2010 Elections, Political News

With the subject line “Please please please,” MoveOn.org is asking its members to volunteer for Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly in Falls Church, Va. “Can you volunteer for Gerry Connolly before the polls close on Tuesday?” the e-mail from field director Adam Ruben asks. “Hint: The answer is ‘Yes!’ Have plans? Cancel them. Can’t cancel? Postpone. If you got sick, you’d find some way to reschedule your other stuff, right? And this is way more important than illness. This is the, uh, FUTURE OF AMERICA we’re talking about–and it could come down to 184 people in Falls Church.” The dramatic e-mail, sent to members on Monday morning, goes on to direct the reader to click on a link. It allows him or her to choose a time to canvas on Monday, starting at a MoveOn office in Falls Church. The link allows users to enter their zip code and find other ways to volunteer in the last day before the election. Ilyse Hogue, director of political advocacy and communications for MoveOn.org, said a version of the e-mail went to all of the group’s members in 59 targeted House and Senate races. A similar version went to members who live in safe districts asking them to make calls on key races, and an election update went to all members, she said. The election update boasts growing numbers of volunteers. “This weekend, we recruited more volunteers in swing districts than we did the entire week before–combined. At our peak, we were signing up one new MoveOn member to volunteer every seven seconds. And today’s early morning numbers are strong,” Ruben notes in that message.

Read more here:
MoveOn.org Begs Volunteers To Cancel Plans So They Can Canvas

An Anzalone Liszt Research poll taken for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign committee from Oct. 27 and 28 shows Democrat Alexi Giannoulias leading Republican Mark Kirk 39 percent to 37 percent, a statistical tie since the poll had a margin of error of 4.9 points. The same poll of 400 likely voters found Libertarian candidate Michael Labo with 4 percent, Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones with 3 percent, and 16 percent of voters undecided. It’s a small shift from the Anzalone Liszt poll taken Oct. 20 to 24, which showed Giannoulias with 38 percent and Kirk with 36 percent.

View original post here:
New DSCC Poll: Alexi Giannoulias, Mark Kirk Statistically Tied

The Senate contest in Alaska remains unclear heading into Election Day, with new polls showing different results for the Republican, Democrat and write-in candidate who happens to be the incumbent Senator — and Democrats are paying for new ads in hopes that the intraparty battle will somehow boost their candidate. A new Hays Research poll Thursday showed write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams (D) rising in the unpredictable Alaska Senate contest and Republican nominee Joe Miller in third place, but a separate survey had a far different result. A Hellenthal poll conducted for Murkowski backers showed the incumbent Senator leading at 45.7 percent, Miller at 30.4 percent and the Democratic nominee deep in third at 23.9 percent. The Hays poll put Murkowski at 34 percent, McAdams at 29 percent and Miller at 23 percent.

Original post:
Competing Polls Show Alaska Senate Race Wide Open

The Federal Election Commission concluded that the Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Committee can legally refund $34,600 to embattled Rep. Baron Hill on Wednesday. Hill is facing a strong challenge from Republican attorney Todd Young. Hill transferred $34,600 to the committee in mid-September with the expectation that “the IDCVC would be undertaking certain campaign programs for federal candidates in connection with the 2010 general election,” according to the original request for an advisory opinion from the IDCVC and Hoosiers for Hill in early October. When Hill discovered the IDCVC would not be involved in that way, he asked for a refund. The problem is that the amount to be refunded would be higher than the amount of a contribution a party is allowed to make to a candidate.

Read the original here:
Indiana Rep. Baron Hill Gets Refund From State Party

Despite heavy spending against him by conservative third party groups including the well-funded Americans for Job Security, Rep. Heath Shuler (D) holds a 15 point lead in North Carolina’s 11th district, according to a new Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll. The survey, which was in the field Oct. 17 to 19, showed Shuler ahead of Republican Jeff Miller 54 percent to 39 percent. The Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner conducted the poll of 401 likely 11th district voters. It had a 4.9 point margin of error. Though Miller was never expected to compete financially with Shuler’s huge warchest, Republicans have been optimistic about making the western North Carolina seat a late addition to the 2010 playing field in large part because they believed third party groups had softened up the second term Congressman in recent weeks. AJS alone has spent over three quarters of a million dollars targeting Shuler. “Every day that goes by voters in Western North Carolina learn how out of touch Jeff Miller’s agenda really is,” said DCCC spokesman Jesse Ferguson in a release. “Voters are focusing on what his job-killing agenda would mean in Congress and they don’t like what they see.”

Read more here:
DCCC Poll Shows Blue Dog Democrat Heath Shuler Well Ahead

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), as well as two Republican House candidates and their campaign committees, for violating the campaign finance law bearing his name. Friends of John McCain, the Senator’s campaign committee, began running ads on Tuesday featuring him and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) promoting Republican House nominees Ruth McClung and Jesse Kelly in Arizona. Both are in tight races against Democratic incumbents: McClung faces Rep. Raul Grijalva in the southwest Arizona district, and Kelly faces Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the southeast Arizona district. The ad buys cost $80,000 each, and with production costs, that brings McCain to $91,872 spent on behalf of McClung and Kelly. The DCCC letter alleges that because McCain has recently spent time at rallies with both candidates and has donated to their campaigns, it’s hard to believe he did not coordinate the ads with them. The letter also noted that a candidate’s committee isn’t allowed to support multiple candidates with more than $2,000.

Read more:
DCCC Files FEC Complaint Against McCain Claiming He Violated McCain-Feingold

A new one-minute TV ad being released by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) uses a video endorsement by the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) taken before his death in August. Before using the sensitive footage, Stevens’ daughter speaks on screen. “My father made a campaign commercial for Lisa that was scheduled to run just days after we lost him,” Sue Covich says. “Putting our family before her campaign, Lisa made certain the ad did not air out of respect for my dad and our family. Now my family and I want you to hear for yourself how strongly he felt about the need to re-elect Lisa.” “We need Lisa and the seniority she’s earned now more than ever,” Stevens says in the ad. Polls show the race is close, as Murkowski wages a difficult write-in campaign against Republican nominee Joe Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams. The Murkowski campaign released its latest FEC report on Thursday, showing it’s raised more than $200,000 since she announced her write-in bid on Sept. 17. She had nearly $1.2 million in cash-on-hand as of Sept. 30.

See the original post here:
Murkowski Ad Features Stevens Footage

Republican Bob Dold made a splash with his third quarter fundraising numbers on Wednesday. Between the beginning of July and the end of September, the small business owner raised $843,000. To put the amount into context, building on the noteworthy $578,000 he raised during the previous quarter. Dold’s announcement came as his opponent, Democrat Dan Seals, took part in a fundraiser with First Lady Michelle Obama and Reps. Debbie Halvorson and Bill Foster. A spokeswoman for Seals’ campaign said he would release his fundraising numbers by the Friday deadline. He raised $556,000 in the second quarter and had $792,000 on hand at the end of June. Dold still had $979,000 on hand as of Sept. 30 and had no debts, according to his third quarter report. He began airing two ads on broadcast in Chicago and cable in the district on Tuesday, according to his campaign. The North Shore seat is open because Rep. Mark Kirk (R) is running for the Senate. CQ-Roll Call rates this race a Tossup .

Link:
Dold Files Big Numbers as Seals Raises Money with First Lady

Minority Leader John Boehner has promised that Missouri Republican Vicky Hartzler would get a seat on the Armed Services Committee if she wins and Republicans take control of the House. Hartzler, a former state Representative, is running against Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton in southwest Missouri, and with two large bases in the district, military issues have defined the race. Hartzler isn’t the first House candidate Boehner has promised a committee seat to. Republican Ed Martin, who’s running against Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) in the suburbs south of St. Louis, was promised a seat on the Veterans Affairs committee. Carnahan doesn’t serve on the Veterans Affairs committee and Martin, a one-time chief of staff to former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, isn’t a veteran. But his press release on the potential appointment explained that veterans issues are a high priority for him. Boehner has said Republican state Rep. Randy Demmer will get a seat on the Agriculture Committee if he defeats Democratic Rep. Tim Walz in southern Minnesota. Walz was appointed to the Agriculture Committee when he defeated Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht, who was also a member of the committee, in 2006. Hawaii Rep. Charles Djou may be getting the biggest prize: Boehner said he’ll get a seat on the Appropriations Committee if he wins re-election next month after winning the special election to replace Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D) in May. Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inuoye (D) chairs the Senate Appropriations committee, so the appointment would give the island state an outsized influence on Appropriations.

See the article here:
Boehner Promises Armed Services Seat to Hartzler

Attorney Pat Miles , the Democratic nominee in the race to replace retiring Michigan Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R), showed up at Republican state Rep. Justin Amash’s press event on Wednesday. The event was held with employees at Michigan Industrial Tools, a company Amash’s father started, near Grand Rapids. A Miles ad seemed to insinuate that jobs from the company were being outsourced, a claim employees at the event argued. “Employees of Michigan Industrial Tools have invited Democrat Pat Miles to explain to them why his recent ad campaign attacks the growing, family-owned business they work for,” an Amash campaign release announcing the event said. Miles’ campaign said he never received a formal invitation. Amash has not worked for MIT but does own shares in Dynamic Source International, a quality control service based in China of which MIT is a customer, according to his campaign. A reporter at WOOD Radio captured the moment for YouTube. The clip opens with Amash seated at a table and talking to MIT employees about Miles’ “attack ads.” Then it shows an employee who identifies herself as Kathy Meyers questioning the veracity of the ads and pans to Miles, who is standing near the door. “This is about who can voters trust to protect manufacturing jobs here in West Michigan,” Miles said, and turned to Amash. “You voted 19 times against creating jobs here in West Michigan.” “That’s false,” Amash said. “Against the jobs in ConAgra was bringing,” Miles continued. “You opposed tax incentive programs to bring jobs here to Michigan,” he said, and Amash cut him off. “I opposed the aggressive tax code that you support, which takes money from most people and distributes it to a few,” Amash said, cutting him off. The exchange continued a bit longer, and then Miles left. Trade issues related to China have defined this race. The Amash campaign said that Miles owns stock in funds that invest in China and other foreign companies. No debates have been confirmed yet in the Grand Rapids-based district, which includes parts or all of Kent, Ionia and Barry counties, though the two candidates recorded an appearance for a local TV program that will air Sunday night. Miles has aired two ads on “the Amash record,” and Amash just went up with his first ad this week. Amash, who was first elected to the state House in 2008, won the five-candidate Republican primary on Aug. 3 and had the endorsement of the anti-tax Club for Growth. Miles easily defeated one Democrat in his primary. Miles has received some national attention as a classmate of President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School. CQ-Roll Call rates this race Safe Republican .

See more here:
Michigan: Miles Shows Up at Amash Event