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"With 100% of precincts reporting, the Hanford-area grower holds a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez in the contentious 16th State Senate race. According to the California Secretary of State's office, Vidak has 54% of the vote with a total of 39,085 votes. Perez has 46% of the vote with a total of 33,252 votes. As with May's special election for the seat -- which was vacated by Michael Rubio -- Vidak enjoyed strong support. from Kings and Tulare counties................"

Colorado Sen. Mark Udall's brother died on a hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains, officials said. Randy Udall, 61, went on a hike in the Wind River Range in Wyoming on June 20 and was expected back six days later. When the experienced hiker did not return, family members reported him missing. Rescue crews and helicopters scoured mountain passes to find him. A helicopter search team discovered his body in a remote area on Wednesday afternoon, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office said. It appeared that he died of natural causes, the senator said in a statement, thanking rescuers for their...

Link Only https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh25I6Br9qU&feature=youtube_gdata_player This is a chapter entitled "The Municipal Organ" from the documentary film "The Senator's Masterpiece" about the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ. For more information about The Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ please visit http://www.ACCHOS.org. For more information on the preservation of America's historic pipe organs please visit http://www.organsociety.org. For more information about the filmmaker please visit http://www.VicFerrerProductions.com © 2006 Vic Ferrer Productions http://www.BoardwalkPipes.com http://www.ExpositionOrgan.org

Texas Republican John Cornyn supplemented his Senate salary with a trio of public pensions last year from his days as a Texas judge and elected official—a practice some fiscal watchdog groups have attacked as “double dipping.” Cornyn, who is the minority whip and the No. 2 ranking Republican in the Senate, reported collecting $65,383 in public retirement benefits in 2012 in addition to his $174,000 salary as a U.S. senator. Cornyn’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Elected to the Senate in 2002, Cornyn is a former district judge, Texas Supreme Court justice, and state attorney general. In...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading Republican senator on Tuesday described controversial U.S. spy programs as looking far deeper into Americans' phone records than the Obama administration has been willing to admit, fueling new privacy concerns as Congress sought to defend the surveillance systems. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., says the U.S. intelligence surveillance of phone records allows analysts to monitor U.S. phone records for a pattern of calls, even if those numbers have no known connection to terrorism.

Chris Christie has appointed New Jersey’s Attorney General Jeff Chiesa, a former federal prosecutor who worked for him as governor and as U.S. Attorney, as the interim senator replacing the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. “I said on Monday I was going to select the person I thought was going to be the best person to represent New Jersey between now and Oct. 13,” Christie told reporters. “During the last few days as I’ve gotten to deliberate on this decision, it became clear to me that Attorney General Chiesa would be the best person to represent the people of New Jersey...

The death, at age 89, of Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg has put a wrinkle in the reelection plans of New Jersey governor Chris Christie. The cantankerous Republican enjoys high approval ratings and a chasmic lead over Barbara Buono, a Democratic rival so weak that former governor Brendan Byrne, now the Garden State’s Democratic elder statesman, has hinted she should think about dropping out. But the need to appoint an interim replacement for Lautenberg, and to schedule a special election to fill out his term through 2014, has created a pair of new challenges. First, does Christie hold the special election...

Video link. Georgia Senator Johnny Isackson "not sure which way he will vote on immigration reform." His office also barred activist D.A. King from a meeting because "previous meetings with him were 'unproductive'."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg died this morning of viral pneumonia at age 89, his office said

Vid.

Mr. X XX Reno, NV Dear Mr. X: Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate hearing from you. Throughout my time in Congress, I have done all I can to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Nevadans. As a gun owner, I welcomed the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which made clear that each and every law-abiding citizen has an individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Over the years it has been my firm conviction that we must work to protect this right by enforcing laws that keep guns away from terrorists and...

It’s not often that the confiscation crowd is nakedly honest, but when they think they’re just preaching to the choir, they might forget the heathens are listening, too. That was the case in Sunday’s New York Times column by Maureen Dowd when Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy blurted out the real goal of the gun grabbers: Getting weapons out of your hands means getting the vote out of your hands, too. “You’re not going to disenfranchise the NRA overnight,” Murphy told Dowd. “Disenfranchise.” This isn’t the usual, misty-eyed “if it will save one life” claptrap; and the speaker isn’t some unshaven...

Washington (CNN) -- An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN.

This is not good at all. CNN is reporting that an envelope that was sent to a Senator (unnamed) has tested positive for ricin poisoning. It’s been tested at least three times and each time it came up positive. The mail facility is off-site so the ricin is not in the Capitol. Watch the report from CNN:

Not thinking anyone is surprised about This but CNN is reporting that: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, became the second Republican senator not involved in negotiating a bipartisan background check measure to say she will support it, according to a statement Sunday. She described the bill as a responsible compromise between two senators - Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia - who have strong ratings from the National Rifle Association. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, has indicated his support for the deal.

A state representative in Massachussetts is being investigated after allegedly sending pictures of his genitals to a government computer. The investigation is ongoing and the committee has not formally reprimanded the individual in charge, but it is being widely reported that Democratic State Representative John Fresolo is the one behind the scandal. He allegedly sent 'lascivious photos of his privates' to a computer at the State House, and an aide complained to the Ethics Committee to start the investigation. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297618/Massachusetts-lawmaker-took-pictures-genitals-female-coworkers-computer.html#ixzz2OO43f4D7 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Richest U.S. Senator, John Kerry, Rails Against 'Corrupting' Money in Politics in Farewell Address January 30, 2013 By DANIEL HALPERJohn Kerry, the richest U.S. senator, railed against the "corrupting" power of money in politics in his farewell address today on the floor of the United States Senate: (click to the site to view the video) "There's another challenge that we must address and it is the corrupting force of the vast sums of money necessary to run for office," said Kerry. "The unending chase for money I believe threatens to steal our democracy itself. I've used the word 'corrupting' and...

Anti-Gun Senator Shoots Intruder State Senator R.C. Soles (D - NC) Long time Anti-Gun Advocate State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City, N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor for the politician's home county said. The intruder, Kyle Blackburn, was taken to a South Carolina hospital, but the injuries were not reported to be life-threatening, according to Rex Gore, district attorney for Columbus, Bladen andBrunswick counties. The State Bureau of Investigation and Columbus County Sheriff's Department are investigating the shooting, Gore said. Soles, who was not arrested,declined to discuss the...

Just one day removed from the House, Barney Frank says he wants to get back to Washington. Frank, speaking today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said he told Gov. Deval Patrick he wants to be interim senator when Sen. John Kerry is named secretary of state. “A month ago, or a few weeks ago, I said I wasn’t interested,” Frank said. “It was kind of like you’re about to graduate, and they said: ‘You gotta go to summer school.’ But (the fiscal cliff) deal now means that February, March and April are going to be among the most important months in...

<p>The following letter, written by U.S. Marine Joshua Boston and headlined “No ma’am.,” was posted in the CNN iReport on Dec. 27 with the included note from the producer and photo. It has struck a nerve with many and is being circulated around social media venues like Twitter and Facebook.</p>