State News Shot

Iowa Republican Looks to Oust Longtime Attorney General

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:57 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 2 September 2010 12:39

From dailydem.com:

In 1978, Iowa elected Tom Miller to be Attorney General and except for four years after he attempted to win the Democratic nomination for governor and lost, he has been in that position. In 1978, Tom Miller was 34 years old.

In 2010, GOP challenger Brenna Findley (R-Dexter) is also 34 years old and looking to unseat the incumbent much like Miller did 32 years ago. She has some endorsements from some big names in the Republican party and has worked with one of the most conservative Iowans there is as Representative Steve King’s chief of staff and legal advisor for the past several years.

She came back to Iowa after that job and got back into private practice and then decided she would like to take on Miller to become the next Attorney General.

“Iowa is facing some serious problems. I want to do something to get the state back on track and get people back to work,” Findley said.

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RSLC in the News: To the Victor Go the Spoils

Last Updated on Thursday, 2 September 2010 11:48 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 2 September 2010 11:48

From National Review Online:

Then, of course, there is the factor of redistricting. Demographics and polling guru Michael Barone examines that potential factor here. The governorships of Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin appear key, along with control of the legislative chambers in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Barone also notes that to maximize Republican advantages, Meg Whitman will need to be in a position to veto the Democrats’ most lopsided efforts in California. He adds that district lines redrawn to favor one party aren’t guarantees; over the course of the decade, voters move, attitudes change, and once-safe seats start drifting into the grasp of the opposition.

In July, the Republican State Leadership Committee — the national committee that tracks, coordinates, and leads GOP efforts at the state-legislative level — projected that Democrats would not take control of a single state legislative chamber in the country this year, and that Republicans would pick up four chambers, with twelve additional Democrat-controlled chambers in key states “in play.” Their assessment concluded, “Republicans have an opportunity to create 20–25 new Republican Congressional Districts through the redistricting process over the next five election cycles, solidifying a Republican House majority. In fact, 33 of the 75 most competitive congressional districts, as identified in National Public Radio’s June report, are located in [RSLC] target states this year. If [RSLC] achieves its goals, nearly half of the traditionally swing districts will be redrawn by Republicans before the 2012 election cycle. The remaining seats will either be subject to Democrat control or part of a partisan-neutral redistricting process.”

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Florida Republican Nominee for Governor Picks House Rep as Lt. Governor Running Mate

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:57 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 2 September 2010 09:43

From Rick Scott:

Even more importantly, I am honored that Jennifer is the first African American Republican woman to be part of a statewide ticket in Florida.

We are launching today a new website to share with you my outstanding running mate and the remarkable story of Jennifer Carroll. She is the embodiment of the American Dream. She came to America as a young girl, decided to serve her country with the United States Navy, pursued a higher education, started a small business, and then was elected the first African American female Republican in the Florida State Legislature. Take a moment, if you don’t already know her to meet Jennifer by visiting www.ScottCarrollforFlorida.com.

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CO: New Poll Has Republicans Up in AG and SOS Races

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:58 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 01:12

From Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies:

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is up 15 and Republican Secretary of State challenger Scott Gessler is up 6

Louisville, CO – Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies today released the results of
a 954N automated survey of likely general election voters in Colorado conducted
August 25th and 26th. This survey has a margin of error of +/? 3.2% at the 95%
confidence interval. The survey included image ratings and a ballot test in the
election for Governor, and ballot tests in the elections for Treasurer, Attorney
General and Secretary of State.

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IA: GOP Governor Candidate Says AG Has Some Responsibility for Egg Recall

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:59 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:30

From Radio Iowa:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad says the state’s attorney general, who is a Democrat, bears some responsibility for the massive egg recall which has created a “black eye” for Iowa’s poultry industry, while Attorney General Tom Miller says Branstad has his facts wrong.

Branstad blasted Miller during an appearance earlier today in Le Mars. “The present attorney general basically let Jack DeCoster off the hook. The whole state of Iowa is getting a black eye for that guy, habitual violator,” Branstad said of DeCoster. “We were on course to have him put out of business before I left office and then they cut a deal with him.”

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Arizona AG Race is Finally Settled; Republican Looks for Win

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:59 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:26

From The Arizona Republic:

With the parties’ nominees for attorney general decided, both candidates moved quickly Tuesday to criticize their opponent and define the issues in the Nov. 2 general election.

Tom Horne, state superintendent of public instruction, became the Republican nominee Tuesday morning after his opponent, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, conceded the race.

Early voting begins Oct. 7, giving the candidates only a few weeks to make their cases to the electorate – and to raise money from it. Both candidates are running without public financing.

Horne said Democratic opponent Felecia Rotellini would be a stand-in for President Barack Obama who would not adequately defend Arizona against encroachments on states’ rights.

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Republican Secretary of State Candidate Attends Beck Rally

Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:23 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:23

From DesMoinesRegister.com:

Schultz, a Council Bluffs city council member who is trying to oust Democratic Secretary of State Michael Mauro, flew to Washington, D.C. this past weekend for the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

Schultz said the event was far from what he’d predicted.

Beck, a conservative broadcaster with a show on Fox News called “The Glenn Beck Program,” called for a religious rebirth in America at the site where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years earlier.

“I have been to several tea party events over the last year,” Schultz said, ” and I thought that Glenn Beck’s Honor Rally would be similar to these events and I wanted to see it firsthand. It was not at all what I expected it to be, but I was not disappointed.

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Ohio: Republican DeWine Raising money from Multiple Sources; Democrat… Not so much

Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:21 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:21

From Politifact.com:

One notion that Democrats in Ohio and elsewhere haven’t been able to shake over the last generation or so is that their campaigns are funded by cigar-puffing party big wigs and labor bosses.

In the race to become Ohio’s next Attorney General, Republican candidate Mike DeWine played up to just this kind of stereotype during an interview with ONN anchor Jim Heath on the Aug. 15 edition of Capitol Square. Heath asked DeWine if he was concerned about trailing Democratic Attorney General Richard Cordray in fundraising. Cordray reported he had $3.5 million at the end of July, while DeWine, a former U.S. senator, had $2.1 million.

After explaining that recent campaign finance reports showed the fundraising gap narrowing, DeWine turned the focus back onto Cordray, insinuating that he is a tool of the Democratic party and labor union bosses with a much narrower base of support.

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IA: Republican Attorney General Hopeful Targets New Jobs

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:21 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:15

From the Hawkeye:

Spurring job creation isn’t a typical duty for attorneys general, but the Republican candidate for the office, Brenna Findley, knows “brain drain” has been a problem for Iowa, and she wants to help.

Findley, 34 – the same age the current attorney general was when sworn into office in 1978 – already has done a small part in fighting that battle by returning from California to take a job in Iowa.

Raised on a farm outside Dexter, Findley returned to Iowa in 2003 to become chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-5th District. She now has a private law practice in Des Moines.

As a candidate, though, she sees untapped potential for an attorney general.

“A lot of people ask me (how to spur job creation as an attorney general) because it hasn’t been a focus of the current attorney general, and I do it by serving as the problem-solving lawyer on Iowa’s economic development team to bring jobs to Iowa,” Findley said Monday. “I’ll focus on at least two areas: One is frivolous litigation, and red-tape regulations.”

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VA: Attorney General Vows to Keep Fighting

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:22 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:01

From fredericksburg.com

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will continue to challenge what he calls the “utterly destructive” and “invasive, oppressive” policies of an overstepping federal government.

“States created the federal government, not the other way around,” Cuccinelli said to applause yesterday morning at a Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast event.

About 75 people, mostly business and elected leaders, came to the Fredericksburg Country Club yesterday for the Republican attorney general’s 40-minute address.

Cuccinelli has been aggressively challenging the policies of the Obama administration since being sworn in as the state’s attorney general in January.

He compared the administration to the British during the Revolutionary period and said it’s up to the states to challenge federal laws that “trample” the U.S. Constitution and impose crippling regulations on businesses. He said the lawsuits he’s filed are “exactly what the Founders intended.”

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