State News Shot

California Senate Special Election: Obama Endorses; Candidate Loses

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:33 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 18 August 2010 01:11

Despite the Obama mailer (or because of it?) Republican Sam Blakeslee comes out on top in the California Senate District 15 Special Election.

From mercurynews.com:

Republican Sam Blakeslee defeated Democrat John Laird in Tuesday’s closely-watched state Senate race, keeping the highly coveted seat vacated by Republican Abel Maldonado in GOP hands.

The unofficial election results have the San Luis Obispo Assemblyman in front of the former Santa Cruz Assemblyman by nearly 5 percentage points.

“I’m very excited,” said Blakeslee, who was celebrating victory late Tuesday with supporters in his hometown. “I’m deeply aware of the challenges of the state. Tomorrow we roll up our sleeves and go back to work.”

The 15th District seat, which opened up when Maldonado was appointed lieutenant governor this spring, gave Democrats the opportunity to gain another vote in the Senate and potentially control the state’s prickly budget negotiations. The stakes summoned millions of dollars in special interest money and even an endorsement from President Barack Obama.

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KS: Republican AG Candidate Leads Democrat Incumbent; GOP Secretary of State Candidate Leads

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:33 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 18 August 2010 01:03

From kwch.com:

Kansas will also elect an Attorney General. If the election for Attorney General were today, who would you vote for? Republican Derek Schmidt? Democrat Steve Six? Or Libertarian Dennis Hawver?

54%
Schmidt (R)

34%
Six (D)

7%
Hawver (L)

5%
Undecided

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NH: Democrat Candidate is Arrested, Quits School Board, Still in Race

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:33 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 18 August 2010 12:29

From Concord Monitor:

Carlos Cardona, a Franklin activist and Democratic candidate for state representative, resigned from the school board Monday after the police said he threatened to kill his partner with a knife.

Cardona, 21, was involved in a domestic dispute about 1 p.m. July 18 at the couple’s 42 School St. apartment, court records show. The police said Cardona held a knife in his partner’s direction while threatening to kill him. He also slammed a door, striking his partner in the arm, court records show.

The police arrested Cardona for criminal threatening, a felony, and simple assault, a misdemeanor.

In an interview yesterday, Cardona denied the charges and said he plans to take back his resignation. He said local Republicans, led by Franklin School Board Chairwoman Kathleen Russo, pressured him into resigning in haste Monday.

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Alabama House Republicans Unveil Agenda

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:34 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 August 2010 01:15

From msn.com:

House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard, who’s also chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said all Republican candidates for the Legislature are supporting the “2010 Republican Handshake with Alabama,” and its passage depends on Republicans taking control of the Legislature for the first time in 136 years.

To try to accomplish that, GOP candidates are doing more than saying what they will do. Hubbard said they are tying Alabama Democrats to Washington to capitalize on voters’ uneasiness with the national economy and dislike of some new federal policies, particularly health care.

“The Democrats in Alabama are no different than the Democrats in Washington. They have the same philosophy,” said state Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston. Marsh, the GOP’s state finance chairman, was one of 17 legislative candidates who joined Hubbard to unveil the legislative agenda.

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Florida AG Race is Wide Open

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:34 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 August 2010 01:00

From ino.com:

With billions at stake over Gulf oil damage claims and a pending lawsuit over new federal health care laws, the next attorney general Florida voters choose may be their most influential in years.

But there’s no clear front runner among the three conservative Republicans and two Democrats who have struggled to distinguish themselves from one another.

Republicans Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Holly Benson and Pam Bondi are aligned in their support of gun rights, tougher immigration laws and calls to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care program. The two Democrats, state senators Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber, are focused on rooting out public corruption and Medicare fraud.

“There’s going to be a lot of last-minute deciders,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political scientist.

With a slate of credible candidates, she said, voters likely will base their decisions on “gut feelings” and “perceptions of who could move up the chain politically after leaving the AG’s office.”

Current Attorney General Bill McCollum, in fact, is leaving the post to seek the governor’s office. Ahead of the Aug. 24 primary, he has helped fire up the immigration debate in Florida by declaring his support for a crackdown on illegal immigrants he says would be tougher than Arizona’s effort, but better defined and fairer.

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Runoff in California Senate Special Election Today

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:34 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 August 2010 12:52

You can read more about this race in the piece co-authored by RSLC Political Director Ben Cannatti on Townhall.com

From the Californian:

Monterey County election officials expect voter turnout for today’s runoff election in state Senate District 15 to be a bit higher than it was for the June 22 special election.

Candidates on the ballot are Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo; John Laird, former assemblyman and Democrat from Aptos; independent Jim Fitzgerald; and Libertarian Mark Hinkle.

Districtwide, Blakeslee garnered 49.4 percent of the vote in five coastal counties. Laird had nearly 42 percent, while Hinkle and Fitzgerald combined for nearly 9 percent. The runoff was forced because none met the 50-percent-plus-one standard to be certified a winner. That standard doesn’t apply in a California runoff, where the largest vote-getter wins.

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Democrat AG Biden misspells his name in Facebook Ad

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 12:49 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 August 2010 12:49

From examiner.com:

So, if no one is running against him, why should we focus on Beau Biden right now? For many Delawareans, the social networking website Facebook is forcing us to pay attention to Beau. He has recently put advertisements all over the popular website (we have most likely all seen the little ads on the right hand side of the screen), at least enough to draw the attention of this writer. And why not? What’s wrong with a little bit of premier targeted advertising?

Nothing is wrong with advertising, unless you make a mistake.

What mistake could Beau Biden have made that could draw negative attention to his campaign?
Putting the proverbial foot in his mouth (or I guess you could say the kink in the typing hands) seems to run in the Biden family as Beau Biden’s latest advertisement spells his own name wrong. Since his last name is the one with all the recognition it’s even more interesting that Biden was the misspelled name.

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Ohio: New PAC takes on Democrat Secretary of State Candidate

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:35 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:10

From dispatch.com:

A new political action committee organized by veteran Republican consultant Mark Weaver has formed for the express purpose of attacking Democratic secretary of state candidate Maryellen O’Shaughnessy.

Called the TAME PAC, the group launched a web site today dedicated to, as PAC chairwoman Jeanette Moll said, pointing out why O’Shaughnessy is the “wrong choice for secretary of state.”

O’Shaughnessy, the Franklin County clerk of courts, is facing Republican Jon Husted, a state senator from Kettering. Libertarian Charles Earl also is in the race. Husted already holds a massive fundraising advantage, and support from groups like this will only widen the gap.

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SC AG Takes on the Feds

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 12:45

From the Post and Courier:

The health care lawsuit, in particular, seems to be the target of Republican attorneys general across the country, said Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried, who was a solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan.

“I do think the constitutional argument is a joke, not serious,” he told The News.

But McMaster thinks the federal government requiring citizens to buy something is worth fighting.

“If the Congress can require South Carolinians and others to go out and buy one thing, they can require them to go out and buy another and another or do all sorts of things that are not allowed under the Constitution,” said McMaster, who ran unsuccessfully this year for the GOP nomination for governor.

Legal experts say there is some validity to the states’ claims.

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Changes Eyed for PA Lt. Governor Office

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 12:40

From LDNews:

The cost and relatively few duties accorded the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor’s office has some proposing changes, and one state lawmaker is even drafting a bill to abolish the office.

Taxpayers spend an average of $1.13 million a year on the office, although the lieutenant governor is only required to head a local government advisory board, sit on an emergency management panel only convened in the event of a crisis, review applications for pardons and preside over the Senate.

In seven states—Tennessee, West Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Oregon and Arizona—there is no lieutenant governor, with succession falling to another elected official.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, says Pennsylvania should join them, allowing succession to devolve to the Senate president pro tempore. His measure would start the constitutional amendment process, which requires passage by the Legislature in two sessions followed by approval by the voters.

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