2018 elections

[rstrong]

Wikipedia: Doug Lamborn

Christ, what an @sshole.

[billy.pilgrim]

Wikipedia: Doug Lamborn

Christ, what an @sshole.

Medicare is a "wasteful entitlement, pot is bad and social security is really really really bad.

[Vrede too]

Wikipedia: Doug Lamborn

Christ, what an @sshole.

Medicare is a "wasteful entitlement, pot is bad and social security is really really really bad.

To be fair, one should not expect heavily militarized, hardcore rightwing Christian extremist Colorado Springs to elect anyone but an idiot asshole.

[Vrede too]

GOP unsettled by narrow win in US House race in Arizona

It took a big money push from the Republican Party, tweets by the president and the support of the state's current and former governors, but the GOP held onto an Arizona U.S. House seat they would have never considered endangered in any other year.

Tuesday's narrow victory by Republican Debbie Lesko over a Democratic political newcomer sends a big message to Republicans nationwide: Even the reddest of districts in a red state can be in play this year. Early returns show Lesko winning by about 5 percentage points in Arizona's 8th Congressional District where Donald Trump won by 21 percentage points.

The former state senator defeated Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician who had hoped to replicate surprising Democratic wins in Pennsylvania, Alabama and other states in a year where opposition to President Trump's policies have boosted the party's chances in Republican strongholds....

The district sprawls across western Phoenix suburbs, covering some of the most conservative areas of the red state, including the retirement community of Sun City....

Tipirneni said she plans to run in November's general election and told supporters not to give up the cause. She said that despite the big Republican advantage in the district, the results show people were ready for a change.

"We have a very short amount of time, and clearly Ms. Lesko she had the registration numbers a little bit in her favor and she also had the name recognition," Tipirneni said. "But given more time I know we can get more folks on our side."

... National Republican groups spent big to back Lesko, pouring in more than $500,000 in the suburban Phoenix district for television and mail ads and phone calls to voters. On Election Day, Trump and current Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey urged Republicans to go to the polls and vote for Lesko. National Democratic groups, meanwhile, didn't commit money to the race, a sign they didn't believe the seat was in play....

In the last 3 elections the Repug has won Arizona’s 8th congressional district election by 37%, 51% and 28%. Winning this year by only 5% spells disaster for the GOP elsewhere.

[Vrede too]

"isn’t considered a Democratic pickup opportunity and isn’t a DCCC target," but still:

GOP Congressman Doug Lamborn Thrown Off The Ballot For 2018

"one of his petition gatherers wasn’t a Colorado resident."

Wikipedia: Doug Lamborn

Christ, what an @sshole.

Medicare is a "wasteful entitlement, pot is bad and social security is really really really bad.

Never mind.

GOP Rep. Removed From 2018 Ballot To Appear On It After All
Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn was originally removed for a signature-gathering violation.

... “Consistent with Court rulings here in Colorado and around the country, the federal court agreed that the part of Colorado election law that requires petition collectors to be state residents is unconstitutional and unduly infringes on the First Amendment rights of voters and petition circulators,” Bayens said.

Five Republican voters living in Lamborn’s district brought the case to light when they sued Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams over his certifying the Lamborn campaign’s ballot petitions. They will appeal the decision, a spokesman for the group told Denver7.

Not that I claim any constitutional expertise, but I'm okay with an in-district signature gatherer mandate.

[O Really]

Not that I claim any constitutional expertise, but I'm okay with an in-district signature gatherer mandate.

Personal opinion would be that it's OK for local positions, but members of Congress clearly have national impact and the election of a House member is certainly a matter of interest outside his/her own designated district. Having said that, I don't really care who collects registrations as long as those registered are residents/eligible.

[Vrede too]

Republican With White Nationalist Ties Nabs Almost 40 Percent of the (Republican Primary) Vote, Despite Defeat in Local Tennessee Election

Republican Senate Candidate Praises Hitler and Sparks Condemnation from California GOP

The Alt-Right’s First Real Political Candidate Went Too Far Right—Even for Many White Nationalists

... “I am the only candidate in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional district who wants a wall so we can deport every illegal alien in this country,” Nehlen boasts to his fans, in between calling U.S. Senator Ted Cruz a “philo-Semitic rat fink” and denouncing the “Twitter f---” that criticize him for making offensive remarks....

... He published in January a list of “Jews” in the media that included several people who were actually non-Jewish people of color. In February, he went on former Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke’s radio show, where he claimed that he had noticed patterns in the types of people that were criticizing him, suggesting that they were all Jewish people.

“Poop, incest, and pedophilia. Why are those common themes repeated so often with Jews?” he tweeted at one point.

And Nehlen’s interpretation of Trump’s Southern border wall is downright dystopian. “Armed machine gun turrets every 300 yards,” he told Duke about his vision. “And you can automate those. Anyone who approaches that barrier will be treated as an enemy combatant. Man, woman or child.” ...

Stay classy, GOP.

[Vrede too]

Democratic Women Were Big Winners In Tuesday's Primaries

More than half of the winning Democratic candidates for House seats in Tuesday’s primary elections were women ― a fresh indication of women’s sustained political mobilization since President Donald Trump’s election.

In the four states that held primary elections — Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia — 22 out of 40 congressional districts picked women as their Democratic nominees, including eight black women, according to Gender Watch 2018, a project of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Women won 17 of20 Democratic primary races for open seats, according to Politico.

Tuesday’s wins for Democratic women continue a wave of similar victories in other state primaries this year, showing the increased fervor and political engagement among women since Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Millions took to the streets for the Women’s March, held the day after his inauguration. A long-term goal of the movement has been to encourage women to run for public office, and numerous organizations have formed to help train women candidates and provide campaign resources....

We'll see what translates to Nov., but at least the Democratic party is changing.

[Vrede too]

Shocking headline:

A Progressive Wave Swept WV Last Night

All the country heard about was Blankenship losing the WV Senate primary, but there was a wave of progressive victories yesterday- on both the Democratic and Republican tickets....

There are many more stories. Democrats are contesting almost every race across the state for the first time in memory. It also appears that many Republicans are fed up with the crap that they have been voting for and are looking to take back their party from the extremists.

We'll see what translates to Nov., but it's hopeful.

[billy.pilgrim]

Deb Haaland gets a check from me.

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-f ... this-year/

[Vrede too]

Constitution Party gets enough signatures to get on ballots

... The Constitution Party of North Carolina has collected enough signatures from registered voters to qualify as an official state party, according to data posted at the state elections board website. That would allow the party to field candidates starting in November and through the 2020 elections.

The legislature made it easier last year for parties to get on ballots by passing a law that lowers the number of signatures needed from more than 90,000 registered voters to 11,925 today....

(the party’s state vice chairman Kevin) Hayes said he anticipates the party, which emphasizes fiscal conservatism, a strict reading of the U.S. Constitution, religious freedom and opposition to abortion, will field candidates 15 to 20 candidates for the legislature, Congress and county commissions.

“This is a major step in giving the people of North Carolina a political party that places principle over politics,” state Chairman Al Pisano said in a release.

The North Carolina Green Party already became an official party in March through a new qualification method also approved by the General Assembly last year — its candidates appeared on ballots in at least 35 states in the last presidential election. The Green Party is planning a similar convention to choose candidates.

The Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties also are official parties....

I think the Constitution Party, along with the Libertarians, will hurt the GOP here more than the Green Party will hurt the Dems.

[Vrede too]

Top takeaways from a wild primary night
Female candidates won big, but moderate Democrats took it on the chin.

Cool. Any Dem has a good shot this year and whether they are lib or moderate will matter less than other years.

How Democratic Women Won (And Lost)
The mixed lessons of Tuesday’s primaries.

Spoiler:

They mostly won.

We are seeing the results of the 1/17 Women's March. They made a strong effort to build on it for change.

[Vrede too]

Poll Shows Devin Nunes is in Danger of Losing his Seat CA-22

That would be sweet.

[Vrede too]

Georgia Governor - Cagle (white male R) vs. Abrams (black female D)

Cagle +5, close. Wouldn't that be excellent? Abrams would be the first black woman governor in the United States.

Also, the maps are interesting:

Battle for the Senate 2018
44 Democrats *
(* Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME) currently caucus with the Democrats.)
8 Toss Ups: AZ, FL, IN (!), MO, NV, ND, WV, TN (!)
48 Republicans

2018 Governor Races
19 Democrats
4 Toss Ups: FL, MI, NV, OH
26 Republicans
The Dems are currently projected to pick-up IL, ME & NM.
Independent incumbent Alaska Governor Walker is projected to win over a Repug.

Battle for the House 2018
195 Democrats
34 Toss Ups
206 Republicans
Wow, look at all of those seats that are poised to flip from R to D.
No toss ups in NC or SC, just 1 at the very southern tip of FL - Florida's 26th congressional district.

[Vrede too]

I’m excited. Really excited.

It isn’t often we have such a clear, tangible impact in just 1 month as we did in May. Because of the support of Color Of Change PAC members, here’s some of the huge wins we saw:

Last Tuesday, Stacey Abrams won the Georgia primary, coming one step closer to making history as the first Black woman governor of any state ever.

Just two weeks before that, Satana Deberry won her District Attorney primary in Durham County, North Carolina. Her progressive platform takes on some of the systems that hurt Black people most, like money bail, the war on drugs, and police accountability. I can’t wait to see what Satana makes happen.

AND, on the same night as Satana's win, Faris Dixon won his District Attorney primary in Pitt County, North Carolina. Faris is committed to treating mental illness as a medical issue, not a crime, and wants to create a new unit focused on overturning wrongful convictions, which disproportionately impact Black people....

Until justice is real,

--Jenni, Arisha, Hope, Shannon, Kwesi, Bhavik, Victoria, Reagan, Daniel, Charles, Bradley, Scott and the rest of the Color Of Change PAC team

Stacey Abrams has a shot (prior post).

The Dem will almost certainly win in Durham County. Plus, it'll be way cool having a DA named Satana.

The Dem is likely to win in Pitt County (Greenville, NC).

[JTA]

An observation from down here in SC:

Many of the candidates are playing up their affinity to Trump.

I've seen ads on TV by current gov McMaster pointing out how he's always stood by Trump. The ad also features images of him with Trump.

Another candidates campaign signs seen throughout town, can't remember his name, has a picture of him behind a podium with Trump's campaign sign featured on it.

[Vrede too]

An observation from down here in SC:

Many of the candidates are playing up their affinity to Trump.

I've seen ads on TV by current gov McMaster pointing out how he's always stood by Trump. The ad also features images of him with Trump.

Another candidates campaign signs seen throughout town, can't remember his name, has a picture of him behind a podium with Trump's campaign sign featured on it.

An observation from up here in NC, but still in upstate SC's media market: You have a BUNCH of assholes running.

[JTA]

Ive only seen one of the ads thus far and don't really know a whole lot about the other Republican candidates. I don't foresee myself voting Republican ever again. I'll do my due diligence anyway and have a look and read up about them.

[JTA]

Update:

John Warren -

Asks supporters to enter their email address to "enlist for a stronger safer south Carolina" with his campaign.

Says he's an outsider.

He's gonna follow Trump's lead on the tax cuts and lower taxes.

He's gonna crack down on criminal illegal immigrats.

He's gonna protect life in all stages because he's a conservative Christian.

He's gonna unlock the "god given potential" off every child.

And lastly, because he's a former Marine corps officer who swore an oath to defend rhe constitution, he's gonna defend the 2nd amendment. Because whether hunting terorrists in Ramadi or ducks in SC, he'll never cede an inch to the radical anti gun lobby.

...

All the expected buzz words and tropes were successfully touched upon. Source: warrenforgovernor.com

[JTA]

Catherine Templeton:

Her website reads like she took some cues from some of the troublesome revolutionary movements of the past. She speaks of protecting the "Conservative Revolution"

She speaks of enemies of the Conservative Revolution, pointing out they include liberals and democrats.

Talks about the national anthem being disrespected.

Says we need to protect our history and its monuments from being torn down by radicals.

...

Holy shit man. That woman is the worst out of the two so far. She sounds batshit insane. Go check out her campaign website and read. There's too much to even list, I had to give up.