Car dealer Scott Rigell won the GOP nomination in the Virginia's 2nd district Tuesday after securing 41 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
He'll challenge freshman Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Va.) for the seat in November.
The win is good news for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which recruited Rigell to run and promoted his candidacy.
He was a good fundraiser but had difficulty burnishing his GOP credentials after it emerged he donated $2,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and his car dealerships received hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds through the federal "cash for clunkers" program.
He has attacked the president and the clunkers program in the primary campaign.
Tea Party groups endorsed businessman Ben Loyola (R), his closest rival, who finished with 26 percent of vote, according to unofficial results.
The League of Conservation Voters is trying to tether Sen. Blanche
Lincoln (D-Ark.) to "big oil" — and BP in particular — in a final push
on behalf of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D), who the group is supporting in
Tuesday's Democratic primary runoff.
The group on Wednesday launched a new TV ad
that highlights Lincoln's receipt of oil-and-gas industry political
donations and her vote for 2006 legislation that expanded drilling in
the Gulf of Mexico.
"Maybe she got that money because she helped
Bush and Cheney give oil companies $14 billion in tax breaks," the announcer says as images of the former president and vice president appear onscreen next to Lincoln. "Or because she voted to allow risky offshore drilling for BP
and their friends."
"It's time to send big oil a message: On Tuesday, send Blanche Lincoln packing," the ad continues.
The
ad is part of what an LCV spokeswoman Kate Geller called a six-figure
campaign that also includes e-mail and telephone outreach, but not
automated "robo-calls," she said.
Lincoln's campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
The winner of the runoff will face Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) in the general election.
Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) becomes the second switcher to drop in a
primary, the National Republican Congressional Committee gets disappointed in Alabama's 2nd district and Colorado Republicans are voting for Senate with their feet.
No love for Griffith
Madison County Commissioner Mo
Brooks defeated former Democrat Griffith 51-33 in the Republican primary
for Alabama's 5th district Tuesday.
Griffith was a
conservative Democrat who left the party after voting against the
stimulus, cap-and-trade and the healthcare reform bill. Establishment
Republicans such as Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) help Griffith
raise money but it wasn't enough. Meanwhile, Brooks railed against the
party establishment.
Still, the NRCC said it was prepared to
work with him. “We look forward to working with Mo Brooks as we prepare
to keep this seat in the Republican column in November,” the committee
said in a memo.
Bright hopes for Dems
Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) is a top target for the GOP this cycle but their chances of retaking his seat weren't improved Tuesday when an upstart local businessman forced Montgomery Councilor Martha Roby, the national party's chosen candidate, into a runoff.
Republican Rick Barber, a former Marine, focused much of his energy on harnessing support from the Tea Party movement. He was able to capture 29 percent of the vote on Tuesday while Roby finished with 49 percent, below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
Barber likened his entry into the July 13 runoff as a miracle. "Throughout the campaign, we've been broke," Barber said in a statement. "There were moments when we thought we couldn't continue for another week, but around every corner there's been a miracle. Tonight was just the latest and greatest miracle."
No to Norton
Lt. Gov. Jane Norton remains the frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination in Colorado but Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck is gaining momentum. On Tuesday, attorney Steve Barton, who garnered some 1 percent support at last month's state assembly, announced he was endorsing Buck. He joins a growing list that includes Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and others.
State Sen. Alan Nunnelee won Mississippi's 1st district Republican primary Tuesday earning the nod to face Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) in November.
Nunnelee, a top recruit for the National Republican Congressional Committee, was able to avoid a run-off. He claimed 52 percent of the vote, while former Eupora mayor Henry Ross pulled in 33 percent and former Fox News commentator Angela McGlowan finished a distant third with 15 percent, according to unofficial results.
The NRCC issued a memo previewing its line of attack against the Democratic incumbent.
"Unlike Childers, who opposes repeal of a healthcare bill that mandated taxpayer-funded abortions, Nunnelee is a pro-life Republican with the record to back it up," the memo said.
Democrats, meanwhile, continued to tie Nunnelee to cuts in the state budget.
"Alan Nunnelee's a career politician whose legacy puts him out of touch with middle class families here in North Mississippi," Sam Hall, executive director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Also in Mississippi, state Rep. Steven Palazzo (R) won the nod to face Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.). The NRCC said Palazzo will give the 10-term incumbent the "most credible challenge of his congressional career."
Mississippi House candidate Angela McGlowan (R) is one of 32 African American candidates running this cycle – the most since Reconstruction, according to Essence.com.
McGlowan said the recent surge of interest among black candidates could be traced directly to President Obama.
"Barack Obama being elected President has paved the way for more Black people to say, 'Hey, we can do it,'" McGlowan recently told the magazine. "It takes hope to be able to run, and even though he may have given hope to people on the right side of the aisle, we're all Black people in this. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, the first Black President has made a difference in our lives."
McGlowan, a former Fox News commentator, is competing against Henry Ross and Alan Nunnelee for the GOP nod to take on Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.). She said it's been challenging to be an African-American woman running in the Magnolia State.
"I've had to meet with officials because we have gotten death threats. I'm the first Black female to run in this district in the history of Mississippi," she said. "There is a website where I've been called 'the Negress' and a 'filthy pig.' My two opponents are older White males. Some of their supporters took a picture of me and altered it to make my skin darker, turned up my nose, and kinked up my hair. They put it on a flier saying that I don't want White people to have guns. My staff and I have been threatened with calls. People in the street have come up to me being hostile. But it's a small, ignorant minority."
Former Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) announced Sunday he won't pursue the Democratic nomination to face Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii), which improves his party's chances of retaking the seat it lost in the recent special election.
"We've taken apart the results and analyzed our options every which way," Case wrote in an email to supporters. "If it all lined up it'd be an easy decision, but it doesn't."
Case finished third in the May 22 vote.
"My heart tells me to stay in this fight, but my head says this has become the wrong fight. So today I'm withdrawing my candidacy for the U. S. House of Representatives from Hawaii's great first district," he wrote.
Case thanked his supporters and said he will continue to look for opportunities to serve.
Djou won the special election with 40 percent of the vote. Case was third with 29 percent and state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa was second with 31 percent.
Hanabusa has said she plans to seek the Democratic nod to face Djou. Strategists were worried about the possibility of the party again being divided by the bitter primary battle.
Case did not mention Hanabusa in his letter to supporters.
Voters in disgraced Rep. Mark Souder’s (R-Ind.) district will have to do double duty in November.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced Friday that the special election in the state's 3rd district will take place on Nov. 2., the same day as the general election.
A spokesman for the Indiana Secretary of State's office said voters will cast one ballot for a candidate to serve out the remaining months of Souder's term and another for a general election candidate to takeover when the term expires.
Democrats already have their nominee for November -- 2006 nominee Tom Hayhurst -- and he's not expected to be challenged for the nod in the special. Souder had filed to run again and then withdrew after admitting he had an affair with a part-time female aide.
Republicans will nominate a candidate for the special and the general through a caucus process set for June 12, according to a spokesman for the Indiana GOP. State Reps. Wes Culver and Randy Borror and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman are in the race for the nod.
Former NFL star Jon Runyan (R) continues to put up anemic fundraising numbers that may hamper his ability to mount a strong challenge to Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.).
Runyan, a top recruit for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), has only $134,692 cash on hand ahead of the June 8 primary. From April 1 to May 19 he raised $75,095 but spent $77,961 during the same time. His committee is also carrying $112,206 in debt.
One bright spot in his report is that none of the contributions were his own money — an improvement over the last quarter, when he lent his effort $100,000.
Democrats are pointing to Runyan’s fundraising numbers as the latest example of an underachieving NRCC recruit.
But the former Philadelphia Eagle still has time to turn things around. He will likely get through the primary without having to launch a last-minute ad blitz against his primary opponent — Republican rival Justin Murphy reported having just $3,918 left in the bank.
Still, the numbers are a troubling sign for one the GOP's top prospects in the Northeast.
Meanwhile, the pre-primary report for Adler wasn't yet available. He reported having $1,670,029 banked in his last quarter's Federal Election Commission report. Adler faces a nominal primary challenge from progressive Democrat Barry Bendar.
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