On this day in 2003, Strom Thurmond passed away at the age of 100. Thurmond was a Senator until January of that year, becoming the oldest man ever to serve in Congress. The Thurmond name was still relevant in the 2010 electoral cycle, where his son made it a runoff for the seat in SC-01, but was then defeated by African-American Republican Tim Scott.
On with the weekend edition of the Wrap...
U.S. SENATE
AZ-Sen: Debate schedule set amid Hayworth mea culpa
In a week where J.D. Hayworth's teabagger street cred was painfully diminished by the revelation of his "get your government boodle" infomercial past, the week closes with the news that he will get a chance to explain himself with McCain on the dais with him. The two candidates have apparently agreed to a pair of debates in the month of July, in advance of their primary in late August. In other infomercial news, Hayworth has now apologized for his flogging of such programs on late night TV, saying that hopes that voters will "look past" his teevee appearances and focus on the issues of the day.
NC-Sen: Rasmussen has it close, but SUSA doesn't
Out this weekend from SurveyUSA: new numbers in the competitive Senate race in the Tar Heel State. The results are less optimistic for the Democrats than the Rasmussen poll on the race earlier in the week. SUSA has incumbent Republican Richard Burr out in front with 50% of the vote, with Democrat Richard Burr back at 40%, and Libertarian Mike Beitler far behind at 6%. The biggest drawback for Marshall appears to be that Burr is consolidating the GOP vote far better than Marshall is doing among Democrats.
U.S. HOUSE
KS-01: Still a wide-open field in the wide-open 1st district
Western Kansas will be electing a new Congressman this year, as the vast 1st district says goodbye to Jerry Moran (who is running for the Senate). A new poll out at the end of the week by SurveyUSA calls this race as a dead heat. State senator Jim Barnett is still your leader (23%), but realtor Tracey Mann has emerged from nowhere to vie for the lead. Mann was once at just four percent of the vote, but he now runs at 20% of the vote. Tim Huelskamp, who has the imprimatur of the Club for Growth, had also inched forward to 18%. Democrats are primary-free here, as former Salina Mayor Alan Jilka was the only Democrat who filed for the seat.
KS-04: Toss-up for the GOP, Democratic field closer than expected
If KS-01 is seen by virtually everyone as a guaranteed hold for the GOP (McCain took 69% there), the Wichita-based 4th district has potential. Not only is the district marginally more competitive (58-40 for McCain), but the Democrats have one of their leading recruits here in state senator Raj Goyle. Given that fact, the latest SurveyUSA poll out of the district has to give Dems pause. In that poll, Goyle only leads the Democratic primary with 42% of the vote, with 32% of the vote going to retiree Robert Tillman, who has not even raised enough cash to file an FEC report (Goyle has raised close to a million dollars for his bid). On the GOP side, it is a battle of the businessmen, as manufacturing executive Mike Pompeo leads oil executive Wink Hartman by a pair (39-37), with the rest of the field languishing in the single digits.
NC-08: Kissell dodges electoral bullet as third-party bid fizzles
Democratic freshman Larry Kissell looked to be in deep trouble for his apostasy on issues like health care. Labor had organized a petition drive in district on behalf of former Kissell staffer Wendell Fant. Only one hitch--the candidate decided to stand down. Fant decided at the end of the week that he would not run, and even said that the effort might have helped Kissell to vote with the Democrats on the Jobs bill.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
AL-Gov: Vietnam War vs Vietnam War era, take three
It is beginning to look like L'Affaire Blumenthal in Connecticut is beginning to take more from the Republicans than the Democrats. After putting a serious crimp in Senate candidate Mark Kirk's campaign in Illinois, another prominent Republican has been caught in a pickle regarding his wartime street cred. In this case, it is Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Bentley. Bentley served stateside in the Air Force in the late 1960s as a hospital commander. Yet a campaign ad extolling his biography merely said "Hospital commander, Vietnam War." This syntactical debate was the same one that consumed Blumenthal's campaign briefly several weeks ago.
FL-Gov: McCollum endorsement a medical diss to Scott?
It is hard not to read this as a high-profile rebuff to sudden GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Rick Scott. Despite (or perhaps because of?) his past as a top-level exec in the health care industry, the Florida Medical Association PAC decided to endorse his opponent, Bill McCollum. The vote was unanimous.
IA-Gov: GOP schism laid bare in contentious LG convention vote
Anyone who thought Democrats were exaggerating the state of tension in the Iowa GOP now has an object lesson in just how ugly it is in the Hawkeye State. Less than 72 hours after Terry Branstad handpicked his running mate (conservative state legislator Kim Reynolds), that choice was challenged in the state convention. Party activists placed the name of Bob Vander Plaats into nomination. Vander Plaats narrowly lost to Branstad in the GOP gubernatorial primary, and has been openly contemplating a third-party bid in November. Reynolds narrowly held onto the nomination over Vander Plaats, and the party is fiercely working its way towards "we're all on the same team" mode. Time will tell, however, if that will prove successful. Vander Plaats, to that end, has still not officially ruled out that third-party bid.
NV-Gov: Rory...just one name (like a Brazilian soccer player)
You gotta give the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rory Reid points for creativity, if not subtlety. Out with one of his first ads of the general election campaign omitting one small detail: his last name. Reid's father, of course, is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose opposition is keeping him in the game in a race where his job approval is flagging.
SC-Gov: One place where the GOP and the CoC are not hand-in-glove
Both hands are probably unnecessary to count the number of races in any given cycle where the Chamber of Commerce endorses a Democratic candidate. Yet that is precisely what has happened in South Carolina, where the CoC has endorsed Democrat Vincent Sheheen against newly-minted Republican nominee Nikki Haley. This underscores the fissures in GOP state parties nationwide between the "country club" economic conservatives and the activist crowd that pushed Haley past the finish line.
TX-Gov: Greens tossed from ballot amid evidence of GOP hijinks
The burgeoning scandal in the Lone Star State, involving the apparent effort of Republican operatives to assist the Green Party in getting on the ballot, has led to the Greens being knocked off the November ballot. At issue is over $532,000 (the donors of which are still unknown) spent by a known Republican operative on a petition drive that landed the Green Party on the ballot. A judge ruled that the money spent on the petition drive by the group in question (called Take Initiative America) was tantamount to an illegal in-kind contribution. Where this scandal could grow, however, is in the proximity of some of the players involved to Texas Governor Rick Perry. It is worth noting that while the Perry camp vehemently denies involvement, an initial foray into the petitioning process was done by his former chief-of-staff, and the ultimately successful effort was done by a campaign operative who had worked with Perry's chief campaign strategist in the past.
For his part, Democratic nominee Bill White is crowing a bit about the chicanery by the GOP, pointing out that they wouldn't be taking such desperate measures if they weren't extremely nervous about the outcome in November.
THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA
I tried to work up some outrage for the latest Rasmussen poll showing Republicans picking off a Dem-held seat by twenty points. Then I saw it was the Wyoming Governor's race. Never mind.
NV-Gov: Brian Sandoval (R) 55%, Rory Reid (D) 33%
UT-Sen: Mike Lee (R) 58%, Sam Granato (D) 28%
WA-Sen: Sen. Patty Murray (D) 47%, Dino Rossi (R) 47%
WA-Sen: Sen. Patty Murray (D) 48%, Clint Didier (R) 40%
WA-Sen: Sen. Patty Murray (D) 48%, Paul Akers (R) 38%
WY-Gov: Rita Meyer (R) 52%, Pete Gosar (D) 23%
WY-Gov: Matt Mead (R) 51%, Pete Gosar (D) 23%
WY-Gov: Colin Simpson (R) 51%, Pete Gosar (D) 24%
WY-Gov: Ron Micheli (R) 46%, Pete Gosar (D) 28%
WY-Gov: Rita Meyer (R) 51%, Leslie Peterson (D) 23%
WY-Gov: Matt Mead (R) 49%, Leslie Peterson (D) 22%
WY-Gov: Colin Simpson (R) 44%, Leslie Peterson (D) 28%
WY-Gov: Ron Micheli (R) 47%, Leslie Peterson (D) 27%