The joint Indie ticket of state Treasurer Tim Cahill and former state Rep. Paul Loscocco announced Friday they've hired some of John McCain's top consultants.
Joining the team are strategists John Weaver, John Yob, Mike Dennehy and Mark Salter. They'll link up with Democratic strategist Tad Devine who is already advising the Massachusetts gubernatorial hopefuls. Cahill, in a statement: "These guys are the best in the business. They share my vision for fixing the Massachusetts economy by transcending partisan politics, creating good jobs, cutting taxes across the board and creating a smaller and more efficient state government."
New York reporters remain on Paterson administration deathwatch.
The embattled governor's communications director resigned today. In a statement, Peter Kauffmann said: "As a former officer in the United States Navy, integrity and commitment to public service are values I take seriously. Unfortunately, as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my current position."
Kauffmann was caught up -- it appears inadvertently -- in the mini-scandal surrounding Paterson's solicitation of Yankees World Series tickets. He was scheduled to testify in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's inquiry Thursday.
Meanwhile, NY1 reports that on Thursday Paterson "said he will be the governor tomorrow, but would not respond to questions about whether he'll be governor next week."
Kauffmann is the third Paterson official to resign in the last two weeks.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) announced Thursday he won't try for a third term. The popular Democrat is term-limited, but observers thought he would seek to challenge the law in court and run again. National Dems are now saying they're "unenthusiastic" about holding the Wyoming governor's mansion.
Freudenthal won two elections as a Democrat by taking his no-nonsense, conservative message door-to-door across the state, a proven strategy in sparsely populated Wyoming.
"It is an incredible honor to be governor, particularly in a state like this where you get to know the people," Freudenthal said. "And for better or for worse, all 533,000 of them have got an opinion."
Freudenthal said he wasn't worried about the prospect of challenging the state's term limit law. The Wyoming Supreme Court already has held that the law was unconstitutional for state legislators.
While several prominent Wyoming Republicans have announced they will seek their party's nomination to run for governor this fall, Democrats in the state have been waiting to see what Freudenthal would decide.
"I've certainly communicated to them over time that they shouldn't be counting on me running," Freudenthal said of the state Democratic Party. "And I'm hopeful that they'll find qualified candidates.
Minnesota is officially moving its primary ahead one month, from Sept. 14 to Aug. 10.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) was set to sign the change into law on Wednsday morning. The change was made in order to give overseas absentee voters enough time to get their ballots in.
The key race in the state this year is the open governor's contest, with vast fields of candidates seeking their party's nomination on either side.
As for congressional races, the move could help Democrats recover earlier from a tough primary to face Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). In that race, state Sen. Tarryl Clark and former University of Minnesota Regent Maureen Reed are both raising big money.
A new poll shows New York voters don't want Gov. David Paterson (D) to resign.
More than 60 percent of voters want the governor to serve out the remainder of his term, according to a Quinnipiac University survey out Wednesday. It's the second poll released this week that shows New Yorkers want to avoid the trauma of having a second governor forced from office in the same term.
A majority of the 1,237 voters surveyed also said Paterson would do a better job than Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch (D) governing the state this year.
Still, details continue to emerge about Paterson's role in a domestic abuse case. If the steady drip of negative press coverage continues, he may have no choice but to resign.
Houston Mayor Bill White has won the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas.
White led businessman Farouk Shami 76 percent to 12 percent with 2.3 percent of precincts reporting and plenty of early voting tabulated. He has been declared the winner.
He will face the winner of the GOP contest between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Perry leads 53-30 with early voting and just more than 2 percent of precincts reporting.
Perry must get 50 percent-plus-one to avoid a runoff on April 13.
White has given Democrats hope of winning the elusive Texas governorship. The DGA recently contributed $500,000 to his campaign in a sign of it's enthusiasm.
For those following the results out of Texas tonight, the Ballot Box will be holding a live blog beginning around 8 p.m. eastern, when most of the polls close (El Paso is on mountain time and will close at 9).
Please check back here at that time. We had a great turnout for the Illinois primary last month, and hopefully we'll have another great discussion.
The Perry-Hutchison primary will of course be item No. 1, but we'll also monitor the GOP primaries to face Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) and Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas).
Announcing his run for governor of California, Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) billed himself as a technocrat with an "insider's knowledge but an outsider's mind."
"The key is knowledge," Brown said Tuesday in a video posted on his campaign website. "I've seen our government from every angle."
One of his Republican rivals was quick to dismiss Brown's candidacy.
"This election will be about the future of California, not the past," Steve Poizner (R), former state insurance commissioner, said in a statement. "Our state needs bold, new conservative solutions that will jumpstart our economy and bring jobs back to California."
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) is also running for the GOP nod. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
With pressure mounting on Gov. David Paterson (D) to resign, a poll out Tuesday shows a majority of New York voters want him to stay on.
The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion survey, which was conducted before and after the latest scandal broke, shows 66 percent of registered voters want Paterson to serve out the rest of his term, 28 percent would prefer he resigns and 6 percent are unsure. Moreover, his job approval rating hasn't changed much since the scandal broke – 23 percent said Paterson is doing either an excellent or good job in office, down one point from before he withdrew from the campaign.
This doesn't mean voters have confidence in Paterson -- 62 percent expect he won't be an effective leader during the remainder of his term.
Meanwhile, former Rep. Rick Lazio, who's expected to be the GOP gubernatorial nominee, demanded Paterson resign.
Calling the latest report on Paterson by the New York Times "very sad," Lazio said in a statement: "If these allegations are true, then Governor Paterson must resign and resign now. This is another example of just how dysfunctional Albany is and how desperately we need serious change."
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