Free Republic

While the Cravins family is making history at the state capitol, the senior of the two is speaking out against the Democratic party. Senator Don Cravins, who has clashed with the party before, suggested last week he doesn't care whether a Democrat or Republican ultimately wins the seat. The senator goes on to say, "There's a large degree of disillusionment with the way the race was conducted and the way the party conducted it. Some traditional Democrat votes are not leaning towards supporting her. I think it's an uphill battle for Willie Mount." Mount is in a December 4th runoff...

In the campaign for the 3rd District congressional seat, Republican challenger Calder Clay emphasizes he's on the president's team. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., prefers to cultivate an independent image. The Macon Republican has brought a string of GOP heavy hitters to town, from Vice President Dick Cheney in July to Senate majority leader Bill Frist today, to show that he's on the same side as the presidential administration. "Jim Marshall is embarrassed of his team," said Rufus Montgomery, campaign manager for Clay. Doug Moore, Marshall's spokesman, characterized him as "an independent voice for Middle Georgia." Marshall has repeatedly...

Texas challenger links opponent to Dan Rather in House campaign

R: Cathy McMorris 53 D: Don Barbieri 39 Sept 18-20 707 Likely Voters Washington's 5th Congressional District

A Race For Wisconsin's 4th District? You may remember that in January Congressman Jerry Kleczka decided not to run for his 11th term. He's a staunch liberal Democrat who has represented Wisconsin's 4th district for the last 20 years. The 4th District consists of the city of Milwaukee and a few of the suburbs. It was widely believed by most, including me, that this seat is a solid Democratic seat, but that belief may be unfounded. The Republican candidate who is running for this seat is Corey Hoze. He is a lifetime Milwaukee resident who has worked both in government...

WASHINGTON — Neither congressional race in Maine this year will feature a contested primary, since the filing deadline passed Monday for Democratic Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud and their Republican challengers. But Michaud's 2nd Congressional District race in northern Maine could still become a three-way contest if a prospective candidate runs as an independent. Allen, of Portland, who is in his fourth term, faces a challenge from Charles Summers, who spent eight years as state director for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Allen, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, has won previous contests easily, with 64 percent...

Sheriff Dave Reichert is a devout Christian and a true Republican who opposes gay marriages and abortion. He would bring a cop's perspective and national name recognition to Washington, D.C., all of which he says will benefit the 8th Congressional District. Standing between Reichert and that prize -- Jennifer Dunn's seat in Congress -- are at least two Republican foes in the primary election, then a Democrat in November. Reichert is confident. ``I know we are going to win,'' he said. He was busy attending several Republican caucuses Tuesday night on the Eastside and in south King County. Reichert said...

Tireless campaigner made a strong showing in GOP primary. Clinton B. LeSueur amply demonstrated in Tuesday's congressional primary that he is no flash in the pan. The indefatigable fellow knows how to get votes. LeSueur set up a November rematch with incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson after easily dispatching two challengers for the Republican nomination. Although the turnout was terribly light, LeSueur did a good job of showing the Republican Party leadership that his campaign will be worth investing in. He more than doubled his vote total from the 2002 GOP primary while capturing 85 percent of the vote. He still...

<p>Oregon Republicans failed to enlist top-drawer candidates to run against U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden or three other Democrats seeking re-election to statewide offices.</p> <p>As the filing deadline passed Tuesday for Oregon’s May 18 primary, it appeared that the Republicans’ drought in winning statewide offices will continue.</p>

Despite encouragement from national Republicans, Brookhaven Town Supervisor John Jay LaValle said Tuesday he will not challenge Rep. Timothy Bishop in the race for Congress on the east end of Long Island. [snip] LaValle, 36, who last year decided against running for Suffolk County Executive, was encouraged to run for the House seat by the leadership of the National Republican Congressional Committee. But he said in a statement Tuesday that his impending marriage this spring "and, hopefully soon, a new family are the foremost priorities in my life." [more]

Of the many corruptions inherent in modern redistricting, none is more insidious than the destruction of communities of interest. Take the 25th Congressional district. It's one of three congressional districts in the greater Austin area. That's the one that reaches from Southeast Austin down to McAllen. The district is overwhelmingly Democratic, so while Republicans are fielding a well credentialed candidate in Rebecca Armendariz Klein, her odds of success in November are at best remote. In all likelihood, this district will choose its representation to Congress in the primary just weeks away. You might be forgiven if you didn't know that...

McALLEN — It didn’t take long for the race for congressional District 25 to get ugly. With just 12 days left before early voting starts for the March primary, Democratic candidate Leticia Hinojosa has launched an inquiry into the voting record of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, whom she faces in the March 9 election. Doggett was the only Texas Democrat to vote against the budget approved in February 2003 in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hinojosa said. The bill included $2 million in funding for Driscoll Children’s Hospital in McAllen and $500,000 for the South Texas Community College’s Milagro...

BELLEVUE, Wash. - King County sheriff Dave Reichert announced Thursday he will run for the seat being vacated by Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn. Reichert made the announcment at a noon news conference. He said he's just starting to put together a campaign organization but he already has one endorsement - King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng. Reichert has spent 32 years in law enforcement and recently wrapped up the Green River case with Gary Ridgway's confession to 48 murders. Dunn has announced that she will not run for re-election in the Eighth District, which covers Seattle’s eastside suburbs from Snohomish County...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez has raised more than $1 million for his re-election campaign. The $363,937 the Arvada Republican raised in the last three months of 2003 put him past the $1 million mark and left him with $790,133 in the bank to beat back Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas, his Democratic challenger. The money Beauprez raised comes on top of the $75,000 he lent himself after his narrow 2002 election. By contrast, Thomas' first fundraising report, due Monday, showed that he raised $22,325 in the last three months of 2003. Beauprez has been considered one of...

Buoyed by taking 44 percent of the vote in the 2002 general election, Republican Clinton B. LeSueur is even more confident that he is the candidate to unseat incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Thompson, a Democrat, is a five-term congressman from Bolton. LeSueur works as a consultant with the Yazoo County Community Action Agency in Yazoo City. LeSueur of Greenville made his formal announcement on Wednesday of his candidacy for the Republican nomination on the steps of the Washington County Courthouse. LeSueur will face off against two other announced Republican candidates in the March...

PERRY, Maine — Kevin Raye, the Republican nominee in the 2002 race for Congress in the Second District, said Tuesday he does not intend to seek the seat this year, leaving the party without an announced candidate in the race. With five months remaining before the primary and 10 months until the general election, a Republican challenger to freshman U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud has yet to surface. Brian Hamel of Presque Isle, president of the Loring Development Authority, and retired banker Bob Stone of Lewiston are considering the race, said Dwayne Bickford, executive director of the Maine Republican Party. "They´re...

AUSTIN -- U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Wednesday that Republicans will spend the money it takes to win the seats drawn for the GOP in a congressional redistricting map. "Having the right kind of map that represents the voting trends of Texas finally puts us in a fair position," DeLay told the Houston Chronicle. "Now we have to do it." A three-judge federal court, in a decision split on party lines Tuesday, rejected arguments by Democrats and minority groups that a congressional redistricting plan violates minority voting rights. The court cleared the map for use in this year's...

FLAGSTAFF — Coconino County Supervisor Paul Babbitt said he will announce Jan. 24 that he is running for Congress in District 1. U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, a Republican, currently holds the seat. Babbitt will have to win the Democratic primary in September in order to face Renzi in the November general election. No other Democrats have announced yet that they will enter the primary battle. The congressional district includes the Navajo Nation but not the Hopi Reservation. Babbitt has served on the Coconino County Board of Supervisors for 17 years. He previously served as mayor of Flagstaff and a member...

While they have to battle each other first, the Republican candidates for U.S. House know their main opponent isn't a member of the GOP. Six of the seven people vying for the Republican House nomination were in Aberdeen Wednesday for a candidates forum at the Ramada Inn. They took shots at their probable opponent, Democrat Stephanie Herseth, and Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and invoked the names President Bush and John Thune, the Republican trying to oust Daschle. The Republican candidate will be chosen by the state GOP Jan. 24 in Sioux Falls. Whomever that is should have the backing of...