To receive the Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest via email each weekday, sign up here.
Senate:
• MI-Sen: I wonder if this will have an impact. Former Michigan Gov. John Engler "is urging Clark Durant not to run against" ex-Rep. Pete Hoekstra in the GOP primary. Engler, who claims this isn't an endorsement, is nevertheless the second big name to engage on behalf of Hoekstra this week (current Gov. Rick Snyder endorsed on Monday), but if Durant wants to oblige, that's fine with me. I think Debbie Stabenow is probably better off facing a known (and very conservative) quantity with a long and attackable track record like Hoekstra rather than a newcomer like Durant.
• MT-Sen: At least some politics is still local: The "management" of the gray wolf population in Montana has been a hot topic for some time, particularly since attempts to remove the wolf from the EPA's endangered species list were blocked by a federal court last year. (Basically, the state wants to allow people to proactively hunt wolves, even though citizens are already allowed to kill wolves which threaten livestock and property.) In response, lawmakers from Montana (and Idaho) succeeded in inserting a provision into this year's budget bill which delists the gray wolf — or in euphemistic parlance, "returns management of the wolf population to state control." It's become a big campaign issue because both Dem Sen. Jon Tester and his Republican opponent, Denny Rehberg, have been trying to claim credit for this, uh, success, I guess you'd have to call it — but Rehberg really seems to be full of it, since he voted against the budget legislation which contained this amendment, leading a Tester spokesman to flat-out accuse Rehberg of "downright lying." Pretty uninspiring stuff, though.
• WI-Sen: State Sen. Frank Lasee, whose name has come up before, sounds like he's leaning toward joining the already-crowded GOP primary field. I don't know how Lasee would plan to win a race that already includes a super-rich former congressman, the speaker of the state Assembly, and very likely a former governor as well — but it would be a free shot for him, since his Senate seat isn't up until 2014.
House:
• CA-30: Howard Berman, preparing for a serious primary showdown against fellow Dem Rep. Brad Sherman, just rolled out some major endorsements, and at least as far as name recognition goes, I'm not sure these get any bigger. Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Rep. Henry Waxman are all going to "serve as honorary co-chairmen to Berman's reelection campaign." Berman is also expecting to rake in some serious dough from mega-name entertainment industry types: Cameron Joseph reports that "a source close to his campaign said he hopes to raise $1.3 million from a November fundraiser hosted by Hollywood moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen." Yow.
On a different track, the Los Angeles-based Jewish Journal has an interesting piece on a possible dividing line between Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman as their gear up for their clash in the Democratic Primary: Israel. While both men have generally had hawkish records, Berman recently met with the more left-leaning lobbying group J Street, one of a series of meetings the organization recently conducted with members of Congress in southern California. J Street has also been trying to meet with Sherman, and they're apparently doing so this week, but in a recent interview, Sherman said: “I tend to find myself in agreement with AIPAC far more than J Street."
• NY-19: It sounds to me like GOP freshman Nan Hayworth just shoved Hurricane Irene's foot into her mouth. After initially putting out a statement asking President Obama for federal help for her flood-ravaged district, her opponent, physician Richard Becker, responded with a demand to know whether Hayworth agreed with Eric Cantor's call for budget cuts to offset any disaster recovery spending. In a subsequent interview, Hayworth certainly sounded a lot like Cantor:
“We're facing a natural disaster in the middle of an economic disaster,” Hayworth said Wednesday. “The federal government has to balance its budget the way our families do.”
She said there are “plenty of options” for government to find the money in “non-military discretionary funding,” and it should be a collaborative effort between members of the House and Senate.
“Spending is going to be pared down significantly. There's no question about it,” Hayworth said.
This is about as tone-deaf a response as you can come up with when people are suffering so badly and so visibly, and desperately seeking leadership and aid. Becker followed up with some further remarks hitting Hayworth yet again. Glad to see he's got a little punch to his game.
Other Races:
• Phoenix Mayor: The city of Phoenix, AZ held a mayoral race on Tuesday, and for the first time in 60 years, it will go to a run-off. In the officially non-partisan race, Democrat and former city councilman Greg Stanton benefitted from a split Republican field, finishing in first place with 38% of the vote. Also advancing to the next round is Wes Gullet, who took second place with 21%. The run-off will be held on Nov. 8.
Redistricting Roundup:
• GA Redistricting: Georgia's Republican-held state Senate passed the new congressional map — again, as the House did, strictly along party lines. It now goes to GOP Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature.
• ME Redistricting: Maine's redistricting commission voted to recommend the most recent map proposed by Democrats — but it's just that, a recommendation. The commission is purely advisory, so the legislature is free to ignore their suggestion, and almost certainly will. But even that is likely moot: Because Maine law requires a two-thirds vote to pass any remap, the issue is very likely to go to the courts.
• WA Redistricting: Washington's redistricting commission says it plans to release new maps on Sept. 13. Under the state's system, three of the commission's four voting members (2 D & 2 R) must agree on a plan and present it to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2012. If they fail to do so and can't reach a compromise by the end of January, then the process goes straight to the courts. If the commission does support a map, though, then the legislature either has to pass it as-is by Feb. 10, or make changes by a super-majority vote. (Ballotpedia has a helpful timeline.)