – 01.50% IL-Sen
26G – 01.50% GA-Gov
59S – 04.25% KY-Sen
60S – 04.75% NC-Sen
**** – 05.75% MA-Sen
27G – 06.00% TX-Gov
28G – 06.25% WI-Gov
29G – 06.50% FL-Gov
61S – 09.25% NH-Sen
30G – 10.00% SC-Gov 1 polls
31G – 11.00% NV-Gov
62S – 11.00% IN-Sen 2 polls
32G – 11.75% IA-Gov
33G – 12.67% AL-Gov 3 polls
34G – 13.00% PA-Gov
35G – 13.00% SD-Gov 1 poll
63S – 14.25% LA-Sen
**** – 14.25% VA-Gov
64S – 15.00% DE-Sen 2 polls
36G – 15.25% MI-Gov
65S – 15.25% AR-Sen
66S – 16.00% IA-Sen
37G – 16.25% OK-Gov
…
I take as the negative outsider polls, the polls what have a difference of -9.50 or more with the average (higher with the other polls for the race).
This is a rank of outsider values:
(The first number is the difference between the outsider value and the average for the race).
– 12.50% NH-Gov by PPP
– 11.00% PA-Gov by Muhlenberg College
– 10.75% MN-Gov by Survey USA
– 10.00% NM-Gov by Survey USA
– 10.00% IA-Sen by PPP
– 09.75% OR-Sen by Survey USA
– 09.75% WI-Gov by St Norbert College
– 09.50% IL-Gov by PPP
– 09.50% OR-Gov by Survey USA
The two colleges seems local pollsters attacking the democratic prospect in PA and WI. I worry about WI-Gov race because I think should be better than this and no-one is polling the race. Without the outsider poll, the average for WI-Gov race would be – 02.25%.
Survey USA seems begin a campaign for include outsider values for the races with lower number of polls (the poll for WA-Sen was too an outsider value but is not included because they are more recent polls for the race). ME-Gov with 0 polls and VT-Gov with 1 poll are good candidates for the next Survey USA poll in this strategy.
Just Survey USA polls create the alone positive outsider values at this level (+9.50 or more) because the average between the key value of two polls is in the middle of both values and if one is included as outsider, both values get as outsiders. A third poll would show what is the real outsider value.
And PPP has too some unpleasant polls. The dems from NH (the value for NH-Sen is not an outsider but is very bad too), IA and IL (Obama’s home state) are not favored by PPP what gives to they negative outsider key values in the polls. The new PPP poll of IL-Sen and IL-Gov races included after the updates, improves the previous numbers but still makes down the average of both races to negative numbers.
Of course all the races with positive average are races for fight and try win. And someone of the races with negative average can be too for fight but the democratic candidates need emerge. In the poll of the diary are included the 20 first races with negative average in the moment of write the diary (before the updates).
I will update the diary with the results of the new polls while the diary continues in the frontpage of SSP. I include too the reference of the NJ-Gov, MA-Sen and VA-Gov races with the average of the last four polls just before the elections of 2009 and 2010.
Loading ...SSP Daily Digest: 6/2 (Afternoon Edition)
• AK-Sen: Sarah Palin, fresh off her triumphant endorsements of Vaughn Ward and “Angela McGowen,” is now weighing in with an endorsement in her home state: she’s backing Joe Miller, the Christian-right GOP primary challenger to incumbent Lisa Murkowski. What’s surprising is that people are surprised today — there’s long-term bad blood between Palin and the Murkowskis (Palin, of course, beat incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in the 2006 GOP primary, and was briefly considering a 2010 run against Lisa Murkowski in the primary), and Todd Palin (who presumably doesn’t do anything without running it by the Palin family head office) had already endorsed Miller and headlined fundraisers for him.
• AR-Sen: The League of Conservation Voters is taking advantage of the oil spill in the Gulf being top-of-mind for most people today, to run a pre-runoff TV spot hitting Blanche Lincoln for her support for offshore drilling and her big campaign contributions from Big Oil.
• CA-Sen: Darkness descends over Team Campbell, with the primary one week away. Short on money and financially outgunned by Carly Fiorina, Tom Campbell has pulled the plug on TV advertising (at least for now; they say they’re evaluating day-to-day what to spend on) and is relying on robocalls to drive turnout for the GOP primary. On the other hand, quixotic Democratic primary candidate Mickey Kaus is actually hitting the airwaves, and he’s running an ad that very closely mirrors a now-famous 1990 ad from Paul Wellstone… which is pretty much the only thing that Kaus has in common with Wellstone (well, that and a weird hairline).
• FL-Sen: Jim Greer, the former state party chair of the aptly-acronymed RPOF, was just arrested on six felony charges: money laundering, grand theft, fraud… you know, the basic day-to-day aspects of running a political party. It’ll be interesting to watch, as this case plays out, if there’s any blowback to either Senate candidate: Charlie Crist, who helped put former key ally Greer into place as state party chair, or Marco Rubio, who had a taste for charging things to the state party’s credit cards.
• IL-Sen: All of a sudden it seems like every time Mark Kirk plugs a leak concerning misrepresentations of his military record, another two spring up. Today, Kirk had to admit to the WaPo’s Greg Sargent that his website incorrectly identifies him as “the only member of Congress to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Kirk actually served stateside as a Naval Reservist during the Iraq War, and he says that he’s corrected the website, as what he really meant was “to serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Kirk also failed to correct Joe Scarborough when he said in 2003 that Kirk had “served Americans overseas in Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Hmmm, that whole scenario sounds vaguely familiar… I wonder where the front page NYT story about this is?
• NV-Sen: There’s that old saying about when your opponent pulls out a knife, you pull out a gun… I guess the same thing’s happening in Nevada, where when Sharron Angle pulls out allegations of wrongdoing involving a campaign bus, Sue Lowden pulls out allegations of wrongdoing involving a campaign plane. Angle hitched a ride to the “Showdown in Searchlight” rally on a supporter’s private plane, and while she did reimburse the owner $67 for her share of the fuel, it turns out she needs to pay more like $7,000, for the going charter rate. Meanwhile, Lowden seems to be doing some hasty but serious-sounding damage control over the issue of the “veterans tax;” this is still in the sketchy stages, but we’ll follow it as it develops.
• PA-Sen: The Clinton job offer scandal continues to roil the Joe Sestak campaign, threatening to torpedo the Democratic candidate as he struggles to gain momentum after winning an upset in the primary!!! Oh, wait a second, I was confused… for a moment there, I thought I was actually a Beltway pundit. In reality, nobody gives a shit, and Sestak continues to consolidate post-primary support, as seen in a new DSCC-sponsored poll by Garin Hart Yang, which gives Sestak a 47-40 lead over GOPer Pat Toomey. Both candidates are similarly liked yet ill-defined: Sestak’s favorables are 34/18, while Toomey is at 30/19.
• WA-Sen: The University of Washington pollsters who released the poll several weeks ago giving Patty Murray a 44-40 edge over Dino Rossi did something unusual. They started asking Washington residents about their feelings about the Tea Party (worth a read, on its own), but they also kept asking them about Murray/Rossi and adding those voters to the previous poll’s pool. I’m not sure if that’s methodologically sound or not; on the one hand, it pushes the MoE down to a very robust 2.3%, but also pads out the sample period to a terribly long 25 days. At any rate, it doesn’t affect the toplines one bit: Murray still leads 44-40.
• AZ-Gov: Is there just a weird outbreak of Lying-itis breaking out among our nation’s politicians (or did everyone always do this, and now thanks to the Internet you can’t get away with it anymore)? Now, it’s Jan Brewer’s turn: during the fight over Arizona’s immigration law, she somehow tried to weave in her father’s death “fighting the Nazi regime in Germany” in discussing the personal attacks against her. There’s one small problem: her father was a civilian supervisor of a munitions depot during the war, and died of lung disease in 1955. Meanwhile, back in reality, one of Brewer’s GOP primary rivals, former state party chair John Munger, has decided to drop out after getting little traction in the primary. He cited fundraising issues in his decision.
• FL-Gov: Did Rick Scott think that people were just not going to notice that whole Medicare fraud thing? Having gotten stung by outside advertising hitting him on the Columbia/HCA fraud and the $1.7 billion in fines associated with it, he’s launching a defensive TV spot and website dedicated to telling his side of the story. Meanwhile, Dems might be sailing into a clusterf@ck of their very own: Bud Chiles (the son of popular Democratic ex-Gov. Lawton Chiles) is still looking into a gubernatorial run… and now seemingly considering doing it as an independent. An independent who soaks up mostly Democratic votes would pretty much be curtains for Alex Sink’s chances at winning.
• GA-Gov: Ex-Gov. Roy Barnes got a couple endorsements that should help him with the African-American vote, as he faces African-American AG Thurbert Baker in the Dem primary. Two prominent former Atlanta mayors, Andrew Young and Shirley Franklin, backed Barnes.
• ME-Gov: The most overlooked gubernatorial race in the country has its primaries next week, and it seems like even Mainers have no idea what’s going on. Pan Atlantic SMS polled the primary, but found 62% of Dems and 47% of GOPers undecided. On the Dem side, state Sen. president Libby Mitchell is at 13, with ex-AG Steve Rowe at 12, Rosa Scarcelli at 7, and Patrick McGowan at 6. On the Republican side, Les Otten is at 17, Paul LePage at 10, Peter Mills at 8, Steve Abbott at 8, Bill Beardsley at 4, Bruce Poliquin at 3, and Matt Jacobson at 2. Given the poll’s MoE of 5.7%, all we know is that pretty much any of these candidates could be the nominees. Otten just got an endorsement from one of the few Republicans who isn’t running: from state Sen. majority leader Kevin Raye.
• AR-01: In northeast Arkansas, I don’t think endorsements come any bigger than this. Bill Clinton weighed in on Chad Causey’s behalf, in the Democratic primary runoff against the more conservative Tim Wooldridge.
• CA-42: How about I just start reporting on the politicians who haven’t fudged their war records? Now it’s the turn for Rep. Gary Miller (who faces a potentially competitive teabagger primary next week). A number of bios, including his California Assembly bio, have said he served in the Army in 1967 and 1968. A news story linked from Miller’s current official website said that he “served his country during the Vietnam War.” Turns out he spent seven weeks in boot camp in 1967, at which point he was discharged for medical reasons.
• MS-01: Newly crowned GOP nominee in the 1st Alan Nunnelee gets today’s hyperbole-in-action award. On Saturday, he told a local Rotary Club gathering that what’s going on in Washington is worse than 9/11, because “What I see in Washington over the last 16 months is a more dangerous attack because it’s an attack on our freedom that’s coming from the inside.”
• NC-08: Another day, another freakout from Tim d’Annunzio. His latest antics involve dropping out of a scheduled debate against GOP runoff opponent Harold Johnson, because of, as per d’Annunzio’s usual modus operandi, “the collaboration between the Harold Johnson campaign and the news media to use partial truth, innuendo and accusations to unfairly smear me.”
• PA-10: Best wishes for a quick recovery to the GOP candidate in the 10th, Tom Marino. He’s in stable condition after being involved in a late-night head-on collision while driving back from a county GOP meeting last night.
• NY-St. Sen.: One state legislature where it’s going to be tough for the GOP to make up much ground is the New York Senate, where they’re now having to defend their fourth open seat (out of 30 total) this cycle. George Winner, who’s been in the Senate since 2004 (making him a veritable youngster by NYS Senate GOP standards), is calling it quits. His Southern Tier district centered on Elmira has a 74K to 60K GOP registration advantage, but Obama won SD-53 by a 51-47 margin.
Rasmussen Reports, You Decide, Vol. 19
AL-Gov (5/25, likely voters, 3/29 in parens):
Artur Davis (D): 33 (33)
Bradley Byrne (R): 47 (50)Artur Davis (D): 39 (35)
Tim James (R): 45 (49)Artur Davis (D): 40 (44)
Roy Moore (R): 43 (40)Artur Davis (D): 33
Robert Bentley (R): 46Ron Sparks (D): 32 (33)
Bradley Byrne (R): 45 (43)Ron Sparks (D): 37 (34)
Tim James (R): 42 (38)Ron Sparks (D): 40 (40)
Roy Moore (R): 38 (35)Ron Sparks (D): 31
Robert Bentley (R): 44
(MoE: ±4.5%)
AR-Gov (5/19, likely voters):
Mike Beebe (D-inc): 53
Jim Keet (R): 38
(MoE: ±4.5%)
CA-Gov (5/24, likely voters, 4/19 in parens):
Jerry Brown (D): 45 (44)
Meg Whitman (R): 41 (38)Jerry Brown (D): 43 (50)
Steve Poizner (R): 42 (32)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
GA-Gov (5/20, likely voters, 4/22 in parens):
Roy Barnes (D): 39 (43)
John Oxendine (R): 43 (45)Roy Barnes (D): 40 (39)
Nathan Deal (R): 47 (46)Roy Barnes (D): 39 (41)
Karen Handel (R): 42 (42)Roy Barnes (D): 42 (42)
Eric Johnson (R): 38 (37)Thurbert Baker (D): 29 (34)
John Oxendine (R): 50 (44)Thurbert Baker (D): 30 (31)
Nathan Deal (R): 47 (47)Thurbert Baker (D): 32 (36)
Karen Handel (R): 43 (44)Thurbert Baker (D): 30 (35)
Eric Johnson (R): 42 (38)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
GA-Sen (5/20, likely voters, 4/22 in parens):
Michael Thurmond (D): 30 (35)
Johnny Isakson (R): 57 (51)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
MN-Gov (5/24, likely voters, 3/10 in parens):
Mark Dayton (D): 35 (38)
Tom Emmer (R): 37 (35)
Tom Horner (I): 12 (7)Margaret Anderson Kelliher (D): 36 (34)
Tom Emmer (R): 38 (37)
Tom Horner (I): 11 (10)Matt Entenza (D): 34 (28)
Tom Emmer (R): 37 (37)
Tom Horner (I): 12 (8)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
ND-Sen (5/18-19, likely voters, 4/20 in parens):
Tracy Potter (D): 23 (24)
John Hoeven (R): 72 (69)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
NM-Gov (5/25, likely voters, 3/24 in parens):
Diane Denish (D): 43 (51)
Susana Martinez (R): 42 (32)Diane Denish (D): 47 (52)
Pete Domenici Jr. (R): 30 (35)Diane Denish (D): 45 (45)
Allen Weh (R): 39 (35)Diane Denish (D): 45 (52)
Janice Arnold-Jones (R): 31 (30)Diane Denish (D): 47 (43)
Doug Turner (R): 31 (34)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
OR-Sen (5/24, likely voters):
Ron Wyden (D-inc): 51
Jim Huffman (R): 38
(MoE: ±4.5%)
OR-Gov (5/24, likely voters, 4/26 in parens):
John Kitzhaber (D): 44 (41)
Chris Dudley (R): 45 (41)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
WA-Sen (5/26, likely voters, 5/4 in parens):
Patty Murray (D-inc): 48 (48)
Dino Rossi (R): 47 (46)Patty Murray (D-inc): 50 (52)
Don Benton (R): 35 (38)Patty Murray (D-inc): 47 (51)
Clint Didier (R): 37 (36)Patty Murray (D-inc): 47 (49)
Paul Akers (R): 32 (35)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
WI-Gov (5/25, likely voters, 4/20 in parens):
Tom Barrett (D): 41 (44)
Scott Walker (R): 48 (46)Tom Barrett (D): 42 (46)
Mark Neumann (R): 44 (46)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
WI-Sen (5/25, likely voters, 4/20 in parens):
Russ Feingold (D-inc): 46
Ron Johnson (R): 44Russ Feingold (D-inc): 47
Dave Westlake (R): 38
(MoE: ±4.5%)
SSP Daily Digest: 5/20 (Afternoon Edition)
• AR-Sen: Labor seems quite keen to finish the job against Blanche Lincoln in the runoff; the AFSCME just anted up $1.4 million for the coming weeks. This includes not just an IE blitz on the state’s inexpensive airwaves, but also 30 staffers on the ground, with a particular emphasis on driving up African-American turnout. Meanwhile, Mark Blumenthal took an in-depth look at the AR-Sen poll released yesterday by DFA giving Bill Halter the lead; he had some of the same issues with question order that we did.
• KS-Sen: Rep. Jerry Moran is out with an internal poll from POS that gives him a dominant lead over fellow Rep. Todd Tiahrt in the GOP primary for the open Senate seat. Moran leads 53-27, including a similar 51-33 among those who are “favorable” to the Tea Party movement (despite Moran being somewhat more moderate than the social conservative Tiahrt… Moran’s appeal to them may be that Tiahrt is one of those pork-hugging Appropriators).
• KY-Sen: Quickest post-primary implosion ever? Rand Paul, after getting bogged down by questions yesterday over his feelings about the Civil Rights Act, dug his hole even deeper on the Rachel Maddow show last night. He tried to walk that back today on safer turf on Laura Ingraham’s show, saying that he would have voted for it in 1964 and wouldn’t support repeal of anti-discrimination laws today, although he also said that it was a political mistake to go on a liberal talk show in the first place. Democrats like John Yarmuth and Jim Clyburn are still going on the offensive, while Republican leaders like Jim DeMint and John Cornyn are busy mumbling “no comment.” Even Jeff Sessions is backpedaling. Nate Silver is circumspect about how much damage this may have actually caused Paul in Kentucky, but casts some very suspicious eyes in the direction of Rasmussen’s new poll of the race today.
• NV-Sen: Busgate seems to be the second half of Sue Lowden’s quick one-two punch to her own nose. Having been called out that her name is on the donated campaign bus’s title (despite previous contentions that it was leased), she’s now admitting that she “misspoke” about her bus. The FEC is starting to take up the matter.
• PA-Sen: Biden alert! Looks like the White House is eager to move past that whole Arlen Specter endorsement, as the Vice-President (and Scranton favorite son) is gearing up to campaign on behalf of Joe Sestak.
• WA-Sen: I’m just getting more and more confused about the state of the Republican field, as Sarah Palin, out of pretty much nowhere, gave an endorsey-supporty-type thing in favor of Clint Didier today. Is this a shot across Dino Rossi’s bow to keep him from jumping in (which is locally rumored to be imminent), an endorsement after finding out that Rossi isn’t getting in (which competing local rumors also assert), or just Palin marching to the beat of her own off-kilter drum? Didier, in case you’ve forgotten, is a long-ago NFL player turned rancher who, of the various GOP detritus in the race right now, has been the one most loudly reaching out to the teabaggers. The Rossi-friendly Seattle Times must see him as at least something of a threat, as they recently tried to smack him down with a piece on the hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal farm subsidies Didier has enjoyed.
• AL-Gov: A little more information is surfacing on that shadowy birther group, the New Sons of Liberty, that’s been promising to dump seven figures in advertising into the Republican gubernatorial field. The group has a website up now, and it lists a real-world address that’s the same as Concerned Women for America, a group who’ve been supportive of Roy Moore in the past.
• GA-Gov: Insider Advantage has another look at the Republican gubernatorial primary in Georgia. They don’t see much of note, other than a bit of a Deal uptick: Insurance Comm. John Oxendine is at 23, followed by ex-Rep. Nathan Deal at 15, ex-Sos Karen Handel at 14, Eric Johnson at 5, Jeff Chapman at 2, and Ray McBerry at 2. (April’s poll had Oxendine at 26, Handel at 18, and Deal at 9.)
• MA-Gov: Grace Ross, the other Dem in the primary (and the 2006 Green Party candidate), has had to pull the plug on her candidacy, lacking the signatures to qualify. Incumbent Deval Patrick, whose political fortunes seem to keep improving, has the Dem field to himself now.
• NY-Gov: Suddenly, there’s a fourth candidate in the GOP gubernatorial race. In a year with no Mumpowers or Terbolizards, this guy may be the winner for this cycle’s best name: M. Myers Mermel. He’s a Westchester County businessman who had been running for Lt. Governor and reportedly had locked down many county chairs’ support in that race but inexplicably decided to go for the upgrade. This comes on top of word that state GOP chair Ed Cox, worried that the Steve Levy thing may have blown up in his face, has been trying to lure yet another guy into the race: recently-confirmed state Dept. of Economic Development head Dennis Mullen. Frontruner ex-Rep. Rick Lazio is undeterred, naming his running mate today: Greg Edwards, the county executive in tiny (by NY standards) upstate Chautauqua County.
• AL-07: Terri Sewell, the one candidate in the race with money, is out with an internal poll from Anzalone-Liszt showing a three-way dead heat. Sewell is tied with Jefferson Co. Commissioner Shelia Smoot at 22 apiece, with state Rep. Earl Hilliard Jr. at 20. Attorney Martha Bozeman is at 7. By contrast, a Smoot poll from April had Smoot in the lead, at 33, to Hilliard’s 28 and Sewell’s 9. The intervening event? Sewell hit the TV airwaves; she’s likely to be the only candidate able to do so.
• AR-01: This is charming: when a state Rep., Tim Wooldridge (one of the two contestants in the Democratic runoff in the 1st) proposed a bill changing the method of execution in Arkansas to public hanging. Now, granted, several other states do allow hanging as alternate method (both blue states, oddly enough), but public hanging?
• LA-03: Hunt Downer, the former state House speaker, has been acting candidate-like for a while, but is finally making it official, filing the paperwork to run in the Republican primary in this Dem-held open seat. Downer seems like the favorite (in the primary and general) thanks to name rec, although he’ll need to get by attorney Jeff Landry in the primary, who has a financial advantage and claims an internal poll from April giving him a 13-point lead over Downer.
• NY-15: There’s one more Dem looking to take out long-long-time Rep. Charlie Rangel, who’s looking vulnerable in a primary thanks to ethics woes. Craig Schley, a former Rangel intern, announced he’s running (he also ran against Rangel in 2008). With the field already split by Vince Morgan and Jonathan Tasini (UPDATE: and Adam Clayton Powell IV), though, that may just wind up getting Rangel elected again.
• PA-12: PPP has more interesting crosstab information from PA-12, showing the difference candidate quality, and appropriateness for the district, can make. Tim Burns had 27/52 favorability among self-declared “moderates,” while Mark Critz had 67/27 favorables. (Guess who won?) Compare that with Scott Brown in Massachusetts, who had 62/31 favorability among moderates. And here’s an interesting tidbit: the NRCC spent fully one-tenth of its cash on hand on PA-12. (In order to get spanked.)
• VA-02: A lot of Republicans who’ve lent support to Scott Rigell in the primary in the 2nd may be wondering what they’re getting themselves into, as more detail on his contributions record comes out. Not only did he give money to Barack Obama in 2008 (as has been known for a while), but he also contributed to Mark Warner and in 2002 gave $10,000 to a referendum campaign that would have raised sales taxes in the Hampton Roads area. If he hadn’t already kissed Tea Party support goodbye, it’s gone now.
• Turnout: The WaPo has interesting turnout data in Arkansas and Pennsylvania. Arkansas turnout, juiced by the competitive Senate campaigns, was actually higher than the 2008 presidential primary.
• House GOP: That highly-touted ban on earmarks imposed on its members by the House GOP leadership? Yeah, turns out that’s just kind of more of a “moratorium” now. One that’s set to expire in January, so they can resume appropriating away once the election’s over.
Rasmussen Reports, You Decide, Vol. 16
AR-Sen (4/26, likely voters, 3/30 in parentheses):
Blanche Lincoln (D-inc): 29 (36)
John Boozman (R): 57 (51)
Some other: 9 (6)
Not sure: 5 (7)Blanche Lincoln (D-inc): 30 (35)
Kim Hendren (R): 51 (51)
Some other: 11 (5)
Not sure: 8 (8)Blanche Lincoln (D-inc): 31 (36)
Gilbert Baker (R): 53 (51)
Some other: 12 (6)
Not sure: 4 (7)Blanche Lincoln (D-inc): 32 (36)
Curtis Coleman (R): 52 (48)
Some other: 8 (7)
Not sure: 7 (8)Blanche Lincoln (D-inc): 31 (35)
Jim Holt (R): 54 (51)
Some other: 6 (7)
Not sure: 9 (7)Bill Halter (D): 31 (34)
John Boozman (R): 56 (48)
Some other: 7 (8)
Not sure: 7 (11)Bill Halter (D): 33 (34)
Kim Hendren (R): 45 (42)
Some other: 13 (10)
Not sure: 9 (13)Bill Halter (D): 33 (36)
Gilbert Baker (R): 48 (44)
Some other: 10 (7)
Not sure: 9 (12)Bill Halter (D): 37 (37)
Curtis Coleman (R): 43 (40)
Some other: 11 (10)
Not sure: 9 (13)Bill Halter (D): 31 (34)
Jim Holt (R): 49 (43)
Some other: 12 (9)
Not sure: 8 (14)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
AZ-Gov (4/27, likely voters, 4/16 in parentheses):
Terry Goddard (D): 40 (40)
Jan Brewer (R-inc): 48 (44)
Some other: 7 (9)
Not sure: 5 (6)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
CO-Sen (5/3, likely voters, 4/5 in parentheses):
Michael Bennet (D-inc): 41 (41)
Jane Norton (R): 48 (46)
Some other: 5 (5)
Not sure: 6 (8)Michael Bennet (D-inc): 41 (40)
Ken Buck (R): 48 (44)
Some other: 4 (3)
Not sure: 7 (12)Michael Bennet (D-inc): 42 (39)
Tom Wiens (R): 44 (45)
Some other: 5 (4)
Not sure: 9 (12)Andrew Romanoff (D): 39 (38)
Jane Norton (R): 46 (49)
Some other: 6 (5)
Not sure: 8 (8)Andrew Romanoff (D): 40 (37)
Ken Buck (R): 45 (45)
Some other: 5 (4)
Not sure: 11 (13)Andrew Romanoff (D): 40 (38)
Tom Wiens (R): 45 (45)
Some other: 4 (6)
Not sure: 11 (11)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
CT-Gov (5/4, likely voters, 4/1 in parentheses):
Ned Lamont (D): 42 (37)
Thomas Foley (R): 35 (44)
Some other: 11 (7)
Not sure: 13 (13)Ned Lamont (D): 48 (41)
Michael Fedele (R): 28 (38)
Some other: 9 (9)
Not sure: 15 (12)Dan Malloy (D): 38 (35)
Thomas Foley (R): 35 (44)
Some other: 11 (8)
Not sure: 16 (14)Dan Malloy (D): 44 (40)
Michael Fedele (R): 27 (37)
Some other: 10 (7)
Not sure: 20 (16)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
CT-Sen (5/4, likely voters, 4/7 in parentheses):
Richard Blumenthal (D): 52 (55)
Linda McMahon (R): 39 (35)
Some other: 6 (3)
Not sure: 4 (6)Richard Blumenthal (D): 55 (52)
Rob Simmons (R): 32 (38)
Some other: 5 (4)
Not sure: 8 (6)Richard Blumenthal (D): 54 (58)
Peter Schiff (R): 29 (32)
Some other: 6 (4)
Not sure: 11 (6)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
DE-Sen (4/29, likely voters, 2/22 in parentheses):
Chris Coons (D): 32 (32)
Mike Castle (R): 55 (53)
Some other: 7 (8)
Not sure: 7 (8)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
FL-Sen (5/3, likely voters, 4/21 in parentheses):
Kendrick Meek (D): 17 (22)
Marco Rubio (R): 34 (37)
Charlie Crist (I): 38 (30)
Not sure: 11 (11)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
GA-Gov (4/28, likely voters, 3/17 in parentheses):
Roy Barnes (D): 43 (41)
John Oxendine (R): 45 (41)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 6 (11)Roy Barnes (D): 39 (40)
Nathan Deal (R): 46 (43)
Some other: 7 (5)
Not sure: 8 (13)Roy Barnes (D): 41 (39)
Karen Handel (R): 42 (42)
Some other: 7 (5)
Not sure: 10 (14)Roy Barnes (D): 42 (40)
Eric Johnson (R): 37 (38)
Some other: 8 (6)
Not sure: 13 (16)Thurbert Baker (D): 34
John Oxendine (R): 44
Some other: 9
Not sure: 13Thurbert Baker (D): 31
Nathan Deal (R): 47
Some other: 9
Not sure: 13Thurbert Baker (D): 36
Karen Handel (R): 44
Some other: 5
Not sure: 15Thurbert Baker (D): 35
Eric Johnson (R): 38
Some other: 9
Not sure: 18
(MoE: ±4.5%)
IA-Gov (4/29, likely voters, 3/17 in parentheses):
Chet Culver (D-inc): 38 (36)
Terry Branstad (R): 53 (52)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 3 (6)Chet Culver (D-inc): 41 (40)
Bob Vander Plaats (R): 45 (42)
Some other: 9 (8)
Not sure: 5 (11)Chet Culver (D-inc): 43 (40)
Rod Roberts (R): 41 (38)
Some other: 9 (10)
Not sure: 7 (13)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
IA-Sen (4/29, likely voters, 3/17 in parentheses):
Roxanne Conlin (D): 40 (36)
Charles Grassley (R-inc): 53 (55)
Some other: 3 (4)
Not sure: 4 (5)Bob Krause (D): 31 (31)
Charles Grassley (R-inc): 57 (57)
Some other: 4 (4)
Not sure: 8 (8)Tom Fiegen (D): 30 (28)
Charles Grassley (R-inc): 57 (57)
Some other: 6 (7)
Not sure: 7 (9)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
IL-Gov (4/28, likely voters, 4/5 in parentheses):
Pat Quinn (D-inc): 38 (38)
Bill Brady (R): 45 (45)
Some other: 5 (7)
Not sure: 11 (10)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
IL-Sen (4/28, likely voters, 3/ in parentheses):
Alexi Giannoulias (D): 38 (37)
Mark Kirk (R): 46 (41)
Some other: 5 (8)
Not sure: 12 (13)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
IN-Sen (5/5-6, likely voters, 4/13-14 in parentheses):
Brad Ellsworth (D): 36 (33)
Dan Coats (R): 51 (54)
Some other: 6 (5)
Not sure: 8 (9)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
KY-Sen (4/28, likely voters, 3/31 in parentheses):
Jack Conway (D): 38 (36)
Rand Paul (R): 47 (50)
Some other: 4 (3)
Not sure: 10 (11)Jack Conway (D): 38 (32)
Trey Grayson (R): 43 (52)
Some other: 8 (5)
Not sure: 12 (11)Dan Mongiardo (D): 32 (37)
Rand Paul (R): 48 (52)
Some other: 8 (3)
Not sure: 12 (8)Dan Mongiardo (D): 31 (33)
Trey Grayson (R): 45 (53)
Some other: 10 (5)
Not sure: 13 (9)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
MI-Gov (D primary) (4/22, likely voters, 3/24 in parentheses):
Andy Dillon (D): 13 (12)
Virg Bernero (D): 12 (8)
Alma Wheeler Smith (D): 9 (10)
Some other: 15 (17)
Not sure: 51 (53)
(MoE: ±6%)
MI-Gov (R primary) (4/22, likely voters, 3/24 in parentheses):
Peter Hoekstra (R): 28 (27)
Rick Snyder (R): 14 (18)
Mike Cox (R): 13 (13)
Mike Bouchard (R): 9 (6)
Some other: 5 (5)
Not sure: 32 (32)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
MO-Sen (5/3, likely voters, 3/9 in parentheses):
Robin Carnahan (D): 42 (41)
Roy Blunt (R): 50 (47)
Some other: 4 (4)
Not sure: 4 (8)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
NC-Sen (5/5, likely voters, 4/19 in parentheses):
Elaine Marshall (D): 40 (32)
Richard Burr (R-inc): 48 (50)
Some other: 3 (6)
Not sure: 9 (12)Cal Cunningham (D): 37 (31)
Richard Burr (R-inc): 50 (53)
Some other: 3 (4)
Not sure: 10 (13)
(MoE: ±3%)
NC-Sen (D runoff) (5/5, likely voters, no trendlines):
Elaine Marshall (D): 42
Cal Cunningham (D): 37
Some other: 4
Not sure: 17
(MoE: ±4.5%)
ND-AL (4/20, likely voters, 3/23 in parentheses):
Earl Pomeroy (D-inc): 45 (44)
Rick Berg (R): 49 (51)
Some other: 2 (1)
Not sure: 4 (4)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
ND-Sen (4/20, likely voters, 3/23 in parentheses):
Tracy Potter (D): 24 (25)
John Hoeven (R): 69 (68)
Some other: 2 (2)
Not sure: 5 (5)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
NV-Gov (4/27, likely voters, 3/31 in parentheses):
Rory Reid (D): 47 (43)
Jim Gibbons (R-inc): 37 (45)
Some other: 12 (8)
Not sure: 3 (4)Rory Reid (D): 35 (34)
Brian Sandoval (R): 53 (55)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 5 (4)Rory Reid (D): 39 (38)
Mike Montandon (R): 45 (45)
Some other: 9 (9)
Not sure: 8 (8)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
NV-Sen (4/27, likely voters, 3/31 in parentheses):
Harry Reid (D-inc): 39 (39)
Sue Lowden (R): 52 (54)
Some other: 6 (4)
Not sure: 3 (2)Harry Reid (D-inc): 41 (42)
Danny Tarkanian (R): 51 (49)
Some other: 4 (6)
Not sure: 4 (2)Harry Reid (D-inc): 40 (40)
Sharron Angle (R): 48 (51)
Some other: 7 (6)
Not sure: 4 (3)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
NY-Gov (4/27, likely voters, 3/29 in parentheses):
Andrew Cuomo (D): 56 (52)
Rick Lazio (R): 24 (29)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 14 (13)Andrew Cuomo (D): 50 (50)
Steve Levy (R): 27 (26)
Some other: 6 (7)
Not sure: 17 (17)Andrew Cuomo (D): 55 (51)
Carl Paladino (R): 25 (28)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 14 (15)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
OH-Gov (5/5, likely voters, 3/30 in parentheses):
Ted Strickland (D-inc): 45 (45)
John Kasich (R): 46 (46)
Some other: 3 (2)
Not sure: 6 (7)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
OH-Sen (5/5, likely voters, 3/30 in parentheses):
Lee Fisher (D): 43 (38)
Rob Portman (R): 42 (43)
Some other: 4 (4)
Not sure: 11 (14)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
OR-Gov (4/26, likely voters, 2/17 in parentheses):
John Kitzhaber (D): 41 (42)
Chris Dudley (R): 41 (36)
Some other: 6 (7)
Not sure: 13 (15)John Kitzhaber (D): 48 (42)
Allen Alley (R): 33 (34)
Some other: 6 (8)
Not sure: 13 (16)John Kitzhaber (D): 50 (40)
John Lim (R): 34 (38)
Some other: 5 (8)
Not sure: 12 (14)Bill Bradbury (D): 40 (39)
Chris Dudley (R): 40 (36)
Some other: 6 (7)
Not sure: 13 (17)Bill Bradbury (D): 43 (41)
Allen Alley (R): 34 (35)
Some other: 7 (9)
Not sure: 16 (16)Bill Bradbury (D): 44 (38)
John Lim (R): 32 (35)
Some other: 9 (9)
Not sure: 15 (17)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
PA-Gov (D primary) (5/6, likely voters, no trendlines):
Dan Onorato (D): 34
Jack Wagner (D): 17
Anthony Williams (D): 17
Joe Hoeffel (D): 9
Some other: 6
Not sure: 17
(MoE: ±5%)
PA-Sen (5/6, likely voters, 4/12 in parentheses):
Arlen Specter (D-inc): 38 (40)
Pat Toomey (R): 50 (50)
Some other: 7 (4)
Not sure: 6 (6)Joe Sestak (D): 40 (36)
Pat Toomey (R): 42 (47)
Some other: 10 (5)
Not sure: 9 (12)
(MoE: ±3%)
PA-Sen (D primary) (5/6, likely voters, 4/12 in parentheses):
Joe Sestak (D): 47 (42)
Arlen Specter (D-inc): 42 (44)
Some other: 3 (4)
Not sure: 8 (10)
(MoE: ±5%)
RI-Gov (4/21, likely voters, 3/25 in parentheses):
Frank Caprio (D): 33 (28)
John Robitaille (R): 21 (22)
Lincoln Chafee (I): 33 (39)
Not sure: 13 (11)Patrick Lynch (D): 24 (22)
John Robitaille (R): 26 (26)
Lincoln Chafee (I): 35 (37)
Not sure: 15 (15)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
SD-AL (4/21, likely voters, 3/25 in parentheses):
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-inc): 45 (44)
Chris Nelson (R): 41 (42)
Some other: 5 (6)
Not sure: 9 (9)Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-inc): 50 (46)
Kristi Noem (R): 35 (35)
Some other: 5 (8)
Not sure: 9 (10)Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-inc): 48 (45)
Blake Curd (R): 36 (33)
Some other: 7 (8)
Not sure: 9 (14)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
SD-Gov (4/21, likely voters, 3/25 in parentheses):
Scott Heidepriem (D): 33 (32)
Dennis Daugaard (R): 53 (49)
Some other: 5 (6)
Not sure: 9 (13)Scott Heidepriem (D): 41 (37)
Dave Knudson (R): 41 (32)
Some other: 9 (13)
Not sure: 10 (19)Scott Heidepriem (D): 46 (39)
Gordon Howie (R): 31 (34)
Some other: 8 (9)
Not sure: 14 (17)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
WA-Sen (5/4, likely voters, 4/6 in parentheses):
Patty Murray (D-inc): 48 (48)
Dino Rossi (R): 46 (46)
Some other: 2 (3)
Not sure: 3 (4)Patty Murray (D-inc): 52 (48)
Don Benton (R): 38 (40)
Some other: 3 (4)
Not sure: 7 (8)Patty Murray (D-inc): 51 (47)
Clint Didier (R): 36 (37)
Some other: 4 (5)
Not sure: 8 (11)Patty Murray (D-inc): 49 (45)
Paul Akers (R): 35 (37)
Some other: 6 (5)
Not sure: 10 (13)
(MoE: ±4.5%)
SSP Daily Digest: 5/10 (Afternoon Edition)
• AR-Sen: Those nasty anti-Bill Halter Americans for Job Security ads just keep being an issue in the Arkansas Senate race, to the extent that the Halter camp just filed an FEC complaint against AJS. The content of the ads isn’t at issue, though, but rather that AJS spent $900K on the ads without disclosing its donors.
• PA-Sen, PA-Gov: Joe Sestak continues to hold a narrow lead over Arlen Specter in the daily Muhlenberg tracker that first opened up over the weeknd; today Sestak’s lead is up to 5, at 47-42. On the gubernatorial side, it’s Dan Onorato 35 41, Anthony Williams 15 8, Joe Hoeffel 8 6, and Jack Wagner 10 5. If there were serious doubts about the Muhlenberg poll (maybe based on the small daily sample size), that might be assuaged by Rasmussen, who also polled the primary on May 6 (Thursday) and found the exact same thing: Sestak leading Specter 47-42.
• CT-Gov: Ned Lamont is out with an internal poll via Garin Hart Yang, which has him in firm control of the Democratic gubernatorial primary. He leads former Stamford mayor Dan Malloy 53-18. There’s also one less minor candidate in the midst of the Lamont/Malloy fray; former state Rep. Juan Figueroa ended his bid after not getting out of the low single digits.
• GA-Gov: Here’s some interesting behind-the-scenes intrigue in the GOP primary that seems to have good ol’ interpersonal tension at its roots, as Rep. Tom Price (the current leader of the right-wing RSC) switched his endorsement from his former House colleague, Nathan Deal, to former SoS Karen Handel. Deal responded with a statement today that essentially questioned the Michigan-born Price’s southern cred.
• OR-Gov: Bill Bradbury is hitting the TV airwaves at the last minute, with Oregon’s primary in a week (kind of buried under the monumental Arkansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania elections). He’s leading off with his endorsement from ex-Gov. Barbara Roberts (which seems a little underwhelming if he has Al Gore and Howard Dean in his corner). Roberts probably is unknown to younger voters and unpopular with older voters, as she’s mostly known for proposing a sales tax, which is, quite simply, the one thing you don’t propose in Oregon. She also may have something of an axe to grind with John Kitzhaber, who basically pushed her out the door in 1994 after only one term.
• SC-Gov: The Club for Growth sure loves its lost causes; they weighed in in favor of state Rep. Nikki Haley in the Republican gubernatorial primary, who’s something of a minor player in a field that includes Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and AG Henry McMaster but known for her anti-tax zealotry. Haley is a key ally of Mark Sanford, which isn’t exactly the electoral asset that it might have been a couple years ago.
• TN-Gov: Rep. John Duncan, the occasionally iconoclastic long-time GOPer in TN-02, offered an endorsement in the GOP gubernatorial primary. He gave his nod to his fellow Knoxvillean, mayor Bill Haslam, rather than to House colleague Zach Wamp.
• ID-01: Looks like Vaughn Ward, last seen trying to out-wacky the competition in the GOP field in the 1st on the issue of repealing the 17th Amendment, may have a Democrat problem in his past. He interned for a Democratic state legislator (Jim Hansen, now the state party chair) while in college in Boise in the early 90s, and much more recently, is listed as being part of Tim Kaine’s volunteer database from his 2005 campaign.
• KS-03: State Rep. Kevin Yoder (running to succeed retiring Dennis Moore) has conventionally been regarded as something of a “moderate” by Kansas Republican standards, but in a legislature where the battle lines are often Democrats + moderate Rs vs. conservative Rs, he seems to be on the conservative side in the state’s current budget impasse. Is he moving to the right for his primary, or was he just incorrectly identified from the outset?
• MI-01: Connie Saltonstall had a few good months there as the beneficiary of NOW and NARAL support when she decided to primary Rep. Bart Stupak. With his retirement, though, the interest seems to have dried up, and today she announced she’s getting out of the primary to replace Stupak. She still decided to lob a few grenades back at the establishment on her way out the door, though, accusing them of having anointed state Rep. Gary McDowell as Stupak’s successor and saying she can’t support him because of his anti-abortion views.
• PA-12: There have been concerns about Mark Critz’s warchest dwindling (supposedly down into the $70K range) as the clock ticks down toward the May 18 special election. However, word comes from his campaign that the most recent 48-hour report has him sitting on a much more comfortable $252K. Critz also benefits from an endorsement yesterday from the Tribune-Democrat, the newspaper in the district’s population center of Johnstown.
• TX-17: Could this actually be the year Chet Edwards’ luck runs out? He survived 1994 (albeit in a much friendlier district) and the 2004 DeLay-mander, but an internal poll from Republican rival Bill Flores shows Edwards in some serious trouble this time around. The poll from OnMessage Inc. has Flores leading 53-41, quite a change from August 2009 where a Flores poll gave Edwards a 44-36 lead. That’s all despite Edwards having very positive favorables (53/38); in a district where Obama’s favorables are 33/66, Edwards needs to work his usual magic, de-nationalize the race, and make it about the two candidates.
• WA-03: More establishment backing for Denny Heck in the Dem primary in the 3rd: Heck got the endorsement from Rep. Rick Larsen, who represents a similarly swingy rural/suburban district on the other side of the Seattle area.
• NY-St. Sen.: Here’s an opportunity for a pickup in the New York state Senate, if Democrats are actually willing to play some offense. Republican Tom Morahan is not expected to seek re-election in SD-38 in the Hudson Valley, a district that was won by Barack Obama 52-47. Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski is a potential Dem contender, but he’ll face off against a strong Republican: Rockland Co. Executive Scott Vanderhoef, most recently seen turning down entreaties to get into the GOP Senate primary to go against Kirsten Gillibrand.
• SEIU: The SEIU plans to spend freely in a number of gubernatorial races this year. They’ve set aside $4 million more for governor’s races; they plan on getting involved in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Florida. (Uh, New York? Are you sure that’s necessary?)
• Redistricting: The flow of money is about to rush into one more small area of the political battlefield. The FEC issued an advisory opinion that allows members of Congress to raise soft money for legal activities concerning redistricting. The FEC allowed members to raise funds for the National Democratic Redistricting Trust. This doesn’t affect a number of other redistricting-oriented groups in either party that aren’t focused on legal issues, though — like the Dems’ Foundation for the Future, which is set up as a 527.
• Passings: One of Alaska’s legendary politicians, Walter Hickel, died over the weekend at age 91. Hickel has one thing in common with Sarah Palin: he served half a term as the state’s Republican governor… although he left to become Richard Nixon’s Interior Secretary in 1968. He then encored with another term from 1990 to 1994, as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.