Tag Archives: 2018 elections

The Atlantic reports: Mitt Romney hasn’t even officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, yet Republican leadership is already seeing stars. According to a Republican donor with direct knowledge, Senate GOP leaders have expressed an early interest in having Romney succeed Colorado Senator Cory Gardner as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The role involves leading the Senate GOP’s …

AL.com reports: Evangelical preacher Scott Dawson sent in his qualification papers to run for governor as a Republican during an appearance Thursday on the “Rick and Bubba Show.” Dawson, who announced in the summer that he would seek the state’s highest office, has been a friend of the show, and co-host Rick Burgess vouched for the Birmingham-based preacher’s integrity on …

Politico reports: FUNNY OR DIE and BILLY EICHNER are launching a nonprofit “Glam Up The Midterms” — a campaign focused on under-40-year-old voters in the midterm election. The group tells Playbook it will spend $8 million on the most competitive congressional districts. Their plan: use online mobilization tactics and an analytics program to engage younger voters and hold live comedy …

Mass Live reports: Former Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney will reveal whether he will run for the U.S. Senate seat in two weeks. Romney tweeted on Thursday afternoon that he was “Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race.” Those close to the 70-year-old former presidential candidate have said he is interested in running …

Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate reports: Rep. Bob Brady of Philadelphia, a plainspoken former carpenter and cheerleader for the city, will not seek another term in Congress, giving up the seat he’s held for two decades, his office said Wednesday.Brady revealed the news to reporters and Democratic Party ward leaders in Philadelphia, his hometown and the city where he has been the …

It’s a stampede for the exits. The Hill reports: Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection. “There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system,” he said in a statement …

CBS Denver reports: Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, who put his name in the ring for governor of Colorado last fall, has withdrawn his candidacy. The Republican confirmed the move on Tuesday afternoon. Tancredo said although he feels competent to win Republican primary, he sees no path to victory in the gubernatorial general election for a Republican and doesn’t want to …

NBC News reports: The CEO of the Democratic National Committee is leaving after less than a year on the job, NBC News has learned. Veteran Democrat operative Jess O’Connell took the helm of the DNC last May with a mandate to help newly installed Chairman Tom Perez turn around a troubled party organization that was struggling after years of neglect …

And the stampede continues: Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in an increasingly competitive district. “I have worked in a bipartisan manner, not just in times of crisis but always, because I believe it best serves my constituents, my state and our country,” Frelinghuysen said in …

Utah Policy reports: Sources close to Mitt Romney tell us that the former GOP presidential nominee will announce next week that he is running for the U.S. Senate this year. Romney will gather the 28,000 required signatures from registered GOP voters to ensure he gets on the late-June Republican Party primary ballot, assuming other Republicans will file to run for …

Raw Story reports: Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Missouri Courtland Sykes blasted “women’s rights” this week. In a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Sykes said that he had been asked if he “supports women’s rights.” “I want to come home to a home cooked dinner every night at six,” Sykes said, referring to demands he makes of his girlfriend. …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: U.S. Rep Pat Meehan said Tuesday he had developed a deep “affection” for a younger aide and told her that he saw her as “a soul mate” as they talked over ice cream one night last year, but in an interview with the Inquirer he said he never pursued a romantic relationship with the woman, who …

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack just announced on Twitter that the state Supreme Court has ruled 4-3 that the state’s US House district maps are unconstitutional, giving the state legislature under a month to redraw the maps. The Times weighed in on the pending ruling last week: If Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court rules that the state’s congressional map must be redrawn, …

Esquire reports: A rising Republican star – yes, there still are some of those — named Nathan Dahm, who is running to replace the equally wingy wingnut Jim Bridenstine in the Congress, has filed Senate Bill 1457. What does this bill do? I am glad you asked. It makes all wildlife in Oklahoma “the property of Almighty God.” Things are …

Vox reports: Is Donald Trump hoping foreign terrorists attack the United States? That terrifying question is subtly embedded in a story this weekend reported by Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, and Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post on the Republican Party’s growing alarm about the upcoming 2018 midterms. The story details GOP woes and Democratic hopes before pivoting to some more …

The Associated Press reports: A Democrat has been elected to represent a traditionally conservative Wisconsin senate district where voters overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump in 2016, in an upset that Democrats suggest could lead to more Republican losses in the state. Patty Schachtner’s victory in the 10th Senate District late Tuesday could be a sign of hope for Democrats, who …

Law & Crime reports: When Joe Arpaio accepted a pardon from President Donald Trump after his conviction for violating a court order, he apparently didn’t realize that he was admitting wrongdoing. Enter MSNBC’s Ari Melber, who broke the news to the man who recently announced his candidacy for United States Senate. What ensued was quite the awkward exchange, where Arpaio …

The Hill reports: Mitt Romney tore on Monday into President Trump for reportedly referring to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.” “The poverty of an aspiring immigrant’s nation of origin is as irrelevant as their race,” Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee who is reportedly considering a Senate run in Utah, tweeted. Romney has in the past been a …

Salon reports: Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman and whistleblower convicted of leaking thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, has released the first campaign advertisement for her bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland. The ad opens with visuals of recent violent protests, clashes with police and the rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, Manning narrated, “We live in …

Axios reports: The one thing that could dramatically diminish President Trump’s chances of avoiding impeachment and chalking up legislative wins is Democrats winning the House. And, thanks to series of recent developments, Trump knows this no longer just seems plausible, but probable. Hill sources tell us that a House Democratic takeover is now likely. One strategist close to Republican leaders …