Archive for category Rising Stars

One Young Candidate

Mar 4

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | 1 Comment

In Washington State’s 18th legislative district Republican incumbent state representative Jaime Herrera is leaving his seat to run for Congress.  That leaves an open seat for Republicans to defend as the GOP seeks to win a majority in the Washington House of Representative in November – where the GOP needs 14 seats to take control of the chamber.  In the 18th, Republican are well positioned to hold the seat with 5 candidates running to fill Mr. Herrera’s seat.  You’ve got a Mayor Pro-Tem, a county planning commissioner, and educator, a businesswoman, and a 17 year-old high school student.

That’s right – 17 year-old Skyview High School senior Anthony Bittner is one of 5 Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination in the August 17th primary.  Apparently Anthony is a planner.  He’ll turn the statutorily required 18 years old in April – plenty of time before the June 11 filing deadline to be legally eligible to run and hold office.  From the Columbian:

Bittner describes himself as a Republican with independent ideas and conservative values.

“As the son of a small-business owner, I have experienced firsthand the oppressiveness and unfair burden the government forces upon hard-working families,” he said in a statement.

He said he already feels burdened by the state’s budget deficit and would work to reduce government’s intrusion into private lives and the business world.

Other candidates in the race are talking about job creation, Bittner said in an interview, but he disagrees with that approach. “They want to give money to these companies,” he said. “I think we should be taking away the tax burden. I don’t think it should be the government’s job to create jobs. It’s the job of businesses to create jobs.”

He brings a different skill set to the table than any of his opponents – but the question is will anyone take him seriously.  Bittner has his Twitter page up already, though with only 12 followers and him not following anybody kind of makes it hard to get the word out.  Can’t find his campaign website or a Facebook fan page yet…this guy should be nailing those mediums ahead of his older opponents right?

The 18th is a big district for Republicans to hold onto if they want to make real gains in November – will the Republican nominee have to choose between campaigning and freshman orientation?

The Rock?

Chanelling "The Rock"?

Is the Republican candidate one of the GOP’s rising stars?  Will we be reading about Anthony running for Governor of Washington in 10 years?  Is that too soon?  Of course not – heck at 17 he’s already at least 3 years behind Jonathan Krohn.

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Dem AG Says Dem AG Candidate Not Qualified

Feb 3

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars, That's Odd | No Comments

A quick follow up on the saga of whether or not Connecticut Democrat Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz is qualified to seek the office of attorney general – an office for which she is actively campaigning.  The current occupant of the office, Democrat Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is running for United States Senate, with Chris Dodd out of the way he can finally do something, has essentially stopped Bysiewicz’s candidacy in its tracks.

During a news conference in his office, Blumenthal said Bysiewicz, who recently dropped a bid to run for governor and, instead, run for attorney general, does not have enough years as a practicing attorney.

Blumenthal said Bysiewicz, of Middletown, has not accumulated 10 years in the legal profession. In a formal opinion, Blumenthal said that the requirement for “active practice” means more than retaining a law license.

“Active means something more than being a member of the bar,” Blumenthal told reporters.

The Connecticut Post has the full story. You can imagine that Democrat former legislator George Jepsen and current Democrat State Representative Cameron Staples are gleefully pushing this story around Connecticut. And, a story like this makes for a better February day for Republican State Senator Andrew Roraback, Republican former prosecutor John Pavia, and GOP State Representative Arthur O’Neill – who are all reportedly mulling or exploring the race.

Susan Bysiewicz might be toast.

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The Secretary of State is That Important

Jan 22

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars, secretary of state | No Comments

In Ohio, Republican Secretary of State candidate Jon Husted is proving that, at least in Ohio, people think the office of secretary of state is pretty important.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, announced that he has more than $2 million on hand in his campaign fund for the secretary of state’s race.

“This is evidence that support for my campaign for Secretary of State continues to grow,” Husted, a former House speaker, said in a press release.

Maybe Ohio voters remember previous elections where the Secretary of State’s office played a less than neutral role in elections. Maybe they remember Joe the Plumber. There are a number of states in 2010 with SOS races that carry implications beyond run of the mill state elections.  You can read the rest of the story here.  You can learn more about Jon Husted here.

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Not looking good Dems in TX

Dec 21

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

Though national Democrats are doing their level best to make the appearance of trying to change the red state tendencies of the state.  Barack Obama’s Organizing for America is making a big play in the state – though not on policy grounds.  Texas stands to gain at least 3 seats in the U.S. House as result of population increases after the 2010 census.  That’s the biggest prize in the nation, and not one Democrats will let go with out a fight to Republicans.  The AP writes:

Organizing for America, an arm of the Democratic Party that was established this year and is a successor to President Barack Obama’s campaign, has a staff in Texas as large as any of its other state operations, including California and Ohio. It is seizing on the opportunity presented by the 3.5 million Texans, mostly from urban areas, who voted for Obama in the contest with McCain.

Although its immediate purpose is to build support in all 50 states for a federal health care package and other legislation on Obama’s agenda, Organizing for America is also looking to help Democrats regain their footing in Texas for the 2010 election.

“We are going to make sure that we have volunteers ready to go at a moment’s notice,” said Hector Nieto, Texas spokesman for the organization. Nieto and state director Luke Hayes are not divulging details of their election year strategy.

While that might be solid spin coming from the Democrat side, the “on the ground” truth is a wholly different matter. The RNC’s Alan Philp sums up the current reality for Democrats in Texas, and in most other states this way:

Philp said the benefits that Democrats enjoyed from their staff members across the country in 2008 won’t be as helpful to them in 2010 because of the current voter mood, which he says is against Democratic health care proposals and economic stimulus spending.

“If the Democrats want to run a Washington-centric effort to expand the size and scope and intrusion of the federal government, that’s a contrast that we look forward to,” he said.

And that’s not quite the worst news yet for the Democrat efforts in Texas. Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka writes on his Burka Blog that Democrats are in a hefty world of hurt when it comes to fielding strong statewide candidates. Not only is it a consistently Republican state, but the current statewide officeholders (Gov. Rick Perry or Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, L.G. David Dewhurst, A.G. Greg Abbott, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, AG Commissioner Todd Staples, and Comptroller Susan Combs) are all solid, proven winners with rock solid records who are free of any Blagojevich like issues.

Never mind the strong position Republican now hold in both state legislative chambers – it’s not going to be a good year for Democrats in Texas. But, if they insist on spending millions of dollars in the state…that means a few other states get cheated.

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Some Candidates You’ve Never Heard Of – S.O.S. Edition

Dec 18

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars, Uncategorized, secretary of state | No Comments

But hopefully, you will as 2010 kicks off and the midterm elections come stampeding into focus.  Here’s a snapshot of some of the interesting secretary of state races for 2010.  We’ll cover more in the weeks ahead.

Arizona:


Incumbent Secretary of State Ken Bennett is running for his first full term as Arizona’s Republican Secretary of State.  Bennett’s name has been bandied about in some circles as a potential candidate for Governor on the Republican side, but there are so many Republican names in the mix for that race that Bennett probably has figured out he can have a better impact on Arizona building on his record as a state senator with a full term as SOS.

On the Democrat side State Representative Chris Deschene and Sam Wercinski are up and running.  Deschene is in the exploratory phase of his campaign, more a trick of getting around Arizona’s resign to run law, and Wercinski is in official campaign mode.

The Democrats have until August 24th to convince voters who’s better suited to face Ken Bennett in November.  Truth be told, Bennett will be hard to beat as the sitting incumbent, but that’s not reason enough for him to sit back and hope for a an easy victory.

California:


Former NFL wide receiver Damon Dunn is running not for the end zone for but for California Secretary of State against incumbent Democrat Debra Bowen.  By most accounts, California is a no man’s land for cookie cutter GOP candidates, so Dunn’s candidacy just might capture the imagination of voters across the spectrum and vault him into big league status in a new line of work.  Early indications are that Dunn represents a new direction for the Republicans in California that has captured the attention of the party’s leading strategic minds.

Colorado:

Read the rest of this entry »

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With Friends Like These…

Oct 21

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

…who needs enemies?  That might be what Alabama Republican A.G. Troy King might be thinking about now.  The Birmingham News is reporting that both Republican U.S. Senators from Alabama, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, are endorsing King’s opponent in the Republican primary - Luther Strange.  Both Shelby, who was a special assistant A.G. from ‘69-’71, and Sessions, who was Alabama Attorney General from ‘94-’97, have some familiarity with the A.G.’s office there in Alabama – adding another interesting wrinkle to these endorsements.

U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions are featured guests at a Washington fundraiser for Strange next week, according to the invitation, and both offices on Tuesday praised Strange’s candidacy.

It is an intriguing development inside the Alabama Republican Party to have the GOP’s two highest-ranking federal officials actively working against an incumbent they helped elect three years ago.

In the fall of 2006, Shelby’s political action committee gave $25,000 to King’s general election campaign, and Sessions’ campaign donated $3,000.

But losing their support this year is less of a financial blow to King than a symbolic one.

“This is a sign of just how alienated Troy King has become from the Republican establishment,” said David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama. “This is pretty extraordinary.”

Ain’t politics grand?  You can pick up the rest of the story right here.

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Another Name Emerges for TX AG

Oct 15

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

Ken Herman down at the Austin American Statesman has this kiss of a piece on Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright.  It’s well written, with lots of statements from Herman that Wainwright is not formally a candidate for anything (you’ll have to read the piece to see why that’s important).  Herman lays out that there are a slew of politicians in Texas waiting for Kay Bailey Hutchison to decide if she’s going to resign or not as part of her primary run for governor of Texas – and one of the new names included is Wainwright.  Herman even comes up with a novel strategy on who should be chosen to replace Senator Hutchison.

Under most versions of the trickle-down impact, GOP Attorney General Greg Abbott winds up running for something else. And that means there may be no Republican more eager for Hutchison to get on with getting out of the Senate than Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright, who is considering running for attorney general if Abbott seeks a new job.

Unlike others looking at that race, Wainwright has to be very, very careful about what he says about it. Canon 5 of the the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct — Refraining from Inappropriate Political Activity — says “A judge shall resign from judicial office upon becoming a candidate in a contested election for a non-judicial office … ”

Judges are the only elected officials in Texas who have to quit to run for something else. Everyone else is canon-free. That would include Republican Ted Cruz, who has declared for attorney general (but only if Abbott does not seek re-election) and state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, who is looking at the race.

That leaves Wainwright, re-elected last year to a six-year term on the high court, dancing as close to a candidacy as possible without saying or doing anything that would force him to resign.

“I am seriously considering seeking the attorney general’s office if it’s open, that is if General Abbott vacates it,” he told me this week.

Read the rest and see what Ken’s grand plan on Senator Hutchison’s replace really is all about.

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The Wilson from South Carolina You Don’t Know

Sep 11

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

By now, anybody who follows national politics knows exactly who Congressman Joe Wilson is.  However, those same anybodys don’t have a clue who Alan Wilson is.  Alan is the first announced Republican candidate for attorney general of South Carolina – former Deputy A.G. Robert Bolchoz is widely expected to announce his bid for the office soon as well.

Alan Wilson, who formally kicked off his campaign to replace outgoing A.G. Henry McMaster earlier this month, now must contend with the challenge of staying on message while being peppered with questions resulting from this father’s elevated national profile.

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The (Sass) Grass Was Really High

Sep 9

Posted by Parched in In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

Apparently Wisconsin’s State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass (that’s her on the left) runs her office as an extension of her family.  Relatives get hired for temporary jobs, get to go on taxpayer funded trips.  Employees struggle with massive back logs while Treasurer Sass takes politically deaf excursions to the west coast.  Oh, and she takes the day off to mow her lawn.

To help fill the staff shortage, Sass hired her 20-year-old niece for a summer job staffing the front desk and processing claims. But her niece spent at least some of her time on the road with Sass, even though the treasurer had an aide whose job it was to accompany her on trips.

Sass said hiring her niece, Amanda Sass, was appropriate and approved by the state Government Accountability Board, which enforces the state’s ethics code.

And then…

The job description says the niece was to spend about half her time at the front desk and about half the time processing claims for property. The job did not involve travel, but Amanda Sass accompanied her aunt for six out-of-town events during the five weeks she worked there. Four of the events occurred after Sass’ travel aide, Eva Robelia, resigned.

The treasurer’s office also hired Dawn Sass’ cousin and the cousin’s two children to work at the treasurer’s State Fair booth last month. They earned $10 an hour.

But here’s the clincher…

In another matter, e-mails show Sass sometimes clashed with employees over their hours.

In one exchange, former employee Robelia wrote Sass saying she called on a Monday morning to straighten out questions about her hours but was told Sass had left the office to mow her lawn.

Sass said that was appropriate because she had worked two weekends at the State Fair, traveled to Chicago for a conference and was due to go on a trip up north the next day.

“My grass was about over my knees for a month of no mowing,” she said. “And you know what? I don’t have to be here every day . . . but I’m here pretty much every single day. I live alone; somebody’s got to do it.”

All of that PLUS questions about whether or not the grass cutting Ms. Sass is complying with Wisconsin’s stringent state ethics rules can be found in the full article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  This one article creates many openings and opportunities for Republican candidate Jason Punzel (we wrote about Jason earlier) to boost his positive name ID among donors and use later in 2010 should Ms. Sass actually decide to run for re-election.

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Where Good Ideas Go to Grow

Aug 27

Posted by Parched in Governor, In the states, Rising Stars | No Comments

Maybe Washington should be paying more attention to what’s happening in the states when it comes to finding solutions to solving the health care issue in this country.  Chris Rants is running for Governor of Iowa, and he’s come up with 4 ideas to improve health care.  You know he’s not the only candidate out there trying to create or identify solutions that Washington might be missing – but he’s the one in the news right now. The truth is, Washington can work better if it works harder at looking for solutions to the nation’s problems by looking where they grow more plentiful….out in the nation.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Rants is touting four ideas he says could raise the quality and lower the cost of health care in Iowa. “Some of these proposals are common sense, practical solutions (like) electronic health records,” Rants says. “Making a commitment that the state should enable that is something that I think both parties should be able to agree upon.”

In addition to calling for all medical records in Iowa to be digitized within four years, Rants proposes adjusting the system of reimbursing hospitals for the care provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients. Rants says high-quality care should be rewarded with the highest payments.

You can read the entire article at Radio Iowa dot com.  Check out Rants entire press release here.

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