Tag: FL-10

A quick round-up of the results from last night’s congressional primaries:

• AK-Sen (D): Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich won the Democratic Senate nomination with an impressive 91% of the vote, with 98% of precincts reporting.
• AK-Sen (R): Ted Stevens survived his primary against banker Dave Cuddy and Floridian beardo Vic Vickers (and several other also-rans), but only with 63.5% of the vote.
• AK-AL (D): Ethan Berkowitz won the Democratic nomination for the state’s at-large House seat by a 59-41 margin over ’06 candidate Diane Benson. Alaskan Independence Party candidate Don Wright received 5600 votes and will appear on the November ballot.
• AK-AL (R): With 98% of precincts reporting and many absentee ballots still outstanding, Don Young has taken a 145-vote lead over Sean Parnell. This race is heading into “contentious recount territory” real fast.
• FL-08 (D & R): Democrat Alan Grayson upset ’06 nominee Charlie Stuart by a 48-28 margin for the right to take on Ric Keller in November. Keller, meanwhile, barely survived his primary challenge from right-wing radio personality Todd Long, with only 53% of the vote to Long’s 47%.
• FL-09 (D): In a bit of an upset for the DCCC, attorney Bill Mitchell beat out wealthy former Plant City Mayor John Dicks by a 38-33 margin for the nomination against frosh GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis.
• FL-10 (D): Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth dispatched ’06 nominee and Ron Paul acolyte Samm Simpson by a 47-29 margin for the chance to take on longtime GOP Rep. Bill Young. Max Linn, a self-funding candidate who ran for Governor in 2006 on the Reform ticket, only earned 24% of the vote.
• FL-15 (D & R): Physician Stephen Blythe crushed pilot Paul Rancatore by a 65-35 margin for the Democratic nomination for this open seat. Republicans nominated state Sen. Bill Posey with 77% of the vote, and he seems poised to run away with this race come November.
• FL-16 (R): Pittsburgh Steelers heir Ed Tom Rooney won a tight three-way race by a 37-35-28 margin for the GOP nod to face off with Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney.
• FL-24 (D): Former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas crushed ’06 nominee Clint Curtis by a 72-28 margin. Kosmas will face ethically-challenged GOP Rep. Tom Feeney in November.

Polls are now closed in the great state of Florida, where we’ll be tracking the results for the Democratic primary in Florida’s 8th District, and the GOP primary in Florida’s 16th. There are also a number of other primaries in FL-09 (D), FL-10 (D), and FL-15 (D), but we won’t be focusing too heavily on those rinky-dink races.

RESULTS: Associated Press | FL Department of State

12:17AM: It’s ROONEY!

11:23PM (David): In FL-16, Rooney now has an 800-vote lead with just 3% of precincts remaining.

11:14PM (David): Don’t touch that dial – we’ll be up and running with an Alaska thread any moment now. Polls close there at midnight eastern time.

11:06PM: 77% in, and Harrell is back up by 80. In the words of the immortal Samuel L. Jackson, hang on to your butts.

10:45PM: 75% in, and Rooney is up by 300. Over in FL-09, with 93% reporting, Bill Mitchell has a 950 vote lead over former Plant City Mayor John Dicks. That’s something of an upset for the DCCC, who had hoped that Dicks could make this an interesting race. Guess not.

10:29PM: 72% in, and Rooney is hodling onto a 210 vote lead.

10:08PM: With 66% in right now, Rooney is up by 200 votes.

9:58PM: Over in FL-24, Suzanne Kosmas has beaten Clint Curtis by 72-28. No doubt that Curtis will soon gather “sworn affidavits” from voters showing that he actually won.

9:51PM: The see-saw continues in FL-16, where Rooney is back up by 140 votes with 54% in.

9:43PM: Harrell is now up by 310 votes with 49% reporting. Keller is holding on to his 2600 vote lead with 97% in.

9:17PM: Looks like we can now officially close the book on FL-08. With 93% of precincts reporting, Grayson has won by a 48-28-17 margin.

9:07PM: It’s even tighter in FL-16 now, with Harrell leading by only 70 votes.

8:46PM: Harrell’s lead is now down to about 180 votes. Looks like Mike Gravel fan Stephen Blythe has easily won the Dem privilege to get beaten by Bill Posey over in FL-15.

8:26PM: Keller has pushed ahead to a 2500 vote lead now, while Harrell is clinging to a 400 vote lead over Rooney with 18% in.

8:21PM: Grayson has really run away with FL-08. The results so far are almost a complete reversal of the 2006 primary. Grayson turned a 2500 vote deficit in Orange County into a 5000 vote lead, and close losses in Marion and Lake counties into blowouts. Looks like shaving off the scary beard helped!

8:15PM: SSP is calling FL-10 for Bob Hackworth, who has wrecked shop against Sammwise Simpson and Max Linn.

8:00PM: Grayson has pushed ahead to a 5800 vote lead, while Keller is still holding on by 1600 votes.

7:51PM: The DoS now shows Harrell up with a 1000-vote lead in FL-16.

7:46PM: According to the DoS, Grayson now has a 20% lead over Stuart, with a cushion of 5600 votes. Ric Keller has now padded his margin over Todd Long to 1,500 votes and 4%. Still, this race is way closer than it should have been.

7:40PM: Keller continues to lead by 1,200 votes, and Rooney is now edging ahead to a 200 vote lead with 10% reporting.

7:35PM ET: Rooney is leading Harrell by one vote with 6% reporting in FL-16, according to the AP.

7:26PM ET: Alan Grayson has a big early lead in FL-08 according to the DoS — 10,922 to Charlie Stuart’s 6,065, with Mike Smith lagging in third. More shockingly, Ric Keller is barely beating his right-wing challenger, Todd Long, by 14,850 to 13,743 among the early votes. Wow.

The prize at the end of the primary season in Florida’s pristine District 10 is a meeting with 38 year Republican incumbent C.W. “Bill” Young. The democrat that has established himself as the front runner in this race to lead the charge against Bill Young is Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth.

Since 2002, Bob Hackworth’s leadership in environmental issues, diversity, and civil rights has provided a prime example as to what citizens should expect from him in Congress. His record of good government and visionary efforts in Dunedin also closed the deal on his recent endorsement by the St. Petersburg Times. His grasp on national issues has far out shined his two opponents (Max Linn and Samm Simpson). When confronted with the controversial FISA Act, Bob stood firm to his beliefs, saying

“Once again this administration has shown its disregard for the Constitution. By providing the telecom companies with immunity, the senate will be condoning the extra-constitutional actions of this government and be sending a message to the country and the world that big business comes before the freedoms and liberties of the American people. As usual, Rep. Bill Young sided with the administration in voting to restrict the freedoms that this country was founded on.”

Now his district is faced with an even greater dilemma as many feel that it is necessary to include off shore drilling in an energy bill in the future. Despite the Mayor’s strong support of Barack Obama, he refuses to compromise with republicans who wish to take part in the decimation of America’s coastlines.

“The elected officials who represent the people here in Pinellas County have utterly failed on this issue. We need leaders who will be honest about the energy crisis and invest in searching for alternative energy sources, instead of pandering because of $4 a gallon gasoline.”

Expect to hear much more from Bob Hackworth as he raps up his primary victory next week and pushes on towards victory in November.

With filing deadline for congressional candidates in Florida passing last night, let’s check in with a few key races:

• FL-10: Crumb-bum Bill Young qualified for another term in this tossup district.  Three Democrats have filed: Ron Paul aficionado Samm Simpson, ’06 Reform Party gubernatorial candidate Max Linn, and Dunedin Mayor (and former Republican) Bob Hackworth.  Linn, who won 2% statewide in 2006, has given or lent his campaign over $150K so far.  It’s an odd field, to be sure.  I still wouldn’t put it past Young to make a surprise retirement announcement now that the filing deadline has passed.
• FL-13: Surprise, surprise.  Everyone’s favorite purity troll, two-time three-time congressional loser and ex-Democrat Jan Schneider is back — this time as an independent.  With Democrat Christine Jennings locked in a tight battle with frosh Rep. Vern Buchanan, Schneider’s ballot antics have just made this race even tougher.  It’s clear that Schneider has effectively joined the “Stay in Iraq Forever Party” now.
• FL-14: Republican state Sen. Burt Saunders has filed to run against incumbent Rep. Connie Mack in this R+10.5 district as an independent.  Despite some vote-splitting by Mack and Saunders, this is still going to be a very uphill climb for Democrat Larry Byrnes.
• FL-15: Incumbent GOP Rep. Dave Weldon announced his retirement in this R+4.1 district back in January, and Democrats moved immediately to set up a competitive open seat challenge here.  But after Nancy Higgs, a former Brevard Co. commissioner, abruptly exited the race, things looked startlingly quiet here.  However, just before the deadline passed, Paul Rancatore, a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force reserves, re-entered the race.  Rancatore was recruited to run against Weldon last summer, but dropped out of the race in October, citing his mother’s health as his overriding concern.  Rancatore will face off with physician Stephen Blythe for the Democratic nomination.

  Four Republican candidates have filed to run, but the party establishment appears to have closed ranks around state Sen. Bill Posey, who is currently sitting on more than $200K cash-on-hand.

So crumb bum Bill Young wants us all to “assume that he’s running again”.  While that might be convenient for “C.W.”, we might want to take a look at his fourth quarter fundraising receipts and see if he’s actually, you know, preparing to run a campaign:

Total Contributions: $3750.00

That’s right.  In the last three months of 2007, Bill Young couldn’t even raise four thousand dollars.  That’s barely a hair better than the five Benjamins that Sen. John Warner raised in the first quarter of 2007.

As I’ve said before, something smells fishy regarding Bill Young’s shambling lurch toward his 20th term.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Young plans to pull out his parachute at or after the filing deadline.

Roll Call has the scoop: crumb-bum Republican Rep. Bill Young won’t announce his plans until the late spring of next year.

Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) remains quiet on his 2008 re-election plans, confirming Wednesday that any announcement on whether he will seek a 20th term likely will not be made until late next spring. […]

Despite the 76-year-old Congressman’s declaration, strategists in both parties have become increasingly convinced that he will choose to end his Capitol Hill career – potentially jeopardizing another Republican-held House seat. But until he says definitively what he will do, an air of suspended animation hangs over the campaign, with no contenders willing to step forward.

Federal candidates in Florida have until May 2 to register for the state’s Aug. 26 primary.

I bet he heads for the exit and pulls the ripcord.  My advice to state Sen. Charlie Justice, the Democrat most heavily rumored to enter the race if Young retires?  Enter soon and get a head start.  This D+1 seat will be ripe for the picking to a strong campaign.

How did you use your extra hour today?  I’m going to use mine right here by rounding up various House race flotsam and jetsam from the past several days.

• FL-10: Bring ’em to Justice?  At a recent Young Democrats breakfast in Florida, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced that State Senator Charlie Justice (D), the man whose name is most often mentioned as a potential opponent for crumb-bum Republican Rep. Bill Young, may have “big news” to announce soon. 

  When pressed for comment, Justice told the St. Petersburg Times that: “If [Young] retires, the seat hasn’t been open in 40 years, everyone should take a good look at it.  Am I looking at it? Absolutely.  Does that mean 100 percent that I’m going to run?  No, but it’s pretty darn close.”
  

  The Times keeps hearing rumors that Young will step down and that his wife will run in his place.  With a PVI of D+1, this would be one of the hottest takeover opportunities for Democrats next year.  I don’t have their sources, but by reading the tea leaves, I suspect that Young will have some “big news” of his own to share soon.
  

• AK-AL: Speaking of crumb-bums named Young, the Defenders of Wildlife are up on the airwaves in Alaska, hitting scandal-tainted Rep. Don Young (R) hard.  Let’s hope we can make a Pombo out of Young.

• NC-09: Remember Harry Taylor, the man who shocked a Republican-friendly audience when he told President Bush, face-to-face at a PR event, that “I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself”?
  

  Well, he’s now running for Congress against Rep. Sue Myrick (R).  I welcome the courage that Taylor will bring to this R+12.2 district.

• IN-07: With Democratic Rep. Julia Carson’s health concerns continuing to affect her House attendance (she’s on medical leave until December 15), it looks like Republicans are trying to tap into their minimal bench in Indianapolis in order to pounce on the opportunity.  In the 11/5 issue of Indiana Daily Insight (subscription required), it is reported that freshman state Rep. Jon Elrod (R) is “seriously considering” a bid against her.  Blue Indiana has more on Elrod, and welcomes the opportunity that his open legislative seat could bring.  Could Elrod scare Carson into a retirement?  Without one, this heavily Democratic seat (with a PVI of D+8.7) won’t be safe.

• WY-AL: If Barbara Cubin is planning on running again, she’ll be facing a crowded primary.  Retired Naval officer Bill Winney, who mounted an underfunded long-shot primary challenge to Cubin in 2006 and walked away from it with 40% of the vote, is running again.  However, Winney wouldn’t be the only challenger on the ballot: Swede Nelson, a motivational speaker and teacher, is also running, and state Rep. Colin Simpson said earlier in the year that he planned on challenging Cubin for the nomination if she ran again. 

  If Cubin decides to run again, her only chance of survival is having the anti-incumbent vote split between several different options.  Her stock has sunk so low, that I would bet that she’d be in danger of losing a head-to-head match up against even an unknown like Winney.  Sadly for us, I strongly suspect that Cubin will hang up her spurs and broomstick.

UPDATE (David):

• MD-04: The netroots fundraiser for Donna Edwards has been a huge success so far. We’ve blasted past our intial goal of 4,000 total donors to Donna (we’re at 4,250, in fact). We’ve also raised around $75,000 so far. We’re hoping to hit an even $100,000, so if you can help make it happen, please do so.
• Illinois: The filing deadline in the Praire State is tomorrow, Nov. 5th. Illinois has the first Congressional primaries in the nation, on Feb. 5th, so it’s no surprise that their filing deadline is so soon. Diarist benawu informs us that IL Dems look to be fielding challengers in all districts except the 15th. We’ll know the final shape of our field tomorrow.

Crumb-bum Bill Young has long been considered a potential retirement for the GOP this cycle–and Democrats are hungry for the shot at an open seat race in this tossup district (at D+1, it supported Gore in ’00 and Bush in ’04 by the slimmest of margins).  Let’s take a look at some of the press that Young has earned over the year and see what the story tells us:

February 16, 2007 (House Race Hotline):

Nat’l Dems “are aggressively working to recruit someone to run” for Rep. Bill Young’s (R) seat, “pegging it as one of their top targets.” A DCCC recruiter “recently met with prospective” Dem candidates including ex-state House Speaker Peter Wallace (D), ex-state Rep. Lars Hafner (D) and businessman/neighborhood activist Karl Nurse (D). […] The challengers, though, have their doubts. Wallace on Young: “I’d be very surprised if a highly competitive campaign could be run against him.”

February 20, 2007 (House Race Hotline):

Dems “sounded the opening bell last week,” firing off an e-mail from FL party leaders suggesting that Young already “is seated squarely in Dems’ sights.” They attempted to link Young to the Walter Reed scandal in the e-mail. A DCCC operative suggested that Young’s alleged proximity to the Walter Reed scandal likely could be a “rallying point” for an already packed field of “likely” candidates.  Dems “are courting” state Sen. Charlie Justice (D), state Reps. Rick Kriseman (D) and Bill Heller (D), ex-FL House Speaker Peter Wallace (D) and hospital Admin. Sue Brody. Dems say GOP leaders are “petrified” Young will opt not to run in ’08, which likely would set off a “primary scramble in both parties.”

May 15, 2007 (House Race Hotline):

Rep. Bill Young (R) said even he doesn’t know “how much longer he’ll stay” in Congress.  Young: “Nobody knows because I don’t know.”  But will he retire in ’08?  Young: “Let’s be honest: I’m thinking about it more than I did last year or the year before.” […]

But Young’s uncertainty has left GOPers “worried that he may be serving his last term.”

July 17, 2007 (House Race Hotline):

At 76, Rep. Bill Young (R) is unsure if he wants to retire, but just in case he decides to run, he’s “amassing” a “truckload of money.”  He has nearly $600K CoH for an election that is “more than a year away.”  Asked if the money was a sign he was running again, Young said, “I think you should take that as a sign that we are prepared to back up whatever decision we make.”  Young has voted with the GOP 84% of the time so far this year, “the lowest level since 1992, according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly” (Adair, St. Petersburg Times, 7/17).

August 9, 2007 (House Race Hotline):

State Sen. Charlie Justice (D) was in DC last week “talking” with the DCCC about running against Rep. Bill Young (R).  Justice: “A lot of people have been asking me to aat least think about it, consider it.”  Justice, whose name “is also in the mix” of possible ’09 St. Petersburg mayoral cands, so running against Young “might boost” his name ID if Young “waits awhile to retire.”  Justice: “I don’t get into campaigns to raise my name ID for future races or to set myself up for a mayoral race.”  If I did it, I would run to win.”

October 2, 2007: Bill Young votes to deny victims of terrorism financial compensation.

October 13, 2007: Young posts his third quarter fundraising tally:

Bill Young (R-inc): $29K raised; $579K CoH

Huge stunner here.  […] These numbers are positively John Warner-esque.  Is Young looking for the exit?

Something is set to break here.

Yeah, I’m running out of titles for these threads.

FL-10:

Bill Young (R-inc): $29K raised; $579K CoH

Huge stunner here.  It appears that Young, an 18-term incumbent who has been long rumored to be another potential Republican House retirement, is dampening his fundraising pace dramatically (he raised $200K in the second quarter).  These numbers are positively John Warner-esque.  Is Young looking for the exit?  Perhaps that would explain why Young made this unconscionable vote recently–he knows he won’t be held accountable for it if he bails. 

FL-10 is a true swing district: Gore won it by two points, and Kerry lost it by the same close margin.  If Young cut the cord and ran, this would be a huge pick-up opportunity for Democrats.

VA-05:

Tom Perriello (D): $110K raised; $111K CoH

All this in just a few weeks since he entered the race.  Hoo-boy.  It looks like Virgil Goode will face a real test next year.

WV-02:

Shelley Moore Capito (R): $259K raised; $525K CoH

OH-01:

Steve Driehaus (D): $121K raised; $251K CoH

PA-04:

Jason Altmire (D-inc): $281K raised; $737K CoH

OR-05:

Mike Erickson (R): $101K raised; $101K CoH

Interestingly, if you follow the above link, Mike Erickson’s campaign address is listed as being in Salt Lake City, Utah, and not Oregon, where he is running.  What’s up with that?

CO-04:

Marilyn Musgrave (R): $286K raised; $602K CoH

NY-26:

Jon Powers (D): $118K raised; $182K CoH

MI-07:

Tim Walberg (R-inc): $139K raised; $328K CoH

Yep, Mark Schauer (D) outraised Walberg by a hefty margin: $220K to $139 for the frosh incumbent Walberg, despite Schauer only entering the race midway through the quarter.  Is Walberg doomed?

(Bumped – promoted by DavidNYC)

This is the first installment in what – thanks to the mendacity of the modern GOP – I have no doubt will be a recurring series on the Swing State Project. Finding Republican crumb-bums is even easier than getting blitzed at YearlyKos – but deciding which acts of Republican crumb-bummery to highlight… now that is a challenge.

Fortunately, we’re up to that challenge. And a little-noticed vote in Congress last week provides us with an almost vintage example of Republican stone-heartedness in action. On October 2nd, the House passed H.R. 2828, a bill sponsored by Jesse Jackson, Jr., by a 409-12 margin. What does this bill do?

[It] provide[s] compensation to relatives of United States citizens who were killed as a result of the bombings of United States Embassies in East Africa on August 7, 1998.

Who could oppose this bill? Who could be unmoved by the tragedy suffered by victims of such terror? Apparently, twelve Republican recidivists, that’s who. I’ll note that even Republican Whip Roy Blunt co-sponsored this bill. Here are his fellow party members whom he could not persuade:

Paul Broun (GA-10), Eric Cantor (VA-07), Nathan Deal (GA-09), Jeff Flake (AZ-06), Virgil Goode (VA-05), Steve LaTourette (OH-14), Ron Paul (TX-14), Bud Shuster (PA-09), Mike Simpson (ID-02), Tom Tancredo (CO-06), Lee Terry (NE-02), & Bill Young (FL-10)

What message are these cruel, cruel men (and they are all men) sending? That government spending must be controlled at all costs, even when we’re talking about barely $10 million total? That when Osama bin Laden attacks our citizens, we can’t be bothered to help them even ten years later? No matter how you prise it apart, this is a terrible and immoral vote.

And, for almost any incumbent, it would also be a political debacle – except that most of this dirty dozen sit in districts so overwhelmingly red that they are practically near-infra. I doubt that Bud Shuster (R+15) is going to be feeling any heat over this one any time soon.

Which is why I single out the decrepit C.W. “Bill” Young of Florida’s 10th Congressional District for special scorn. All of these Republicans should pay a price for their vote, but Young – whose toss-up district tilts just a little bit Dem at D+1 – is by far the most vulnerable. Indeed, Young, age 76, has been the subject of retirement rumors for the better part of a year.

What makes Young’s vote even worse is that two of the victims whose families would be affected by the bill hailed from Florida. Both were members of the military. I hope Young draws a strong opponent this cycle, and I hope whoever that may be doesn’t hesitate to highlight this outrageous vote. This election should serve as a lesson to Bill Young, and to the eleven other shameful Republicans who share his mindset.

(Hat-tip: DemocraticLuntz)