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On the anniversary of his election, President Barack Obama will visit Madison on Wednesday to talk about the progress states are making on education reforms he's championed since taking office and the imminent competition that will have many of those states vying for extra federal stimulus funds for schools. Is there more to the president's visit than just a pat on the back for Wisconsin? Many suspect the latter for a number of reasons: • The governor's race. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has not announced whether he will run for governor, and some say Obama, who has intervened in local politics...

Republicans win Virginia, New Jersey governorshipsReuters | 11/04/2009 12:11 PM WASHINGTON – Republicans rolled to victory in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday in a sharp blow to Democrats that showed the limits of U.S. President Barack Obama's influence. After suffering a one-two punch in those two states, Democrats were trying to salvage a victory over a conservative candidate in a congressional district in upstate New York. The election outcome in Virginia and New Jersey could offer clues on the mood of America a year after Obama was elected president and a year before 2010 congressional elections...

Chris Christie, an aggressive former prosecutor who racked up a perfect conviction rate in public corruption cases and became the darling of New Jersey's Republican Party establishment, has unseated the deep-pocketed but unpopular Gov. Jon Corzine. .

VIRGINIAGovernor (69% Reporting) R. Creigh Deeds - Dem (39%) Robert McDonnell - GOP (61%) Lieutenant Governor (68% Reporting) Jody Wagner - Dem (41%) Bill Bolling - GOP (59%) Attorney General (68% Reporting) Stephen Shannon - Dem (40%) Ken Cuccinelli - GOP (60%) House of Delegates - District 1 (Uncontested Race) Terry Kilgore - GOP (N/A) House of Delegates - District 2 (Uncontested Race) Bud Phillips - Dem (N/A) House of Delegates - District 3 (44% Reporting) Will Morefield - GOP (55%)Dan Bowling - Dem (45%) House of Delegates - District 4 (Uncontested Race) Joseph Johnson - Dem (N/A) House of...

Here is the link for today's election. Results should start coming in after 8:00 pm. http://elections.nj.com/dynamic/files/elections/2009/by_state/NJ_Page_1103.html?SITE=NJNEWELN&SECTION=POLITICS

State Rep. Paul Kohls became an early casualty of the crowded race for Minnesota governor, dropping out Thursday because of a lack of support from GOP constituencies. "I've come to the conclusion that I don't have sufficient support from the delegates to keep going," Kohls told reporters. Kohls, who has been in the state House since 2002, was not among the top finishers in the state Republican party's straw poll earlier this month. The poll was won by House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, one of the first and most prominent Republicans to join the race after incumbent Tim Pawlenty, a...

In the see-saw New Jersey Governor's race, Republican challenger Christopher Christie has 42 percent to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's 40 points, with 12 percent for independent candidate Christopher Daggett, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Six percent remain undecided. This compares to a 43 - 38 percent Gov. Corzine lead, with 13 percent for Daggett, in an October 28 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Among Daggett supporters, 38 percent say they might change their mind: 39 percent say Corzine is their second choice, while 29 percent say Christie is number two. Only 10 percent of Christie...

Just days before selecting their next governor, New Jersey voters are clearly divided. The only sure bet from the latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll is that the winner will be either a Republican or a Democrat. As of Friday night, challenger Chris Christie held an insignificant one point lead over incumbent Jon Corzine among likely voters, 43% to 42%. Two weeks ago, the race was tied at 39% each. Independent Chris Daggett has faded to 8%, after reaching 14% in the previous poll. Republican voters give 86% support to their party’s nominee, compared to 6% for Corzine and 5%...

EDITORIAL: Easley Performance Not Very ConvincingUpdated: October 29, 2009 at 18:43 pm Larry Leake, chairman of the State Board of Elections, asked a pretty good question Wednesday. A couple of days earlier, on the first day of this week's explosive hearings on alleged campaign spending abuses, former Easley friend and supporter McQueen Campbell had testified in great and dismaying detail. Among other damning allegations, he said he and Easley were part of a bogus scheme to hide the cost of repairs to Easley's private residence by listing them as being for air travel. When a campaign aide expressed concern that...

Arpaio for governor? New poll says he has the support Email: dbiscobing@abc15.com Arpaio for governor? Polls say he has the support PHOENIX - Sheriff Joe Arpaio rarely keeps a low profile. Never afraid of attention or controversy and always outspoken, he leaves little unsaid. And that includes a race for governor. "There's an old saying in politics: Never say never," Arpaio said. "I know I would make an excellent governor." Arpaio has not officially announced his candidacy, and he never may. But in recent weeks, he's teased and hinted. It's not the first time. "Twice I've looked into it and...

There’s been a lot of focus on NY-23, for understandable reasons—it’s a great fight in a year with only a few races to pay attention to. But there’s a lot of wild over-interpretation going on. Among more excitable folks on both the left and the right, there’s a tendency to think this heralds some broader GOP civil war. Not likely. The circumstances of the race are entirely unique. In most districts of the country, the Republican nominee is going to be acceptable to conservatives (most Republican primary voters are conservative, after all), and certainly almost never as noxious as Dede...

The latest Rasmussen poll shows Chris Christie, the Republican nominee for Governor in New Jersey, beating the incumbent Democrat John Corzine by 4 points, even with a third party conservative in the race drawing over 10 percent of the vote. In Virginia, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell is so far ahead of his Democratic rival Creigh Deeds that Democrats have already begun to argue on the front page of The Washington Post who is at fault for blowing that race.

New Jersey independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett shows in an interview with Hugh Hewitt that he doesn't know what corruption is, but he at least doesn't recognize it when he sees it with Jon Corzine.

Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine 42-38, a slight increase from a PPP poll two weeks ago. Independent Chris Daggett is at 13%.

In every mid-term election, there is a race for governor that draws nationwide attention and packs a political punch far beyond the borders of its state. This year, Virginia and New Jersey have drawn that attention. The elections of Govs. Nelson Rockefeller in New York in 1958 and Ronald Reagan in California in 1966 helped shaped national Republican politics for nearly a generation. The likely election of Bob McDonnell in Virginia this year -- if it comes to pass -- will probably be another. Next year, it will be Ohio where former congressman and host of Fox News’ “Heartland� program...

<p>LANSING, MI. - The Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm, and the Michigan Legislature could have avoided deep cuts to education by passage of an increase to the wager tax on the Detroit Casinos. The wager tax (18% State and 6% City of Detroit) had not been increased since 1997 could have been raised to comparable levels of other surrounding States, and filled the revenue shortfall and spared Michigan children deep cuts in education K-12.</p>

Republican Tom Campbell, a candidate for governor who was the last state finance director to preside over a balanced budget, warned this week that California may be awash in more red ink, with revenue expected to fall short of projections by as much as $3 billion by the end of December. The alarm from Campbell, a former dean of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, came after state officials acknowledged two weeks ago that state revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, fell $1.1 billion short of predictions. Still, as national headlines have trumpeted...

Virginia Democrats are highlighting this video of GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell from a rally-the-base speech earlier today at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg. McDonnell's promise to be a champion for traditional marriage and anti-abortion stalwart comes on the morning following the final debate of the governor's race Tuesday night -- a debate where the Republican said that, if elected, his focus would be on issues such as jobs, transportation and energy. Pressed about his opposition to abortion at the debate, McDonnell was far less expansive than in front of the evangelical students at Liberty. And, it should be...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlgvNld_Go8&feature=player_embedded

More than a decade before Jerry Brown's current incarnation as undeclared gubernatorial front-runner, he hit the airwaves of liberal Berkeley radio station KPFA five days a week to speak his mind. What he said then, as he interviewed poets, activists and the likes of leftist icon Noam Chomsky, promises to resurface this coming year as the 71-year-old former governor ponders running for a historic third gubernatorial term. During his three years on the air, Brown repeatedly blamed corporate malfeasance and political corruption for undermining American democracy and even causing deaths, according to edited excerpts of the radio broadcasts. Brown regularly...

The GOP contenders are polling well in the race to become the state's next governor, while the current governor, Jennifer Granholm, continues to struggle in the approval ratings. Those are the findings of a new wide-ranging poll from EPIC-MRA , done for WOOD TV8 and our broadcast partners, released Tuesday. President Obama's statewide numbers are also down, with an equal number of respondents (48-48) having a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the president. Granholm is viewed negatively by 66% of the respondents, with 33% having a positive view. However, that's a slight improvement from the previous month (68-32.)

Just a year after this one-time Confederate state helped elect a black man president, Democrats are desperately trying to hang onto the governorship. A lot has changed: Loyal Democrats are more subdued than last fall. Republicans are energized. Independents are proving to be ... independent. Voters of all kinds seem disenchanted. Just like Americans nationwide. The contest between Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds provides a snapshot of sorts — 12 months after America elected Barack Obama as president and expanded Democratic majorities in Congress, and one year before midterm elections in every state. And the picture, in...

Jason Cullen, an Independent candidate for New Jersey Governor, is a conservative not bound by party politics. Jason is a hard working middle class New Jersey resident who is looking to bring the peoples’ voice back to the government. He believes in the free market, fiscal responsibility, budgeted and effective government spending. Jason is someone who will stand up for what he believes in and is willing to go the distance if it means doing what is right for New Jersey, not for its special interest groups. The time has come to follow George Washington’s advice that political parties would...

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of likely Democratic Primary Voters in Pennsylvania are not sure how they will vote when it comes time to select a Democratic Party nominee for governor in 2010. In this wide open setting, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato attracts 19% of the vote, while state Auditor Jack Wagner is the choice for 14%. Former Congressman Joe Hoeffel is preferred by 11%. Two other candidates pick up single digit support: Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty at six percent (6%) and businessman Tom Knox with four percent (4%).

A few weeks ago Jon Fleischman of FlashReport.org was fortunate enough to snag an interview with gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. But the results of one segment of the meeting left him admittedly non-plussed, or as he termed it "unnerved." Fleischman was aghast to learn of just how extreme Meg Whitman's views on abortion really are. And after reading Fleischman's interview myself, I have to wonder if her views makes her completely unelectable amongst California's pro-lifers? In the interview, Whitman was completely upfront about the fact that she stands solidly behind public funding of abortion. She was unequivocal about it, really....

A poll released today shows Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie tied in the race for New Jersey governor. A Quinnipiac University survey shows Christie nudging Corzine, 41-40, with independent Chris Daggett pulling in 14 percent. The results are within the poll's 2.8 margin of error.

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.

Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell are going to meet in their first live, televised prime time debate of Virginia's race for governor. Monday night's event is critical for Deeds. Trailing in two statewide polls by eight to nine percentage points just three weeks before Election Day, Deeds needs a breakout performance. Television stations in most Virginia markets are carrying the hourlong 8 p.m. debate originating from the studios of WCVE, a public television station in Richmond.

The Star-Ledger endorsement of independent Christopher Daggett could violate state regulations that prohibit debate sponsors from endorsing candidates before the completion of the debate. In their application to sponsor the October 16 gubernatorial debate, the Star-Ledger agreed to not endorse a candidate for Governor until after the debate was over. The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), in their published regulations on gubernatorial debate sponsorship (N.J.A.C. 19:25-15.50) states that "to be eligible for selection by the Commission to sponsor one or both of the gubernatorial general election debates, an organization... must not have endorsed any candidate in the pending...

Conservatives 4 Palin blames Ed Gillespie, who’s soft on Mitt and hard on Palin, for turning Virginia candidate Bob McDonnell against her when he took over the campaign. But is this really so hard to understand that it requires an ulterior motive to explain it? Romney, Huckabee, Jindal, and Pawlenty have all been to Virginia on McDonnell’s behalf. Proof of a Gillespie vendetta against Palin? Or just basic no-brainer politics in not wanting to “benefit” from a cameo by someone whose favorable rating among independents is 33/59? McDonnell’s sitting on a nine-point lead in a state that broke for Obama...

A new Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind Poll finds New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) edging ahead of Chris Christie (R), 44% to 43%, within the poll's margin of error. Another 4% volunteer they will vote for independent Chris Daggett and 5% say they are undecided. When Daggett's name is read in an interview along with Corzine's and Christie's name, Corzine leads Christie 38% to 37% and Daggett gets 17% of the vote. Key finding: It's clear independent candidates could be the deciding factor in this race. Even when another independent candidate's name is read -- such as Gary Steele -- the effect...

by Debra Medina - Conservative Republican Candidate for Governor of Texas “What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith,1787. ME 6:373, Papers 12:356 In a world moving more and more rapidly towards globalization, perhaps we’d do well to review exactly what insures freedom. What is it that makes one free? What sets a free man apart from one enslaved? The founders would argue insuring a well-armed people was the surest way to defend...

On Oct. 21, Romney plans to host a New York City fundraiser for Rick Lazio, a former Long Island congressman who announced his candidacy for governor last week. Lazio helped raise money for Romney’s 2008 presidential effort and played Giuliani in one of Romney’s debate-prep sessions during the GOP primaries. “It’s a private fundraiser and it’s not a public endorsement event,” said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. “But stay tuned.” The former Massachusetts governor is active in helping fellow Republicans as he continues to lay the groundwork for a possible repeat bid for the presidency in 2012. Wednesday night, the 2008...

By RICK CASEY Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle Sept. 29, 2009, 7:45PMYou know those ads that promise to show you how to make thousands of dollars working at home on your personal computer? They're mainly bogus, of course. But Gov. Rick Perry, ever dedicated to helping the Texas economy, has come up with a program to allow Texans to do just that. It's sort of a campaign version of Facebook meets Amway. The Dallas Morning News called attention Tuesday to the program, which is described at hq.rickperry.org/about, a Perry campaign Web site. ..........“Our goal is to field the biggest grass-roots...

In VA, Republicans Still Above 50% in All 3 Statewide November Contests: Virginia Republicans continue to dominate the statewide contests for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General in elections today, 09/29/09, five weeks until votes are counted, according to SurveyUSA polling for WDBJ-TV Roanoke and WJLA-TV Washington DC. In the race for Governor, Republican Bob McDonnell today defeats Democrat Creigh Deeds by 14 points, 55% to 41%. Compared to identical SurveyUSA polls released four and nine weeks ago, little has changed. McDonnell receives majorities from both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, college graduates and those who...

Crime | Government | Wildfires | Education | Roman Polanski | Traffic | Westside L.A. NOW Southern California -- this just in « Previous Post | L.A. NOW Home | Next Post » Jerry Brown files papers to explore run for governor September 29, 2009 | 5:42 pm Jerry Brown dropped the fiction that he was seeking reelection as state attorney general and filed papers today to explore a run for governor, a job he first won in 1974 and has for months been fighting hard, if quietly, to recapture. Brown’s move was born of necessity: Contributions to candidates for...

Kay Bailey Hutchison is running for governor here in Texas. Face it, she has not been a part of the solution in Washington, she has been a part of the problem. She has done nothing to control run away spending. She has supported and even offered bills that added to the deficit. Hutchison is no conservative. She is part of the problem here in America.

Meg Whitman owes the voters of California more than an apology. The successful former CEO of eBay is a Republican candidate for governor in 2010. She is running as someone who will bring the skills of the boardroom to the serious economic problems afflicting her adopted home state. Because of her success in the business world and the personal fortune she's prepared to invest in the race, she is one of the leading candidates to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). But the formal launch of her candidacy last week was disrupted by a damaging report in the Sacramento Bee. Though...

State GOP chair resigns to work for Perry By Jason Embry | Saturday, September 26, 2009, 01:35 PM Tina Benkiser will leave her post as chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party next month so she can join Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign as a senior adviser. In announcing her move, Benkiser called Perry the “only true conservative” in the race — a clear shot at U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is challenging Perry for the Republican nomination. While the move was unexpected, it makes sense that Benkiser would back Perry. She comes straight from the social conservative base that...

With six weeks until election day, who is your choice for Governor? Bob McDonnell Creigh Deeds Undecided

The other day, Democrat Creigh Deeds, who is running for governor in Virginia, told an audience at a debate with Republican Bob McDonnell that he would not raise taxes. When he stepped off the stage a reporter threw Deeds a real journalistic curveball by asking him what he meant when he said he wouldn't raise taxes. His bumbling Clintonian answer was that it depends on what the definition of "tax" is, and depending on that answer, taxes could be raised . . . or not.

As the 2010 gubernatorial race unfolds in Texas, battle lines are clearly drawn between two candidates -- Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: both of whom are Republicans, but only one of whom is a conservative. Perry is known as being pro-gun, pro-life, pro-traditional family, and the longest serving governor in the state’s history, while Hutchison is pro-gun (most of the time), pro-choice, and one of the Republican senators who went against the Bush Administration and the CIA in supporting Sen. John McCain’s 2005 Anti-Torture Amendment -- the amendment Rush Limbaugh correctly described as “the terrorists’ bill of...

Weekend highlights and the day ahead Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison aren’t doing a very good job of hiding their personal displeasure that the other is running for governor. A race between two well-funded — I mean, really well-funded — politicians for an office this big would be heated no matter the personal relationship of the candidates. And yet it can’t help matters that, if you listen closely, it’s clear that Perry and Hutchison each feel that the other has no business running. You could say that each has expressed a certain entitlement to the...

Let’s all agree that there is no perfect person, but have you ever asked yourself what the perfect women should be like? I have always known all my life! For myself, I am far from it. However, the more I observe Alaska’s former Governor Sarah Palin, the more I see that she has many of the attributes of the perfect woman. Aside from her natural beauty, she exudes total confidence in a dignified but somewhat humble manner. She stands for all of the right principles in life and is not afraid of a good fight. She has chosen a ruggedly...

HOW TEXAS CAN SAVE AMERICA FROM WASHINGTON Written by Governor Rick Perry Thursday, 17 September 2009 As the federal government continuously churns out ideas and policies that drive our nation deeper and deeper in debt, citizens and taxpayers are right to be worried. From federal "stimulus" bills that force state governments to change laws, raise taxes and increase spending, to cap and trade proposals that will run our energy industry into the ground, to emerging plans for an unprecedented and unsustainable expansion of government health care, it is clear that the swollen river of our federal government has overflowed its...

SoCal radio wags John and Ken got California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner to sign a no tax pledge this week. This is momentous news, indeed, since Poizner, the current State Insurance Commissioner and putative GOP frontrunner, has a long, long history of supporting massive property tax hikes that he has yet to directly disavow. Radio talkers John and Ken witnessed Poizner's signing of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge during their Los Angeles based show this week. (See photos here.) As he signed the pledge, Poizner told the radio talkers, "Not only will I not raise taxes, not only will I...

I'm not saying New Jersey is in the best condition right now, but compared to other states we're not doing too bad considering the make up of our economy, and that many New Jerseyans were directly affected by the financial collapse last year. But now some are blaming the Governor for their economic ills when in fact Jon Corzine has spent much of the last four years, with pail in hand, bailing out the under compartments of a ship that Captain George W. Bush steered with his unsound and untested economic policies into every ice burg he pretended wasn't there.

New Jersey and national Democrats have spent the last few weeks insisting that Gov. Jon Corzine is making a comeback in a race that as recently as last month looked unwinnable for him. As evidence, they cite the barrage of negative stories about former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (R) as well as a new Monmouth University poll that shows Christie's lead shrinking nearly in half in the last month. "This race has been getting closer for more than a month and almost every poll shows that," said pollster Joel Benenson who has been working with Corzine since August.

The Hill has reported that the media will not be permitted to attend Governor Palin’s keynote speaking engagement on Wednesday the 23rd of September. This is great news considering the media has become an embarrassment and in my opinion the most dangerous entity in the world, al Qaeda #2. It is very simple, they have sided with radical Islam verse America, put Obama into power and continue to cover for him, at our detriment, despite the disaster he is and is creating.