AK-Sen: Lulz. Ex-state Rep. Andrew Halcro is still carrying the torch for a Murkowski Libertarian bid, despite the fact that the Alaska Libertarian Party voted to reject having Murkowski on their ticket over the weekend. Halcro is telling The Hill (and anyone else willing to listen, apparently), that he thinks the Libertarians would be willing to reconsider, as long as Murkowski is the one who reaches out directly. And maybe he’s actually got something there, as the state Libertarian chair, Scott Kohlhass, said yesterday that “as a sitting senator, we’d always be open to sitting down and talking to Lisa Murkowski.” This is the same guy who, we remind you, previously announced that Murkowski was unwelcome on their ticket due to “fundamental differences”. Make up your minds already!
It’s also worth noting that Murkowski didn’t sound all that interested in carrying this fight on to the general election in her concession speech last night. While she didn’t endorse Miller, she spoke of her plans for the future, saying that she was looking forward to “coming home” at the end of her term. I don’t think a Libertarian bid, or a write-in campaign, is in the cards.
Meanwhile, the NRSC has been busy trying to convince the world that Joe Miller has this shit locked. On Monday, they released a Basswood Research poll (8/28-29, likely voters) showing Miller leading Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams by 52-36. PPP tested the race around the same time and found Miller ahead by only 47-39.
FL-Gov: The St. Pete Times is hearing “considerable buzz” that Bud Chiles, the son of legendary former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, will pull the plug on his independent gubernatorial candidacy. Chiles, who seemed to be having a net-neutral impact on the race due to his support from Dixiecrat-flavored voters, reportedly was spotted having lunch with Democrat Alex Sink in Miami yesterday. Is an endorsement on tap?
WI-Gov: Jesus. Are these the kind of headlines that you really want to be generating?
Wis. cand. runs fighting ad aimed at attack victim
Scott Walker is up with a new ad in which he dons boxing gloves and vows to “go the distance” against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Barrett, as you may recall, was brutally attacked while intervening in a domestic violence incident at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds last summer, sustaining injuries from which he may never fully recover. Talk about not thinking through all the angles…
CT-05: GOP state Sen. Sam Caligiuri won the endorsement of the Independent Party of Connecticut yesterday, meaning that he’ll appear on the ballot against SSP hero Chris Murphy on both the Republican and Independent lines.
IA-03: Dem Rep. Leonard Boswell rolled out an endorsement Monday from architect Mark Rees… who was most recently seen losing the Republican primary for the nomination to challenge Boswell back in June. Rees, who drew 4% in the GOP primary, says that he’s backing Boswell because the Republican nominee, state Sen. Brad Zaun, is too far to the right “on all the issues”.
NV-03: AFSCME shelled out $750K for attack ads on GOPer Joe Heck, and they’re out with their second ad in the series, a thirty-second spot on the topic of Social Security privatization.
NY-24: Here’s a double-dose of bad news for Mike Arcuri. First, the New York Board of Elections recommended that Libertarian Ernest Logan Bell be removed from the ballot after coming up short on valid ballot signatures. (Never fear, fans of liberty, Bell’s encouraging his supporters to write-in his name in November.) Next, it seems that Arcuri’s “NY Moderates” Party line is in jeopardy. Republicans in the district pointed out the existence of a state statute that says that ballot lines aren’t allowed to include the words “New York.” Election officials say that may cause Arcuri’s indie line to go up in smoke, but are putting off a final decision on the matter until September 16th. Arcuri’s attorney, for what it’s worth, says that the party name will merely change to “Moderates”. Good luck with that.
VA-09: Benenson Strategy Group (8/18-22, likely voters) for Rick Boucher:
Rick Boucher (D-inc): 55
Morgan Griffith (R): 32
Is that too optimistic for Boucher? Perhaps, but it’s not entirely far-fetched, either. A July poll by SurveyUSA — not the most Dem-friendly pollster this cycle — had Boucher up by 52-39. Despite the bottom falling out for so many Democratic incumbents in tough districts, Boucher appears to have more staying power than some of his colleagues.
WI-07: At SSP, we always try to give you the Size Of The Buy where possible. We reported yesterday that the DCCC was hitting the airwaves with their first independent expenditure ad of the cycle against ex-Real World star Sean Duffy. Turns out the buy is for $36,500 — not breaking the bank by any means, but House party committees rarely saturate the airwaves in August.
I really can’t think of a much worse way to highlight one of your openents strengths and simultaniously look like an ass… I know it could be worse for him in that he could have made some sort of far right gaffe but honestly that only damages him, it doesn’t highlight what Barret has done. Thanks for making this race a little easier for the democrat…
Polling New York gov and senate race B. Seriously, if dems lose these seats it will be because of mind control devices, massive voter fraud, or some other 1 in an infinity fluke.
Cuomo Headed Towards a Landslide
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) leads either of his Republican rivals for governor by more than 2-1. He tops Rick Lazio (R), 57% to 25%, and leads Carl Paladino (R), 60% to 23%.
Key finding: New York State voters approve of the job Cuomo is doing as Attorney General by a 69% to 20% margin.
Smooth Sailing for Gillibrand
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York shows Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) way ahead of any of her three possible Republican challengers for U.S. Senate.
She beats Bruce Blakeman (R), 44% to 26%, tops David Malpass (R), 45% to 24%, and is ahead of Joseph DioGuardi (R), 43% to 28%.
Said pollster Maurice Carroll: “Who are those guys who want to run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand? In match-ups, each of the three gets the generic Republican vote. But most voters don’t know much about any of them.”
Put it in yesterday’s diary, but here it is again: I was trying to embed a spreadsheet in a diary, and the thing tells me the iframe tag isn’t allowed. Is there any other way to do this?
that independent groups are making this cycle.
Is this at all due to Citizens United?
I was hoping for more of a game-changer than Rees when Boswell’s campaign announced Friday that it would be rolling out a Republican endorsement. That said, Rees is best known in some swingy suburban areas that will be important for Boswell and Zaun.
In IA-01, Braley went up on tv with an ad responding to the American Future Fund‘s hit piece. Didn’t see that in yesterday’s digest.
Tears more hair out with every positive Boucher poll! He hasn’t won yet but it looks safe to say he has a low double digit lead at minimum.
I mean really? This guy’s a sitting US Congressman and doesnt have an election lawyer on staff who knows you cant put the word “New York” in the name of your party. It should be election law 101 when you are creating your own party to make sure the name you are using is legal.
People in other states have no idea the bysantine nature of NYS election law. For him to not check this out BEFORE hand is just crazy.
But its not like it will matter much. Having this 2nd line is really more for marketing purposes than garnering actual votes. Since the “NY Moderate” party is an Arcuri made up party if it does get on the ballot it will be on some far off row (like row I) and would most likely be very hard for most voters to find on the ballot.
Anybody aware of any polling on this race? Early in the cycle, Caligiuri was touted by some as a strong challenger. However, this race has flown under the radar.
Do you realize you have a ‘Support Joe Miller’ Google ad running down the left side of the screen?
I just started playing Fire Emblem (FE VII for the FE nerds), and I am constantly at risk of misreading Florina’s name as Fiorina.
This was talked about in the Daily Digest yesterday, but does anyone have any further insight? For those who don’t know, Alan Grayson came out with an internal yesterday showing him up on Daniel Webster 40-27, with 23 choosing “Other” and 11 percent undecided.
Here’s Grayson’s explanation:
“It looks like the people who voted for Todd Long, Patricia Sullivan and Kurt Kelly in August will be voting for George Metcalfe, Peg Dunmire and write-in Steve Gerritzen in November.”
Metcalfe is a fair tax supporter who doesn’t seem affiliated with any party. As of July 28th, he had rasied zero dollars. Peg Dunmire is tea party supported and had $6,000 in her campaign account – less than she owed. Steve Gerritzen is the candidate of (ahem) the Florida Whig Party, who might have made a difference if this were 1840. (and, he’s a write in)! Do these people sound like they’d be taking 23 percent of the vote from Webster.
But before you say it was a fishy poll, it apparently was conducted by PPP, one of the best pollsters in the business. And both Crisitunity and Steve S. of Kos, great political commentators both, said it was good news for Grayson although only 40% for an incumbent seems like bad news.
Anybody have any insights into this poll, which I think might actually qualify as the strangest this year?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
Also, in NV-03, Dina Titus is out with an ad against Joe Heck: