Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and his campaign apparatus are likely to come under some heavy Democratic criticism in the coming days. With the Federal Election Commission just releasing post-election reports, it appears that Mr. Nelson’s campaign had over $3 million remaining in his account according to the financial disclosure filing that covered the period ending November 26th. Considering the Florida Senate’s final vote count came down to a spread of just 9,763 votes in Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) favor, some would argue that much money spent could arguably have made a difference in the outcome.
Falling behind by 862 votes with still some more provisional ballots to count, Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford/Bakersfield) conceded defeat to Democrat T.J. Cox, finally closing a race that had been left undecided since election night.
The Cox victory now makes the final pre-commencement count, 235 Democrats, 199 Republicans, with one seat, NC-9, very possibly headed to a new election because of a deadlock over certification. Republicans have now been decimated in the 53-member California delegation, trailing the Democrats 46-7. Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson (D) is confirming that she is considering challenging Sen. David Purdue (R) when her term expires in January. Ms. Tomlinson was first elected to lead the city of approximately 195,000 people in 2010, becoming the first female Mayor in Columbus’ history. She was re-elected in 2014, but was ineligible to seek a third term in this election year.
Ms. Tomlinson qualified her Senate consideration when indicating she would yield to gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams if the latter woman chooses to run. For her part, Ms. Abrams, while confirming she wants to run for office again, says she wants to spend next year as a “private citizen.” In 2014, Mr. Purdue scored a 53-45% win over Michelle Nunn (D), the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn (D). Attempting to follow Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) lead in changing state law to allow an individual to run simultaneously for different offices, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) is not finding the same reception among Oregon political leaders as Mr. Booker did in New Jersey. Asked whether the state legislature will move on legislation to, in this case, allow Mr. Merkley to run for President as he seeks re-election to the Senate, the state Senate President and House Speaker, according to local publication Willamette Week, respectively did not respond to inquiries and said that she doesn’t currently have a position on the issue.
But, Gov. Kate Brown’s (D) spokesperson was a bit more definitive saying, “Gov. Brown’s current focus is on helping Oregon families thrive and working with legislators, stakeholders, and community members on her budget and policy agenda, which does not include a proposal for legislation on this topic.” Politics is in full swing in preparation for the 2019 Louisiana Governor’s race. After Sen. John Kennedy (R) announced earlier in the week that he would not challenge Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) next year, follow-up moves are beginning to be made. Yesterday, US Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-Alto/Monroe) announced his statewide candidacy as expected, joining developer Eddie Rispone as Republican candidates.
On the other side of the spectrum, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R) announced that he will not run for Governor, presumably in order to seek re-election for a second term in his current position. The big unanswered question seems to surround whether Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) will change his mind about seeking re-election now that Sen. Kennedy is out of the Governor’s race and Abraham and Rispone are in. Early signals suggest that he may be again readying himself to enter the race. State Treasurer John Schroder also confirms he is considering becoming a gubernatorial candidate. California ex-Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D), who served for ten terms before launching a losing US Senate effort in 2016, is attempting a political comeback. Ms. Sanchez announced that she will run for an open seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors in a March special election. Supervisor Todd Spitzer (R) will soon resign to become the Orange County District Attorney, thus opening the seat.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors has five elected members with significant power over southern California land use issues. Ms. Sanchez can expect major opposition in what will be a significant local special election campaign. Grand Canyon State Gov. Doug Ducey (R), fresh from winning a landslide election to a second term, stated yesterday that he will not be a US Senate candidate in 2020, and that he intends on serving his entire second term.
Appointed Sen. Jon Kyl (R) is likely to soon leave his interim post, since he committed only to serving to the end of 2018 when accepting Gov. Ducey’s short-term appointment after incumbent Sen. John McCain (R) passed away in late August. Once Mr. Kyl departs, Gov. Ducey will name a replacement who could presumably run in the 2020 special election to serve the balance of the McCain term. The seat next comes before the voters for a full term in 2022. Some believed that the Governor would appoint another caretaker officeholder at which point he would run himself. But, such will not be the case. Though 31 individuals are still expressing interest in entering the 2020 presidential campaign, one Democrat who won’t be joining them is Massachusetts former two-term Gov. Deval Patrick. Yesterday, Mr. Patrick made public his intentions not be become a candidate. The decision surprised many observers as most believed Mr. Patrick was making moves to enter the race.
GOP Secretary of State nominee Brad Raffensperger, a state Representative, defeated former Congressman John Barrow (D) in the statewide run-off campaign by a 52-48% margin on Tuesday night. The secondary election was necessitated when Raffensperger failed to reach the 50% plateau, missing by less than one percentage point, in the general election. In Georgia, candidates placing first with a plurality must advance to a general election run-off election. A total turnout of 1.454 million voters participated, just over 1/3 of the November 6th participation total that recorded over 3.9 million cast ballots.
Veteran Granite State Secretary of State Bill Gardner, a Democrat who drew the ire of the liberal activists in the party for accepting an appointment to President Trump’s election investigatory panel and siding with Republicans in supporting a strong residency requirement law for student voters, was re-elected to a 22nd two-year term on Wednesday despite strong opposition from majority Democrats.
In New Hampshire, the state legislature appoints certain offices such as Secretary of State. In a joint session of the NH House and Senate, a legislature featuring 424 voting members, Mr. Gardner was re-elected by a close 209-205 vote. Most Republicans supported the Democratic incumbent, and enough members of his own party also did so to just pull him over the top. Democrats captured both houses of the legislature in the November 6th election, holding a 234-166 House majority and a 14-10 margin in the state Senate. Previously, Republicans had held both houses. |
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