Daily Kos Elections Live Digest: 2/6

by Daily Kos Elections for Daily Kos Liveblogs

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus

Tuesday, Feb. 06, 2024 Tuesday, Feb. 06, 2024 at 5:59:11am PST

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 10:46:11 PM +00:00 · Stephen Wolf

• AZ-08: Axios reports that real estate broker Waseem Hamadeh has given $1 million to a new super PAC supporting his brother, 2022 attorney general nominee Abe Hamadeh, an election denier who is running for the GOP nomination in this open safely red seat with Donald Trump's endorsement this year. The candidate raised a more modest $282,000 last quarter and finished the year with $257,000 on hand.

Axios also notes that in 2022, Waseem Hamadeh had loaned his brother's campaign $1 million right before the first quarter filing deadline and took it back afterward, though he later gave $350,000 to the campaign. That repaid loan, however, didn't show up until second quarter reports were due—weeks after Trump endorsed Abe Hamadeh.

Some Republicans griped that the maneuver was intended to significantly inflate Hamadeh's fundraising at a critical moment. However, Waseem Hamadeh claims to Axios that he won't pull a similar move this cycle but could give even more to the new PAC.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 10:38:25 PM +00:00 · Stephen Wolf

• Where Are They Now?: Former Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo has announced another comeback bid in Florida, this time launching a campaign for clerk of courts in Miami-Dade County. Taddeo's 2017 special election victory made her the state Senate's first Latina Democrat, though she has also run and come up short in a series of competitive contests over the last decade and a half.

These races include a 57-43 loss last cycle in the 27th District against GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in a bad year for Florida Democrats; a 51-49 defeat in the 2016 Democratic primary in the old 26th District; and a 48-47 loss for lieutenant governor as part of a ticket with Democrat Charlie Crist in 2014.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 10:31:00 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• MO-01: Former state legislator Maira Chapelle-Nadal announced a bid for Missouri's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, making her the second notable candidate looking to unseat Rep. Cori Bush in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary.

Bush, who is under federal investigation for her spending on security services, already faced a challenge from St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. Both Bell and Bush raised $490,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023, but due to Bush's higher spending, Bell finished the year with a $409,000 to $216,000 advantage in cash on hand.

The 1st District, which is based in St. Louis, is safely blue turf that supported Joe Biden by a 78-20 margin. Chapelle-Nadal, who had served multiple stints in the state House and Senate, sought this seat once before, losing to then-Rep. Lacy Clay in 2016 by a 63-27 margin. Clay in turn was ousted by Bush in the 2020 primary.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 10:29:43 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• NY-16: Former Rep. Eliot Engel, who was ousted by Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the 2020 Democratic primary, has endorsed Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is now looking to do the same to Bowman in this year's primary. Engel also announced the backing of former Rep. Nita Lowey, who represented about a quarter of New York's 16th District prior to her retirement ahead of the 2020 elections.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 10:23:18 PM +00:00 · David Nir

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 9:55:10 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• NJ-07: Blazakis has now also endorsed Altman.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 8:22:23 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• NJ-09: Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh has decided against challenging Rep. Bill Pascrell in New Jersey's June 4 Democratic primary, reports Joe Malinconico of the Paterson Press, but Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter has moved forward with a possible bid of her own.

Sumter says she submitted paperwork seeking the support of the local Democratic Party organizations in Bergen and Passaic counties, which together make up more than 90% of the district's population. Such endorsements often make a critical difference in the Garden State because candidates with official party backing receive special placement on primary ballots and historically receive a huge boost as a result.

It's not clear, though, whether Sumter has a shot at displacing the 87-year-old Pascrell among Democratic leaders. In December, Malinconico reported that party officials in Bergen County said they "would continue to support Pascrell" if he were to draw a challenger. And Sumter herself said this week that she holds the congressman "in high regard" and would back him for a 14th term if he once again wins party backing.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 8:09:33 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• NJ-07: Former State Department official Jason Blazakis has dropped out of the race for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, leaving former Working Families Party state director Sue Altman as the sole notable candidate seeking the Democratic nod to take on freshman GOP Rep. Tom Kean. Altman outraised Blazakis $272,000 to $166,000 last quarter, though Kean bested them both with a $481,000 haul. The congressman is also sitting on a hefty $2.1 million war chest, compared with a $532,000 stockpile for Altman.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 8:01:04 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• IN-06: State Sen. Jeff Raatz just became the third notable Republican to enter the race for Indiana's conservative 6th District, which came open following Rep. Greg Pence's retirement last month. Already running are state Rep. Mike Speedy and trucking company owner Sid Mahant, who switched from the 5th District to the 6th in mid-January after self-funding $2 million.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 7:33:48 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• MN-03: EMILY's List has endorsed Democratic state Sen. Kelly Morrison in her bid to replace Rep. Dean Phillips, who recently finished third behind Joe Biden and Marianne Williamson in the South Carolina primary with 1.7% of the vote. So far, the only other candidate Morrison faces for the Democratic nod in this solidly blue seat in the Minneapolis suburbs is DNC official Ron Harris. Morrison, a Phillips ally, outraised Harris $398,000 to $72,000 last quarter.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 7:33:29 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• IL-07: Despite raising just $8,000 for her primary challenge against Rep. Danny Davis last quarter, gun safety activist Kina Collins tells ABC7 Chicago's Craig Wall that she's since brought in $600,000 thanks to a benefit concert that The Strokes will host on her behalf next month. The critically acclaimed indie rock band staged a similar concert for Collins' last bid in 2022 after the candidate and Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas reportedly "hit it off" at a party in New York, according to Variety's Ethan Shanfeld.

Davis faces several opponents looking to unseat him in Illinois' March 19 Democratic primary, including Collins, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, and Kouri Marshall, a former aide to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. In 2022, Collins came very close to defeating Davis, who survived their primary faceoff with a narrow 52-46 win.

That was by far the tightest race of Davis' long career, though the congressman, now 82, is hoping to extend his service to a 15th term. Wall reports that Davis "downplayed his age" in their recent interview, but he noted that a since-deleted image on the representative's campaign website depicted an "AI-generated photo of Davis, looking younger and thinner." A staffer "admitted she generated the AI photo because she had a hard time getting Davis to get well-groomed for a photo shoot."

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 6:57:10 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• CA-47: AdImpact reports that the United Democracy Project's spending on a new ad targeting Democratic state Sen. Dave Min is now up to $497,000, almost twice the $260,000 that was reported a day earlier. AdImpact also has a copy of the advertisement, which features footage of Min's arrest for drunk driving last year, concluding with Min asking officers, "There's no way to not release this?" The spot does not mention Min's chief Democratic rival in the race, attorney Joanna Weiss.

It's not clear why UDP, which is an affiliate of the hawkish pro-Israel group AIPAC, has decided to weigh in on the race. The organization did not respond to an email from Politico asking for comment, though a spokesperson for Min argued that AIPAC donors "are upset that he has called for Bibi Netanyahu to be held accountable for the security failures on October 7th and Netanyahu’s failure of leadership during this crisis."

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 6:56:54 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• AK-AL: Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has endorsed Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom's bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola for Alaska's lone congressional seat. The only other notable Republican running is businessman Nick Begich, who lost to Peltola twice in 2022, once in the special election to replace the late Don Young and then in the regular election that fall. All candidates will compete in a top-four primary on Aug. 20, with a winner chosen in an instant runoff in November.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024 · 6:56:38 PM +00:00 · David Nir

• OH-Sen: Secretary of State Frank LaRose has earned the endorsement of Rep. Mike Turner, the first member of Ohio's congressional delegation to back LaRose's bid for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Last month, two far-right Ohio congressmen, Reps. Jim Jordan and Warren Davidson, both gave their support to businessman Bernie Moreno, who is Donald Trump's pick.