Free Republic

GOP Rep. Chris Gibson cruised to reelection Tuesday, derailing the political dreams of wealthy Democratic candidate Sean Eldridge. Eldridge, the 28-year-old husband of Facebook billionaire and New Republic publisher Chris Hughes, spent nearly $3 million on his quest to win New York’s Hudson Valley-based 19th District. Eldridge conceded with Gibson holding a 65 percent to 35 percent lead. Twenty-eight percent of precincts were reporting. Gibson, a decorated Army veteran, has held the seat since 2011 and managed to win over many Democrats, building a solid lead over Eldridge, who moved to the district only a few years ago. Eldridge tried...

The New Republic has quietly dropped at least five prominent Jewish writers from its masthead in a move that may signal the publication’s continued drift away from a staunchly pro-Israel standpoint. The magazine has launched an aggressive new editorial direction under the ownership of wealthy socialite Chris Hughes, who is best known for sharing a room with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. The names of several prominent Jewish writers from both the left and right of the political spectrum were dropped from TNR’s masthead in the latest issue. They include: Daily Beast reporter Eli Lake, longtime TNR columnist...

How big of an Obama lapdog is Andrea Mitchell? Even bigger than ardent Obama fan Chris Hughes. The Facebook co-founder, who bought the New Republic last year, recently scored an interview with President Obama that has been criticized for its generally soft questioning. But during an appearance on Mitchell's MSNBC show today, even Hughes was more candid about the prez than Mitchell. When it came to the President's statement during the interview that at Camp David "we do skeet shooting all the time," Mitchell claimed "he didn't say that he was skeet shooting, but he does say that it's one...