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California voters made history on Tuesday in the race for the U.S. Senate, sending two Democrats to a November runoff and denying a Republican a spot on the fall ballot for the first time since the state’s first direct election of senators in 1914. State Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris won the largest share of the vote and the title of winner in the primary. By the end of the night, Harris led Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez by more than 800,000 votes, a margin of 23 percentage points.

CROSSVILLE (WATE) – A Crossville congressional candidate said she’s guilty after a large-scale marijuana grow operation was busted last week, but says she’s also victim of a bad law. Detectives raided Flo Matheson’s property Friday after “in-depth undercover investigations led to the discovery of an indoor grow operation,” according to a press release that says Crossville Police Department narcotics detectives worked with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, 13th Judicial Drug Task Force, the HIDTA/TBI Drug Task Force, and the Office of the District Attorney General to execute the search warrant at Matheson’s home. Matheson said they broke through her gate...

In a speech before the Senate Thursday, on the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, Elizabeth Warren made clear - for those with ears to hear - that she will not endorse Hillary Clinton. If you have observed how closely Warren's and Bernie Sanders' messages line up, it is hard to imagine that she would endorse Clinton over him, anyway. Even so, the question has remained. But now, were there any question about whether or not Clinton is truly a Progressive, Elizabeth Warren - with her extraordinary, precise eye for the heart of an issue, and her...

Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland intends to join the race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, hoping to become the first African-American elected to the Senate from her state, according to officials familiar with her plans. Edwards would become the second member of the state’s House delegation to announce her intentions to run for the Senate. Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen joined the race last week. No Republican has yet stepped forward to run for a seat in a Democratic state. …

Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-MD) decision to retire at the end of her term has sparked a predictable succession feud among Democrats in that deep blue state, but the coming internecine squabble has the potential to engulf the entire party. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a six-term member of Congress and the former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wasted no time in declaring his intention to run for Mikulski’s seat. On Friday, he received a powerful endorsement from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. “I enthusiastically endorse Chris Van Hollen for the United States Senate,” Reid said in a statement....

More than four years ago, while announcing his campaign for governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo stood in front of the Tweed Courthouse in downtown Manhattan and said Albany’s antics “could make Boss Tweed blush.” New York had had enough corruption, he said, and he was going to put a stop to it. “Job 1 is going to be to clean up Albany,” he said, “and make the government work for the people.” Mr. Cuomo became governor on that platform and recorded several impressive achievements, but he failed to perform Job 1. The state government remains as subservient to big...

An upset last night in the Democrat primary for governor of Nevada was almost as stunning as the Brat win in VA-7. "None of the Above" won with 29.96% of the vote. Nevada was the first state to institute a “none of the above” line to its ballot in 1975, as a way for voters to protest weak, unqualified candidates.

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina Congressional candidate Keith Crisco died suddenly at his home on Monday, WNCN confirmed. MOREAdditional Links A woman at his company, Asheboro Elastics Corp. in Asheboro, confirmed that he died at his home Monday around 1 p.m. She said employees at the company were being told what had happened. Crisco had faced Clay Aiken in a tense battle for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District.

Muriel Bowser won the District of Columbia’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday, defeating incumbent Vincent Gray in a race defined by a scandal involving Gray’s campaign four years ago. Bowser tapped into an electorate that tired of the allegations surrounding Gray. Five people who worked on the mayor’s 2010 campaign have pleaded guilty to felonies, and Bowser said the city needed a fresh start as the mayor faced potential criminal charges. Bowser, 41, is a D.C. councilmember and a protégé of former Mayor Adrian Fenty, whom Gray defeated in 2010. …

Woman Who Can’t Afford Her Own Birth Control Switches to Run for California State SenatePosted By Bryan Preston On February 5, 2014 @ 7:58 am In Politics | No Comments Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown grad best known for telling America that she can’t afford her own birth control, spent $1,740 on the filing fee to run for Congress. Now Fluke says she isn’t running for Congress. Instead, she is running for state Senate. Democratic attorney and activist Sandra Fluke has decided against running for retiring Rep. Henry A. Waxman’s congressional seat, instead planning a bid for the state Senate. “I...

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma Democratic Party chairman Wallace Collins says former U.S. Rep. Dan Boren is considering running for Tom Coburn's U.S. Senate seat. Boren served four terms as a U.S. Congressman then went on to work for the Chickasaw Nation as president of their corporate development department. Boren was the state's only Democratic member of Congress, serving the 2nd District.

South Carolina Democrats hope a combination of enthusiasm, a desire to change the direction of the state and more careful vetting of people seeking the party's nominations will help them make gains next election. Democrats acknowledge they need some wins. All nine statewide offices are run by Republicans, along with eight of the state's nine congressmen. A Democrat hasn't won a statewide race since 2006, and the party hasn't taken a statewide or federal office back from the Republicans since 1998. State Democratic Party Chairman Jamie Harrison says the party has talked to credible, competent challengers for every statewide race...

Popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Saturday morning that he will not run for Montana's open U.S. Senate seat in 2014, an announcement that complicates Democratic efforts to retain their majority in next year's elections. Schweitzer told The Associated Press that he doesn't want to leave Montana and go to Washington, D.C. He had been considered the Democrats best candidate for holding onto the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus next year. Schweitzer said he felt compelled to consider the race only because many in his party said they needed him to run.

Mullins: Low Turnout Just Shows Dems Had No Good Choices for Lt. Gov., Attorney General Statement of RPV Chairman Pat Mullins: "Amid very low turnout from their own party, Virginia Democrats have fielded a ticket that is weak - from top to bottom - and incapable of winning in November. The lack of enthusiasm from Virginia Democrats is understandable given that this is a ticket that is not focused on nor is credible on the primary concern of Virginians: creating jobs. In Terry McAuliffe, Democrats have nominated a failed crony capitalist who has used his insider connections to profit from...

Newark (NJ) Mayor Cory Booker will enter the race for US Senate, a campaign aide confirmed Friday.

If Charlie Crist runs for governor as a Democrat, he’s going to lose. He’ll either get rubbed out in the Democratic primary, or he’ll lose to Gov. Rick Scott in the general. If Crist runs for governor, rank-and-file Democratic voters will never again trust the party leaders who support Crist. Terence McCoy, of the alternative New Times Broward-Palm Beach, made some excellent points in Five Reasons Charlie Crist Will Not Run For Governor, which I urge everyone to read. McCoy thinks Crist won’t run, but every Democratic leader I know who’s been talking to Crist says he will, and they’re...

The embattled mayor of Pennsylvania's financially crippled capital of Harrisburg was ousted on Tuesday when she lost the Democratic primary to the owner of an independent bookstore. Mayor Linda Thompson's loss to Eric Papenfuse comes after a tumultuous term in which her outbursts and statements caused a loss of confidence in her administration. Papenfuse is likely to win the general election in this heavily Democratic city in November, but he must still face off against independent candidate Nevin Mindlin.

The bad news? Between this and what’s going on in South Carolina, American voters seem to have finally jettisoned any pretense of standards for their political leaders.The good news? We’re still on track for a Sanford-versus-Weiner presidential election in 2028. Cross those fingers. According to the poll, if Weiner entered the Democratic primary today, his 15 percent would put him behind Quinn’s 26 percent but ahead of City Comptroller John Liu (12 percent), de Blasio (11 percent), Thompson (11 percent) and former City Councilman Sal Albanese (2 percent).By comparison, without Weiner, Quinn would receive 30 percent of Democratic votes and...

Anthony Weiner is on a roll. A week after floating his name as a possible mayoral candidate, the disgraced former congressman finishes second when he’s included in the field of Democrats, a new poll reveals. Weiner — who resigned from office in 2011 after getting caught in a sexting scandal — said he’s mulling a political comeback by running for mayor.

As Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gun control proposal works its way through the Maryland General Assembly, gun rights activists already are preparing payback for those legislators who are allowing it through. Patrick Shomo, president of Maryland Shall Issue, a gun rights group, said he’s seen a movement in the gun rights community to register new voters in anticipation of the 2014 statewide election, and in some cases to switch membership from Republican to Democratic. ------------------------cut----------------------- But soon the emphasis will shift, Shomo said, to fielding pro-gun rights candidates who can oust incumbents who voted for the gun bill. “We’re going to...