State News Shot

ND: AG Working on Changing ‘Sexting’ Law

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 02:24 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 02:24

From inforum.com:

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (STEN’-juhm) says changes need to be made to North Dakota’s so-called “sexting law” after a judge ruled it unconstitutional.

Stenehjem tells North Dakota Public Radio that he’s working on changes to be considered by lawmakers next year.

A district judge in Fargo recently dismissed a case against a male college student accused of secretly recording nude videos of a female roommate. Judge Steven McCullough said the law passed by the Legislature last year barring the secret creation of sexually expressive images is unconstitutional because it’s overly broad and outlaws material protected by free-speech rights.

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GA: Secretary of State to create Election Reform Panel

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 02:19 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 02:19

From Augusta Chronicle:

Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced Wednesday that he will appoint a non-partisan panel to recommend election reforms.

He made a brief announcement at the beginning of the monthly meeting of the State Elections Board that he chairs. He told the five-man board and the local elections officials in the audience that the panel will hold hearings around the state for input.

“My thought is we need to look at this as reform but also how can we reduce costs in elections to our counties and to the state,” he said.

Kemp said he would appoint the panel in coming weeks and that it would meet throughout the year. It will make its recommendations for legislation during the 2012 session.

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California Begins New Era in Redistricting

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 02:12 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 02:12

From the LA Times:

Reporting from Sacramento — A handful of everyday Californians were chosen Thursday to tackle the politically incendiary task of redrawing the state’s voting districts — a job that voters decided to take away from political insiders.

A bookstore owner from Yolo County, a retired engineer from Claremont, an insurance agent from San Gabriel and an attorney from Norco are among those who will determine how legislative districts are drawn as part of an experiment that promises to drastically change the state’s political landscape.

Until now, the boundaries of legislative and congressional districts were drawn every 10 years by state legislators in a process that critics said was often skewed for partisan advantage or to protect incumbents. Many officeholders have been able to skate from election to election without much in the way of serious competition.

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KY: Senate President Begins Fundraising for Governor Run

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 03:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 02:09

From Courier-Journal:

Senate President David Williams and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, running as a slate in next year’s governor’s race, took in about $500,000 this week at a Lexington fundraiser, according to their campaign manager.

Williams and Farmer are seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Gov. Steve Beshear and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

The fundraiser, their first, was held at Lexington’s Donamire Farm, owned by Lexington developers Don and Mira Ball.

It likely was the highest-grossing event in a state election since the law limited contributions to $1,000 per person in each election beginning in 1995.

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NC: Republicans Pick their Senate Leader

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 02:06 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 02:06

From Journalnow.com:

North Carolina Senate Republicans yesterday nominated their minority leader as their choice to be the leader of the entire chamber when the Senate reconvenes in January under its first GOP majority in more than a century.

The Senate Republican Caucus met privately in Raleigh and, in a voice vote without opposition, settled on Sen. Phil Berger of Eden as its choice for Senate president pro tempore, said Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the caucus.

The actual election for pro tem won’t occur until all 50 senators are seated on the first day of the new legislative session, but Republicans will have a 31-19 advantage, making Berger’s election almost a certainty.

Berger, 58, was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and elevated to minority leader in 2004.

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NJ: Lt. Governor Talks Women in Politics

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 01:49 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 01:48

From nj.com:

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno has no problem standing quietly behind Gov. Chris Christie in public, she told the Women in Municipal Government breakfast this morning.

“Sometimes it’s fun to have your mouth shut and your head really, really low when you’re standing behind this governor,” Guadagno said. “You never know where he’s going to go.”

And it’s not because Guadagno, the state’s first lieutenant governor, considers herself a wallflower.

“I get an opportunity to make policy with this governor everyday,” she said. “I enjoy every single minute of it every single day because I get access. I get to represent our gender at the table every single day.”

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Ohio: Have we seen the last of soon to be former Attorney General Richard Cordray?

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 02:29 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 01:43

Will he be appointed judge? We’ll see. But if he’s done with the public life, there are always Jeopardy! reruns.

From Columbus Dispatch:

By nearly all accounts, Richard Cordray is an ambitious politician and a talented lawyer, but the 51-year-old Democrat again finds himself in political purgatory after another election.

Cordray will leave office in January after serving two years as attorney general. He fell to Republican challenger Mike DeWine in a close race Nov. 2.

It wasn’t Cordray’s first loss in a major race: He failed to win election to Congress in 1992, attorney general in 1998 and the U.S. Senate in 2000. But Cordray had been on a comeback streak in the past several years, including blowout wins for state treasurer in 2006 and for attorney general in 2008.

In a conversation this evening, Cordray wouldn’t say what’s in store for him next, but he made it clear that his name will appear on a ballot again.

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CT AG Race Settled

Last Updated on Friday, 19 November 2010 01:11 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 November 2010 01:11

From Courant.com:

Sixteen days after Connecticut’s long-count election, Republican Martha Dean, the unsuccessful candidate for state Attorney General, quietly conceded to Democratic victor George Jepsen and said she is dropping her legal challenge of Jepsen’s eligibility to hold office – perhaps reluctantly.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court informed the public and the AG candidates of the eligibility criteria too late in the election cycle for this issue to be brought to the voters’ attention properly,” Dean said in a statement posted on one of her campaign web pages. “Mr. Jepsen, the voters, and I all learned of the Court’s interpretation of the statutory eligibility criteria’s full-meaning just days before the election.”

On the eve of the Nov. 2 election, Dean, who was trailing, went to court in an effort to block Jepsen’s candidacy by arguing that he lacked the legal experience required by state law to serve as attorney general. Jepsen disagreed.

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FL: AG-elect Bondi Picks Former AG Candidates for her Transition Team

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 November 2010 02:22 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 18 November 2010 02:22

From The Palm Beach Post:

Attorney General-elect Pam Bondi enlisted two losing attorney general primary candidates to her transition team, which will be chaired by former St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker,her predecessor Attorney General Bill McCollum and former House Speaker Larry Cretul.

Bondi tapped former state Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat who lost his AG bid in the primary to former state Sen. Dan Gelber who lost to Bondi, to serve on her pill mills and prescription drug team.

And Bondi recruited former state Rep. Holly Benson, her one-time opponent in the GOP primary, as one of her Medicaid fraud advisers. Benson formerly served as secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

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Arkansas AG – Term Limited Democrat Could Stay in Office Anyway

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 November 2010 01:59 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 18 November 2010 01:46

From Times Record Online:

Unless the incumbent steps down, Gov. Mike Beebe cannot call a special election for a state House district in which a deceased candidate won the general election, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in an opinion Wednesday.

Beebe had asked McDaniel for an opinion regarding a new election in House District 24, where Republican Keith Crass defeated Democrat Larry Williams even though Crass died before the Nov. 2 election. The incumbent, Democrat Rick Saunders, 68, of Hot Springs, was prevented by term limits from seeking re-election.

“Unless Rep. Saunders vacates the office, no ‘vacancy’ will arise under the circumstances at hand, so as to trigger your call for a special election,” McDaniel said in his opinion.

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