State News Shot

RSLC in the News: National Political Groups Plan to spend $1 million in Tennessee

Last Updated on Monday, 16 August 2010 12:19 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 12:19

From knoxnews.com:

National partisan groups are poised to spend more than $1 million this year to influence Tennessee state House and Senate campaigns involving people like Republican Dennis Powers and Democrat Keith Clotfelter.

That is a lot of money for the two Jacksboro men who say they are friends and neighbors, despite differing political philosophies. They also say the national political picture, if not national money, is a factor in their campaign. The race is one of perhaps a dozen this fall key to deciding which party controls the state House.

Powers, who runs an insurance agency, had a campaign account balance of $935 at last report, filed shortly before he defeated incumbent Rep. Chad Faulkner of Luttrell to win the Republican nomination in the 36th House District.

Clotfelter, a businessman who has been involved in manufactured housing sales and construction, had a cash-on-hand balance of $4,179 in the report filed shortly before he won a three-way race for the Democratic nomination to the seat covering Campbell and Union counties of East Tennessee.

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Oregon: Not Your Traditional Swing State

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

RSLC Political Director, Ben Cannatti, co-authors the fourth piece in the series “RSLC State Race Spotlight” on Townhall.com:

At the federal level, many Republicans view Oregon—with two Democratic Senators and four out of five Democratic U.S. Representatives—a far-left leaning liberal bastion with anachronistic fiscal and social policies. At the state level, though, the Beaver State is a swing state with elections that could go either way.

Yes, the Democrats hold roughly a 10 percentage-point advantage over Republicans in voter registrations, but with more than a quarter of the electorate registered as unaffiliated or with third-parties, the Democratic advantage is far from locked in. No, the Republicans are not going to magically flip the Congressional delegation this year, but they do have a shot at breaking the Democrats’ current stranglehold in Salem. A few key victories could curtail the Dem’s redistricting advantage and lay the groundwork for future GOP success in the Beaver State.

In the race for governor, Republican nominee and former NBA player Chris Dudley currently leads his Democratic opponent. Republicans can take control of the 30-member Oregon State Senate if they are able to net four seats in the midterm elections. Even if they don’t win the upper chamber, getting closer to parity with the Democrats in the senate would give the Republicans a strong negotiating position with a friendly Governor.

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AR: Secretary of State Candidates butt heads over Politicking

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 11:41

From Arkansas News:

During the 2008 presidential election, Pulaski County Circuit-County Clerk Pat O’Brien was Barack Obama’s campaign spokesman in Arkansas.

O’Brien, who is now running for secretary of state, won’t rule out doing something similar in 2012 even if he is elected to be Arkansas’ chief elections officer.

“It just depends on the situation,” the Democratic nominee said last week. “I wouldn’t categorically rule it out, but on the other hand, I might be busy at the time … I may have other things I’ve got to do.”

O’Brien’s attitude differs 180 degrees from that of his Republican opponent. State Rep. Mark Martin says he not only would refrain from participating in any campaigns if elected secretary of state, but also would limit what political activities employees of the office’s elections division could take part in on their own time.

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Republican Secretary of State Candidate Focuses on Voter Fraud

Last Updated on Monday, 16 August 2010 11:40 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 11:40

From ljworld.com:

As Republican Kris Kobach campaigns for secretary of state, he’s zeroing in on one issue: stopping voter fraud.

“My campaign has been very much an issue-based campaign about the problem of voter fraud and the specific steps I will take to stop voter fraud in Kansas,” Kobach said.

“Regardless of what your political point of view is, in Kansas, whether you are Republican, Democrat or otherwise, most people want security and assurance that the election result was a valid result, that nobody stole the election and that no one got away with fraudulent votes,” Kobach said.

But in Kansas, voter fraud is almost nonexistent.

Former Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, a Republican who held the office for 15 years before resigning in February, says voter fraud in Kansas is not a major problem.

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Ohio Candidates Talk Redistricting

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 11:39

From dispatch.com:

If the candidates for governor, auditor and secretary of state live up to their words, the state Apportionment Board could take a new, politically fairer approach to drawing legislative districts next year.

Will Ohio really see the end of the hyper-partisan process, where the key goal is maximizing the number of seats the majority political party can win? Will politicians do away with districts that look like they could have been shaped by a 4-year-old?

State lawmakers failed to agree on a plan for reducing the politics involved in drawing Ohio’s legislative districts before the Aug. 4 deadline for placing a Constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Regardless, if the will exists, little would stop the five-member board from taking a new approach to drawing a statewide map. The board is controlled by the party that wins at least two of three statewide offices: governor, auditor and secretary of state.

The statewide candidates are talking about change, but some are more definitive than others.

“We have a bad system that commands partisan decision-making because of the way our apportionment system works,” said Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, who led the charge on trying to get change on the November ballot.

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GOP Eyes Tennessee Sweep

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:36 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 11:38

From timesfreepress.com:

This is the big one, Tennessee Republicans say: the opportunity in fall elections to win the governorship, capture a majority of congressional seats and solidify GOP control of the General Assembly.

GOP leaders are keeping their fingers crossed that 2010 elections will put the party in its strongest position since post-Civil War Reconstruction, just in time to redraw 132 legislative districts and nine congressional seats for 2012 elections.

“Certainly we’re not taking anything for granted, but I believe it’s going to be a very good year for Republicans across the state,” state party Chairman Chris Devaney said.

State Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester says that’s “preposterous.”

“They have just come out of a set of primaries that have been about as bloody as I have seen in 20 years,” said Forrester. He said Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike McWherter should win his race, and so should Democrats in two open congressional races. The party is also in excellent position to retake the state House from Republicans, he said.

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MI: Battle for Republican AG nod heats up

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:36 Written by rslcpol Monday, 16 August 2010 11:24

From lsj.com:

Former Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop have the next two weeks to sway party faithful in their campaigns for the Republican nomination for Michigan attorney general.

Schuette has the endorsement of GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder and the backing of a large number of party activists on his side, but there’s no guarantee how delegates will vote at the party’s Aug. 28 convention.

Both Schuette and Bishop are crisscrossing the state in a final push before a pick is made and the winner launches his two-month-long general election campaign.

“Going into the convention, Schuette is the guy to beat,” said William Rustem of Public Sector Consultants, a nonpartisan Lansing think tank. “He’s done a significant job in reaching out across the state.”

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OK: Incoming House Speaker names Redistricting Committee

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:36 Written by rslcpol Friday, 13 August 2010 01:30

From kfor.com:

Oklahoma’s incoming House speaker has named a steering committee that will oversee the redrawing of state and federal legislative boundaries after the 2010 U.S. census.

House Speaker-designate Kris Steele named five Republicans and three Democrats to the panel. Each member is from a different region of the state.

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RSLC Chairman Ed Gillespie to appear on CBS’ “Face the Nation”

Last Updated on Friday, 13 August 2010 01:23 Written by rslcpol Friday, 13 August 2010 01:23

Tune into your local CBS station on Sunday morning and check out what RSLC Chairman Ed Gillespie has to say. He’ll be appearing with Ed Rendell, Tim Kaine, and Ed Rollins.

NY: Democrat Calls Democrat’s Endorsement ‘Hypocritical’

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:36 Written by rslcpol Friday, 13 August 2010 01:17

From BuffaloNews.com:

The campaign of Tim Kennedy dismissed as hypocritical an endorsement picked up today by Sen. William Stachowski from a Democratic attorney general candidate.

Sean Coffey, a former federal prosecutor and Naval aviator, backed Stachowski, in part, to stop what he said was an effort by G. Steven Pigeon, a former Erie County Democratic Party chairman, from getting another ally in office at the state Capitol.

But Kennedy, an Erie County legislator who has been close to Pigeon, fired back today, saying Stachowski had accepted “numerous” contributions from Pigeon, including a $350 donation just this past May.

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