IL-14: Novak claims that "important Illinois Republicans are urging" Jim Oberweis to drop out of the general election battle for Dennis Hastert's old seat. While not surprising, given Oberweis' disastrous showing last week, such pleas are not likely to have any effect on the stubborn Oberweis, other than further damaging his credibility.
It doesn't help when other GOP candidates in Illinois, such as state Rep. Aaron Schock in IL-18, are giving quips such as this one:
"Anybody in Illinois who knows Jim Oberweis knows that was not a referendum on the Republican Party; it was a referendum on Jim Oberweis," Schock said. "The Republicans didn't lose that race; Jim Oberweis lost that race.
"The people that knew him best, liked him least."
MN-03: In what is shaping to be a surprising upset, Ashwin Madia, a young attorney and Iraq veteran, is closing in on the DFL endorsement for the nomination to contest the open seat of retiring GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad. At conventions across the district yesterday, Madia won many more delegates than his rival, state Senator and once-presumptive front runner Terri Bonoff. Both Madia and Bonoff have pledged to abide by the DFL endorsement, but the math is looking very bleak for Bonoff; Madia is less than 10 delegates away from the 95 he needs to clinch the endorsement.
An internal poll commissioned by the Bonoff campaign showed Bonoff beating GOP state Rep. Eric Paulsen by a 44%-40% margin in a hypothetical general election match-up, while Madia trails by 43%-40%. In any event, this will be a top tier contest.
New Mexico: In a slate of "preprimary" nominating conventions, candidates for federal office in both parties had to cross a 20% threshold to make it onto the primary ballot. As a result, some of the House primaries are a bit clearer.
NM-01: Martin Heinrich won 56% of the preprimary vote to Michelle Lujan-Grisham's 28%.
On the GOP side of the aisle, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White won 85% of the vote, leaving him unopposed on the primary ballot.
NM-02: Democrat Bill McCamley won 48.8% of the vote to Harry Teague's 36.5%. No other candidates qualified for the primary ballot.
Rancher and businessman Aubrey Dunn, Jr. won the GOP vote with the support of 30% of delegates. Businessmen C. Earl Greer and Ed Tinsley both also qualified for the ballot with 24% each.
NM-03: Ben R. Luján won 40% of delegates, and will face off against former Senate candidate Don Wiviott, who qualified for the primary ballot with 30% of the vote.
MD-01: The biggest joke of all? The so-called "moderate" Republican Main Street Partnership is planning on endorsing Andy Harris, the Club For Growth nutcase who successfully dislodged anti-war GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest last month. Gilchrest, on the other hand, plans to administer a written exam to any candidate seeking his endorsement:
Included in that test would be questions about the history of the Middle East over the past 200 years, the economic and ecological history of the Chesapeake Bay, the importance of paying attention to unemployment and various other subjects, Gilchrest said.
"I will endorse someone that has knowledge, integrity, is competent and sees the world in a panoramic manner in all its complexities and not through a bent straw," Gilchrest said.
Citing a retired Marine Corps general who has been highly critical of the Bush administration's decision to go to Iraq, Gilchrest went on to say that "we must stop promoting incompetence in return for party loyalty."
IN-07: Andre Carson may be the newest kid on the block in Washington, but he still has a potentially raucous primary contest to clear in May before he gets too comfortable:
State Rep. David Orentlicher officially launched his campaign Wednesday alongside Martin Luther King Jr.'s nephew, Derek King, while former health commissioner Woody Myers was set to launch television advertisements.
State Rep. Carolene Mays will also pose a tough challenge to the newest congressman.
AZ-03: This looks like fun. Former state Rep. Steve May has filed to run against John Shadegg in the Republican primary. May has previously pledged to spend $1 million on the bid.
