State News Shot

2010 Elections has Big Potential for Republicans

Last Updated on Monday, 23 August 2010 01:48 Written by rslcpol Monday, 23 August 2010 01:48

From Politics Daily:

Whether or not the GOP accomplishes this objective, Republicans are poised to make huge gains in statehouses. Democrats now hold 26 of the 50 governorships, with 37 of them on the ballot this year. Stuart Rothenberg, another independent analyst, anticipates that Republicans will pick up eight new governorships, giving them control of 32. Below the radar screens of these elections, Republicans are also optimistic about gaining seats in the 88 legislative chambers (of a total of 99) for which there are elections this year. These legislative elections will determine which party holds the upper hand in the 2011 congressional and legislative reapportionments that will be based on the 2010 census. Several legislative bodies are closely balanced, among them the Texas House, which Republicans control by a two-seat margin. Texas is the largest prize in the redistricting sweepstakes; it will gain four additional House seats (for a total of 36) because of population increases.

Republicans are favored to hold the Texas House and are in no apparent danger of losing any other legislative body they now control. Democrats, in contrast, are playing defense in attempting to hold onto at least a dozen chambers. “It looks dark for the Democrats,” says Tim Storey, a political analyst for the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL). “They are the victims of their own success.” Storey observes that the Democrats won heavily in the legislative elections of 2006 and 2008, putting them in control of many marginal districts. Now, with the pendulum swinging back, Republicans stand to gain some 500 legislative seats, most of which were lost in the two previous elections. Especially crucial in terms of congressional redistricting are the New York Senate, the Ohio House and the Pennsylvania House, all of which shifted narrowly to the Democrats in the 2008 election. Republicans also have opportunities to win control of the Alabama Senate and House (controlled by Democrats since the 1870s), the Indiana House and both the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly.

Read the Rest…

MO AG Withdraws Motion in Health care Lawsuit

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:29 Written by rslcpol Monday, 23 August 2010 01:41

From newstribune.com:

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is no longer seeking to intervene in a lawsuit over the federal health care overhaul.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said in a statement that Koster’s motion to intervene in the case was withdrawn Friday.

The development came after Kinder filed an amended complaint making it clear he was not trying to sue on behalf of the state.

Read the Rest…

Does PA need a Lt. Governor?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:30 Written by rslcpol Monday, 23 August 2010 01:28

From PennLive.com:

This much is true: Being elected lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania is somewhat akin to calling shotgun first while taking a late summer road trip.

The lucky one in the passenger seat on the driver’s right enjoys the best view, better leg room and a good chance to be first in line when the family caravan pulls into the roadside restaurant. If you called it first, then you’re sitting pretty.

For much of its history, the state job of lieutenant governor has amounted to about as much.

Read the Rest…

FL: 5 Candidates Scramble in Attorney General Race

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:30 Written by rslcpol Monday, 23 August 2010 01:27

From the Miami Herald:

It’s the résumé primary.

Boldly pitching different biographies, five lawyers are fighting for two spots Tuesday in the race to be Florida attorney general.

Three Republicans and two Democrats have duked it out for months in a down-ballot race that has struggled to attract attention from voters distracted by incessant ads by candidates for governor and U.S. Senate.

Republicans will choose from a trio of Holly Benson, 39, of Pensacola, a former state House member who later headed two state agencies under Gov. Charlie Crist; Pam Bondi, 44, of Tampa, a former assistant state attorney in Hillsborough who’s making her first try for public office; and Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, 49, of Fort Myers, a civil lawyer and former legislator and the only candidate in the race who has run statewide.

Read the Rest…

VA Governor Talks Surplus

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 01:38

From Richmond Times-Dispatch:

“With a politically divided General Assembly, nothing meritorious is possible without bipartisan cooperation. The spending cuts and fiscal discipline that led to this surplus were the results of tough negotiations and agreement between a Republican House and a Democratic Senate.”

McDonnell, appearing before the assembly money committees, said that nearly all of the extra cash is obligated, including the largest share — $82.2 million for a one-time, 3 percent bonus for state employees who have gone without a raise since November 2007.

McDonnell said $103.6 million of the $174.7 million must be returned by law to agencies. He said he would decide by Nov. 1 how the balance might be spent and will include those proposals in his recommendations to the 2011 legislature.

Read the Rest…

IL Dems Can’t Escape Blago

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 01:26

From Northwest Herald:

Illinois Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan has urged candidates to deal with the issue of Blagojevich “head on.” He said they should remind voters that it was a Democrat-controlled Legislature that impeached and removed Blagojevich from office.

Democrats face difficult questions about their ties to Blagojevich. It will be hard for Madigan and Gov. Pat Quinn, Blagojevich’s former lieutenant governor, to argue they have clean hands because they both supported him four years ago.

Democrats say they’ve got other ways to fight back. They can remind voters the state’s last Republican governor, George Ryan, is in prison after being convicted of corruption. They can highlight that Giannoulias’ Republican opponent, Congressman Mark Kirk, was caught embellishing details about his military service in the Naval Reserves and other episodes in his life. And they can target Republican candidates over their voting records in Congress and in the state Legislature.

Read the Rest…

MN House Republican Agenda: Grow the Economy

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 01:25

From bemidjipioneer.com:

Aside from getting government out of the way, the House Republican agenda is to ask businesses how the state can help them prosper, says the House GOP leader.

“We’re going to ask how we can help the hybrid economy — not get more money from Washington that came from China that’s borrowed that we and our grandkids are going to have to pay back,” says House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove.

“How can we stimulate the local economies and get the government out of the way, first and foremost, and how can we be of help?” Zellers said Wednesday evening in an interview.

Republicans will have a “God-honest respect for the tax dollars that we’re taking in,” he said.

Zellers was in Bemidji to push Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann, the Republican candidate opposing Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji.

Read the Rest…

MI: Lt. Governor Speculation Begins

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:31 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 01:20

From the Michigan Messenger:

Former Congressional candidate and well known conservative activist Jack Hoogendyk Thursday sent out an email newsletter looking at three possible Republican Lt. Gov candidates in the upcoming GOP nominating convention.

While the top of the ticket has been decided for the party, won by Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, posts such as Secretary of State, Attorney General and Lt. Governor are still up for grabs and will be decided by a vote of the delegates at the end of the month.

Traditionally, the Lt. Governor choice has been left to the convention, though the governor candidate’s option tends to carry the weight in pushing the delegates to choice.

But Snyder has not mentioned who his Lt. Gov. choice will be, leaving a void where pundits and activist are able to do some political guess work, and advocacy, of their own.

Read the Rest…

After Verdict, IL AG Has harsh words for Blago

Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 12:58 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 12:58

From wgntv.com:

– Illinois’ top lawyer weighed in for the first time publicly on the Blagojevich trial verdict.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan had some harsh words for the former governor, despite the hung jury.

“Those of us who work in Illinois government have known for years of Rod Blagojevich’s disdain for the law and disregard for ethics,” Madigan said at a unrelated news event Thursday. “The verdict on only one count is going to require us in Illinois to continue to endure the criminal process as it plays itself out.”

Read the Rest…

Utah AG may join Effort Opposing Video Game Ban

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:31 Written by rslcpol Friday, 20 August 2010 12:38

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah may join efforts by the video game industry to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a California law banning the sale of violent video games to teenagers.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Thursday he is talking with a number of his colleagues from other states who are working on a potential friend-of-the-court brief opposing California’s law.

“If we do file it, it will be narrowly tailored to deal with two things: free speech and our law enforcement concern at handing a Supreme Court-recognized defense to every criminal out there: ‘Oh, yeah, the video game made me do it,’?” Shurtleff said.

The California law, which passed in 2005, would prohibit the sale of violent video games to those under age 18. But a federal appeals court blocked implementation of the law, ruling that the ban infringed on free speech and California couldn’t prove video game violence was harmful to minors.

Read the Rest…

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »