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Archive for the ‘Secretaries of State’ Category


KS: Money Comes in for Statewide Races

From cjonline.com:

But the secretary of state’s race provided some surprises. State Sen. Chris Steineger spent almost twice as much on his Democratic primary campaign than incumbent Chris Biggs. Among the Republican candidates, Kris Kobach, a law professor who helped draft Arizona’s new immigration law, saw his spending dwarfed by that of a lesser-known rival, J.R. Claeys.

Kobach has grabbed most of the attention because of his work nationwide on immigration. His GOP primary opponents are Claeys, former chief executive of the National Association of Government Contractors, and Shawnee County election commissioner Elizabeth Ensley.

Kobach, of Piper, raised $61,308 from Jan. 1 through July 22, bringing the total for his campaign to $144,168, not including $56,047 of personal funds he contributed. His total spending was $124,572.

Claeys, of Salina, raised almost nothing this year and has received $35,827 since beginning his campaign in 2008. But he also has put $300,000 of his own funds into the race — and that allowed him to spend $282,003 this year, most of it on broadcast ads in mid-July.

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West Virginia GOP Raises Questions

From the Hill:

Republicans are worried the bill is meant to dissuade Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) from waging a campaign for Senate in a special election since it would require her to resign her House seat in order to run.

GOP suspicions have been amplified by the fact that the Democratic decisionmakers guiding the process so far — Manchin, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, state Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin and state House Speaker Richard Thompson — all have ambitions for higher office.

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CA: Meg Whitman looks to give $30 million to State GOP

From SFGate:

California Republicans are buzzing about the possibility that billionaire gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman – who has spent nearly $100 million of her own money on her campaign – could be preparing another unprecedented personal investment in her political future: a $30 million-plus infusion into the state party.

The Chronicle has obtained a draft of a detailed 44-page state GOP “2010 Victory Plan” that outlines the party’s $85.5 million financial blueprint for a campaign effort that includes $30 million directed to the gubernatorial race.

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LA: Secretary of State Leads in Lt. Governor Fundraising

From nola.com:

Secretary of State Jay Dardenne has raised more than $430,000 for his campaign for lieutenant governor in recent weeks and has almost $803,000 on hand to spend on the Oct. 2 primary, finance records filed Tuesday showed.

The totals put Dardenne in the early money-raising lead in the announced Republican field that includes St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis of Slidell, musician Sammy Kershaw of Lafayette and state GOP Chairman Roger Villere, a Metairie florist

Democratic Party officials said they intend to have a strong candidate in the race, which officially begins with qualifying today through Friday. The seat became vacant when Mitch Landrieu stepped down to become mayor of New Orleans in May.

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KS: Democrats Spar Over Secretary of State Race

From LJWorld.com:

An ongoing feud among Democrats in the Kansas Senate has spilled over into the party’s primary for secretary of state.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka e-mailed 27,000 Democrats last month, announcing his endorsement of incumbent Chris Biggs and urging fellow Sen. Chris Steineger of Kansas City to withdraw from the race.

Hensley, who has spent the better part of three decades in the Statehouse, said Democrats stood the best chance in more than 60 years of holding onto the secretary of state’s office. Biggs was appointed in March by Democrat Gov. Mark Parkinson to finish the unexpired term of Republican Ron Thornburgh, who left for a job in the private sector.

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SD: GOP Picks SoS Candidate; Finalizes Ballot

From Fairfield Citizen:

Both major parties firmed up their candidate lineups for the November general elections Saturday at their state conventions.

State Sen. Jason Gant of Sioux Falls won a three-way battle for the South Dakota Republican Party’s nomination to run for secretary of state.

Gant, 33, won the nomination on the second ballot, defeating Deputy Secretary of State Teresa Bray and state Rep. Tom Deadrick of Platte.

Gant and other Republicans said they’re worried that the Democratic candidate, state Sen. Ben Nesselhuf of Vermillion, would weaken controls on voting by allowing registration on Election Day and doing away with some voter identification requirements.

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IN: State Races come into Focus

From CourierPress.com:

Democrats chose Vop Osili, a 47-year-old Indianapolis architect, to run for the secretary of state’s office vacant because Todd Rokita has reached his two-term limit. In what turned out to be no contest, Democratic delegates chose him over Carmel attorney Tom McKenna.

Osili will face Republican nominee Charlie White, a 40-year-old Fishers town councilman, in November.

The key issue in that race is likely to be the voter identification law that Rokita championed. The law requires Hoosiers to present state-issued photo IDs when they go to the polls.

White has said he will vigorously defend it, while Democrats have called it unfair.

For state treasurer, incumbent Republican Richard Mourdock, 59, a former Vanderburgh County commissioner, will face South Bend businessman Pete Buttigieg, 28.

Mourdock has rocketed into the public eye in the last year because of his challenge of the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of two Indiana pension funds. That challenge is a likely focal point of the state treasurer’s race.

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KS: Republican Takes floor at Secretary of State Candidate Forum

From LJWorld.com:

The forum, sponsored by Johnson County Young Republicans, took place at Barley’s Brewhaus in Shawnee.

Voting regulations came to the forefront of Kobach’s decision to run for secretary of state, he said. “Certain groups (such as ACORN) … are pushing for lighter voter laws. In my view that is breaking down the laws,” he said.

Kobach said one way to ensure fair elections is to implement a photo identification requirement to ensure citizens vote only once and illegal aliens are not voting.

“If we do we will create a model that other states can use,” he said. “Each illegitimate vote negates a citizen’s vote. If we pass a photo ID law, which Brownback will sign, the ACLU will sue. I’ve already drafted a law, but we need to be able to defend it. If I’m lucky enough to be elected Kansas secretary of state, I’ll defend it.”

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Hotly Contested Races in Kansas

From sunpublications.com:

Normally a rather unpretentious race, the Republican primary between former state GOP Chair Kris Kobach, J.R. Claeys, Salina, and Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley could provide the most fireworks of all.

Claeys’ campaign manager is Christian Morgan, who was Kansas Republican Party executive director in 2007 and 2008 when Kobach was party chair. An audit initiated by the Federal Elections Commission for those two years has implicated Kobach and Morgan for financial mismanagement that includes failure to pay state and federal taxes, approving questionable expenditures, and acceptance of illegal contributions.

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Recount Set in Alabama

From alabama.raycompolitics.com:

Secretary of State Beth Chapman put it this way in an email to GOP chairman Mike Hubbard and the James and Bentley campaigns over the weekend:

“Mr. Tim James petitioned for a recount. The Republican Party chairman agreed to a recount, the Attorney General agreed to a recount, I have agreed to a recount…. A recount for Mr. James is the one thing that everyone has agreed to.”

Today, Attorney General Troy King complains of “misinformation” concerning his advisory opinion.

This is the statement his office released this morning:

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