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Movie executive David Kim, who held California Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) to a 53-47% re-election victory in the 2020 double-Democratic general election, announced that he will return for a re-match next year. Mr. Kim spent only $84,000 in his 2020 campaign, so we can count on seeing a more robust effort in the current cycle compared to his previous performance. The 34th District will substantially change as the seat must add 56,933 people just to meet the state’s new population quota.
Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) has turned down NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams’ (D) offer to become one of the city’s Deputy Mayors and instead will run for Governor. This will be the second gubernatorial campaign for Mr. Suozzi. He lost the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary in a crushing 82-18% landslide defeat to then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
At this point, Rep. Suozzi opposes new Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Tish James, and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in a growing semi-open Democratic intra-party election battle. Gov. Hochul assumed the state’s top office when Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) was forced to resign. She had been his running mate for Lt. Governor. Republican US Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley/East Long Island) is becoming a consensus candidate for the GOP nomination. The Democratic nominee will begin the general election as a definitive favorite. Candidate filing is scheduled April 7th for the associated June 28th primary. Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran (R) announced his congressional candidacy yesterday. He is a major contender vying to succeed Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler), who is leaving the House to run for state Attorney General. A Texas county judge is equivalent to a county executive in most places.
Smith County is the population anchor of the east Texas’ 1st Congressional District. The candidate filing deadline is December 13th for the March 1st primary. The 1st CD is safely Republican, so the GOP primary will almost assuredly determine the region’s next House member. King County Councilman Reagan Dunn (R), son of the late Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R) who represented the 8th District for six terms after serving eleven years as chair of the Washington Republican Party, announced his own congressional candidacy yesterday. Mr. Dunn will join the jungle primary to oppose second term Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Sammamish). Already in the primary is the 2020 Republican Attorney General finalist, Matt Larkin. Mr. Dunn, himself, was an Attorney General nominee in the 2012 election. The Washington qualifying election is August 2nd.
Freshman state Rep. Christopher Kurka (R-Wasilla) announced his challenge to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, yesterday. Mr. Kurka, a former director of the Alaska for Right to Life organization, is attacking Gov. Dunleavy, from the ideological right. Previously, the Governor was under attack from an organized recall group over his budgetary spending cuts.
Alaska has changed its election system. Therefore, all candidates will compete in a jungle primary with the top four finishers, regardless of political party affiliation, advancing into the general election. This means, Rep. Kurka could advance into the November election even without topping Gov. Dunleavy in the initial vote. Former Gov. Bill Walker (I) is also an announced candidate. Ex-state Rep. Les Gara is the leading Democratic contender to date. Candidate filing is June 1st for the August 22nd qualifying election. Atlanta voters will go to the polls today to decide a runoff election between City Council President Felicia Moore (D) and Councilman Andre Dickens (D). Polling has provided mixed results. Key endorsements are also split between the candidates. The winner serves a four-year term. Former Mayor Kasim Reed’s (D) comeback attempt was thwarted in the primary election. Incumbent Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) chose not to seek a second term.
Former state Senator Erica Smith (D), who ran for the Senate in 2020 and faired poorly in the Democratic primary, has decided to end her 2022 Senate bid and instead filed a committee to run for the now open 2nd Congressional District. Late last week, incumbent Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-Wilson) announced that he will not seek re-election next year.
The newly designed 2nd is a competitive general election district. Ms. Smith’s chances to prevail in the House Democratic primary are far better than were her prospects in the Senate race, so her move makes sense especially since she represented part of the new CD for six years in the North Carolina Senate. Potential House Democratic contenders are state Sen. Don Davis (D-Snow Hill), Henderson City Councilman Jason Spriggs, and progressive activist DeAndre Carter. The new Ohio congressional map significantly changed the Cleveland suburban area. Originally, former White House aide Max Miller (R), who had raised over $1.6 million with almost $1 million cash-on-hand through September 30th for his intra-party challenge campaign has seen his political fortunes materially change.
Mr. Miller originally filed against Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Rocky River) in the suburban 16th CD, which is safely Republican. When Rep. Gonzalez announced his retirement, Miller found himself in an open Republican seat. Once the new map was drawn, however, the 16th was collapsed as Ohio lost a seat in reapportionment. In its place is a marginal 13th District west of Cleveland that is a D+1 toss-up district. Over the weekend, Mr. Miller announced that he will run in this district. The general election will be hotly contested. A Data for Progress poll (11/16-17; 528 NY likely Democratic primary voters; text-to-web) finds Gov. Kathy Hochul leading Attorney General Tish James and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, 39-24-9%, respectively, in their just released Democratic primary survey. Ms. Hochul became Governor when incumbent Andrew Cuomo (D) resigned because of a personal scandal. She had been elected Lt. Governor. The New York primary is June 28, 2022.
Lake Research Partners released their new survey of Rhode Island Democratic primary voters, testing the competitive Governor’s nomination race. According to the survey results (11/7-9; 500 RI likely Democratic primary voters; live interview), Gov. Dan McKee holds only a 26-24% lead over Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea with state Treasurer Seth Magaziner following with 16% support. Mr. McKee became Governor when incumbent Gina Raimondo (D) resigned to become US Commerce Secretary. He had been elected Lt. Governor. The Rhode Island primary is not until September 13, 2022, so much time remains for this campaign to develop.
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