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While most eyes are on the race for the White House, a tight House race in Oregon is also grabbing some attention. The state’s first congressional district has been without a representative since Democrat David Wu resigned last summer over repeated bizarre behavior. The district trends Democratic but recent polls show Republican Rob Cornilles surprisingly close to Democratic nominee Suzanne Bonamici. “As a small-business owner … I have simply felt our interests have not been represented … and our economic situation in Oregon is not getting much better.” Cornilles explains to WND what issue is paramount in this race and...

LEEDS, AL (WBRC) - Voters in parts of Jefferson and St. Clair Counties head to the polls today. It is for a special election to fill the District 45 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives. The election was necessary after the death of Republican Representative Owen Drake of Leeds. The Republican nominee is Drake's brother, 65-year-old Dickie Drake of Leeds. The Democratic nominee is 49-year-old Paige Parnell of Leeds. Parnell was Miss Alabama in 1980 and the first runner-up for Miss America in 1981. The polls close at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday.

Late Tuesday night National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Pete Sessions painted the Republican win in the special election in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District as a snapshot of the problems Democrats will face in 2012. “Democrats just saw their 2012 playbook fall apart as Nevada voters refused to buy Democrats’ Medicare scare tactics and misinformation campaigns,” Sessions wrote in a statement. “This election sends Democrats another warning that Democrats up and down the ballot next year cannot escape accountability for their failed economic policies.” Medicare policy was a major focus in the ad war between Democrat Kate Marshall and Republican Mark...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

AP is maintaining vote-count pages for both the NY special election and the Nevada special election for the US HouseNew York District 9, Weprin v TurnerNevada District 2, Amodei v Marshall

I know it's early in the day but any have any FReepers (especially those living in this district) have a sense of what's happening and/or have there been any observed incidents of voter intimidation?

Follow the results on the link. Refresh page for current results. The polls closed at 8 PM west coast time. Republican Craig Huey has a chance to pull off an upset election if enough registered republicans get to the polls.

The Dems picked off a strong GOP seat last night, and they want you to think it was about Medicare? The Associated Press: Medicare Overhaul Proposal Causing GOP StressThe New York Times: Democrat Wins GOP Seat; Rebuke Seen To Medicare PlanLos Angeles Times: Medicare Proposal May Have Cost GOP A House Seat In New YorkThe Associated Press: Medicare Key To Shocking Dem Win In NY House RaceABC News: Referendum On Medicare? Democrat Wins Special Election In GOP-Leaning NY-26CBS: Kathy Hochul's Special Election Triumph Sends Republicans Ominous Medicare Messageh/t Mr. Pinko at iOwnTheWorld Simple common sense should tell anyone that...

One of the most common questions in our budget online chat yesterday had to do with the budget special election.Gov. Jerry Brown originally called for an early June election, but that became impossible once talks ended in March. Here's where various players stand on the election issue at the moment: Brown: Wants a special election as soon as possible, which realistically means September if the Legislature agrees on a budget by June. To balance the budget until an election, he wants lawmakers to extend sales and vehicle taxes from July 1 until the election. He backed off his original call...

President Obama’s grassroots army, Organizing for America, played a significant supporting role in efforts to amp turnout for Kathy Hochul in yesterday’s big special election win, according to Democratic sources. OFA’s New York chapter – joining other national groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – manned phone banks and dropped campaign lit, and some even went door-to-door in the heavily Republican upstate district. OFA has helped other candidates and causes (including a controversial effort to ferry protesters to the Wisconsin State House this year), but this was no charity mission. Tuesday’s win is critical for Obama’s 2012 narrative: That...

We’re confident that when Californians understand the real costs of the additional taxes Gov. Jerry Brown wants them to pay, they will turn against him and his tax increases. Now there’s a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California that says even in the abstract most Californians already have deserted the governor’s proposal. Only 46 percent of likely voters back the governor’s proposed five-year extension of taxes. That’s a tremendous decline from 53 percent just two months ago. Numbers going south that fast are reminiscent of another governor, who went from the penthouse to the outhouse in record...

About 90 percent of the men and women who hold seats in the Legislature are either true-blue liberals or red-meat conservatives even though polls have consistently indicated that only about half of California's voters fall into those categories. That's another way of saying that the state's moderate Democrats, centrist Republicans and independent voters – half of the electorate – have only scant representation in the Capitol. The stark contrast between the political dynamics inside the Capitol and the reality outside its impervious granite walls is one of the major impediments to timely and effective political decision-making. Those inside the building...

A special election will be held on May 24, 2011 for public office to the U.S. House of Representatives for New York Congressional District 26, since its seat was vacated by Republican Chris Lee on February 9. Western New York’s District 26 is traditionally a Republican area with a “Cook PVI rating of R+6” and a constituency that is comprised of every day rural Americans who overwhelmingly support center right policy positions. Uniquely ripe for a conservative candidate to run, former Staff Sgt. David Bellavia has emerged from the grass roots, tea party arena, embodying all of the qualities we...

It's Gov. Jerry Brown's original deadline day, and state leaders have failed to reach a budget deal. A splinter group of five Senate Republicans is negotiating with the Democratic governor. It remains to be seen whether they can strike a compromise. What's next? • Brown and GOP lawmakers continue to negotiate big-picture changes to state government, including budgeting, worker pensions and environmental regulations. The governor says he needs a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, including at least two Republicans in each house, to place tax extensions on the ballot, a key part of his solution to the state's $26.6 billion...

Gov. Jerry Brown's strategy to win the governor's seat has led California to this moment. Today was Brown's self-imposed deadline for passing his budget package and place a $14 billion tax-increase extension on a June special-election ballot. Late Wednesday, Brown wisely asked the Legislature to delay a budget vote. As a gubernatorial candidate, Brown would not say he planned to raise taxes - only that he would not raise taxes without voter approval. He must have known that he would follow the course he had set, but he also knew that 65 percent of California voters had rejected a similar...

Now that we know Congresswoman Jane Harman is planning to resign from her seat in Congress for a position at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars - is there any chance that we could flip her seat into Republican hands? The likely Republican candidate, Mattie Fein, received only 66,000 votes when she lost badly to Harman just three months ago. And considering Harman has won all five of her campaigns in the 36th congressional district averaging 63% of the vote, Fein would have to not only turnout 100% of her supporters from 2010, but to convince Hawkish Democrats who...

Gov. Jerry Brown's planned special election in June asking voters to extend three state taxes could be an exclusively vote-by-mail ballot. If the idea being batted around takes off, it would be a first for California. The governor stated during his State of the State address Monday that he wants a "clear mandate" from the public for his plan, but he's also looking at his best chances of winning. And some advisers figure a mail vote would give him that chance. Why? A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll found that likely voters ages 35 to 54 were almost...

Mark Murray writes: The Charleston Daily Mail (WV) reports that GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won't run in the special election for Robert Byrd's Senate seat, side-stepping what would have been a competitive contest against Gov. Joe Manchin (D), who is running for the seat.

A special Senate election this November to replace the late Robert Byrd is still awaiting the green light from West Virginia’s attorney general, but popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin is the early leader in hypothetical matchups with two of his possible Republican opponents. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in West Virginia, taken Thursday night, shows Manchin with 53% support, while Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito earns 39% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer another candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided. If former West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland is his GOP...

West Virginia law says a special election must be held if the vacancy occurred more than two and one-half years before the end of the term...Byrd died more than two and one-half years before end of his term. So, one would think there will be a special election in 2010 to fill the last two years of his seat. On the other hand, there is no provision for a special election that occurs too late for a primary, and no provision for a special primary. West Virginia’s primary this year was May 11...[T]he deadline for independent candidates, and for the...

May 22, 2010 Republicans Capture House Seat in Obama's Hometown Honolulu -- Republicans scored a midterm election victory Saturday when Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou won a Democratic-held House seat in Hawaii in the district where President Obama grew up -- the latest triumph for the GOP as it looks to take back control of Congress. Djou's victory was a blow to Obama and other Democrats who could not rally around a candidate and find away to win a congressional race that should have been a cakewalk. The seat had been held by a Democrat for nearly 20 years and...

Democrats are bracing for the loss of a House seat Saturday in President Obama's birthplace of Hawaii, where a special election in a heavily Democratic district has inflamed tensions within the party

Republican Charles Djou has increased his lead in Hawaii's First Congressional District with less than three weeks before the mail-in, winner-take-all special election. In a new poll, Honolulu City Councilman Djou leads with 36% while former Congressman Ed Case (D) has 28% and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D) trails the pack with 22%. 13% remain undecided.

The democrats are pulling all the stops to win the PA12 special election on May 18th. PA12 background, this district is very interesting. Even though there are more democrat voters than republicans,however there are more conservatives and moderates than a very few liberals. The people here are older and just used to voting democrat. With this said, Pelosi and Obama have low approval rating, even among democrats. Plus, the health care bill is very unpopular here. If interested you can see more poll results here Moving on, Critz who is in a very tight spot as a democrat this year,...

SNIPPET: "BOCA RATON, Fla., April 13 (UPI) -- Voters elected Democrat Ted Deutch Tuesday to fill out the term of retired U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., election returns indicated. Deutch, who campaigned as a supporter of healthcare reform legislation and of President Barack Obama, easily defeated Republican Ed Lynch and an unaffiliated candidate. Lynch conceded before 10 p.m. before all precincts reported, The Palm Beach Post reported."

The Republicans shouldn't even be playing in the Hawaii special election for the House seat opened when Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie decided to run for governor. But it's a sign of the poisonous political atmosphere for Democrats that a GOP candidate has a chance at seizing what is arguably President Obama's hometown House seat.

What comes after the Massachusetts Miracle? How about the Pennsylvania Pounding? Or maybe even the Hawaiian Heart Attack? The results of two special elections to be held next month could rock the Democratic Party almost as hard as Senator Scott Brown's (R-Massachusetts) victory did in January.

It is time to send a message! http://www.SouthFloridaTeaParty.org The first opportunity we have to send a message to DC is at the US District 19 Special Election on April 13, 2010. South Florida Tea Party is committed to educating voters and getting out the vote (GOTV) in US Congressional District 19. We have not endorsed any candidate and only want to make voters aware of where the candidates stand. The Tea Party needs to help citizens have their voices and votes heard. The US District 19 favors Democrat voters and unlikely to be won by Conservatives. In addition the leading...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's idea of holding a special election to name his successor if he's elected lieutenant governor appears to be DOA. Newsom doesn't have the six votes on the Board of Supervisors needed to place a charter amendment on the November ballot to require an election, and there doesn't appear to be much interest downtown for an expensive and rushed petition to get the 47,000 signatures needed to go around the supes.San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Vice President Jim Lazarus, who met with the mayor last week to talk about a charter change, said he doesn't see...

Now that Congressman Eric Massa has announced his intention to resign, what's next for the 29th district? Governor David Paterson will issue a proclamation sometime after Massa's resignation. A special election would have to happen 30 to 45 days after that proclamation and candidates would be chosen by the heads of the political parties in these counties. Assembly minority leader Brian Kolb of Canandaigua has been asked to run for Massa's seat. While he says it's not on his radar right now, Kolb says local leaders have to start thinking of filling the seat-- soon. "I think Governor Paterson has...

STRATFORD -- Republican Laura Hoydick has won the special election for the 120th Assembly District seat recently vacated by Mayor John A. Harkins. Hoydick received 1,949 votes to 1,390 for Democrat Janice Andersen. Hoydick won in all six voting districts with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Andersen

On Tuesday, March 2d, voters in Fairfax County Virginia's 41st House District will vote in a special election and choose a Delegate to fill the seat vacated by Democrat David Marsden. Prior to Marsden, the 41st District's Delegate seat had traditionally been held by Republicans. See the map of this District here. So far the only controversy to arise in this campaign is Republican Kerry Bolognese's charge that his opponent, Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn, has been conducting unfair "push-poll" operations against him. "I'm outraged that that these false claims would be made at all, much less in a sleazy push poll,"...

The death of Rep. John Murtha will require a special election to replace him before November, according to Pennsylvania Law.

Dean Murray Republican Dean Murray holds a slim lead in the special election in Suffolk County’s 3rd Assembly District, where Democrat Patricia Eddington held office since 2001. Murray had a 186 vote lead and 51 percent with all the precincts reporting, leaving Democrat Lauren Thoden with 49 percent. But 931 absentee ballots were issued in the race, and results of those votes will not be known until the election is certified, which could take a week or more...

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Republican Michael Montesano has won a special election for a vacant assembly seat on Long Island. Montesano led with 72 percent to 28 percent for Democrat Matthew T. Meng in nearly complete but unofficial results Tuesday night...

With 96 percent of districts reporting in the special election for the 89th State Assembly seat along Westchester County eastern corridor, Republican Bob Castelli has received a landslide 56-44% landslide victory against Democrat Peter Harckham. For New York, for Westchester, for Republicans and for taxpayers exasperated with business as usual in Albany -- tonight was the game changer. "It's a shot across the bow to people like Sheldon Silver and entrenched bosses," said Castelli in his victory speech. Joining Castelli as a big winner tonight is Westchester County Republican Chairman Doug Colety, whose winning streak in this former Democratic bastion...

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

The death of longtime Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha (D) this afternoon will set off a special election in his very competitive western Pennsylvania 12th district. According to state law, the governor has ten days once the vacancy is officially declared to decide on the date for the special election, which can come no sooner than 60 days following that proclamation. That likely means the special election will be held on May 18, which is the date already set for federal primaries around the state. (Special elections costs the state huge sums of money and it's likely that Gov. Ed Rendell...

At the end of 2009, State Seantor Dick Day (R-Owatonna) announced his retirement. A special election was called for January 26, 2009. Senate District 26 is a primarily rural district about an hour south of the Twin Cities. It has three larger cities - Owatonna, Waseca and Faribault. The first two cities have a GOP bent and overall, this is a GOP district. But given the beaten down nature of the Minnesota GOP in the last two election cycles, this race was anything but assured. Worse yet, there were blizzard-like conditions in Minnesota with 40-mph winds and temps in the...

Washington, DC -Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern released the following statement after Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts. "Today is no different than yesterday or the day before or the day before that. Pat DeJong will still wake up in Libby, Montana. Pat is still mourning the loss of her husband and the selling of his family's ranch because of his medical bills. And, Pat will still go to the bed side of her patients each day, providing excellent care, still lacking coverage of her own," said SEIU President Andy Stern. "Pat's reality is the reality millions of...

Here’s the next potential Scott Brown, or at least a candidate who will spark a debate over whether the national GOP should look at him that way—Charles Djou in Hawaii. Djou, a Honolulu Republican city council member running in a May special House election, was quick to recognize the Massachusetts-on-the-Pacific scenario and shot out a statement congratulating Brown while at the same time outlining the parallels to his own long shot race. He's a longshot in heavily Democratic Hawaii but the national party is nevertheless going to feel pressure to weigh in on his behalf. The similarities to the Brown...

Help for our special election

The day before an important election each candidate's phone banks are crazy with activity, working on getting out the vote. This is particularly important in a special election where turnout is generally low. And as you might expect the tighter the race the more important the turnout. Below is a look at one of Martha Coakley's phone banks today. Granted there is a mixture of snow and rain, and it is a holiday, but the office is quite empty. Sound like the Team Coakley's morale is not at its highest.

A new Public Policy Polling survey -- the group's final poll before Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts -- gives Scott Brown a 5-point lead over Martha Coakley. While we've had a lot of polls that have been all over the place depending on the assumptions the pollsters make about the composition of the electorate, the new PPP poll is helpful because we can compare it to a poll taken by the same firm a week ago and detect a trend. In the poll taken by PPP last week, Brown was up 1 point. At the time, that was seen as...

...But no matter how you slice the data, the only reasonable conclusion is that Scott Brown has moved from well behind to a lead somewhere between 4 and 11 points. The chart shows all the polls we have available as of 12:36 a.m. Monday morning. ... The chart also includes the leaked polls, mostly from the Coakley campaign but one from Brown as well. These leaked polls are NOT included in most of the estimates above, though they are not out of line with the rest of the data. So what might you believe about these data? You could refuse...

A poll conducted by the Merriman River Group (MRG) for online newspaper InsideMedford indicates that Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 51– 41% for Tuesday's Mass. special election. Independent candidate Joe Kennedy gets 2% support, and 6% of voters are not sure. Brown and Coakley both have most of their supporters locked in. 98% of both candidate’s supporters say they are definitely or probably going to vote for their candidate. This is the third poll released since Friday showing the Republican Scott Brown winning by double digit percentage points. One of those polls, the PJM poll is due to release and...

The Kennedy family still thinks it’s their seat, not the people’s seat. Patrick Kennedy just e-mailed out the following SOS:In a race that represents the critical 60th vote for health insurance reform and the rest of President Obama’s agenda.

Steve Giosi and Liam Foley have been known to tip back a few pints on adjacent stools at the Galway House in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. But on Tuesday, they'll part ways -- politically. "I'm leaning toward him," Giosi said one recent afternoon, nodding at the TV screen, which had been playing a seemingly continuous loop of ads both promoting and denigrating Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown. "I'm a Democrat. I always have been," said Foley, 55; to demonstrate his sense of loyalty, he pointed to his Tiger Woods cap. "I'm voting for Martha Coakley. I think she's good."...

Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today announced that his organization’s news team will help insure ballot integrity in Tuesday’s Massachusetts senatorial election by positioning video teams, field reporters, and bloggers at key locations throughout the state. “We do not intend to let ACORN and the union bosses stuff the ballot box,” Wilson said. “Whoever wins, win. But, as a news organization, we will do whatever is necessary to help insure that the race is run fairly, that ACORN is not allowed to play games with the vote, and that the union bosses are not allowed to intimidate voters....

GOP candidates across the country are rallying behind Republican Scott Brown’s long-shot bid in the Massachusetts Senate special election, flooding his campaign with cash, ground troops and moral support as the unexpectedly tight race enters its final days. Some campaigns are blasting e-mails to supporters, prodding them to cut checks. Others are temporarily turning their headquarters into phone banks. A few are even encouraging volunteers to head to Massachusetts, where Brown faces Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley on Tuesday in a contest for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat. For many of Brown’s fellow GOP candidates, the Jan. 19...