The following are examples of this week's Election Roundup of 49 down ticket stories covering Sunday 9/4 through Saturday 9/10.
(MD-SEN) Baltimore Sun Poll finds Clinton and Van Hollen with large leads in Maryland by Navy Vet Terp
A Baltimore Sun poll published in that newspaper this morning finds Clinton and Van Hollen both enjoying large leads in Maryland. The poll found Clinton leading Trump 54% to 25%, and Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen leading Republican State Delegate Kathy Szeliga 55% to 26% in their race to replace retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski in the U.S. Senate.
(NC-11) NC Rep.(R) Meadows on hot seat for ethics violation and allowing sexual harassment by staff chief. By droat
Mark Meadows will be investigated by the House ethics committee for paying his chief of staff, Kenny West, full salary for ten months after West was barred from both the district office and the DC office for sexually harassing the female staff.
The situation had gotten so bad that female new hires were warned about what not to wear when West was expected in the office. At one point West made one staffer cry. After he had been barred from the district office, he tried to enter, but was blocked by a female staffer who threatened to call the police.
(OH-Ballot) Abortion and birth control in Ohio would be prosecuted as murder under ballot proposal By Eyesbright
Forced Birthers in Ohio want to amend the state constitution to classify all abortions of all types as “aggravated murder.” As if that’s not enough, the proposed measure would put birth control in the same category — aggravated murder. The proposed constitutional amendment would "prohibit abortion of all unborn human beings, without exception.”
MICHIGAN: SCOTUS slams the door on Schuette; Straight-Ticket Voting WILL remain on the ballot! By Brainwrap
Supreme Court Shuts Down Michigan’s Push To Eliminate ‘Straight-Ticket’ Voting The Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency request from Michigan to reinstate a ban on “straight-ticket” voting, a mechanism that allows people to vote for every candidate in a party’s ticket by marking a single box on a ballot. The court’s order indicates that two justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, would’ve allowed the ban to go into effect.
Sunday 9/4 through Saturday 9/10
Stories: (48)
Senate: (9) posts, (5) states
House: (25) posts, (13) states, (19) districts
State and more: (11)
General: (2)
Tools: (1)
Welcome to Election Roundup, formerly known as “Election Diary Rescue.” Look for this collection of down ticket stories every Monday through the election. The Roundup team has compiled, described and linked 12,527 down ticket election diaries since 2006. Archives
Election Roundup shines a light on candidates and issues that might otherwise be missed. It gives quick access to races and hopefully encourages people to write about contests that interest them, knowing their stories will get additional exposure on the Front Page.
Format and Tags
Writers can help the ER team by identifying the race in the title like this:
(NY-Sen) (FL-14) (GA-Gov). Using the "Elections" tag is also helpful and keep in mind that your first sentence or two is what we like to use in the description of your story when we can. This service is strictly for down ticket stories.
This edition of Election Roundup was made possible by the following: Carolina On My Mind, eeff, Jax Dem, Joieau, pittgreg, pucklady, and randallt. Special thanks to Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse for publicity.
Thank you for reading and writing!
Senate 9
(AZ/NV-Sen) Daily Kos Election ad roundup: DCCC runs first general election ads in Arizona and Nevada by Jeff Singer
Republican incumbent John McCain accuses Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick of being a partisan Democrat. Politico reports that the NRSC is paying for some of the commercial and has put six figures behind it.
(FL-SEN) Mistake: "Senate Dems' Campaign Arm Delays Ad Buy In Florida" By Murchadha
Senate Dems' Campaign Arm Delays Ad Buy In Florida. In what could be a telling sign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee cancelled an ad buy set for the end of September in the Florida Senate race, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.
(FL-SEN) Marco Rubio under attack for his hypocritical Zika stance by Joan McCarter
On-again, off-again Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been raising a lot of hell about Congress's failure to fund Zika prevention and treatment research, even going against his leadership to support the Obama administration's full funding request. Of course, that's a fight Rubio knew he couldn't win. Worse, he voted for the Republican bill that would have kept funding away from Planned Parenthood, and when it comes to fighting Zika now, on the ground, he's standing by his forced birther roots.
(FL-Sen) Hillary Clinton Endorses Patrick Murphy (D) For U.S. Senate By poopdogcomedy
Together, Hillary and I will stand up for women’s health care, fight for Florida’s environment, and always put our middle class families first. I look forward to showing up and working hard for Florida, alongside our country’s next President, Hillary Clinton. --Patrick Murphy
(MD-SEN) Baltimore Sun Poll finds Clinton and Van Hollen with large leads in Maryland by Navy Vet Terp
A Baltimore Sun poll published in that newspaper this morning finds Clinton and Van Hollen both enjoying large leads in Maryland. The poll found Clinton leading Trump 54% to 25%, and Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen leading Republican State Delegate Kathy Szeliga 55% to 26% in their race to replace retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski in the U.S. Senate.
(NC-Sen) Democracy For America Is Getting Out The Latino Vote For Deborah Ross (D) By poopdogcomedy
Not only would a win in North Carolina help Democrats take back the Senate, Deborah Ross is the kind of committed progressive we need in Congress. Before ever running for political office, Deborah Ross spent ten years fighting for progressive values as the North Carolina State Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and, as a state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate, she’s fought for pay equity and stood up for comprehensive immigration reform -- both when it was easy and when it was hard. Democracy For America.
(NC-SEN) Kochs are all in to try to save Richard Burr's North Carolina Senate seat by Joan McCarter
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr is in the fight of his political life against Democrat Deborah Ross, so some old buddies are coming to his rescue.
(PA-Sen ) DSCC hits PA Sen. Toomey on Social Security Privatization By Arnold Roth
Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!! I have been waiting for the DSCC to hit “moderate” Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania Senator and former head of the Club for Growth on his Social Security positions. Because we have defined “moderation” down in the GOP, Pat has portrayed himself as some kind of bi-partisan Senator. He is one of the most right-wing Senators on the economy in the entire country actually if you look at his voting record. Pat has always been a water carrier for Wall Street. When he was first in Congress he was instrumental in writing the law that de-regulated derivatives.
(PA-Sen) Bernie Sanders Coming To Pittsburgh September 16th To Get Out The Vote For Katie McGinty (D) By poopdogcomedy
Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty will be getting some high-octane support in Pittsburgh next Friday: Vermont Senator and onetime Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will join her Sept. 16 at a 5 p.m. rally at Carnegie Mellon University's Weigand Gymnasium. The event is open to the public.
Select House & Senate News by Charlie Sweatpants
Here’s a news roundup from some House and Senate races I’m keeping an eye on. The video at the second-to-last link will let you see Kelly Ayotte pull a face like somebody just farted.
House 23
(AZ-05 Primary) Helen Purcell Barely Wins Arizona Primary; District 5 of the House of Representatives Even Closer by Proginoskes
There were two very close races in the Arizona primary this year: Andy Biggs beat Christine Jones by 9 votes (this race is for District 5 of the U.S. House of Representatives, which 17,744 people voted in), and Helen Purcell beating Aaron “Not Helen Purcell” Flannery by 185 votes (154,682 to 154,497).
(CA-17) Rep Mike Honda Makes Silicon Valley a Safer and Better Place for Travel #CA17 By MartaD
U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-Silicon Valley) has an extensive list of accomplishments that will make Silicon Valley safer. In addition to the funding that will better allow implementation of Department of Homeland Security programs, Honda’s effort will make Silicon Valley a place where air travel will be more pleasant.
(CA-17) Why We Need a Change in CA17 By peterc007
California’s Congressional District 17 encompasses a large part of Silicon Valley: Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, part of San Jose, all of Milpitas, Fremont and Newark. It’s a large, diverse and technologically adept region that has enjoyed economic success that other parts of the country can envy. Our current incumbent, Mike Honda, has been in office for 8 terms, some of it representing other parts of the Bay Area before redistricting but I am increasingly concerned about his overall lack of effectiveness as our representative.
(CA-31) Congressman (D) Pete Aguilar of San Bernardino needs help from voters... Maybe? By TheProgressiveAlien
Warning: extremely partisan rantery ahead. Dem partisanship, though, and only lending a bit of support to apparently the only candidate we’ve got going in the 31st District. Dangit. Sorry, not gonna ‘give a fair shake’ to Aguilar’s opponent for the 31st Congressional seat…
Here’s a local story for the Redlands and Inland Empire Kossacks: I’ve been noticing these ugly little political yard-signs that say “Defeat Dishonest AguiLIAR”… Yeah, well something stank to high heaven there—those kinds of signs usually reek of bullshit from the Tea Party side of the outhouse. I decided to investigate, since as a new area-resident, I was unfamiliar with Congressman Aguilar.
(CA-48) Meet Democratic Candidate Sue Savary in Corona Del Mar September 18th By pipsorcl
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s Democratic challenger in California’s 48th Congressional District, Sue Savary, is holding a meet & greet event in Corona Del Mar on Sunday, September 18th. To attend the event, details are below.
(CA-49) Want to phone bank to help Doug Applegate defeat Darrell Issa but don't live in CA-49? Info Here by pipsorcle
Don’t live in California’s 49th Congressional District but Desperate to kick Darrell Issa out and replace him with Doug Applegate? No problem!
(CO-06) CO 6th District Needs You to Tell DKos -- Endorse Morgan Carroll NOW! by TheAbsurdArtist
The time has come (passed actually) for Colorado Daily Kos readers and writers to start lobbying the powers here at the Daily Kos to endorse State Sen. Morgan Carroll in her bid to remove one of Colorado’s most regressive and embarrassing members of the US House of Representatives.
(FL-02) Thinking about casting a protest vote? Here's what the power of your single vote looks like. By Richard Cranium
Every vote counts. Florida held down ballot primary elections on August 30th. In congressional district 2, there was a tough (but fairly cordial) fight between former Florida Assistant Attorney General Walt Dartland, and former DCF supervisor Steve Crapps. A bit over 60,000 Democratic Party voters turned out.
(FL-04) Florida Congressional Candidate: Black Lives Matters is a hate group by HM1028
At a Candidates Forum for the FL August primary, everyone got to speak. John Rutherford stands up, defends and repeats his statement. He says it again ‘Black Lives Matter is hate group’ and then proceeds to draw a line from the group’s rhetoric of social action and engagement to the murder of police officers in Dallas.
(FL-27) Entrenched Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen launches an early attack on her Democratic foe By Jeff Singer – Longtime Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen looks safe in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, a 53-46 Obama seat in the Miami area, even with Donald Trump on the ballot. Still, Ros-Lehtinen is taking Democrat Scott Fuhrman, the owner of a fruit juice company, seriously enough to launch two TV commercials against him.
(KY-01) SAM GASKINS FOR CONGRESS NEEDS YOUR HELP TO DEFEAT THE PRO TRUMP PRO WALL ANTI LABOR CANDIDATE! by Brain Heat
I am the Democratic Candidate for Congress 1st District Kentucky. WE are a team! These infrastructure issues don’t only face the 1st district and the state of Kentucky. They face our whole nation. This is a national security risk!.…..This is a national security risk that we must fix! When elected, I will make sure to be first in line to address it.
(MI-06) DAPL is Fred Upton's Pipeline, Too. Make Him Own It; Help Elect Paul Clements in MI-06 By peregrine kate
THIS IS FRED UPTON’S PIPELINE. HE IS THE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE THAT HAS MADE THIS POSSIBLE, AND HE HAS RECEIVED DONATIONS FROM ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS, THE BUILDER OF THE DAPL. CONNECT THE DOTS. GET HIM OUT! He’s angry. I’m angry. We should all be angry about the profound corruption of our politics, hand-in-hand with the profound disregard for Native people in North Dakota who are putting themselves on the line, once again, for us all. This is why ALL our congresspeople matter, across the country. Let’s help the residents of MI-06 AND the rest of us have the representative we need and deserve!
(MI-06 MI-07) More Local Action in Michigan? The Time Is Now. By peregrine kate
All right, Michigan and Motor City Kossacks. Now’s the time to accelerate our efforts. What are you ready and willing to do, as a Kossack group? We could Canvass together, Phone bank together, Attend a candidate event (meet & greet or fundraiser) that we host or co-sponsor Something else?
(MN-03) Minnesota Congressional District 3 Chronicles: September 4, 2016 by CSTAR
Climate change directly affects us in Minnesota Congressional District 3. It affects the amount of rain we get each season, the level of our lakes, the snow we get in our winters, the severity of the storms we get in the summers, even things which seem unrelated to climate like the plagues of mosquitoes that we've been getting recently.
(MN-03) Minnesota Congressional District 3 Chronicles: September 7, 2016 by CSTAR
Originally posted as a comment on Representative Erik Paulsen’s Facebook wall. Reposted here for the record, by cut-and-paste. Consequently, no HTML markup. Erik Paulsen (R) is being challenged by Terri Bonoff (DFL). September 7 2016, 61 days till the general election Katie Couric: "Do you think people like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and John McCain and Marco Rubio, do you think they're cowards?" Max Boot: "They're certainly not Profiles in Courage."
(MT-AL) Indians 101: Indian Education and Denise Juneau by Ojibwa
Bureau of Indian Education schools in the 21st century are under-funded and the physical conditions of the schools is poor and sometimes considered dangerous. Denise Juneau, who is running of Montana’s sole member of the House of Representatives, has promised not only to support additional funding for these schools, but also to reform the Bureau so that more of this money actually translates into classroom improvements.
(MT-AL) Denise Juneau: Montana's next Member of Congress by BigSkyPeople
Denise Juneau has the best shot in 20 years to elect a Democrat from Montana to the U.S. House of Representatives. She is smart, progressive and Montanan through and through. The highly effective two-term Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction is up against truth-challenged, Trump loving incumbent Ryan Zinke. Juneau destroyed Zinke in their recent debate in Billings.
(NC-11) NC Rep.(R) Meadows on hot seat for ethics violation and allowing sexual harassment by staff chief. By droat
Mark Meadows will be investigated by the House ethics committee for paying his chief of staff, Kenny West, full salary for ten months after West was barred from both the district office and the DC office for sexually harassing the female staff.
The situation had gotten so bad that female new hires were warned about what not to wear when West was expected in the office. At one point West made one staffer cry. After he had been barred from the district office, he tried to enter, but was blocked by a female staffer who threatened to call the police.
(NH-01) A week away from his GOP primary, scandal-tarred congressman Frank Guinta looks less than doomed by Jeff Singer
The Sept. 13 GOP primary for New Hampshire’s swingy 1st Congressional District is almost here, and incumbent Frank Guinta’s fate is still very up in the air.
(NY-19) 'Moderate' Republican kisses up to radical Oath Keepers By devtob
NY-19 is one of those swing districts that Democrats must win to have any chance of recapturing the House majority. It’s been represented since 2010 by relative moderate (for House Republicans) Chris Gibson, who has decided to retire from politics (for now).
(UT-03) Jason Chaffetz's Democratic Opponent Stephen Tryon By ErinJoy
Here is the link to his campaign page and His issues page. tryonforcongress.com Of course you can find his events and news there also. I am writing this because Jason is trying to open up at yet another investigation into Hillary’s emails. If you go to Jason’s Twitter page you will find that 80 percent of his tweets are about Hillary. He is OBSESSED with her. He really deserves to lose his job since he is doing nothing for his district. So check out Jason, he seems to be a good guy and right on the issues. Remember he is in a very conservative district. Even so he says he would vote against the TPP.
(WA-05) Joe Pakootas WA-05 vs McMorris Rodgers-Koch Bros/Big Pharma/Big Ag/Oil & Gas/Trump and Co/etc... by peagreen
This district normally votes Republican and that would seem a safe bet again, but don’t count Pakootas out. He is the closest any candidate has come to beating her in the 11 years she has been in office. Less than 11 points separated the two in a late August poll.
(WA-05) Cathy McMorris Rodgers Got a Letter From 26 VET ORGS RE: Bill She Sponsors to Destroy VA Health Care By peagreen
Dear Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers: On behalf of the millions of veterans we represent, and all veterans who use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and all veterans who use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, we write to express our grave concerns about the discussion draft legislation publicly released by your office earlier this month. The draft legislation is predicated on several flawed premises and, if enacted, would have immediate and permanent negative consequences for millions of veterans who choose and rely on VA health care.
(Various) Daily Kos Elections ad roundup: Florida Republican David Jolly talks to his dog By Jeff Singer
• FL-13: In his first general election ad, GOP Rep. David Jolly highlights how unpopular he is in Congress. As Harry Truman’s famous “[i]f you want a friend in Washington, get a dog” quote flashes by, Jolly talks to his dog about how little Congress does to improve campaign finance, help veterans, or safeguard the country from terrorism.
Purple State Red District Blues - The Path to Retaking the House By Permanent Republican Minority
The US is increasingly becoming a politically polarized nation. Democratic “blue” states tend bluer, while Republican states get “redder.” Democratic-leaning “purple” states get the bulk of national-level attention during presidential campaign years, while people in safely Democratic or Republican states might never see a campaign commercial for a national candidate.
State, County, Local and more 12
(AZ-Pinetop-Lakeside) Voters Eject TEA Party from Control Of Arizona Town by EricAZ
A coalition of Democrats and Republicans ejected the TEA Party from control of the Town Council of a small Arizona mountain community in an overwhelming election sweep.
(CA-Prop 71) STEM CELL RESEARCH MAY DECIDE FLORIDA SENATE RACE By diverdonreed
FLORIDA’S STEM CELL BATTLES AFFECT AMERICA Dear Florida Stem Cell Research Friend: The election before us is the most important of our lives; the health of all our families is at risk. You, or someone you love, has a chronic disease or disability. Forty-five per cent of all Americans, 133 million of us, have a condition for which there is no cure—cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, heart disease, paralysis, stroke—on and on.
(MI-Detroit) Can Detroit vote straight ticket in November? Maybe. by Alonso del Arte
A few weeks ago, I heard from someone I consider a reliable source that although the Michigan straight ticket voting ban had been overturned by a court, the ballots had already been printed without the straight ticket option. Well, this morning I called the City Clerk’s office, and, if I understood correctly, the ballots for Detroit voters won’t be printed until September 24. Theoretically, there could be legal twists and turns between now and then.
(MN-StSen-32B) Minn. state rep doesn't live in district he represents. Surprise! He's a Republican By Sher Watts Spooner
The Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld an earlier district court ruling that incumbent State Rep. Bob Barrett (R, is there any doubt) is not eligible to run for re-election on Nov. 8, because he doesn’t live where he claims to live.
(MT-GOV) Montana's Gov. Bullock Supports Public Education While His Opponent Undermines It by BigSkyPeople
After nine years serving the United States overseas, my wife, our four boys and I chose to return to America this year and make a home in Bozeman, Montana. One of the most important factors in our decision was the quality of public education here.
(NC-BOE) NC State Board of Elections Live Blog: voter suppression under the microscope RIGHT NOW By DocDawg
The NC State Board of Elections is currently in session, passing judgement on the dozens of County Board of Elections’ racially discriminatory early voting plans which have been contested by those boards’ minority Democratic members (each county board is 2 Rs and 1 D). Here I’ll provide a little color commentary on each of the State Board’s decisions as they happen. I’m not actually attending the meeting; just relying on WRAL’s Mark Binker’s tweets (@binker).
(ND-GOV, ND-AL) "Defending" with dogs. North Dakota candidates that support Standing Rock. Let's support them too! by ZenTrainer
I first read of the violence at the pipeline protest on my regular newsfeed. A one sided version was given; “Security guards and dogs attacked and injured by protesters”. Hmm… as I said, the story was very slanted and I found it odd that there were no pictures or video in the article.
(OH-Ballot) Abortion and birth control in Ohio would be prosecuted as murder under ballot proposal By Eyesbright
Forced Birthers in Ohio want to amend the state constitution to classify all abortions of all types as “aggravated murder.” As if that’s not enough, the proposed measure would put birth control in the same category — aggravated murder. The proposed constitutional amendment would "prohibit abortion of all unborn human beings, without exception.”
(NY-StSen) GOP Senator With An Identity Crisis By DemDames
On the eve of the September 13 primary, New York State Republican Senator John Bonacic is urging Democrats to write in his name on their party’s ballot. The senator is already assured of the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines on the November ballot but he wants to take no chances. If he succeeds in getting his name on the Democratic line as well, he will not face an opponent in the general election. Bonancic has held same Senate seat for nearly two decades and has a history to bullying his opponents out of the race.
(WA-StSen-49) The 49 District Strategy: I'm Running for State Representative
by HealthCarewatcher
I live in Washington State, which may seem like a bastion of progressiveness to outsiders. Sadly, Republicans control our State Senate and are one vote away from controlling our State House of Representatives. They’ve blocked funding for teachers, raided funds that pay for clean water systems, and just generally been obstructionists.
(USA-Multiple) Daily Kos Election ad roundup: Pat McCrory digs in and defends North Carolina's notorious HB2 by Jeff Singer – A roundup of down ticket ads.
General 2
Door to Door for Judge by Master Alchemi
During my lunch hour last Friday I had coincidentally chosen the same fast food place as my boss and his wife. We had exchanged some pleasantries and she asked, “So do you have plans this (Labor Day) weekend?” “Canvassing!” I proudly stated.
MICHIGAN: SCOTUS slams the door on Schuette; Straight-Ticket Voting WILL remain on the ballot! By Brainwrap
Supreme Court Shuts Down Michigan’s Push To Eliminate ‘Straight-Ticket’ Voting The Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency request from Michigan to reinstate a ban on “straight-ticket” voting, a mechanism that allows people to vote for every candidate in a party’s ticket by marking a single box on a ballot. The court’s order indicates that two justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, would’ve allowed the ban to go into effect.
Guides and Tools 1
(USA-Multiple) 50 State Voter Information Guide, including Washington, D.C. by icebergslim
Remember, EARLY VOTING, start in some states the week of September 19th, so get it together and register to vote now. Many states allow you to do so online, so take the time out and get it done.
Thanks for visiting Election Roundup 2016. If you know of a story we missed, please let us know in comments or by kos mail and we’ll add it to the collection. See you next Monday!