2014 Democratic lieutenant governor nominee and San Antonio mayoral candidate Leticia Van de Putte
Leading Off:
• San Antonio Mayor: Plenty of big cities will hold mayoral elections next year, and it looks like we'll have an exciting race to look forward to in the nation's seventh largest city. Former Democratic state Rep. Mike Villarreal made his intentions known almost from the moment that then-Mayor Julian Castro was appointed to President Obama's cabinet, and Villarreal spent months as the only declared candidate.
However, on Wednesday state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte jumped in the race. Van de Putte just lost the lieutenant governor election to Republican Dan Patrick but she acquitted herself well, and she will definitely be a formidable mayoral candidate. San Antonio Current also names Councilman Ron Nirenberg and interim Mayor Ivy Taylor as potential candidates, but they may hold off now that Van de Putte is in.
In San Antonio terms last for two years, and mayors are eligible to serve for up to four terms. The post itself isn't particularly powerful, but Castro and Henry Cisneros demonstrated that it can be an effective springboard for bigger things.
Senate:
• LA-Sen: Vox Populi is the third Republican pollster to take a look at this contest, and like Magellan and Gravis they find Republican Bill Cassisy holding a double-digit lead over Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. This survey finds Cassidy up 53-42, smaller than the other two offerings but still not pretty.
P.S.: Check out this fugly chart from HuffPost Pollster.
• MO-Sen: Republican Sen. Roy Blunt will be up for re-election in 2016, but there hasn't been much enthusiasm from Democrats about taking him out. There was some speculation that termed-limited Treasurer Clint Zweifel could be enticed to run, but on Monday he declared that he wouldn't challenge Blunt or run for lieutenant governor. Missouri has become a very inhospitable state for national Democrats in recent cycles and Blunt will not be easy to beat.
• NV-Sen: On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Mark Amodei ruled out running against Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in 2016. Amodei's colleague Joe Heck also recently declined to challenge Reid. National Republicans still have plenty of choices and are doing everything they can to entice Gov. Brian Sandoval to run.
• OH-Sen: Let's file this under "I'll believe it when I see it." Bloomberg's Dave Weigel tweets that former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland told him that he hasn't ruled out challenging Republican Sen. Rob Portman in 2016. Democrats don't have a great bench left in the Buckeye State and Strickland only narrowly lost his seat during the 2010 red wave, and he would be a great get. The problem is that Strickland would be 75 on Election Day, not an ideal age to start a Senate career.
House:
• CA-07: On Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press both called this contest for Democratic Rep. Ami Bera. With all the ballots counted, Bera's lead over Republican Doug Ose stands at 1,432 votes. Both parties spent heavily to win this swing seat, and Bera definitely deserves a lot of credit for surviving the red wave.
• CA-16: Democratic Rep. Jim Costa has defeated Some Dude Republican Johnny Tacherra, with the AP calling the race for Costa on Wednesday. Tacherra's slim hopes depended on him doing very well among Merced and Madera counties' remaining ballots, but Costa actually netted a few votes. The incumbent's lead currently stands at 1,319 votes: It may be an incredibly weak win, but it's a win all the same.
Other Races:
• IL State House: Illinois Democrats took plenty of lumps this year, but they appear to have scored one key victory. Before the election Democrats held 71 of the 118 seats in the state House, exactly the number they needed to override a gubernatorial veto (the state Senate supermajority was never at serious risk). With Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on track to lose, it looked very unlikely that Team Blue would manage to escape election night with all their seats, but that's just what happened.
With all the ballots counted, Democratic state Rep. Kate Cloonen holds a 122 vote lead over Republican Glenn Nixon in a 50-49 Romney seat. Nixon is considering his options but if Cloonen emerges victorious, Democrats will preserve their 71 to 47 supermajority. Speaker Michael Madigan would have no room for error if he wanted to override any of Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner's vetoes but this does give him a powerful bargaining chip.
• IL Treasurer: After narrowly trailing since election night, late ballots gave Democrat Mike Frerichs a lead over Republican Tom Cross for the first time on Monday. It quickly became clear that Frerichs's 9,500-vote lead wasn't going anywhere, and on Tuesday Cross conceded. Frerichs' victory gives Democrats a pickup: Outgoing Republican Treasurer Dan Rutherford beat now-Rep. Robin Kelly in this race in 2010, but left the post behind to wage a disastrous bid for governor.
The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, with additional contributions from Jeff Singer, David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Taniel, and Dreaminonempty