Free Republic

When the deadline for certification passed yesterday, Jim Ogonowski, the Republican leadership's choice to challenge US Senator John F. Kerry, was 82 signatures short of qualifying for the GOP primary ballot, according to the state's central voter registry. But Ogonowski's campaign aides contend there are enough certified signatures at various town offices around the state not filed yet on the computerized registry to put him across the 10,000 threshold. Local election clerks were legally required to finish their certifications yesterday. The majority of those clerks have shipped their results to the secretary of state's office via computer, but some may...

Republican Jim Ogonowski, who has the backing of key party members in his bid to challenge US Senator John F. Kerry, could be in danger of stumbling on his first crucial test: collecting 10,000 voter signatures to secure a spot on the GOP primary ballot.

Republican Senate candidate Jim Ogonowski took his attacks against Sen. John Kerry's record to a new level yesterday -- television. Ogonowski, one of two Republicans vying to oust Kerry this fall, launched the first TV ad of the campaign season. The one-minute ad will air on cable stations throughout the state for the next three weeks, his campaign said. "People are absolutely fed up with the fact that he has been there so long and passed only eight pieces of legislation (since 1999)," Ogonowski said. "There's some real excitement in this state if you get to talk to people about...

Republican Jim Ogonowski, who narrowly lost a congressional race to Niki Tsongas in October, is preparing to challenge U.S. Sen. John Kerry, The Associated Press has learned. Ogonowski, the brother of an airline pilot killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said he’s been attending Republican events around the state since his 6-point loss to Tsongas, a Democrat. "There’s nobody in Washington who represents the status quo more than John Kerry," said Ogonowski, who did not officially declare his candidacy.

LOWELL — Democrat Niki Tsongas held off an aggressive challenge from Republican Jim Ogonowski yesterday to win a special election for the US House, becoming the state’s first woman in Congress in 25 years and claiming the same seat once held by her late husband, Paul Tsongas.....

LOWELL, Mass. --The widow of 1992 presidential candidate Paul Tsongas defeated the brother of an American Airlines pilot slain in the Sept. 11 terror attacks Tuesday in the special election to replace Democrat Martin Meehan in the U.S. House. Democrat Niki Tsongas of Lowell edged Republican Jim Ogonowski of Dracut, whose brother John died when his plane was hijacked and flown in the World Trade Center. With 170 of 195 precincts reporting, she had 51 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Ogonowski.

MA-05 Special Election Results: Jim Ogonowski:29,105 (51%) Niki Tsongas: 26,454 (46%) 49% Precincts Reporting

Ogonowski up 51%-46% with 49% reporting.

Tonight we could see a Republican elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Rob Willington, the executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party is covering Election Day from the inside... Check it out and be the first to find out what's happening in this historic election!

Congressional Republicans have been contributing thousands of dollars to Massachusetts special-election candidate Jim Ogonowski in the run-up to Tuesday’s contest, and the candidate should reward their investment with, at the very least, a test case of how to run in an unfriendly environment.

The comedy show that is the Niki Tsongas campaign keeps on giving us gems. In an interview on the "NightSide with Dan Rea" radio program on Thursday night, Niki Tsongas refused to call illegal immigrants just that. She said she prefers "undocumented workers", Dan Rea called her on it and said, what if they aren't working. Watch the video to find out Niki's response.

........Besides pulling more celebrity contributors than her Republican foe, the 61-year-old Tsongas has raked in more than twice as much cash altogether, and five times more from out of state than retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Ogonowski, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

I was at the Ogonowski - Tsongas debate in Andover, MA yesterday. No surprise from Tsongas who came across as a big govt liberal who will be the lapdog of Pelosi and Hillary. She said what a liberal democrat is supposed to say and will most likely win the seat because she is a Democrat in MA (that is usually all it takes here). Ogonowski's performance is what concerned me. He flat out said that the decision to go into Iraq was wrong and we should never have gone in. He did say that now that we are there we...

HOP INTO Jim Ogonowski's pickup truck and the message he wants to send is clear. This is a regular guy who just happens to be a Republican, up against opponent Niki Tsongas and the Democratic machine in the race to represent the Fifth Congressional District in Washington.

We're up to $6,962 from 136 donors for Jim Ogonowski for Congress, and today's the deadline. Since it's pretty clear we'll break through the 150 donor mark, why don't we make it 175 donors by the fundraising deadline at midnight? $10,000 would be a nice round number to reach by October 16th, but right now, we're focusing on getting as many donors as possible. Can you chip in, even if it's just $5 or $10? Here's what Human Events had to say about this race yesterday: There are more concrete signs that if Lt. Col. Ogonowski can raise enough money...

The nation's top Democrats are paying attention to Dracut farmer and Republican candidate for Congress, Jim Ogonowski. On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted a fundraiser for Niki Tsongas, the Democrat running against Ogonowski, in the race to represent the Fifth Congressional district. The seat opened when Democrat Martin T. Meehan stepped down to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. A special election is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Last week, a SurveyUSA/WBZ poll out of Boston caused a minor earthquake in the Massachusetts political universe. The race to replace liberal Congressman Marty Meehan was supposed to be a sleepy affair leading to a walk-in-the-park victory for Democrat Niki Tsongas, the well-known wife of the late Senator Paul Tsongas. So it came as quite a surprise when the poll showed Republican Jim Ogonowski, a farmer and veteran from the Merrimack Valley, within 10 points of Tsongas. Tsongas polled just 51 percent to Ogonowski's 41 percent. In any political environment, a win by Ogonowski on October 16th would be considered...

In the wake of last week's SurveyUSA-CBS4 poll , Niki Tsongas has asked Bill Clinton to Come into town to shore up support. The Boston Globe is reporting that Clinton's coming to town. The former Democratic president will be in Lowell on September 30 to campaign for Tsongas in her contest against Republican Jim Ogonowski. Clinton calls Tsongas a strong candidate. A rally will be held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Tsongas says she invited Clinton after sewing up the Democratic nomination earlier this month. Bill Clinton doesn't come into a blue state to campaign unless the Democrat may lose....

In organizing a State House ceremony for Tuesday to mark the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, planners said yesterday they never envisioned they would set off a political firestorm by not inviting Jim Ogonowski, whose brother was killed in the attacks and who is now engaged in a heated race as he seeks to become the state's first Republican congressman in more than a decade. Ogonowski, who has been a speaker at the ceremony the past four years, was not asked to come back. However, added to the program as the keynote speaker was Martin Meehan, a former US...

The decision to exclude the brother of a pilot killed in the Sept. 11 attacks from ceremonies marking its anniversary has set off a political firestorm in Massachusetts. Jim Ogonowski, who is a Republican candidate for Congress in the heavily-Democratic state, was not asked to speak, as he had for the past four years. Ogonowski?s brother John was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, one of two planes that was flown into the World Trade Center. While Jim Ogonowski was not invited, speaking will be ex-Congressman Martin Meehan, whose wife is chairing Democrat Niki Tsongas' campaign against Ogonowski. "I...