After a flood of electoral news yesterday, the river has dried up to a dry creek bed on this Friday night. And now that I have abused just about every water-based metaphor known to man, let's get to the Wrap-Up for Friday night.
NJ-Gov: Candidates Spar in Debate
On Thursday night, the three leading candidates for Governor of New Jersey met in Trenton to debate the issues, roughly a month before Election Day. A brief reading of media accounts of the debate had two common critiques: the general consensus was that Independent candidate Christopher Daggett had several scene-stealing moments, and Republican nominee Chris Christie did not like the attention laid on him by both Corzine and Daggett, with the word "testy" being used to describe his demeanor. Two of the predominant themes of the debate were taxes and the specificity of their campaign agendas, with both Corzine and Daggett hammering Christie for lack of specifics. Polling throughout the week, including the new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll in the Garden State which Markos discussed this morning, show the race tightening as the calendar turns to October.
WI-Sen: Possible Ethics Issue With Potential GOP Challenger To Feingold
Last week, the buzz around Wisconsin was that three-term Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold might be facing a fairly well-known (and very well-funded) challenge from the GOP in the person of Madison-area developer Terrence Wall. It did not take long for enterprising bloggers with an interest in the race to find a real problem politically for the possible Republican contender. The left-of-center Wisconsin blog Blogging Blue uncovered that Wall had set up his company offices not in Wisconsin, but in Delaware, in order to avoid paying taxes in the Badger State. For a business to do that, or an individual to do that, is far from unprecedented (there is a reason a lot of professional athletes make their homes in Nevada, for example). But if you want to represent a state politically, the practice becomes a little bit thornier, of course.
Furthermore, Blogging Blue then discovered that Wall had done the same thing for over 15 different businesses, leading the blog to sarcastically suggest that Wall would be better served with a candidacy in Delaware.
Well, they do have an open Senate seat in 2010...
AZ-Gov: Incumbent GOP Governor Brewer Draws Another Primary Opponent
In a sign that this year's state budget negotiations have made her a persona non grata in Arizona politics, Republican Governor Jan Brewer drew yet another high-profile Republican challenger. John Munger, an attorney who served as the state's party chairman a generation ago, has filed to run for Governor. He joins Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker (who has not filed but has set up an exploratory committee. Other GOPers looking at the race include former Governor Fife Symington and state Treasurer Dean Martin. Democrats seem to be coalescing around state Attorney General Terry Goddard, who leads Brewer in recent polls.
SC-Gov: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Must Return Tainted Donations
This is clearly not the kind of news you want to be making if you want to claw your way out of a crowded primary field: Republican state Attorney General Henry McMaster, after initial defiance, will return over $30,000 in campaign contributions about which ethical questions had been raised. McMaster had received the donations from approximately half a dozen attorneys that McMaster later hired to work on state business. McMaster is one of the favorites for the GOP nod, in a field that also includes Congressman Gresham Barrett and Lt. Governor Andre Bauer. In other South Carolina political news, House Democrats decided today to agree on a call for embattled Governor Mark Sanford to resign. The GOP had already decided to cut the cord on the disgraced Governor.
FL-08: Grayson Makes Money, Enemies, After This Week's Firestorm
Alan Grayson emerges from the week that he became a prominent story in the political public conversation with an increased war chest, and an increased vigor in the GOP to make him a one-term Congressman. Grayson is telling media sources that he has raised over 150 thousand dollars in the three days since his "Die Quickly" speech ignited a political maelstrom that had Republicans whining and Grayson apologizing...to the dead. The commentary, of course, got the GOP hopping mad. But as of yet, Grayson still lacks a first-tier opponent, a fact that is starting to frustrate local GOP officials.