Free Republic

Businessman Louie Sanchez remembers growing up in a trailer in the South Valley where he said he learned the value of hard work. It’s those working class roots he wants to emphasize when he launches a bid for the U.S. Senate on Monday. Sanchez will join a growing Republican field that includes former New Mexico State University professor Gavin Clarkson; anti-abortion advocate Elisa Martinez; and Albuquerque contractor Mick Rich in the race to replace Democrat Tom Udall, who is not seeking reelection to a third term. U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján and accountant Andrew Perkins are seeking the Democratic nomination....

The Carolina Panthers have fired head coach Ron Rivera, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon. Secondary coach Perry Fewell will serve as interim head coach, and offensive coordinator Norv Turner will transition to special assistant to the head coach. Quarterbacks coach Scott Turner, Norv’s son, becomes offensive coordinator.

Black Republicans are making a run for a number of big elections this year. In Maryland, Michael Steele wants retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes' Senate seat. Keith Butler is also running for Senate, from Michigan. Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, wants to be governor of the Keystone State. Randy Daniels would like to be governor of New York. And gunning for governor in a key presidential electoral state there is the great black hope for the Republican Party, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. The "great black hope" is probably the last phrase Blackwell would use to describe himself...

SOLANA BEACH ---- A former National Football League defensive back and punt returner has entered the GOP sweepstakes to fill out the unexpired term of Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Scott Turner, 33, a political neophyte, made his announcement Tuesday from a makeshift lectern placed on the 50-yard line at Santa Fe Christian School's Beauchamp Stadium. Flanked by his wife, Robin, Turner said he's in the 50th Congressional District race despite naysayers who, he said, have told him he needs a Hail Mary-type completion to overcome his better-financed and more experienced rivals. "Many have already tried to dissuade me from one, running...