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A special general election next Tuesday for a vacant U.S. Congress seat in the East Bay pits California's Democratic lieutenant governor against a Republican son of a former lieutenant governor. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a Democrat, is facing David Harmer, the son of former state senator and Lt. Gov. John Harmer, in the election for the state's 10th Congressional District

John Garamendi hates insurance companies, insurance agents, Steve Poizner, policy holders and Northern California. Witness how his insurance regulations were aimed at making Northern Califonria subsidize Southern California - witness his idioc handling of executive life's collapse where thousands of policyholders lost their life's savings. Now Garamendi is carving out a new niche of stupidity and is stooping to new political depths. He sent out an attack ad against David Harmer - which also happens to be the name of his opponent in the CD-10 runoff. Problem: Which David Harmer was that anyway?

But even if we were not supporting him, it is still mind boggling why the national Republican Party, and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in particular, cannot seem to acknowledge that their candidate, Dede Scozzafava is (1) tanking in the polls and cannot win and (2) is taking votes from Hoffman, who, if he got her votes, would most definitely beat the Democrat, Bill Owens.

How quickly things can change. Two weeks ago, political observers noticed a poll from New York’s 23rd congressional district that showed the liberal candidate fading fast and the conservative candidate gaining faster. This is the resurgence Republicans have been hoping for! Unfortunately, the Republican party had nominated the liberal candidate. The conservative candidate is running against both the Republican party and the Democratic party. Isn’t that a good metaphor for the state in which conservatives find themselves? I am that conservative candidate for Congress in New York’s 23rd District, and I believe conservatives can win our fight. Since those polls...

ALAMO, Calif. (KCBS) - Next week, voters in the East Bay will choose a new member of Congress. And, the race to replace Democrat Ellen Tauscher may be closer than first thought. Cover Story on the candidates: KCBS' Doug Sovern reports Republican David Harmer has been hammering Lt. Governor John Garamendi in online ads, warning that the veteran Democrat will vote to raise taxes if he gets to Washington...This isn't some sort of prelude to something else. We are absolutely serious about taking this seat and I think we will." Harmer's internal polling shows him within upset distance in a...

Link to video.Note to mods: not promoting what DCCC has to say. Merely providing link in the spirit of "know your enemy".It is has a well-deserved "Barf Alert" and hoping the thread would stay as a motivator for many to stay tuned into to and engaged in the (Doug) Hoffman vs. "The Establishment" hot race in New York state, voting scheduled for next Tuesday.

Washington - A poll released today by the Club for Growth shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman surging into the lead in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district to replace John McHugh, the former congressman who recently became Secretary of the Army.

SACRAMENTO (BCN) ― A special general election on Nov. 3 for a vacant U.S. Congress seat in the East Bay pits California's Democratic lieutenant governor against a Republican son of a former lieutenant governor. <snip> Harmer said that his main issue with the President and Congress is what he thinks is a lack of fiscal discipline. "When the President is promoting policies of limited government, a sound dollar, and economic opportunity, he'll have my wholehearted support," Harmer said. "You cannot spend money you don't have," he said. "What Congress is doing now is irresponsible. Whatever our disagreement is on other...

There could be a serious upset in a congressional special election this year and it is going under the radar. John Fund took notice of it yesterday. David Harmer is the Republican running in a special election to fill Ellen Tauscher’s seat in Congress. The Democrat, Lt. Governor John Garamendi, is favored to win, but is only polling 41% to Harmer’s 34%. Interestingly, poling in the area shows the favorability of the GOP is skyrocketing in that district. Nonetheless, the GOP would rather support a pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, pro-union, ACORN supported Dede Scozzafava in New York’s 23rd Congressional District than...

The special election to fill New York's vacant 23rd congressional seat is perhaps the earliest test of the GOP's chances to reclaim the House in 2010. Yet the GOP candidate, Dede Scozzafava, has struggled to line up Republican support, and has taken a pummeling from conservative groups that assert she's liberal. The Club for Growth and Eagle Forum, among others, support her opponent, Doug Hoffman, who's running on the Conservative Party ticket. Add North Texas' Dick Armey to the list of conservative stars backing Hoffman. The former House Majority Leader has confirmed to the Hoffman campaign that he'll spend Thursday...

Club for Growth and Club for Growth PAC will launch a $300,000 television ad campaign tomorrow in the special election for New York's 23rd Congressional District. The campaign follows the Club for Growth PAC's Sept. 28 endorsement of Doug Hoffman, a Republican running on the Conservative ticket, over liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens. (See the video of their ad after the jump.)

Conservative candidate for U.S. Congress Doug Hoffman (NY-23), in the November 3 special election, points out that Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava was on "Working Families Party" during "two of the last elections, the ticket supported by ACORN." Mr. Hoffman asks, "How can you be a Republican and be on that party line with Barack Obama?" He adds, "Her biggest supporter online is Kos." 'Kos' being Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas. On October 1, 2009, Kos wrote: "So who to root for? A Blue Dog who would strengthen the Democrats' corporatist faction, or a Republican version of a Lieberdem, who will...

Independent expenditures continue to flood into the three-way special election to replace former Rep. John M. McHugh in New York's 23rd District, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. On Oct. 16, the National Republican Congressional Committee dropped $102,000 for attack ads against the Democratic nominee, attorney Bill Owens, and paid another $21,000 for a survey by Public Opinion Strategies, a leading GOP polling firm. Meanwhile, the Service Employees International Union dropped $100,000 into the upstate New York district Oct. 15 for two radio ads on Owens' behalf. Owens is battling Republican state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug...

On Freedom Radio tonight at 8 PM Eastern we'll speak with conservative Doug Hoffman (doughoffmanforcongress.com) who is closing fast on lib Dede Scozzafava for the U.S. House seat vacated by John McHugh (NY-23) in a special election Nov 3. To quote Michelle Malkin, Scozzafava is "an ACORN-friendly, union-pandering, tax-and-spend radical Republican." Next up is conservative and former Marine Jesse Kelly, of Arizona's 8th District, who is vying for the House seat there (votejessekelly.com). Mark Levin, aka THE GREAT ONE, has declared Mr. Kelly “the perfect candidate.” And then it is our pleasure and honor to welcome Joyce Kaufman from WFTL...

A reader wrote: “I live in the state of Tennessee, but I have family in upstate New York and my mother was born and raised in NY. Anyway I was so disgusted this morning when I received a RedState alert about the House Republican Conference endorsing Scozzafava that I immediately called the RNC and contacted the leadership of the House Republican Conference by phone and by fax. I told them I had regularly contributed my hard earned dollars to the RNC but this news totally disgusted me and I was not contributing any more money to the RNC for the...

The upcoming New York special election to succeed Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) is shaping up to be a real free-for-all, with a new poll showing any one of the three candidates having a shot to win. The anti-tax Club for Growth commissioned a poll showing Republican Dede Scozzafava, Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman all within three points of each other. Scozzafava leads with 20 percent, with Owens and Hoffman tied at 17 percent. That’s consistent with the results of an internal poll conducted by Hoffman’s campaign – and privately, Republican and Democratic strategists report hearing similar...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer since 2003, is hankering for the United States Senate seat Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she'll relinquish late this year to concentrate on her Republican primary challenge to Gov. Rick Perry. But Dewhurst reportedly grew tired of hearing rumors that Republican Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott would file for lieutenant governor regardless, and announced for re-election. Dewhurst apparently wants to have a fallback position if Hutchison hasn't resigned by the Jan. 4 filing deadline. "They don't know what's happening," one close observer said of those watching closely to see what Hutchison does. "My...

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT LIBERAL GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING. THE CONSERVATIVE RESPONSE FOLLOWS. September 30 is the end of the fundraising quarter for federal candidates and, of course, everyone wants to report healthy numbers. To this end campaigns often cite the filing deadline in an attempt to motivate supporters to give one more time or give for the first time. This time they aren't alone. Artur Davis is also using the Sept. 30 deadline to encourage contributions even though he's running for Governor in 2010, not Congress. It's a smart move that reminds supporters time is passing and takes advantage of...

None of the three candidates for congress has more than 30 percent of the electorate's vote, according to a new poll. The poll of 300 likely voters was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman. The poll showed Republican Dede Scozzafava with 30% of the vote, Democrat Bill Owens with 20% and Hoffman with 19%. Thirty-one per cent of those polled were undecided. Pollster John McLaughlin said the poll shows that Hoffman "has an excellent chance of winning this election." "This race is shaping up to be a clear choice among a liberal Republican, a liberal...

This is a great day! New York State’s first 9/12 Candidate has already been attracting attention, and this announcement is the result of him attracting our attention. Aaron Blake, a contributor for “The Hill” recently wrote: Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman is beginning to look like he might be a force in the upcoming New York special election. DeRoy Murdock of the “Washington Times” had this to say: Appropriately for a Lake Placid resident, Mr. Hoffman is rather low-key and soft-spoken. However, his voice urgently rises when he addresses the ways in which Washington pins down so many of his...

Renegade state Sen. Scott P. Brown, a Republican from Wrentham, told the Herald this morning he is “testing the waters” for a run at the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Although he won’t formally declare his candidacy yet, Brown said he plans to spend the next week raising a small amount of money, as federal election laws permit for those who are exploring a run for U.S. Senate.

BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE—It's Bill Owens. Nearly 12 hours after they first convened at the Minnowbrook Conference Center on the shore of this Adirondack gem, the 11 county party chairs comprising the 23rd Congressional District picked Bill Owens, a Plattsburgh attorney, as the Democratic Party's candidate to replace John McHugh in Congress. He will face Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the Republican designee, and Doug Hoffman, the pick of the Conservative Party. A special election to replace McHugh has not yet been set, but it is expected to fall on Election Day in November.

It will be a three-way race in the upcoming special election in the 23rd congressional district. North County Conservative Party leaders endorsed Lake Placid accountant Doug Hoffman on Friday, giving him their line on the ballot. Hoffman will go up against Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava and a yet-to-be-named Democratic candidate in the election to replace Rep. John McHugh....

The Dems held the seat for 40 years. And now it is gone.

Jim Kelly, a retired New York City police officer and Conservative Party activist who managed Republican John Spencer's unsuccessful 2006 U.S. Senate run against Hillary Clinton, e-mailed media Thursday saying he will run as a Conservative and that Scozzafava is too liberal, pointing to her support for abortion and same-sex marriage. "As soon as (state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long) gives me the green light, I'm going to jump into this thing," Kelly told the politickerny.com blog. "I'm going to bring newspaper reporters with me, and we're going to trash the Republicans on this for running a RINO (Republican in...

Republicans have picked up another seat in the Alabama House. Republican businessman Phil Williams defeated Democrat Jenny Askins in a special election for the House District 6 seat in Madison County on Tuesday. Williams carried 60% of the vote and will replace Democratic Rep. Sue Schmitz. She was automatically removed from office after being convicted on federal fraud charges earlier this year. It was the GOP's second legislative victory of the summer in Huntsville. First-time Republican candidate Paul Sanford defeated a Democrat earlier this summer in a special election to replace Parker Griffith, a Democrat who was elected to Congress....

Two of California's top pollsters said Tuesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some lawmakers are miscasting last month's special election as a clarion call against any new taxes to solve California's fiscal crisis. Instead, pollsters Mark DiCamillo and Mark Baldassare characterized the May 19 vote against five budget measures as an order to a dysfunctional state government to fix California's budget mess – and do so quickly. "We've heard a lot of people say the vote means 'no new taxes.' I would question that," said Baldassare, survey director for the Public Policy Institute of California, in the pollsters' joint appearance...

Several state lawmakers said today they are considering a run for Rep. John McHugh’s seat after he was tapped Tuesday by President Obama as secretary to the Army. On the Democratic side, Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, appears to the party’s top potential candidate, and he said he will consider it. “We haven’t ruled anything out,” Aubertine said, adding he will have to talk to his family. Asked if he’s concerned that a move to Congress would leave the Democratic majority in the Senate vulnerable since he represents a heavily Republican district, he said, “I’m concerned about my...

State Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, said Tuesday that fellow Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava would have her support for a congressional bid if the Republican from Gouverneur decides to run for the seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep. John McHugh. “I don’t believe she’s made any kind of huge announcement, but I know that some of us here in the chamber think she would make a great pick,” Sayward said in a telephone interview. Essex County Republican Chairman Ron Jackson said Scozzafava would be an excellent candidate ...

The news of Rep. John McHugh's nomination as Secretary of the Army by President Barack Obama Tuesday afternoon has set off a succession scramble in upstate New York, giving Democrats an opportunity to pick-off yet another Republican seat in the Northeast. .....

... Republican attorney David Harmer – son of former California lieutenant governor and Southern California state legislator John Harmer – says he’ll be a candidate in the 10th Congressional District should Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, be confirmed to the State Department post to which she is nominated. .... Harmer, of San Ramon, said he believes the district’s voters share his commitment to fiscal responsibility. .... And although this will be an uphill battle for him – the district has an 18-percentage-point Democratic registration edge – Harmer said he already has raised more than $150,000 for this race. Spokesman Michael Caporusso...

In the end, the only question about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's package of budget-reform measures was: How badly will they lose? For weeks before Tuesday's special election, polls inside and outside of the campaigns had shown that California voters were mad at politicians and eager to express that anger on election day. Voters crushed Propositions 1A through 1E, which Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders said were desperately needed to avoid a new budget meltdown. At the same time, voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 1F, which stuck a virtual thumb in the eye of Sacramento politicians by banning any raises when the state faces...

... "The potential GOP field includes Fairfield City Councilwoman Catherine Moy and businessman Chris Bunch. A potentially stronger candidate, if he were to get into the race, would be Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf. Tom Del Beccaro, the state GOP vice chairman, is also said to be considering a bid." ...

DETAILS BELOW ON GOP Democratic Party candidates in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher in the 10th Congressional District, squared off yesterday during a candidates forum held by the Tri-Valley Democratic Club at the IBEW union hall in Dublin. ... Candidates Adriel Hampton and John Garamendi turned in the best performances of the candidates, with the edge in both youth and knowledge going to the 30-year-old Hampton. ...

Good morning, California voters. Do you feel better, now that you've gotten that out of your system?You wanted to show the state's politicians just how mad you are at them. And you did. Boy, did you ever.Proposition 1A with its taxes and its spending limit? Too much of one and not enough of the other, you said (or was it the other way around), and voted it down. Never mind that the taxes go into efffect anyway. You showed 'em. Proposition 1B? That was a tougher call.Proposition 1C? No way. You like the lottery just like it is. And all...

... With 220 of 222 precincts reporting, (Judy) Chu comfortably outdistanced Democratic state senator Gil Cedillo by over 4,000 votes, 32 to 23 percent. ...

An election eve e-mail from a reader in Oxnard perfectly captured the tone of Tuesday's voting, to wit:"Schwarzenegger, Bass, Cogdill, Villines, Steinberg and the rest of those stinking, lying Sacramento bastards can go straight to hell. They're going to be whacked hard upside their heads tomorrow." Whacked they were, . . .Schwarzenegger's 11th hour prediction of fiscal calamity failed to sway voters and an odd-bedfellows alliance of right- and left-wing opponents, ... Schwarzenegger even spent election day in Washington, kibitzing with new buddy Barack Obama. . .So, those in and around the Capitol wonder, what happens now? Whatever happens, it...

Tuesday's slash-and-burn special election was a spin doctor's delight. State lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked voters to pass one of the most convoluted ballot packages in California history, an amalgam of controversial policies for the right and the left to pick over. Fiscal conservatives and businesses said voters demonstrated they hate taxes. Social service advocates and labor unions said voters rejected spending cuts. Even recreational marijuana supporters had a take. The Marijuana Policy Project said voters showed they want novel revenue solutions, like legalizing and taxing pot. "These measures will end up being a $25 million Rorschach test," said...

Open for discussion/comment. Here is the link to the results.

24 Hours Until Voting Ends in CA Special Election, 5 of 6 Ballot Measures Fail: With half of votes cast and 24 hours remaining before voting ends on 6 state of California ballot propositions, 5 of 6 measures appear to be defeated, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KABC-TV Los Angeles, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KGTV-TV San Diego, and KFSN-TV Fresno. On Proposition 1A, The Rainy Day Budget Stabilization and Accountability Fund, opposition today is at 57%, up from from 29% when SurveyUSA began polling on the measure 60 days ago. 72% of Republicans and Conservatives oppose the measure,...

NARAL NEWS, ELECTION TODAY: ... Dr. Chu taught Psychology at East Los Angeles Community College for 13 years. ...

Voters head to the polls today to decide the face of a sextet of budget-related ballot measures legislators and the governor argue are necessary to help them fix California's budget troubles. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he expects as few as one quarter of all registered voters to participate in the process, which is part of a fragile and complex plan designed to close a $40 billion deficit in the state budgets for the current fiscal year and the one that begins July 1. "To fix the system, I need the people's help," Schwarzenegger said last week while laying out...

Endorsements, a hefty war chest and an effective absentee ballot program appear to have put California Board of Equalization Vice Chairwoman Judy Chu (D) in position to succeed former Rep.-turned-Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (D-Calif.). But there are several factors that could throw a roadblock into the heavily favored Chu’s path: the large candidate field; the fact that another candidate with the same last name appears next to her on the ballot; expected low voter turnout; and virtually no public polling conducted in the race. Tuesday’s special election in the heavily Democratic East Los Angeles district will be a blanket primary,...

Has California's day of fiscal reckoning, postponed for years by political tricks and hide-the-pea financial schemes, finally arrived? It might seem so, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Thursday that the recession has taken a huge bite out of the state budget, overwhelming the new taxes that he and the Legislature enacted just three months ago to close an already immense deficit. There are a couple of ways of looking at Schwarzenegger's declaration that the 2009-10 deficit had jumped from supposedly zero just three months ago to as much as $21.3 billion if voters don't suddenly change their minds and approve...

Millions of dollars have been raised to fight the linchpin of ballot measures in Tuesday's election, a package that was carefully crafted to discourage big-bucks opposition. Though vastly outspent, opponents of Proposition 1A have parlayed $4.3 million in contributions and anger at state politicians into a solid advantage in recent polls. The measure, stemming from this year's bitter budget fight, would place long-term spending restrictions on state government and extend recent tax increases for up to two years. Major donors to No on 1A, state records show, include the California State Council of Service Employees International Union, $1.3 million; California...

California voters are standing firm in their opposition to the budget-related propositions on the May 19 ballot, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The PPIC's latest poll mirrors previous surveys showing strong resistance to all but Proposition 1F on elected officials' pay raises. That's even though voters are split on whether the governor and the Legislature should have called the election. Here are the numbers. The rest told pollsters they haven't made up their minds. Proposition 1A: 52 percent no, 35 percent yesProposition 1B: 47 percent no, 40 percent yesProposition 1C: 58 percent no, 32 percent yesProposition 1D:...

Prospects are rapidly diminishing for the five ballot measures that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders say they need to keep the state budget from drowning in red ink. So, one might ask, what's Plan B? Rejection of three measures (Propositions 1C, 1D and 1E) would have a direct impact totaling nearly $6 billion on the 2009-10 budget, which was supposedly balanced by Schwarzenegger and legislators in February. Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor has already proclaimed that the 2009-10 plan is $8 billion out of whack, so rejection of those three measures would create a $14 billion hole. But wait, there's...

Following passage of the long-delayed state budget in February, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed to place proposals for voter approval onto a special statewide election scheduled for May 19. Now, with just three weeks to Election Day, a new Field Poll finds pluralities of likely voters lining up on the No side on five of six of the ballot measures.

Judging by the results of this week's Field polls, California voters: (a) Are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore. (b) Don't give a rat's patootie about the May 19 special election. (c) Are highly skeptical that the half-dozen propositions on the aforementioned election's ballot are going to do much to buoy the state's sinking finances. The correct answer, based on interviews with veteran observers of the California political scene, as well as voters themselves, is (d) all of the above. "They are extremely leery of budget proposals coming out of Sacramento," said Jack Pitney, a professor...

If voters reject proposals May 19 to fix the state budget, GOP Senate leader Dennis Hollingsworth predicted Wednesday that "by default" his party's ideas for cutting public spending and easing business regulations will catch fire. "Eventually they're going to have to start listening," Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said of the Democratic majority in the state Legislature. "There won't be revenues available to do what they want to do. They're killing the Golden Goose." Speaking with reporters in his minority leader office, Hollingsworth said that if the set of six propositions on the ballot fail, the following day "it gets uglier." The GOP...