Hoffman conceded to Bill Owens (D) after election night returns on Nov. 4 showed a comfortable margin for the latter. Owens has since been sworn in to Congress.
But amid absentee ballot counting and allegations of voting machine glitches, Hoffman decided to un-concede earlier this week. His Web site home page now declares "Election Day is NOT over" and encourages supporters to donate. Hoffman's campaign plans to "take a close look" at the count once the last batch of absentee and overseas ballots have been tallied, "hopefully today," said spokesman Rob Ryan.
]]> The Watertown Times' Jude Seymour called the race Thursday after Owens took an insurmountable 3,105-vote lead with 3,072 absentee ballots left to be counted.Ryan said there are a "wide variety of things we're looking at," mostly having to do with problems with the voting machines, which he noted were part of "a pilot program."
]]>Harris earned 52 percent to Kratovil's 39 percent with just 10 percent undecided according to a survey of 300 likely 1st district voters. The poll, which was conducted Nov. 15 - 17 for Harris' campaign by the Tarrance Group, had a 5.8 point margin of error.
In further bad news for the freshman Congressman the survey found that just 29 percent of voters said they believe Kratovil deserves to be re-elected. Twenty-three percent were unsure and 49 percent believed a new person deserved a chance.
Kratovil defeated Harris by less than 3,000 votes in one of the closest elections of the 2008 cycle. This year, Harris is back for a rematch and has the support of much of the state and national party establishment. Still Harris may not have the primary field to himself. Wealthy state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R), who was involved in a nasty three-way primary with Harris last cycle, is rumored to be considering making another run at the nomination.
]]> CQ Politics presently rates the Maryland 1st district race as a Tossup.To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
]]>The DCCC will report raising $3.8 million last month, compared to $3.4 million for the NRCC. That's about the same amount both committees pulled in at the same point in the 2007-08 cycle, despite the fact that the economy has soured significantly since then.
However, like the NRCC, the DCCC spent more than it took in -- $4 million total in disbursements. A big chunk of that went to the hotly contested Nov. 4 special election to replace Rep. John McHugh (R) in New York's 23rd district. The DCCC reported $1.1 million in independent expenditures, total, on the race, which its candidate, Bill Owens (D), narrowly won.
The DCCC still has more than three times the cash-on-hand as the NRCC, with $14.5 million in the bank, and $3.3 million in debt. The NRCC will report $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt.
]]>The DNC will report later Friday to the Federal Election Commission that it raised $11.5 million and spent about $14 million in October, leaving it with about $12.3 million in the bank and $4.4 million in debts.
A party source said that was the DNC's largest one-month take in an odd-numbered year since an overhaul of campaign finance laws in 2002 banned the national political parties from accepting so-called "soft money."
]]> The RNC's report will say that it raised $8.8 million and spent more than $16 million in October, ending the month with $11.2 million cash-on-hand and no debt. The committee said that it averaged 2,543 new donors per day last month and attracted 305,000 new donors so far this year.The reports will itemize the two party committees' major receipts and expenditures, including their involvement in the Nov. 3 elections in Virginia, where former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R) was elected governor and the GOP increased its majority in the state House of Delegates, and in New Jersey, where former federal prosecutor Chris Christie (R) unseated Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and Democrats retained their majority in the state Assembly.
]]>The Denver Business Journal reported Thursday that Jimmy Lakey, who owns concert promotion and artist management companies, has formed an "exploratory committee" to prepare for a possible run in Colorado's 7th district, which includes suburbs of Denver.
The report said that Lakey is concerned about "reckless spending" in Washington, D.C.
]]> The GOP contest already includes Ryan Frazier, a city councilman in Aurora who announced his candidacy last month as he ended his long-planned campaign for the Senate.Perlmutter last year won a second term with 63 percent of the vote over Republican John Lerew, who raised only $37,000 for his campaign.
CQ Politics presently rates the Colorado 7 contest as Safe Democratic, though the rating is subject to change.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map
]]>Eager to increase their ranks beyond 40 seats, several GOP senators donated to Castle through their leadership political action committees, according to reports the organizations filed before a deadline today.
Among those senators who reported giving to Castle in October were Thad Cochran (Miss.), whose Senate Victory Fund PAC gave $10,000; Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), whose OrrinPAC donated $5,000; Pat Roberts (Kan.), whose Preserving America's Traditions PAC gave $5,000; and Mike Johanns (Neb.), whose Prairieland PAC donated $2,000.
]]> The donations came just days after Castle announced his Senate candidacy Oct. 6. His next campaign finance report is due January 31 and will cover receipts and expenditures for the months of October, November and December. Castle had $853,000 in his campaign account as October began.Castle is likely to face state Attorney General Beau Biden, who has not yet revealed his political plans.
Sen. Ted Kaufman (D) is not seeking election to the seat.
CQ Politics presently rates the Delaware Senate race as Leans Republican, a classification that gives Castle a slight edge in a highly competitive race.
To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
]]>The NRCC raised $3.4 million in October, but spent $3.6 million. That's only slightly more than what the committee brought in during the month September. The committee will report having $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt at the end of the month.
Much of those expended funds came from the NRCC's independent expenditure in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. The committee spent almost $900,000 on the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race the weekend before the election and now-Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) went on to win the seat.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is expected to release their fundraising totals later today.
]]>Perry's ad, released Thursday, says that he cut taxes, created jobs and balanced the budget in Texas, where Perry is seeking a third full term but faces serious intraparty competition from Hutchison, a senator since 1993.
Though the governor's ad doesn't specifically mention Hutchison, Perry's chief opponent in the March 2010 primary, it does briefly display a picture of Hutchison, presumably at a press conference in the nation's capital, as a narrator says the words, "While Washington gives us politics."
]]> As the narrator finishes his sentence, with the words "Texas delivers results," the ad shows footage of Perry acknowledging applause from a crowd.Earlier Thursday, Hutchison's campaign released its first television ad, a spot that focuses on her opposition to a Democratic-written health care bill and alludes to her recent announcement that she'll postpone her resignation from the Senate until after the gubernatorial primary so that she can fight against passage of the health care bill. Her ad doesn't mention Perry.
]]>New York media outlets reported Thursday afternoon that Giuliani has decided not to run for governor in 2010 but that he is still mulling a Senate bid. A report in the New York Daily News, citing unnamed sources, said Giuliani had decided to run for Senate.
But a Giuliani spokeswoman said in a statement that no decision has been made.
"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it," spokeswoman Maria Comella said. "When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own."
If he runs, this would be the second time Giuliani has sought this Senate seat. He mounted a brief campaign for what was then an open seat in 2000 but ended his campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
]]>Zaun, who is serving his second four-year term in the Iowa Senate, told CQ Politics Thursday afternoon that he would make a formal announcement of his political plans after Dec. 1.
"And my intentions are to run against Leonard Boswell," said Zaun, a vice president at the commercial real estate firm R&R Realty.
]]> Zaun, a former mayor of the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, said that Boswell is "out of touch" with his constituents in the 3rd district. He said that Boswell expressed qualms about a cap-and-trade energy bill and indecision about a health care bill but then voted for both measures."He says one thing in Iowa and he does the opposite in Washington, D.C.," Zaun said.
Zaun said that he's received encouragement to run from some members of Congress and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
CQ Politics wrote earlier today about Jim Gibbons, a financial adviser and former college wrestling coach who filed paperwork today with the Federal Election Commission to seek the Republican nomination. Dave Funk, an aviation security consultant, also is in the GOP race.
UPDATE: Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement to CQ Politics that Boswell "has gained the trust of Iowa families throughout his years of dedicated service creating jobs and through his leadership as the Dean of the Iowa delegation."
"Each year Republicans claim they have Congressman Boswell in their sights, and each year they never live up to their own hype - there is no reason to believe this time will be any different," Adler said.
CQ Politics rates the Iowa 3 race as Safe Democratic, though the entry of Zaun and Gibbons probably will prompt a change in that rating.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map
]]>The memo by Marshall's polling firm, Lake Research Partners, draws on two recent polls to come to the conclusion that "Senator Burr is vulnerable. Voters have a net-unfavorable impression of him and a strong plurality is ready to vote for someone else. Secretary Marshall is well-liked and a strong competitor against Burr."
The memo may be an overt attempt to catch the eye of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who is often viewed as a king maker in Senate primaries.
The memo comes just days after the DSCC's top prospect in the race, Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.), decided to skip the Senate race and instead run for re-election in 2010. In the wake of that announcement Democratic sources indicated that the DSCC would try to get former state Sen. Cal Cunningham to reconsider his recent decision to pass on the Senate contest.
Cunningham, who is popular among progressives in the Tar Heel State, had been quietly putting together a campaign organization in recent months with the help of the DSCC.
]]> CQ Pollitics currently rates the race Leans Republican.To follow all the 2010 Senate races, check out our election map.
]]>Gibbons, a former championship wrestling coach at Iowa State University, is seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Boswell in the 3rd district in and around Des Moines.
Gibbons, who left coaching in 1992 and is now a financial adviser and television analyst, told The Iowa Republican blog that he is "concerned about the direction of the country. Spending is out of control in Washington; it's unsustainable."
]]> Gibbons is joining a race that already includes aviation consultant Dave Funk and probably will include state Sen. Brad Zaun.CQ Politics at the moment rates the Iowa 3 race as Safe Democratic, but that rating will be re-evaluated in light of the developments in the contest.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map.
]]>Coakley will report cash-on-hand of more than $1.9 million in her pre-primary financial disclosure, covering the period between Oct. 1 and Nov. 18.
Her fundraising edges fellow Democrat Rep. Mike Capuano (Mass.), who announced Wednesday evening that he raised $1.8 million in the period and had $1.1 million cash-on-hand.
]]> Coakley got an early jump on fundraising as the first candidate in the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, leading the field in the first reporting period through Sept. 30.Capuano pulled in $1.5 million in the first period, but $1.2 million of that came from his congressional campaign. So the latest fundraising tally represents a big jump for him.
Fellow Democrats Stephen Pagliuca and Alan Khazei have yet to disclose their pre-primary fundraising reports, which are due to the Federal Election Commission Nov. 26.
Pagliuca has been relying largely on his own funds in his campaign -- he gave the campaign $1.8 million according to its initial fundraising report through September and has presumably given a lot more since, having spent $5.7 million on television advertising as of mid-week.
Capuano has spent $1.4 million on television ad buys and Coakley, after waiting until October to launch ads, isn't much behind at $1.3 million.
CQ Politics rates the general election race as Safe Democratic.
To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
]]>Dean Madere, a self-described "average middle class citizen" who has been active in local conservative groups, formally kicked off his campaign Wednesday. He is the fourth Republican to announce plans to seek the district in northern and eastern Colorado that Markey won last year by beating then-Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.
Madere's announcement came a few days after Diggs Brown, a financial adviser and military veteran, said that he would be a candidate.
]]> Gardner, Madere, Brown and Tom Lucero, a University of Colorado regent who has been campaigning for months, all appeared at a candidate forum last Friday that was organized by local conservative organizations, including the Tea Party of Northern Colorado.Gardner has dominated the GOP field in fundraising, taking in $395,000 through the end of September. Lucero raised $69,000 and Madere and Brown haven't disclosed any fundraising information because they are newly announced candidates.
CQ Politics rates the race as a tossup.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out our election map
]]>The new 30-second spots hit Democratic Reps. Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, Vic Snyder of Arkansas and John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina for their votes by using the words of fellow Democratic legislators who opposed the legislation.
Among the statements the NRCC uses in it' new ad against Pomeroy is one released by the office of Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., when he announced he was going to buck his party and vote no on the bill two days before the vote came to the floor.
"The worst thing we could do during a recession is raise taxes and this bill does just that," Boren said in his statement.
]]> That quote, and others by Democratic Reps. Bobby Bright of Alabama, Travis W. Childers of Mississippi and Chet Edwards of Texas are juxtaposed against a picture of Pomeroy."The reviews on Earl Pomeroy's health care bill are in, and they're not good," an announcer says before the statements by dissenting Democrats are read. "And that's just what fellow Democrats say about Earl Pomeroy's national health care bill. Earl Pomeroy, tell him we can't afford it any more."
Pomeroy, Snyder and Spratt all won re-election with relative ease in 2008 despite the fact that they each sit in districts that went for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in last year's presidential contest. But as they look to spread the field ahead of what many expect to be a better environment for the GOP in 2010, the NRCC is putting pressure on several veteran Democrats.
Recent polling has shown that Snyder would be in for a tough election against any of three Republicans -- insurance executive David Meeks, restaurateur Scott Wallace and former U.S. attorney Timothy Griffin -- who have already announced against him. Spratt recently picked up a challenge in October from South Carolina state Sen. Mick Mulvaney and Pomeroy is facing a challenge from little-known insurance salesman Paul Schaffner.
The ads are set to run for a week in the Little Rock, Ark., Bismarck, N.D., and Charlotte, N.C., media markets. An NRCC spokesman called the size of the buy "significant" but declined to go into any further detail. A Democratic source said that their ad buy tracking showed the buy was small, but also would not provide exact details on its scope.
CQ Politics rates the general election race in North Dakota as Safe Democratic;; the Arkansas race as Likely Democratic; and the South Carolina contest as Safe Democratic.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map
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