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A Texas felon gave President Obama a run for his money in the West Virginia Democratic primary, beating Obama in several counties and winning enough of the vote to be eligible for at least one delegate at the convention, according to the Associated Press. Perennial candidate Keith Russell Judd, currently serving 210 months in a federal prison, is currently pulling down roughly 40 percent of the vote to Obama's 60 percent. Judd has caused problems in other elections as well. In 2008, Idaho Democrats were peeved Judd qualified for the ballot, with one Democratic official calling him a "yahoo prisoner...

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has some advice for liberal activists upset at the votes of the party’s conservative members: defeat them in primaries — but only in safe Democratic districts. Frank told liberals at a Congressional Progressive Caucus Foundation event in Los Angeles in April that primaries are the place to push for more liberal Members. “I said don’t defeat conservative Democrats in November . . . the place to do that is in the primary,” Frank said Friday in an interview. But Frank added his caveat that such a primary challenge should only come in districts...

Alternate headline: “Sestak story just getting started.” The news here isn’t that Andrew Romanoff was offered a job to help clear the way for Michael Bennet in the Senate primary; the Denver Post reported that allllll the way back in September of last year, citing multiple sources in the state Democratic leadership. The news is that the White House denied it at the time and that unnamed “administration officials” are formally un-denying it now. From last September: Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff and a storied fixer in the White House political shop, suggested a place for...

Did you hear the one about how President Obama got Slick Willie Clinton to offer second-term Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak an unpaid appointment to an obscure White House advisory panel in return for dropping his primary challenge to incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter? Obama and his Chicago boys are still guffawing over how all the chumps in the media reported that one with a straight face. Hey, it's a just another reason why running a gangster government is nothing but laughs for the Obama crew in the White House. The reality is that nobody outside the White House gang and its...

Did you hear the one about how President Obama got Slick Willie Clinton to offer second-term Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak an unpaid appointment to an obscure White House advisory panel in return for dropping his primary challenge to incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter? Obama and his Chicago boys are still guffawing over how all the chumps in the media reported that one with a straight face. Hey, it's a just another reason why running a gangster government is nothing but laughs for the Obama crew in the White House. The reality is that nobody outside the White House gang and...

Congratulations to Congressman-elect Mark Critz on his extraordinary victory. Voters in this election responded to Mark Critz's commitment to providing independent leadership that puts Pennsylvania jobs first. This was the only race in the country today where a Democrat faced off against a Republican and the results are clear. Mark Critz focused on creating jobs for middle class families, while Republicans practiced the politics of fear and distortion. For all of their bluster about building a national wave this year, including RNC Chairman Michael Steele's guarantee of victory for Tim Burns, Republican policies were once again rejected when it came...

On 60 Minutes earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented that the American economy is making it more difficult for her to do her job because other nations are telling her that “we always look to you because you have this great economy, and now you’re in the ditch.” Bill O’Reilly saw “a little jab” at the President in those comments, blaming the White House for her job troubles, but guest Dick Morris took that premise a bit further, suggesting the remarks, coupled with her silence on health care reform, were a deliberate attempt to undermine the President...

Peter Schurman, a founder and former executive director of MoveOn.org, announced Tuesday he plans to challenge California Attorney General Jerry Brown in his state's Democratic gubernatorial primary. "Our Democratic standard-bearer must be a true leader, take strong stands on the issues, and run a vigorous grass-roots campaign," .. "With our state in crisis, and our party facing billions in corporate money this fall, we can't settle for anything less." Schurman led the liberal group between 2001 and 2005; ..

The Democrats can’t afford to let this thing get to the recess without a vote — the risk of another round of angry townhalls is too great — so every last stop will be pulled out over the next week. This is just the beginning.

The field in the battle for a New York Senate seat became a little clearer Tuesday when Mortimer B. Zuckerman announced he would not join the race. Mr. Zuckerman, chairman and publisher of the Daily News, said personal and professional reasons were behind his decision not to challenge Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. "I was encouraged by many major political figures in New York to look closely at running for Senate," Mr. Zuckerman said. "However, at this time, it is very difficult to see how I can devote the necessary time to either a campaign, or to working in Washington, if...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)-California Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday announced he wants to be governor once again.

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford announced Monday evening that he will not challenge incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) in the upcoming Democratic primary. Just six weeks ago, the former Tennessee Congressman was putting together his campaign team and warning top Democrats that he couldn't be bullied. Evidently he could be.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Harold Ford, a former representative from Tennessee, will not challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Democratic primary, The New York Times reported on Monday. In an opinion piece it said would be published in the Times on Tuesday, the newspaper quoted Ford as writing: "If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary -- a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened." "I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans,"...

(CNN) – California Attorney General Jerry Brown plans to announce Tuesday that he's entering the race to be his state's next governor, three sources confirm to CNN. If elected, this would be the second time around for Brown, who served two terms as California Governor from 1975-1983. Already Brown has amassed at least a $12 million dollar war chest and he has attracted the support of big Hollywood kingmakers; David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg are among those who have publicly endorsed him. So far no other big name Democrats are in the race; San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom,...

As both political parties consider how to gain the fickle support of Tea Party activists and independent voters in the 2010 midterm elections, another increasingly dissatisfied tribe exists for both to lure: Hillary Democrats. No other candidate has captured their frustration better than U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Democrat trying to take out one-time Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's May primary. A campaign web-ad for Sestak shows real Democrats who voted for Obama, set in a stark black-and-white backdrop, voicing their collective dissatisfaction with the president's support of Specter: "That's not change we can believe...

NEW YORK (Associated Press) -- Less than a week after declaring he would seek a full four-year term, New York Gov. David Paterson abruptly dropped his election bid Friday under pressure from fellow Democrats concerned about his faltering agenda and his handling of a domestic abuse case involving a trusted aide. Paterson cited a litany of distractions that prompted him to end his campaign, but said he had never abused his office.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The wife of the late congressman John Murtha is being urged to run for the House seat that he held for nearly four decades, a newspaper reported Friday. "While people have been mindful that this is a difficult time for the family, many have called to suggest Joyce as the perfect person to hold her husband's seat," Murtha spokesman Matthew Mazonkey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand boxed out Harold Ford on his own turf Thursday night, reeling in the coveted endorsement of the New York County Democratic Party. The committee chose to pass over Ford, a Manhattanite who is mulling a challenge against Gillibrand, to endorse the incumbent from upstate. "In just a short period of time ... Gillibrand has proven herself to be a smart, hardworking advocate for the people of New York," said Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Harlem), the county chair. Ford had met with Wright last month and recently had urged him and other county leaders to hold off on any...

Patrick Kennedy's exit opens a door for Buddy Cianci, who could join Jim Traficant in the felon caucus. * * * But if Kennedy is a rare breed of one kind -- the melancholy politician -- then his departure may clear the way for another type of odd duck entirely, and one that’s much more fun. Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence -- former because of the small matter of a federal felony conviction -- is thinking about running for Kennedy's seat, presumably as an independent. * * * If he is a candidate, Cianci will join a rarefied...

The Politician’s Wife Claims No Baggage By LAURA M. HOLSON February 10, 2010 SINCE early January, when Harold E. Ford Jr. announced he was considering a bid for a Senate seat from New York, his wife, Emily Ford, has been hounded. Her friends call almost daily to ask if she has read the latest gossip about the couple. Mr. Ford can’t seem to stop talking about his wife, either, recently telling a columnist that he walks her favorite Chihuahua, Fabby. Emily Ford [Pic in URL] steels herself for a rough ride as Harold E. WELL PREPARED? Emily Ford was a...

Terrence O’Brien got his start in Chicago Democratic politics like so many of his peers and the generations that came before him, dutifully ringing doorbells to solicit votes for his state senator on the far North Side. He rose to coordinating other precinct captains for such candidates as a young Cook County state’s attorney and mayoral hopeful named Richard M. Daley. After serving some 20 years as an elected leader of the obscure-but-jobs-rich Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Mr. O’Brien decided last year that the time was ripe to seek higher office, to run for county board president. So he lined...

Over my dead body! A defiant Gov. Paterson vowed today that he'd leave office early early only if he's hauled off "in a box." "Let me let you know this: The only way I'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box, and the only way I'll be leaving office before is in a box," Paterson said during a news conference. "Actually, the more frustrated I get, the more I know I am going to be running" in November, he added.

Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 when he gives speeches booked by the Greater Talent Network agency. According to the below contract for an appearance Wednesday at a Missouri college, Ford demands that when his limo driver picks him up, the chauffeur must be carrying a sign reading "H.F.." Presumably, if the Democrat's name was spelled out, hordes of fans/groupies would be alerted to his impending arrival and swarm him (something that...

Amid churning doubts over his political future, New York Gov. David Paterson has told one of his closest advisers that he will officially announce his campaign for governor next week. William Lynch, a Harlem lobbyist and political aide, said Mr. Paterson will give a "major statement on why he's running" and will travel around the state to make clear his intentions. "He's running," Mr. Lynch said.

O.K., I know it's not Murtha's seat; that was just for clarification. That said: Those who filed to run for Murtha’s seat in PA’s 12th District before his death are: Dems: Former Naval Officer Ryan Bucchianeri and Attorney Ron Mackell Republicans: Activist Dave Battaglia, Businessman Tim Burns and Army Vet & ’08 nominee William T. “Bill” Russell

Paterson denies With everyone in town scrambling to match a New York Times story that doesn't (yet) exist, the governor talks to the Associated Press: New York Gov. David Paterson is lashing back at what he calls an orchestrated, scandalous assault on his character that includes unsubstantiated accusations about womanizing and drug use that he flatly denies. The Democratic governor tells The Associated Press that the media and New York politics have hit new lows, but it won't stop him from serving in office or seeking election to a full term in the fall. He cited as fabricated one published...

Illinois Senate Race Worries Democrats Anew BY MONICA DAVEY February 3, 2010 CHICAGO — Alexi Giannoulias, the treasurer of Illinois and a basketball-playing friend of President Obama’s, won the Democratic primary here on Tuesday for the Senate seat once held by Mr. Obama. But his victory was hardly the free throw some had expected, setting off a new round of worrying among Democrats that the reliably Democratic seat might be picked off by Republicans in November. With four others on the ballot, Mr. Giannoulias won 39 percent of the Democratic vote, or, as Republicans preferred to describe it on Wednesday,...

The return of Shrillary– CNN’s Jack Cafferty urges Hillary Clinton to challenge Obama in 2012. Freedom’s Lighthouse reported, via Free Republic:Agreed. It’s the right thing to do. Hillary must revive her campaign and challenge Barack

NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will run for governor - Daily News Andrew Cuomo is ready to run for governor. New York's state attorney general is set to take on Gov. Paterson in the Democratic primary, a source close to Cuomo told the Daily News. Cuomo spokesman Richard Bamberger declined comment, but a source close to Cuomo told The News, "He will make an announcement at the end of March. And what he will say is that he intends to run for governor. ... He thinks there are a lot of problems in the state and he thinks he can...

Many New York Democratic insiders are privately speculating that if the Democrats face a Martha Coakley loss - or near-loss - in Massachusetts to GOPer Scott Brown in tomorrow's senate election, it increases the odds of a Harold Ford Jr. candidacy. The logic, several longtime Democratic strategists and insiders said, is that if Coakley loses such a blue state - and the seat held by Ted Kennedy, one of the senate's most liberal members, for nearly 50 years - then it spells trouble for other Dem incumbents in the fall. Rep. Charles Rangel, a firm Kirsten Gillibrand backer, dismissed any...

NEW YORK — "Are you a New Yorker?" It was the evening of Jan. 11, and Chris Matthews was on MSNBC asking what many in this city wanted to know about Harold Ford Jr. "I live in New York," the former Congressman from Memphis answered. "My wife and I plan to start and raise a family there. I pay taxes there, and once you pay taxes there, you feel like a New Yorker." "But are you a New Yorker?" Matthews pressed. "I am." "You're a New Yorker?" Matthews continued. "Say, 'I am a New Yorker.'" "I am a New Yorker,"...

Mayor John Hickenlooper announced his gubernatorial bid this afternoon, saying "I love Colorado every bit as much as I love Denver." Hickenlooper said his agenda is going to be about jobs... The packed news conference on the west side of the state Capitol attracted top Democratic leaders and Denver movers and shakers. Hickenlooper talked about being mayor and the measures he has helped push. "We went to the voters every single time so we could decide what kind of city they could live in," he said. Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter, whose unexpected decision to drop his re-election bid set off...

WASHINGTON — The White House made it clear on Monday that it opposed the prospect of Harold E. Ford Jr.’s running for the United States Senate in New York, even as Mr. Ford, the former Tennessee congressman, showed no signs of being deterred. The remarks from the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, were the first offered by the Obama administration since Mr. Ford said last week that he was seriously considering challenging Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary. Mr. Gibbs said that the administration backed Ms. Gillibrand, who was appointed last January to fill the seat...

Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand By MICHAEL BARBARO January 5, 2010 Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him. Mr. Ford, 39, who moved to New York three years ago, has told friends that he will decide whether to run in the next 45 days. The discussions between Mr. Ford and top Democratic donors reflect the dissatisfaction of some prominent party members with Ms....

Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him. Mr. Ford, 39, who moved to New York three years ago, has told friends that he will decide whether to run in the next 45 days. The discussions between Mr. Ford and top Democratic donors reflect the dissatisfaction of some prominent party members with Ms. Gillibrand, who has yet to win over key constituencies, especially in New York City....

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) is expected to endorse Joe "In The Navy" Sestak, Monday, in his bid to unseat fellow Democrat Arlen Specter as senator from Pennsylvania, according to The Hill.

ALBANY — City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., weighing his options in the wake of a surprisingly close loss in the mayoral race, is seriously considering challenging Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in next year’s primary elections, according to people who have spoken to Mr. Thompson and his advisers. Challenging Senator Gillibrand is one of three options being mulled by Mr. Thompson and his advisers. He is also considering a run against the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, in the primaries, or returning to the private sector for now and running again for mayor in 2013. With the primary 10 months...

The body is not even cool yet. Hell, the election hasn't even happened yet, and the Democrats are already trying to figure what went is going to go wrong. Now this is my kind of campaign. Some may remember that Clinton White House Hotelier and Barista Terry McAuliffe ran for Virginia governor this year and lost in the primary to Creigh Deeds. Deeds had 50% of the vote with McAuliffe at 26% and Brian Moran at 24%. The New York Times thinks that maybe the Virginia Democrats drew the short straw with Deeds.

After weeks of speculation and buzz, it was reported this morning in the Houston Chronicle newspaper that Farouk Shami has announced he is running for the Democratic nomination of governor of the state of Texas. In an exclusive interview in the September issue of MODERN SALON, Farouk hinted at the possibility. When MODERN Editor in Chief Laurel Smoke asked about rumors surrounding Shami’s political ambitions, he answered, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” A few weeks ago, Shami hosted thousands of guests, including current Texas governor Rick Perry and Houston Mayor Bill White, for the ribbon cutting of CHI USA, a...

By FREDRIC U. DICKER, STATE EDITOR ALBANY -- Gov. Paterson gets more grim political news today, as another statewide poll shows Attorney General Andrew Cuomo trouncing him by 4 to 1 in a hypothetical primary match next year. Democrats, by nearly 2 to 1, said that New York's accidental governor doesn't deserve to be elected on his own...

After two terms as mayor of Seattle, Greg Nickels is now conceding.

Seattle (AP) - Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has been hailed as a visionary and a leader on environmental issues, helping persuade nearly 1,000 mayors around the country to abide by the standards of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. But an environmental issue of a more basic sort — the city's inability to clear streets during paralyzing snowstorms last winter — might have set the stage for his political undoing. Nickels narrowly trails two challengers following Tuesday's primary and is at serious risk of not advancing to the general election in November, potentially ending his eight-year run at City Hall....

Monaster/NewsRep. Carolyn Maloney Rep. Carolyn Maloney has decided to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 Democratic primary, refusing to bow to party leaders who want her to stay out, the Daily News has learned. "She's definitely decided to run," said a senior Maloney adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity. "She's in it." Maloney, a congresswoman since 1993 for Manhattan's East Side and a slice of Queens, will make an official announcement in two weeks, the adviser said. The Democratic establishment, led behind the scenes by Sen. Chuck Schumer, has cleared other would-be challengers from the primary field for...

State Senator Creigh (CREE) Deeds has won Virginia's Democratic primary for governor. Deeds beat former Clinton White House insider Terry McAuliffe and former state Democratic legislative leader Brian Moran on Tuesday. The victory sets up a Deeds rematch with Republican Bob McDonnell, who beat him in the 2005 attorney general election by 323 votes. McDonnell is a conservative with strong ties to religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. He was unopposed for the GOP nomination. Deeds was the only Democrat in the race not from the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Primary rivals criticized him for legislative votes supporting Virginia's broad, pro-gun laws, actions...

Va. Candidates Enter Homestretch of Tight Primary Race By Anita Kumar and Rosalind S. Helderman Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, June 8, 2009 The three men seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia continued their final push across the state today in the sprint before tomorrow's primary. Moran concluded his week-long "Fighting for Virginia" tour with a pre-election rally at Market Square in Alexandria. Deeds spent the day hosting get-out-the-vote rallies in Southside and Southwest including stops in Danville, Martinsville, Bristol and Roanoke. Tonight, he will head back to his Charlottesville campaign headquarters for a rally. McAuliffe started his...

State Sen. Creigh Deeds appears to be further separating himself from the other two contenders in the June 9 Democratic gubernatorial primary, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released two days before the election. A Democrat from rural Bath County, Deeds now holds a double-digit lead (40 percent) over rivals Terry McAuliffe (26 percent) and Brian Moran (24 percent) for the party nomination. The poll results follow a recent trend that has shown Deeds surging to the lead of the pack just weeks after earlier polls listed him third in the field. Deeds current lead is beyond the poll's...

If President Obama didn't have enough on his plate already, he's now thrust himself into the middle of a statewide race that has sparked growing resentment among some New York Democrats. It's rare for a president to inject himself into statewide politics and a host of New York political insiders with ties to several House Democrats say they're angry that Obama even got involved. "What? You can't have a primary? It's decided in backroom deals?" asked a source who spoke to FOX News on the condition of anonymity. "What if someone told Obama he couldn't have a primary and Hillary...

Another good video of Newt! Conservatives need to take over the Democrat primaries! Hey why not!? Sounds good to me!

Not all Pennsylvania Democrats are down with Arlen Specter. Though the party-switching senator has the support of President Obama and Gov. Ed Rendell, at least two potential candidates are leaving open the door to challenge Specter in the 2010 Democratic primary. Rep. Joe Sestak, who's been a prolific fundraiser, is considering defying party leaders and running against Specter despite Tuesday's hoopla, though he told FOXNews.com on Wednesday, "I have not made up my mind on it."

Back when Sen. Hillary Clinton was just starting her campaign, top aides and advisers had a ready answer when asked if she could win the presidency.