Tag: Steve Scalise

Below the fold is the e-mail I received from the Harlan campaign celebrating their primary victory in LA-01.

It seems that not only did he beat out Gilda Reed’s vote total from the special election, as we noted in the LA primaries open thread, but he even beat Steve Scalise’s.  Of course, he’s most likely gonna need more than 37878 votes to win against Scalise, but that’s progress at least–quite enough for the DCCC to have put him on its list of Emerging Races.

Not to mention that he has a nifty nickname for his opponent already, “The Mistake by the Lake”.

Hello to all my supporters:

I wanted to tell each of you that I am honored to be your official Democratic Nominee for the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana!

Thank you for all of your support and I hope that on November 4th, our district can send me to represent you in Congress.

The good news is that I am now officially your democratic nominee, and I am proud to have carried this district with over 73 percent of the vote.

The better news is that I received 37,878 votes yesterday! That means more people in our district voted for me in the primary yesterday than voted for Steve Scalise in the special election last May, when he received only 33,867 votes.

This news is just proof that “The Mistake by the Lake,” Steve Scalise is truly the accidental congressman.

Come November 4th, with your support, as well as others throughout our district, my fellow Louisianans will have the opportunity to send me to represent the 1st congressional district.

We still have four weeks, and in that time, I need to your help to make sure that everyone in our district learns about me and what I can do for Southeast Louisiana.

Now is a more critical time than ever, and I need your help.

Can you make a donation of $1000, $500, $250, or even $100. Any amount will help us get our word out.

Along with great news over the past few weeks including the DCCC adding us to the national list of Emerging Races, and CNN declaring that Louisiana has shifted from a Red to a Pink state, I am showing our district that I am the only candidate with real plans and real solutions for our district. The momentum is with us.

Last month, I released my Harlan Hurricane Protection Plan  to protect the long-term survival of our community, starting with putting Floodgates across the Rigolets to keep the storm surge out of Lake Pontchartrain. And with your support, we can push past expectations and win this race for hurricane protection, economic strength, cheaper gas prices, and healthcare reform.  

Your secure contribution can be made  at www.harlanforcongress.com today!

Thank you.

Jim Harlan

The Kitchens Group for Jim Harlan (9/18-21, likely voters, June in parens):

Jim Harlan (D): 31 (15)

Steve Scalise (R-inc): 42 (68)

Undecided: 26 (17)

(MoE: ±4.9%)

In the diaries, Sean Fitzpatrick alerted us to this poll, and we’ve dug up the numbers for all to see.

If there was ever a district in Louisiana that screams “off limits” to Democrats, it’s this one. Its voters defeated John Kerry by 43 points in 2004, and even the Goreacle was stomped here by 36 points four years earlier. A heavily white New Orleans-area district, Democrat Gilda Reed only scored 22.5% of the vote here in the special election to replace Bobby Jinal this May.

But Democrat Jim Harlan, a successful businessman and former D.C. policy whiz in his own right, is giving this one a go, and he’s bringing his own considerable personal resources to bear.

Knocking off Scalise may seem hopeless, but if he can pin the man down and drain some of the GOP’s resources, he’ll at least make the lives of Don Cazayoux, Paul Carmouche, and Don Cravins, Jr. easier.

The full polling memo is available below the fold.

After Steve Scalise won the special election this spring with over 75% of the vote, most Democrats wrote off this election for November.  That is, until Jim Harlan stepped up to the plate.  With a large personal fortune to invest, Harlan has been running one of the DCCC’s “Emerging Races” and one of SSP’s “Races to Watch.”

Things just got a whole lot more interesting.  Via e-mail:

Jim asked us  to send you some secret campaign information asap, before it hits the papers. I think you will be pleased.

Jim has moved to within 11 points of Steve Scalise after starting from 53 points behind. Now, Scalise is 8 points below 50% – a devastating position for any incumbent but a particularly big problem for Scalise who has only been in office since the Spring of 2008 and only won with 33,000 total votes.

Some quick arithmetic points to a 42-31 race.  That’s certainly winnable, especially as Harlan hits Scalise hard on hurricane relief:

Things are looking good in Louisiana.