CA-Gov: This video (the second one on the page) is a couple of months old but is worth watching if you haven't seen it yet. I think it goes a ways toward explaining Meg Whitman's glass jaw. It's a local news piece detailing an ugly snub of the media by Whitman at a campaign stop she specifically invited the press to - and it's about as harshly negative as a straight news piece can be. When ordinary people imagine rich douchebags behaving douchily, this is what we envision.
KY-Sen: Republican muckety-muck Cathy Bailey, who almost ran in this race herself, endorsed Rand Paul, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorse Trey Grayson. They must love fiat currency.
PA-Sen, PA-07: Joe Sestak just endorsed Bryan Lentz to succeed him in PA-07... but Lentz faces zero primary opposition. The real news is that Lentz in turn endorsed Sestak, which may help him snare an extra vote or two in the Philly burbs.
UT-Sen: Is Orrin Hatch setting himself up to be Bob Bennett 2.0? He said that the teabaggers "don't have an open mind and they won't listen."
FL-Gov: Rick Scott loves his chocolate milk: The uber-wealthy gubernatorial candidate (who has been flooding the Florida airwaves) opposes a Charlie Crist-backed amendment to the state constitution which would ban offshore drilling. It's interesting to see how this is playing among conservative circles, where even Bill McCollum largely supports Crist's idea. On the flipside, both Scott and McCollum luv Arizona's new immigration law.
MA-04: Consultant and Marine vet Sean Bielat announced that he will challenge Rep. Barney Frank as a Republican.
MI-13: Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick may survive yet another primary. She narrowly escaped last cycle thanks to a split field again, and may yet do so again. Four opponents filed against her, including state Sen. Hansen Clarke.
NY-23: Keep the cat fud a-comin': Conservative Party chair (and newfound progressive hero) Mike Long sent out a memo to North Country GOP leaders explicitly comparing Matt Doheny to Dede Scozzafava and pleding to stick with Doug Hoffman. Long points out that Doheney (who sought his party's nomination last year) maxed out to Dede after she got the nod, and also said, "I'm going to do everything I can for her, and more." If Doheny wins the Republican primary, it could be Hoffman's turn to play spoiler on the Conservative line. History is definitely starting to rhyme.
OH-18: There were fat ladies... all around... but he never heard them singing.... State Sen. Bob Gibbs "declared victory" over a disgruntled Fred Dailey, even though official results have not yet been declared. Dailey called the move presumptuous and said the fat lady ain't sung. The Secretary of State doesn't have to certify results until 20 days after the election, and then, since the margin of victory was less than half a percent, we could see a recount - which might take until June. You know Zack Space is doing a happy dance.
PA-12: Big Dog coming to town: Bill Clinton is coming to Johnstown on May 16th to do a rally for Dem Mark Critz.
PA-17 (PDF): Susquehanna Polling & Research (5/7-8, likely voters, no trendlines):
David Argall (R): 21
Frank Ryan (R): 17
John First (R): 7
Allen Griffth (R): 5
Undecided: 47
(MoE: ±4.3%)
While Dow-Ford probably can't unseat Holden, these are some uninspiring numbers for the incumbent, who only gets 38% re-elects. Obama's job approval is 32-56.
SD-AL: Chris Nelson, South Dakota's Republican Secretary of State who is hoping to take on Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, is at least birther-curious, claiming that "many people" contacted him as SoS "asking how Obama could be on our ballot given this controversy." Nelson's primary opponents (who were asked the same question) didn't take the bait, so you gotta wonder if Nelson is trying to out-teabag them.
NY State Sen.: Among his many un-endearing habits, Mike Bloomberg has long used his zillions to prop up Republicans in the state Senate. However, Bloombo flack Howard Wolfson is now hinting that this tradition may come to an end. His Bloombleness has already endorsed Dem Craig Johnson of Long Island.
NRSC: Michael DuHaime, a top strategist for Chris Christie's gubernatorial campaign (and before that, political director for John McCain's presidential bid), is being tapped by the NRSC to head up their independent expenditure arm this year.
Rogue Democrat Pedro Espada Jr., who collaborated with Republicans in a June 8 coup that toppled Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, is returning to the fold, sources said.
That will give Democrats a 32-30 majority and, ostensibly, allow the Senate to convene and vote on crucial legislation, like mayoral control of city schools and a city sales tax hike.
Under the deal, Malcolm Smith will be the Senate president, several senators said.
Espada (D-Bronx) and Democratic conference leader John Sampson will serve as co-majority leaders, they said.
Jesus wow.
UPDATE: Espada is scum, the Senate leaders suck, this has been a huge mess & massive waste of money... but the one silver lining here is that Tom Golisano can seriously, seriously suck it.
It is becoming more and more clear with each passing day that our competitive Democratic challenges to the 32 Republican held state senate seats has grown to the 12 to 14 seat range. A great deal of money will be needed to materialize many of these dozen or so challenges into Democratic pickups in November. Early in the cycle it seemed as though we would enjoy the advantage of former Governor Spitzer's fundraising prowess to foot the bill needed to do the job. Of late, it has become apparent that Governor David Paterson will not be bringing anything close to those resources to the table.
more after the flip
He hasn't even taken office yet, and already Eliot Spitzer is working his magic:
Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer stunned the state's political establishment yesterday when he announced he had crossed party lines to appoint state Sen. Michael Balboni, an influential Long Island Republican, as his homeland security czar.
Just some cabinet appointment, right? So what, you say? Not so slow:
What elevates Balboni as a master political stroke is that his seat has a great chance to go Democratic in an upcoming special election. The GOP recently lost every statewide race. With its Senate majority down to three seats - Balboni caved in to party pressure last year not to run for attorney general - the loss of his seat could hasten the fall of the state's last GOP bastion of power.
Republicans currently hold a slim 34-28 advantage in the state Senate. That means we need just three more seats to take control of the body. (The Lt. Gov., soon to be a Dem, gets to break ties.) If we can take Balboni's seat, then we'd only need two pickups (though more would be better, of course) before redistricting. And winning here is very possible.
New York's 7th state Senate district has a voter registration breakdown (PDF) of 38D-35R-23I, with minor parties making up the rest. A special election will likely take place soon, in February. (Because this is New York and everything has not yet changed on Day One, there won't be a primary.) Newsday offers up a list of names being considered by the establishment on both sides.
Undoubtedly the state GOP will throw everything it has into this race, since the Senate is its last remaining bastion. But the Dems will do the same, and given how unpopular Republicans have become of late throughout the state and especially on Long Island, this race may even tilt Dem ever so slightly.
