Colorado Republicans appear set to replace embattled gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes.
Maes has been losing the support of prominent backers since a story broke that he embellished his record as a police officer in Liberal, Kan. Now Tea Party groups are turning on the candidate they once supported.
"Alright Dan Maes — it's time for you to go. Get out now, while the gettin' is still good,” Lesley Hollywood, director of the Northern Colorado Tea Party, wrote on her Facebook page. And Tea Party organizer Janet Rowland, a Mesa County commissioner, called Maes a "fraud,"according to the Denver Post.
"He has nobody left," state GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams said.
Maes remains defiant.
"This is a culture war, a culture war between the people and the machine, and we're going to find out who controls things," Maes said. "I am not getting out of the race."
Former state Senate President John Andrews hinted Republicans are looking at former Senate candidate Jane Norton (R) to step in for Maes.
"I intend to write in a vote for Jane Norton for governor," he said on Thursday.
Norton lost to Republican Senate nominee Ken Buck in the primary. Her entry into the race could offer the Colorado GOP a more appealing option than former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who's running under the American Constitution Party banner. Democrat John Hickenlooper is considered the front-runner.
The governor of New Jersey is weighing in on Delaware's Republican Senate primary, backing Rep. Mike Castle (Del.), who is facing a challenge from the right in the form of conservative commentator Christine O'Donnell.
"Mike understands that our nation's most urgent priority is the economy and that the path to restoring America's prosperity requires making tough, responsible decisions," Chris Christie said Thursday. "He is the strong voice that the people of Delaware need in the Senate to get our fiscal house back in order and get Americans back to work."
It's certainly notable that Christie, who has gained popularity among conservatives nationwide due to the way he has tackled New Jersey's budget woes and taken on the state's labor unions, has thrown his support behind Castle.
Christie announced his backing of Castle on Thursday night after an event at the University of Delaware, where Christie is an alumnus.
The Delaware Republican appears to be taking the challenge from O'Donnell a bit more seriously than he was just last week.
With the Tea Party Express now spending in the state and boasting internal poll numbers that claim the race is within points, the Castle camp is prepared to go negative on O'Donnell ahead of the Sept. 14 primary.
The Tea Party Express, which played a major role in Joe Miller's victory in Alaska over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), released its first TV ad against Castle on Thursday.
The ad, which labels Castle "one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress," will go up on the airwaves early next week.
Former Staten Island congressman Vito Fossella (R) will make a rare public appearance at a rally protesting the mosque planned to be built near Ground Zero in New York City.
Fossella was forced into retirement last cycle after a 2008 drunken-driving arrest revealed he had a second family in the Washington suburbs. There was speculation he was planning a comeback in 2010, but that ended in May when he denied plans to return to public life. "I am frankly at a very good place in my life," he told reporters at the time.
Freshman Rep. Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.) now holds Fossella's former seat. Republicans Michael Allegretti and Michael Grimm are vying for the Republican nomination.
Fossella will join Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and other Republican officials at the "peaceful" rally Sunday at Rescue 5's Memorial Garden on Staten Island.
Vice President Joe Biden will head to Missouri to headline a fundraiser for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's (D) Senate campaign. The Carnahan campaign confirmed the event will take place, but there's no word yet on exactly when.
Carnahan, who is locked in a tight race with Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), already received some fundraising help from the White House in July, when President Obama headlined two events for Carnahan's campaign.
Blunt outraised Carnahan in the second quarter of the year, hauling in $2.2 million to Carnahan's $1.5 million. Blunt ended the quarter with $4.5 million cash on hand to Carnahan's $3.6 million.
Blunt has worked to tie Carnahan to the president, and used the July event against Carnahan in an earlier attack ad. The president's approval ratings in Missouri are below the 50 percent mark.
The Carnahan campaign, meanwhile, is working to label Blunt as corrupt, calling the congressman the "very worst of Washington" in an attack ad released earlier this week.
Outside groups are also spending on the race. The conservative group American Crossroads GPS launched an ad Thursday hitting Carnahan on healthcare.
Colorado Republican Dan Maes insists he's staying in the governor's race despite a chorus of prominent Republicans calling for him to step aside.
Former Senate candidate Pete Coors (R) on Thursday said, "[I]t would be in the Republican party's and Colorado's best interest if Dan would step down so that a more competitive situation with a new, unifying candidate could be put forward."
Maes is under scrutunity for claims he worked "undercover" for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. But the agency said it has no record of his service during his time as a police officer from 1983 to 1985. Moreover, the chief of police in Liberal, Kan., where Maes worked as a cop, did not remember his department ever being involved in the investigation Maes referenced in his website biography.
Maes was eventually fired from his job in Liberal, and he blamed his dismissal on "corruption."
Coors wasn't the only Republican on Thursday to call on Maes to quit.
Former state Senate president John Andrews said Maes "flunked his job interview."
"The party should cut Maes loose if he does not resign the nomination," he said in a statement.
He added: "I intend write in a vote for Jane Norton for Governor."
Norton lost to Republican Senate nominee Ken Buck in the primary. Her entry into the race could offer the Colorado GOP a more appealing option than former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who's running under the American Constitution Party banner. Democrat John Hickenlooper is considered the frontrunner.
Maes insists he's staying in the race. "I am not getting out of the race, and that's all I have to say at this time," he toldTheDenver Post.
The Democratic Governors Association on Thursday filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission, alleging Fox News gave an in-kind contribution to Ohio Republican John Kasich.
"There is reason to believe that FOX News Network, L.L.C. violated Ohio election law on August 18, 2010 when John Kasich appeared on a network program, solicited contributions for his campaign and FOX added the graphics 'John Kasich (R), KasichforOhio.com' under Mr. Kasich's image," the complaint states.
"The Republican Governors Association is actively engaged in working to elect John Kasich in Ohio. It appears that News America, Inc. and FOX News Network, L.L.C. are pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to support and elect Republican candidates."
Kasich is challenging Gov. Ted Strickland (D).
The committee called on the commission to investigate.
In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that News Corp., which owns Fox News, gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association in June.
Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's interview with Delaware radio host Dan Gaffney on Thursday offers a pretty good indication of why Rep. Mike Castle (R) is largely ignoring her primary challenge.
The exchange between O'Donnell and Gaffney is cringeworthy. The radio host, who endorsed O'Donnell's Senate bid against Joe Biden in 2006, began by confronting her about her statements that she had won two of the state's counties against Biden that year.
After O'Donnell denied she ever made such a claim, Gaffney played audio of O'Donnell at a campaign rally proving she did. The two then argued over whether the candidate tied Biden in one county. Listen to the audio here.
The two also sparred on whether O'Donnell has paid off her old campaign debts, an issue the state Republican Party and Castle supporters have raised repeatedly.
"Isn't this what's wrong with Washington, D.C., that we borrow money, we collect money, and we don't pay off our old debts. If I can't expect my Senate candidate to pay off old debts…" Gaffney said.
"Dan are you kidding me?" interjected O'Donnell. "What happened? Is Castle paying you off?"
The interview only got worse from there as Gaffney announced he had "serious questions" about O'Donnell's bid this time around, and at one point he actually turned O'Donnell's microphone off as the candidate continued to speak over his questions.
Since Joe Miller's win in Alaska's Republican primary over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), O'Donnell has worked to paint her candidacy as the next potential Tea Party-backed upset bid.
The Tea Party Express plans to run TV and radio ads on O'Donnell's behalf, but the state Republican Party is openly hostile to O'Donnell's bid and fully behind Castle. The primary is September 14.
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