Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) announced Monday that he will run for governor in 2012.
The eight-term lawmaker announced his candidacy in Seattle Monday morning. He will run against Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna (R), who has been polling well in the state, which has seen some contentious gubernatorial races.
Gov. Christine Gregoire (D), who's retiring, barely beat Republican Dino Rossi in 2004 (a long recount determined the eventual winner) but did better against him in 2008, when President Obama was on top of the ticket.
This isn't the first time Inslee has tried to move to the governor's mansion. In 1996, he lost the Democratic nomination to Gary Locke, who went on to win in the general election.
Inslee's House seat, where he's easily won reelection the past few cycles, already has some contenders. On Monday, Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman (D) threw his hat into the race. Another Democrat, Laura Ruderman, and Republican James Watkins, who lost to Inslee in 2010, have also filed.
"We look forward to electing a Democrat next November who will fight against the Republicans’ plan to end Medicare and will represent the middle class families of this district," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R) announced Thursday he's running for governor in 2012.
"I'm in this race," the congressman said in a Web video where he appears with his wife, Karen.
There was speculation earlier this year that Pence would opt to run for president, but he ruled himself out of the field in January.
In his announcement video, Pence praised current Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) for his "capable leadership."
"Indiana has set the pace in fiscal responsibility, job creation and reform," he said. "But our work isn't over. To keep Indiana growing, Hoosiers know, we must have principled leadership at every level to make the right choices."
He added: "Freedom's work is never done."
Indiana Democrats were quick to tar Pence as a Washington insider.
"Congressman Mike Pence loves Washington, so much so that he made his campaign announcement from there instead of heading back to the heartland and standing with the Hoosiers he wants to represent," Dan Parker, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, said in a statement.
"Hoosiers cherish compromise, and we need leadership that can go beyond party lines, work across the aisle to solve our economic challenges and create the jobs we so desperately need in Indiana. No part of that sentence describes Congressman Mike Pence.”
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who was expected to address a possible 2012 run for Indiana governor on a conference call with supporters Monday morning, delayed any announcement after news of the U.S. raid in Pakistan that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The Pence call was set for 10 a.m., but in a statement Monday morning a spokesman for the congressman announced the delay "due to the momentous news concerning Osama bin Laden." The conference call will take place sometime next week.
Earlier this year, Pence passed on a bid for president in 2012, saying in a statement that he wanted to keep his focus "closer to home."
Most political observers fully expect Pence to get into the governor's race now that other prominent potential candidates, including former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), have passed on a run.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is term limited and weighing his own run for president next year. Daniels said over the weekend that a final decision is coming within weeks.
A Republican is going to win the 2012 presidential election if it's about policy, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said Friday.
Speaking at the Rediscover God pastors conference in West Des Moines, Iowa, Barbour said a Republican candidate could beat President Obama if the election were centered around a debate about the right and wrong kind of policy.
"As we go into this election in 2012, I will tell you that, in my view, we will win the election if the election’s about policy," Barbour said. "If the election is about the right kind of policy versus the wrong kind of policy, conservatives and Republicans will win."
Barbour is one of a number of high-profile Republicans showing interest in running for president next year. He has recently made appearances and speeches in key battleground states as well as Obama's hometown of Chicago, where he forcefully criticized Obama's economic policies.
Barbour's speech comes as the Republican presidential primary begins to heat up. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently (R) announced his plans to form a presidential exploratory committee, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is reportedly planning on announcing the formation of one later this summer.
Barbour, however, hasn't taken that step yet.
"I don't know if I'm going to run for president or not," Barbour added in his speech. "If I do, I covet your vote. If I do, I want a chance to compete for it."
Bachmann, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) are also scheduled to address the conference.
The famed Pet Sematary author joined a liberal protest rally against Florida's Republican governor Tuesday in Sarasota.
The event was one of several "Awake the State" rallies conducted during the evening across Florida ahead of Gov. Rick Scott's first State of the State address to lawmakers in
Tallahassee.
Stephen King, who owns a home on nearby Casey Key, joked to the protesters about Scott's decision to refuse federal dollars for a high-speed rail project linking Orlando and Tampa. King said, sarcastically, it was "probably a bad deal — considering how low the price of gas is."
The Misery author also said Scott's brief reign was worthy of dramatization.
"Maybe my next horror novel will star Rick Scott," King told the crowd, according to the Sarasota Herald-Times.
The events were organized through Facebook by Democratic-aligned groups including Progress Florida, Florida Watch Action and America Votes.
In his address, Scott called for cuts in spending for
education and Medicaid and reduced state employee benefits.
The conservative group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is launching a six-figure TV ad buy in Wisconsin, urging support for Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the state's ongoing budget standoff.
The TV buy, which will run the group $342,200 over the next week, ups the ideological stakes of the budget battle, with organized labor already panning AFP as a pawn of Koch Industries.
The company is run by billionaire Republican donors, the Koch brothers, who help fund the group and donated heavily to Walker's gubernatorial campaign.
"Who decides Wisconsin's future?" the ad asks. "Voters or government unions?"
The ad includes a still photo of a protest sign that reads, in part, "Scott Walker = Adolf Hitler."
"Democratic legislators refuse to show up for their jobs, hiding out in other states," the ad's narrator says. "And incredibly, President Obama backs the union bosses and floods Wisconsin with out-of-state union protesters."
The launch of the ad comes the same day audio of a phone conversation between Walker and a liberal blogger who posed as David Koch was posted on a liberal website.
The prank call is the latest incident in the high-profile battle over Walker's budget plan. It quickly made its way around the Web on Wednesday, and Walker's opponents pounced on the contents of the call, saying it shows Walker is stubbornly pursuing his budget-fix bill at all costs.
In the call, Walker openly discusses ways to lure state Senate Democrats back to the state capital of Madison to bring the upper chamber back into session, which would likely allow passage of the legislation.
Acting West Virginia Gov. Earl Tomblin (D) signed legislation Monday setting
the dates for a special gubernatorial election. The primary will be May 14; the general election Oct. 4.
The special election comes after then-Gov. Joe Manchin (D) decided to run for
the open seat left after the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D). Manchin won the seat
last year. Tomblin, the former state Senate president, was in line to take his place temporarily.
The election is for the last two years of Manchin's term — the state's Supreme
Court ordered that the new governor take office by Nov. 15. The next four-year
term will also be on the ballot.
So far, four Republicans, a member of the third-party Mountain Party, and three
Democrats have filed to run in the special election.
The Democratic candidates are House Speaker Rick Thompson, Secretary of State
Natalie Tennant and Tomblin.
On the Republican side, former Secretary of State Betty Ireland, Putnam County
Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia, state Sen. Clark Barnes and West Virginia
Delegate Patrick Lane are running.
The chairman of the Republican Governors Association will keynote a Kentucky Republican Party fundraising dinner, an indication that the RGA considers that state's gubernatorial race important.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) will address the state's Lincoln Day Dinner in Louisville on April 9, Kentucky Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson confirmed to cn|2 Politics. According to cn|2, the majority of the Kentucky congressional delegation is expected to attend the event.
The fact that Perry is keynoting the dinner is a sign the RGA is increasingly optimistic about its chances to unseat Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. A number of Kentucky Republicans are competing for the GOP nomination, including businessman Phil Moffet, Republican state Senate President David Williams and Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw. Beshear is running for reelection unopposed.
The RGA has said it expects the Kentucky governor's race to be one of the most competitive this year.
The Republican primary is May 17. The general election is Nov. 8.
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