My colleague Russell Berman and I looked into whether the White House used the lure of an administration position to protect Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) from a primary challenge.
New York Reps. Steve Israel, Carolyn Maloney and Carolyn McCarthy, along with former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-Tenn.), all told us the White House didn’t offer them jobs in exchange for forgoing a bid.
The administration and its allies – including Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) – did, however, send signals they would work against any primary rival to Gillibrand, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson (D) to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Bottom line: The White House's tactics in New York helped Gillibrand avoid a primary challenge, whereas its maneuvers in Pennsylvania and Colorado failed to clear the field.
A South Carolina state senator this week used a racial slur to describe President Barack Obama and a Republican rival running in the state's gubernatorial primary.
Along with the president, the lawmaker targeted state Rep. Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent.
"We've already got a raghead in the White House, we don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion," State Sen. Jake Knotts (R) said on an Internet political talk show called Pub Politics.
Knotts later explained his comments.
"If it had been recorded, the public would be able to hear firsthand that my 'raghead' comments about Obama and Haley were intended in jest," Knotts said in his statement. "Bear in mind that this is a freewheeling, anything-goes Internet radio show that is broadcast from a pub. It's like local political version of Saturday Night Live, which is actually where the joke came from."
Knotts has endorsed Haley's primary challenger, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.
Haley's campaign condemned the comments as did state Attorney General Henry McMaster (R), who is also running in the race.
Haley, who has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), has also faced accusations that she has extramarital affairs with two men, but she denies both claims.
Four GOP candidates are vying for the nomination to replace Gov. Mark Sanford (R), who is term-limited.
Sanford, a former 2012 presidential hopeful, dealt with a personal scandal of his own last year when it was revealed he took secret trips to Argentina to visit his mistress.
After losing his bid to become the first black governor of Alabama, Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) said he's done with politics.
"I have no interest in running for political office again," the four-term congressman told the Birmingham News. "The voters spoke in a very decisive way across every sector and
in every section of the state. A candidate that fails across-the-board
like that obviously needs to find something else productive to do with
his life."
Davis lost his bid for the Democratic nomination Tuesday. He took 38 percent of
the vote to Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks' 62 percent.
In running for governor he had to give up running for reelection to his House seat.
"When I ran for Congress, I never had the desire to be a career politician," he told the paper.
Davis said he planned to resume his career as a courtroom lawyer.
The News also has a breakdown of Davis' loss, noting that he not only lost majority-white districts but also predominantly black counties.
Glen Browder, a former congressman and professor at Jacksonville State University, told the News Davis gambled
that, by voting no on healthcare reform and
then refusing to court longtime black political organizations for their
support, he would appeal to white voters.
"And it is so clear now that Davis' gamble failed miserably," Browder said.
Davis was the only black Democrat in Congress to vote no on healthcare reform.
EMILY's List continues its evolution in the post-Ellen Malcolm era.
On Friday, the pro-abortion rights group announced the hiring of Democratic strategist Amy Dacey as its new executive director. The post had gone unfilled since Ellen Moran left to join the White House in 2008.
Dacey spent several years working for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in various political and campaign roles. During the 2002 election cycle, she was the deputy political director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). She joins EMILY's List from the Service Employees International Union, where she was director of government relations.
Malcolm recently stepped down as president of the group and handed the reins to Stephanie Schriock.
New polls show a top Nevada Republican trailing in her party's Senate primary, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) closes with Bill Clinton ahead of Tuesday’s runoff and Sarah Palin endorses former Gov. Terry Branstad (R) via — what else? — Facebook.
Tea party for one
Former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle leads the GOP field in two recent polls. In a Suffolk University survey out Thursday, Angle garnered 33 percent support while Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian got 26 percent and former state Sen. Sue Lowden got 25 percent.
In a recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll, Angle’s lead was a point higher, with Lowden in second with 25 percent and Tarkanian in third with 24 percent.
The Lowden camp remains upbeat.
"According to the most recent internal exit polling, our get-out-the-vote efforts are paying off," Robert Uithoven, Lowden's campaign manager, wrote to supporters. "People are truly starting to think about November as they head to the polls."
The primary vote is June 8.
Closing time
Lincoln's campaign released a TV ad Friday that features former President Bill Clinton defending the incumbent senator at a rally in Little Rock last week. In the footage, Clinton is seen talking about how unions wanted to make Lincoln the "poster child" for when a Democrat crosses them.
"This is about using you and manipulating your votes," Clinton says in the ad (watch it below).
Meanwhile, Lincoln continues to travel around the state on what she’s calling her "countdown to victory tour."
Terry gets a friend request from Sarah
Palin posted a brief note on her Facebook page Thursday expressing support for the former governor ahead of Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary. "Please join me in supporting Governor Branstad’s campaign," Palin wrote.
The Branstad camp trumpeted the backing later in the day.
"This latest endorsement further demonstrates the broad base of support that Gov. Branstad continues to build in his campaign for governor," said a spokesman for Branstad.
No word yet on whether the two will campaign together.
Washington state Senate candidate Dino Rossi (R) sounded pleased with his first week on the campaign trail.
"In just the first week, we have signed up over 2,500 people online, attracted over 20,000 Facebook followers, [the] third most of any U.S. Senate candidate and nearly twice that of Senator Murray, and raised over $600,000, including nearly $200,000 online," Rossi said in a statement Thursday. "We did this without an office, phones, or staff. It happened because the people of our great state share my concerns."
Rossi needs to overcome Paul Akers, Don Benton, Clint Didier, Skip Mercer, Sean Salazar and Craig Williams to claim the GOP nod to face Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is sending out a flurry of e-mails to supporters ahead of Tuesday’s primary runoff against Lt. Gov. Bill
Halter (D).
On Wednesday she sent a fundraising plea from Vice
President Joe Biden, who noted how she stood with the administration on key
priorities.
“Blanche has a consistent record of
fighting for Arkansas,” Biden wrote. “That record includes standing with me and President Obama to pass the most historic health reform
this country has ever seen.”
And on Thursday her campaign sent a note to supporters
highlighting how she’s willing to “work across the aisle to get
things done.”
Lincoln’s husband, Steven, wrote: “Blanche is a rare breed. She's one of the few senators left who are
willing to work across the aisle to get things done.”
Lincoln has also brought former President Bill Clinton in to campaign for her in what is a tough election year for incumbents. She's already seen colleagues Sens. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) lose their primary bids.
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