The Senate
“The Democratic Party loves to recruit losers.” So says Dekalb County CEO and Democratic Candidate for Senate Vernon Jones. Jones also claimed he voted for President Bush… twice. I doubt that. He knows he has little or no chance to unseat Senator Saxby Chambliss. Another “Pass the Popcorn” Democratic Primary race as Jones dukes it out against Jim Martin and former TV Reporter Dale Cardwell.

GA 8th
Republican candidate Rick Goddard has landed the endorsement of congressman Jack Kingston (R - GA1). This is no surprise at all but Kingston is well liked across Georgia, especially in south Georgia. Lets not forget Kingston was the lone Member of Congress to oppose the resolution honoring the the 2006 National championship by the Florida Gators. I am a Tech fan but I must admit that was pretty funny. I would love to jump in and fully support Goddard, but I am cautious about Republican candidates with such strong NRCC backing.

GA 5th
It appears Rep. John Lewis (D - GA5) is none too happy to have opponents for the July primary.

“I’m going to give them a non-violent kick,” promised Lewis, still a proper follower of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.

A “non-violent kick”? Is that possible? I guess he meant a love tap. Lewis said he was

“somewhat surprised that someone would challenge me and talk about change. That’s what I’ve been about all my life. I am change.”

Like most Washington Politicians, Lewis feels entitled to his job. “Change” in the 5th is definitely in order.

!UPDATE!
GA 12
Herodotus in the comments asked for an update on GA 12. The GA GOP has failed to find a great candidate for the 12th. Despite the fact former Congressman Max Burns gave incumbent Democrat John Barrow a close race in 2006, losing by less than 1,000 votes. There are 3 candidates facing off in the primary:

Ray McKinney, a mechanical engineer from Savannah
Ben Crystal, a talk show host from Savannah
John Stone, former aide for Rep. Burns and Rep. Norwood from Augusta

Of the three I would put my money on Stone. He has the connections, but some questionable policy decisions. This time last year McKinney was running for President. I do not know much about Crystal.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) reiterated Friday that he will not run against Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).

The filing period began March 3, the day before Huckabee withdrew from the presidential race, and ends Monday.

In an interview with The Hill, Huckabee said he is still “decompressing” from his presidential campaign, and reaffirmed past statements that indicated he had no interest in challenging Pryor or serving in the Senate.

In a mid-February breakfast with reporters, Huckabee joked, “There’s a greater chance that I would dye my hair green, cover my body with tattoos and go on a rock tour with Amy Winehouse.”

Huckabee repeated that joke Friday, adding: “That was a pretty apt description of my total lack of interest in running for the Senate.”

The Hill

I guess we can write off any possibility of picking off Pryor this year.  The Arkansas GOP is pretty much dysfunctional.  Huckabee is really the only big Republican name in the state that I am aware of.

The most corrupt and longest-serving (what a coincidence!) Republican in the Senate, Ted Stevens, is in for the race of his life.  Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has formed an exploratory committee to take a look at a bid, and forming it this late strongly suggests that he simply wants two days of free media rather than one.  He enters the race, according to one poll, with a lead on Stevens, who has all but been accused of accepting bribes by Veco Chairman Bill Allen, for whom he obtained earmkars.

Stevens is as corrupt as could be and his whole state knows it.  It doesn’t exactly help that he’s campaigning, as always, on his ability to waste taxpayer dollars on special projects in his state.  He has never been a friend of conservatives because of his pork barrel spending, and Democrats don’t like him thanks to their partisanship.  He has always won by carrying the “I want free stuff” milddle.  Well, that middle is likely to respond to the charges of corruption.

I don’t like advocating the defeat of Republicans in general elections, but if we don’t replace this guy in the primary, we deserve to lose the general.  Ultimately his defeat, either in the primary or in the general, would be best for the Party because Stevens is the poster boy for what’s wrong with the GOP.  He’s corrupt.  He’s a porker.  He’s a social liberal.  He may even be indicted soon.

Come on, Alaska, you replaced the guy who gave his daughter a Senate seat.  Can you come through again?

WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee said Wednesday that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig acted improperly in connection with a men’s room sex sting last year and had brought discredit on the Senate.In a letter to the Republican senator, the ethics panel said Craig’s attempt to withdraw his guilty plea after his arrest at a Minneapolis airport was an effort to evade legal consequences of his own actions.

Craig’s actions constitute “improper conduct which has reflected discreditably on the Senate,” the letter said.

A spokesman for Craig had no immediate comment.

The Charlotte Observer

What’s also more damaging to Craig is his refusal to resign his Senate seat after he pledged to do so. While I do not think that we will lose this seat in November, it certainly would have been better had Craig stepped aside back in September and allow Governor Otter to appoint a replacement so that we would have a seasoned incumbent going into the election. An open seat always carries a risk.

BOSTON—Republican Jim Ogonowski officially announced Sunday that he will challenge U.S. Sen. John Kerry in elections set for November.

Ogonowski, the brother of an airline pilot killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has been preparing for the race for months after narrowly losing a bid for congressional seat against Niki Tsongas in October.

“Last summer, we started a movement right here in Massachusetts — a call for change that has resonated across the state and the nation,” Ogonowski said in a statement released Sunday. “That means serving the people and not the lobbyist and Washington insiders.”

“I will stand up to the Washington insiders and special interests and fight for the people of Massachusetts. We have real problems that need real solutions, not more political lip service,” the retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel said. “It is time we send someone new to Washington.”

The Boston Globe

I am a sustaining member of the Massachusetts Republican Party.  Though I have never lived there, it is the only Republican organization I am actually affiliated with or contribute to.  I generally do not donate to the party apparatuses because in my experience they are usually just corrupt extensions of the good ole’ boys club in Washington.  I just donate to individual candidates or PACs that share my interest.  However, I became a contributing member to the MA GOP after Ogonowski ran for Congress last year.  Even though he lost, I was very impressed with the organization he put together and how the state party really jumped in and contributed rather than writing him off.  They are trying and that says a lot and that was one hell of a well run campaign.

You can donate to the state party here.

Jim also has a campaign Web site, although it is still set up for his past Congressional race.  He just made the Senate announcement today so I imagine that they will get the Web site updated for his Senate run rather quickly and will set up a way to donate to his Senatorial campaign as well.

Go for it Jim! Kerry’s negatives are in the 40s in Massachusetts. He lost a lot of popularity after losing the Presidential race. He could be vulnerable and Ogonowski has already proven himself to be a strong and credible challenger in a Democratic area. He scared the pants off of Niki Tsongas last year when he came close to beating her in a district she should have easily won.

A day after announcing he is mulling a run for the US Senate this year, Republican Jim Ogonowski criticized incumbent Democratic Senator John F. Kerry as a Washington insider who is out of touch with average Massachusetts residents.

“We need someone who represents the working-class people of Massachusetts,” Ogonowski said in a phone interview yesterday. “Kerry doesn’t live here. You don’t see him on the streets of Boston, of Worcester, of Lowell, of Pittsfield.”

Ogonowski, a Dracut farmer and retired military officer who lost a close race for Congress last fall in his political debut, said party leaders and activists in Massachusetts have urged him to challenge the Democratic incumbent and 2004 presidential nominee. Ogonowski said he is “strongly considering” entering the race and will decide on his candidacy in the next two weeks.

The Boston Globe

Lindsey Graham’s first serious opponent in the South Carolina Senate race is on the air targeting the incumbent on immigration.

Honestly, I think this ad goes way over the top and plays very nicely into Graham’s accusation that many opponents of the McCain immigration plan were driven by racism.  The McCain plan, which Graham supported, was a disaster for several reasons, and Graham left himself open to plenty of legitimate means of attack.  Personally, though, I don’t think this was one of them.  Fortunately former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride is also in the race.

Your thoughts?

Lest anyone thought that the kings of corruption hailed for the Alaska GOP, a Louisiana Democrat has decided to remind everyone just who the top banana is when it comes to corruption. Topping Rep. William Jefferson, whose price was at least $90,000, Senator Mary Landrieu is now being accused of taking a bribe of a mere $30,000 for a $2 million earmark. Talk about a cheap date.

On April 25, 2001, Voyager, an educational products company, requested an earmark for the purchase of its products for the District of Columbia. By September, no Senate sponsor had been found. Randy Best, Voyager’s founder, arranged for a meeting with Landrieu. A few days later a Landrieu staffer asked Best to host a fundraiser. Four days after receiving the $30,000 in contributions from people who had never before contributed to her, she put in the earmark. What a coincidence.

Over the past few decades there have been some universal truths in North Carolina politics. They vote Republican for President and Democrat for state offices. The Republican candidate has won the state’s electoral votes in the last seven Presidential elections. Conversely, the Democrats have held the Governor’s mansion for the past 20 years as well as the State Legislature for most of that time.

However, the state has been morphing rather quickly from a traditional southern state of blue collar workers to a virtual melting pot of migrants from all over the country and abroad. It is now a conglomerate of white collar yuppies, big banking barons, and “techie” nerds, mixed with the natives. In other words, it’s not your father’s North Carolina, which may explain the surprise I had when I read yesterday’s Rasmussen Report:

Hillary Clinton is competitive in the state against four leading Republican Presidential candidates. The former First Lady has a two-point edge over Mitt Romney (42% to 40%) and trails Rudy Giuliani by a statistically insignificant single percentage point (Giuliani 40% Clinton 39%).

She also trails John McCain by five (45% to 40%) and Mike Huckabee by seven (46% to 39%).

Against all four Republicans, Clinton’s support is steady and ranges from a low of 39% to a high of 42%.

Hillary leading in North Carolina?

North Carolina voters also have two major statewide races to look forward to in 2008.

In the gubernatorial contest, Pat McCrory, a Republican who just won his seventh term as mayor of Charlotte, has a three-point margin over two possible Democratic nominees. McCrory leads both Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore by identical margins of 42% to 39%.

So we now have a Democrat leading the Presidential race and a Republican who hasn’t even declared his candidacy yet leading the gubernatorial race.

All of these are very close percentages of course, but I think it reflects the swiftly changing demographics in the state. Population just recently passed the 9 million mark and the state passed New Jersey last year, becoming the tenth largest. The state overall has always been purple, so to speak, as Democrats do outnumber Republicans but these are the old school socially conservative Democrats that tend to be to the right of the national party explaining their preference for Republicans at the Federal level, but still electing the socially conservative Democrats in the state party to fill local offices. With the influx of mostly northerners to the state, who tend to be more liberal in their social views, I think we are starting to witness the effects, each side countering out the other leaving more centrist candidates to be desired perhaps. McCrory is more of a moderate Republican with a mayoral history of using government to guide and shape the economy and Senator Clinton, while certainly no moderate, does radiate a more centrist impression of herself when compared to Obama and Edwards. This could explain my theory.

In any case, the North Carolina GOP had better learn a lesson from their neighbors to the north. Virginia has also been rapidly growing and while once a Republican stronghold, the party is now collapsing and Democrats have successfully captured the Governor’s seat, the State Senate, and one U.S. Senate seat and are likely to take the other next year. Furthermore, the state will most certainly be in play for the presidential race coming up.

If the Republican Party is to continue taking North Carolina for granted much like they did Virginia, I think they will be facing another such battle come 2012.

Former state Rep. David Cuddy has decided to challenge Sen. Ted Stevens again.  Cuddy ran against Stevens in 1996 but failed to make the race close.  Cuddy had hoped to get the support of the Club for Growth, but says that it is unlikely to support him due to his support for public financing of campaigns.

Cuddy is running a campaign against pork and mainly on fiscal conservatism and anti-corruption.  With others also considering a bid, his decision could either mean a smooth ride for Stevens, with an array of “outsiders” challenging the corrupt Senator, or be his only significant opposition.  The critical part of the equation for him will likely be whether he can get the support of wildly popular Gov. Palin.  If she decides to back him, Cuddy could be competitive.  If Palin stays neutral or backs another primary challenger, it is difficult to see Cuddy giving Ted a serious run for his money.

That’s what ARG says:

Sununu 52

Shaheen 41.

These numbers don’t make sense, but taken with some of the more recent polls, it does suggest that the race is much more competitive than most thought it would be.  The improving situation in Iraq probably has done the most to help Sununu, but Shaheen’s husbands statements about Obama’s drug use likely helped him a bit as well.  Democrats who thought they had this one in the bag will be sorely disappointed.

Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, plans to resign his seat before the end of the year, congressional and Bush administration officials said Monday.

Lott, 66, scheduled two news conferences in Pascagoula and Jackson later in the day to reveal his plans. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, Lott intends to resign effective at the end of the year.

No reason for Lott’s resignation was given, but according to a congressional official, there is nothing amiss with Lott’s health. The senator has “other opportunities” he plans to pursue, the official said, without elaborating. Lott was re-elected to a fourth Senate term in 2006.

AP

I am pleased to hear this. Lott has been horrible when it comes to earmark reform and has constantly made justifications as to why he and his porker colleague, Senator Cochran, need them so badly. Governor Barbour will appoint a replacement who will serve until the 2008 election. There is wide speculation that Congressman Chip Pickering will be the anointed successor. Whoever it is, I hope they have a more fiscally responsible agenda than Lott did.

Former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore announced yesterday that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Republican John Warner.

Gilmore’s announcement sets up a campaign with another former governor, Democrat Mark R. Warner - a clash between two men with vastly different views about government and little affection for the other.

Winston-Salem Journal

Gilmore would make for an awesome Senator, but it’s going to be a tough battle against Mark Warner. He will have to hit Warner hard on his tax and spend leftist agenda while Virginia governor. He has a good video announcement below:

It’s not the least bit funny that Al Franken could become a Senator in 2009.

In an appearance on NBC’s “Today” in 2005, Franken said he supported the initial invasion.

On his own Air America radio show in May of 2006, Franken said he would have voted to give the president the authority to use force in Iraq.

Then in August of 2007 on the radio show “Polichicks,” Franken maintained, “I was very torn in the lead up to the war and didn’t really take a position because I wasn’t convinced either way.”

On Minnesota’s own “Almanac” show in August of 2007, Franken said he was against the war in 2003.

Franken hasn’t wrestled with his position about the Iraq War — Franken is wrestling with the truth about his position on the war.

The same is true for his position on supporting the beginning of an immediate withdrawal of troops. Depending on what group he appears before he either favors an immediate withdrawal — against it — or isn’t quite sure.

Buddy Witherspoon, a long-time South Carolina committeeman to the Republican National Committee, will be announcing this week that he will challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in the GOP primary, according to a source familiar with his intentions. Witherspoon, an orthodontist, is known as an arch-conservative on social and cultural issues, and plans to run a campaign centered on fighting illegal immigration.

Witherspoon is an unknown within the state, but he has one thing going for him: he’s not Lindsey Graham. It’ll be interesting to see just how far that major asset gets him.

Udall is going to jump in.

Heath Haussamen reports today that Rep. Tom Udall has decided to jump in the New Mexico Senate race and has started to call Democratic officials in the state to inform them of his decision. If confirmed, this would be a major coup for both the DSCC that relentlessly pressured Udall to run even after he ruled it out at the beginning of October, and for the netroots that organized a very successful Draft Udall movement. Previous reports had already indicated that Udall was moving to hire staff and putting the pieces of a run together — so this latest report sounds very believable.

Udall appears to be the strongest candidate for the seat, as two polls taken over the past few weeks show him running well ahead of his Republican opponents by double-digits, while Mayor Chavez, the other Democrat in the race, at best ties them. Udall would first have to defeat Chavez in the primary, and Chavez has already threatened to run a nasty campaign against Udall, making the case last week that Udall runs “too far to the left.” Democrats are now expected to pressure Chavez to drop out of the race, and perhaps get in the House seat left vacant by Heather Wilson.

Campaign Diaries

I knew he’d end up running with how far ahead he was in the preliminary polling against both Pearce and Wilson.  If he makes it through the primary he’s going to be a big headache in November.

“We need consistent conservative leadership in Washington,” Pearce says in the ad, according to a script provided by his spokeswoman. “Leadership guided not by the latest opinion polls, but by core conservative New Mexico values.”

In the ad, Pearce argues he has worked to limit government spending, lowered taxes and cracked down on illegal immigrants. He also argues that he has opposed “big government schemes which promised socialized medicine, even for illegal aliens, at taxpayer expense.”

This latter line seems like a swipe at Wilson, an often outspoken moderate who has sparred with the White House on occasion and backs contentious legislation before Congress to expand a popular state-run children’s health care program. Pearce has voted consistently against the bill.

Politico

I think this will be a fun campaign to watch.

In an effort to achieve Republican unity, top Illinois GOP leaders Tuesday endorsed the candidacy of political newcomer Steve Sauerberg as the party’s nominee to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin next year.

Sauerberg, a family physician from Western Springs, was backed by Illinois GOP Chairman Andy McKenna and Randy Pollard, who heads the Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association.

“A unified Republican Party can and will help to return Illinois values to Washington,” Sauerberg said in a statement that also labeled Durbin as an “ultra liberal.”

Chicago Tribune

There is no denying that.  The only people that Dick Durbin represents are the Socialist elite in Chicago.  As for the rest of the state, he is way out of touch.  Sauerberg is pretty good on the issues.  He doesn’t appear to be the usual RINO that I would normally expect from the dysfunctional Illinois GOP.  I would like to hear a little more detail regarding his quote on Social Security, however.

I  hope that he can give Durbin a good fight.  There really is no reason for that man to keep holding on to that seat.  The Chicago electorate alone is not enough to put him over.  Although, this is the same state that just reelected Rod Blagojevich, an absolute failure of a governor, probably worse than Jennifer Granholm, to another four year term of which the people are now in shock and awe at even how worse he has become.  They are so shocked that a State Senator, a fellow Democrat no less, is working on a Constitutional Amendment that would allow the citizenry to recall him.  Yes, it seems that Illinois has caught a bit of the Michigan syndrome.  It must be something in the water of the lake they share.

Rep. Steve Pearce will announce tomorrow that he will seek …

… the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici, the Albuquerque Journal just learned.

Pearce, a three-term New Mexico Republican, will send an email to “friends and supporters” tomorrow declaring his intention to run. A person familiar with Pearce’s plans said the congressman wants to notify supporters informally before officially declaring his campaign sometime in the coming weeks.

“There are a number of pieces that still need to be put in place - a website, a campaign team, etc.,” before a formal announcement is made, the person said, adding that Pearce is not ready to field media questions until possibly Thursday.

Idaho Senator Larry E. Craig is lashing out at Mitt Romney, who unceremoniously dumped Craig from his campaign after Craig’s arrest in a Minneapolis airport bathroom sex sting and called the conduct “disgraceful.”

“I’d worked hard for him here in the state,” Craig told NBC’s Matt Lauer in an interview to be aired Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “I was a co-chair of his campaign on Capitol Hill. And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again.”

The Romney campaign responded to Craig’s remarks by issuing a statement that the senator resigned from his campaign positions “because he did not want to be a distraction.”

Boston Globe 

Craig continues to blame everyone for his actions but himself.  He is the one doing the State of Idaho and the Republican Party a disservice by refusing to fulfill his pledge to step down.  The man is guilty, by his own admission in court, of sexual misconduct.  The Idaho GOP needs to tell this guy to hit the pavement already.