Free Republic

I would like to conclude my week of blogging with a call to action. If no candidate wins a majority in the electoral college, the House of Representatives will choose our next president in a “contingent election,” from among the top three candidates. This is a much less remote possibility than usual this year. As I explained on Monday, there is no way to replace a candidate who dies in a contingent election. This would disenfranchise an entire side of the election, so it provides an unfortunately heightened incentive for assassins. We don’t award assassins this prize at any other...

Updated, 10:50 a.m. | Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick will challenge Republican Sen. John McCain for Senate, according to a source with knowledge of Kirkpatrick’s plans, giving Democrats a top recruit and a potential pickup opportunity. Kirkpatrick made calls Monday to inform people of her plans, the source told CQ Roll Call. Her bid also opens up Arizona’s 1st District, a GOP-leaning seat spanning the northeast quadrant of the state. An hour after this story was published, Kirkpatrick sent out an email making it official. “I love this state, and I’ve worked hard all my life to put Arizona first,” she...

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Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon is forming an exploratory committee to look more closely at a potential run in the special election for retiring Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) seat, multiple sources tell The Hill. Shannon’s office declined to comment, but sources say he's now expected to run. One source tells The Hill Shannon has received dozens of calls from supporters “very enthusiastically encouraging him to run” since Coburn’s announcement last week that he’ll retire at the end of the year. Shannon would run as a conservative alternative to Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who entered the race Monday to considerable pushback...

The White House is set to select outgoing Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) as its pick for ambassador to China, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and a Baucus ally confirmed Wednesday. Baucus, 72, previously announced that he won't seek reelection to the Senate in 2014. ... Assuming Baucus is confirmed sometime in 2014, it means there will be a vacancy in his seat. Gov. Steve Bullock (D) will get to make the appointment for the final year of Baucus's term. Bullock could pick his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, who is already running for the seat in 2014. But Walsh faces a primary...

Rep. Trey Radel, a freshman Republican from Florida, was arrested on Oct. 29 for possession of cocaine in the District of Columbia, according to D.C. Superior Court documents. Radel, 37, was charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine in D.C. Superior Court on Tuesday. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Radel faces a maximum of 180 days in jail, as well as a possible fine up to $1,000. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia declined to comment on Radel’s arrest or criminal cases. The Florida Republican is a former journalist, TV anchor and radio talk-show...

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) will retire after two terms in office. The congressman said in a statementthat he's leaving Congress to spend more time with his family, opening up a Republican-leaning district and a coveted spot on the House Ways & Means Committee. "God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, Elizabeth, and two precious children, and for several months Elizabeth and I have been discussing whether to seek a third term in Congress, especially considering the formative ages of Mary Katherine and John. It has been an agonizing and difficult decision involving much prayer, thought and discussion. We have...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Rep. Tim Griffin, an Arkansas Republican, was named Friday to the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, a move that he says rules out a run for governor or the Senate in 2014. The panel announced that Griffin, who represents central Arkansas' 2nd District, was among four new Republican members. It is the chief tax-writing committee and members are not allowed to serve on other committees unless they receive a waiver from congressional leaders. Griffin is the first congressman from Arkansas to serve on the panel since 1992 and the first Republican from the...

FARGO – A new independent poll released today indicates North Dakota’s U.S. Senate race is a dead heat between Republican Rep. Rick Berg and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. Fargo-based Valley News Live and Bismarck-based KFYR-TV commissioned a poll of 625 likely North Dakota voters this week, just days before the statewide primary election. The poll found Heitkamp with 47 percent of the support from likely general election voters, while Berg had 46 percent. Seven percent remain undecided in the race, with about five months left until November. Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, of Washington, D.C., conducted the telephone survey June 4-6. The...

Republican Bob Turner holds a six-point lead in next week's special election to replace disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., according to a new Siena College poll released early Friday that shows voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic district are poised to deliver a stinging rebuke to President Obama and his party. Turner leads Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin in the poll, 50 percent to 44 percent. Six percent of likely voters in the Sept. 13th election are undecided. Discontent with Washington and the president is at the heart of Turner's shocking upset bid. In a district he won by 11 points...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Attorney General Rob McKenna is preparing to officially launch a campaign for governor. A Republican familiar with the McKenna's plans said Tuesday that he will formally begin his 2012 campaign during an event Wednesday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt McKenna's announcement. Washington state hasn't had a Republican governor since John Spellman left office in 1985. McKenna was first elected attorney general in 2004 after serving several years on the King County council. He is president-elect of the National Association of Attorneys General. Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday...

From Mike Allen’s morning newsletter today: Tommy Thompson, the Republican former Wisconsin governor and George W. Bush’s first HHS secretary, has told friends he plans to run for the open Senate seat in Wisconsin. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said Friday that he won’t seek a fifth term in 2012. Thompson’s announcement gives Republicans a popular former two-term governor of state to seriously challenge for this toss-up seat. There’s no chance Thompson would run against Paul Ryan, so the former Wisconsin Governor will await the Budget Chairman’s official announcement on the race before jumping in. Ryan has suggested in private conversations...

Conventional wisdome suggests Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) is the most vulnerable GOPer in Congress, seeking re-election in a heavily African-American district in which any scandal-free Dem should easily top half the vote. But conventional wisdom has been wrong before, and a new poll for Cao's campaign hopes to prove it wrong again. Cao led state Rep. Cedric Richmond (D) by a 51%-26% margin, according to a survey conducted May 27-June 2 by LA pollster Verne Kennedy. Cao leads Richmond by a 67%-13% margin among white voters, and by a narrower 39%-36% margin among African American voters. That African American vote...

Throughout the history of this blog, I have always stressed that in order to reclaim our country we need to elect limited government conservatives. Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak with Matthew Berry, a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in the 8th district. Over the last week or so, he has been seeking the endorsement of conservative Virginia bloggers, and has already gained the support of Bearing Drift, On the Right, and many more. Although his campaign website is a wealth of information, I wanted to learn a bit more about him. Besides being articulate and...

GRAND RAPIDS --State Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, will run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids. He was announcing his decision today. "West Michigan has a history of sending conservative, thoughtful representatives to Congress such as President Ford, Paul Henry and Vern Ehlers," Hardiman said. "They carried themselves with dignity and integrity. I'm a thoughtful conservative and am excited about running for this seat." Hardiman's announcement ensures at least a three-way primary, but the field could get crowded with other Republicans still seriously considering jumping into the 3rd Congressional District race. "If I am...

Conservatives have a number of opportunities for victories in 2010, but none is more important than the chance to defeat Senate majority leader Harry Reid. We must rally behind the right candidate to ensure that we not only defeat Reid but also gain a solid conservative senator. That candidate is Sue Lowden. I have known Sue and her family for years. I know that she has the fortitude to take on Reid and withstand the onslaught that he and his allies will unleash against her. More importantly, I know that she has strong conservative principles rooted in her personal faith...

New Poll Shows Jim Moran Is Vulnerable The Tarrance Group recently conducted a poll for our campaign of likely voters in Virginia’s 8th District that makes two things clear: (1) Jim Moran is vulnerable in 2010; and (2) I am the Republican candidate who can beat him. First, our poll found that Northern Virginians are clearly tiring of Jim Moran’s ethical lapses and offensive statements, and they are ready to see him go. Specifically, only 38% of likely voters believe that Jim Moran deserves to be re-elected. The plurality of likely voters, 40%, believe that it is time to give...

Over at Old Dominion Watchdog, Paige Winfield is reporting that long-time Northern Virginia Dem representative Jim Moran may become the poster boy for the kind of lawmaker Americans are getting fed up with. Matthew Berry, one of three GOP foes in this year’s race, charges Moran “has received over $80,000 this year in campaign contributions from executives, PACs, and lobbyists of companies for which he has requested earmarks totaling over $50 million. Such donations represent over 20 percent of the money raised this year by Moran.” Winfield says Berry is right: Berry is correct that Moran received more than $80,000...

Today, I am officially announcing my candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia’s 8th District. Twelve months ago, I never would have imagined that I would be taking this step; my life’s ambition has not been to hold elected office. But over the course of the last year, I have watched with growing dismay as the federal budget deficit has hit a record $1.4 trillion, unemployment has reached ten percent, and Congress has moved ever closer to passing a disastrous health-care reform bill. In Washington today, it sometimes seems that the answer to every problem is more, more,...

As election year begins, I am pleased to announce that we surpassed our end-of-the-year fundraising goal. In less than two months, we raised over $62,000, and we finished the year with over $60,000 cash on hand. This is the most cash on hand that any Republican challenger to Jim Moran has ever had at this point in the election cycle. I am humbled and grateful that so many of you have stepped forward to join our cause. This fantastic result demonstrates that our message of restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington, aggressively prosecuting the war on terror, and ending the culture...