State News Shot

AG Coakley running against Ghost of Scott Brown

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:17 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:17

From wbur.org:

It’s only the second time in Massachusetts history that someone succeeded as a write-in for a statewide office.

And it’s the latest proof that Republicans are enthusiastic about this election. GOP voters were appalled by the prospect of Coakley being unopposed after she lost to Scott Brown in January’s special Senate election.

McKenna is a serious candidate. A former prosecutor, he says he’ll focus mostly on three issues: public trust in the Attorney General’s Office, illegal immigration and public corruption.

McKenna is now busy organizing for this six-week sprint. And he hopes to raise $750,000 so he can match Coakley in advertising.

In a sense, Coakley is running against the ghost of Scott Brown. Her negatives went up dramatically during her race against Brown and, ever since, she has been viewed as a weak, disappointing candidate.

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RI: AG Candidate Targets Drunk Drivers

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:35 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:16

From projo.com:

Christopher H. Little, Moderate Party candidate for attorney general, is calling for a number of actions against Rhode Island’s drunken drivers in the wake of a front-page Sunday Providence Journal story that chronicled how Rhode Island’s laws fail to track repeat offenders in the way the federal government says it should.

Little, who last month advocated for the increased use of ignition-interlock devices to crack down on drunken drivers in Rhode Island, on Monday called for the immediate planning and scheduling of a Drunken Driving Summit “of all dedicated stakeholders in Rhode Island, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving.”

Little also called on the General Assembly to “unravel complex drunk-driving laws that make it too easy for those accused of drunk driving to refuse a breath test and get off. The legislature has clearly known of these issues, yet has not acted,” he stated.

Little also said that there should be better communication between the Department of Attorney General and the state’s city and town solicitors so drunken drivers “don’t slip through the cracks.”

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Complaint seeks to Compel Lt. Governor Candidate to remain in Race

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:14 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:14

From projo.com:

Kara D. Russo, who recently lost the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, filed a legal complaint with the state Board of Elections Monday that seeks to reverse the decision by GOP primary winner Heidi Rogers to drop out of the race to improve the election chances for Robert J. Healey, head of the Cool Moose party.

The board will consider the complaint at a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at its offices at 50 Branch Ave., Providence.

“This is about more than just me,” said Russo. “I want the will of the people to be upheld and not subverted. The Republican Party has to run someone in that race. [Rogers] doesn’t have the right to step out of the race.”

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Ohio: AG Candidates have Spirited Exchanges

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:36 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:13

From Cleveland.com:

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cuyahoga County corruption probe spilled into the Ohio Attorney General’s race as Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray and Republican challenger Mike DeWine traded blows over whether the state’s top attorney should have played a greater role in investigating the scandal.

In a contentious joint appearance before The Plain Dealer’s editorial board Monday, Cordray and DeWine had some of their sharper exchanges over whether the AG’s office should have done more to root out the graft.

“We had public corruption, which strikes at the core of the integrity of government, and for almost 10 months you sat on the sidelines,” DeWine told Cordray. “That is not my vision of how this office ought to be run.”

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CT AG Candidates to Debate

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:36 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:11

From Courant.com:

The Democratic and Republican nominees for

Connecticut Attorney General are set to face off in their first one-on-one debate.

The University of Connecticut Law School is hosting the event Thursday between Democrat George Jepsen and Republican Martha Dean.

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OK AG Candidates have Different Agendas

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:36 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 01:11

From The Dolan Company:

For Scott Pruitt, the race for attorney general is all about freedom.

Pruitt, a former Republican state senator, has focused his race for the state’s top attorney on fighting the administration of President Barack Obama and protecting Oklahomans from what Pruitt describes as an oppressive federal government.

Democrat Jim Priest has a different approach.

Priest, an Oklahoma City attorney, compares his campaign to the longest job interview of his life. He said the most important aspect of the campaign is choosing an attorney general who is competent and professional.

The differences between the two men are bold and stark.

Pruitt, a co-owner of the Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball team, first ran for the state Senate in 1998.

During his first term, Pruitt sought the Republican nomination for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District after former professional football player Steve Largent retired. Defeated in the attempt, Pruitt was re-elected without opposition in 2002.

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California AG Candidates Set first (and only) debate

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:36 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 21 September 2010 12:47

From SanFransicoBusinessTimes:

Attorney General candidates Republican Steve Cooley and Democrat Kamala Harris will debate Oct. 5 at the UC Davis School of Law.

The debate is their first — and only scheduled debate.

The debate will be held noon to 1 p.m. in the law school’s recently opened Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom. The candidates will be available to answer questions following the debate.

Tickets are not available due to limited seating. However, some public seating will be available on a first-come basis in a nearby classroom where the debate will be simulcast.

The debate will be available live to the public at law.ucdavis.edu.

Cooley is the Los Angeles County District Attorney, while Harris has the same position in San Francisco County.

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Stakes are High in Ohio Secretary of State Race

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:36 Written by rslcpol Monday, 20 September 2010 01:56

From Dispatch Politics:

The stakes are high in this year’s race for secretary of state, the winner of which will not only oversee Ohio’s election system but also hold a vital seat on the five-member state Apportionment Board that will redraw legislative districts in 2011.

Democrat Jennifer Brunner won the seat in 2006, but rather than seek re-election, she made what ended up as an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.

Asked to size up Brunner’s job performance, Democratic contender Maryellen O’Shaughnessy of Columbus, the Franklin County clerk of courts, called it a “masterful job of taking a pretty miserable circumstance and turning it around for the better in less than four years.”

However, she sees room for improvement, noting that Brunner, a former judge, “tends to do directives from on high.” O’Shaughnessy said she will work to make sure directives are not seen as punitive by county boards.

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Ohio: Democrat Attorney General a Corruption Coddler?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:37 Written by rslcpol Monday, 20 September 2010 01:27

From the Columbus Dispatch:

As a corruption scandal dominates the headlines in Cleveland, Republican attorney general candidate Mike DeWine is attacking incumbent Richard Cordray for allegedly standing by while corruption ran amok.

Yesterday, DeWine’s campaign accused Cordray of “ignoring corruption in Cleveland” — a reference to the wide-ranging malfeasance case implicating several Cuyahoga County politicians, including two of its three commissioners.

Cordray, like the Cleveland officials fingered in the scandal, is a Democrat. But otherwise, the mild-mannered attorney general — whose political base is in central Ohio — has little in common with the swaggering Cleveland pols at the center of the scandal.

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State Attorney won’t conduct criminal probe of Democrat Secretary of State

Last Updated on Monday, 20 September 2010 01:25 Written by rslcpol Monday, 20 September 2010 01:25

From courant.com:

Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane said Friday that he won’t pursue a criminal investigation into a 36,000-name constituent database maintained by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

The matter had been referred to Kane in early August by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal after an investigation in which Blumenthal concluded that Bysiewicz kept “inappropriate” personal and political information in the taxpayer-funded office database.

Blumenthal’s office has confirmed that he referred the report to Kane, to legislative leaders and to the State Elections Enforcement Commission in hopes of closing a legal loophole that permits political activity in state offices by elected officials, and to allow Kane to review whether any criminal laws were violated.

In a letter dated Friday, Kane wrote that after reviewing the report and talking with Blumenthal’s investigators, his office “has concluded that no criminal investigation is warranted.”

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