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WASHINGTON--The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) issued the following release after The Commercial Appeal reported more details of Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.'s previous "nonexclusive courtship" with a Georgetown University sophomore: "It's good to hear Congressman Ford's Georgetown University girlfriend's spring break planning didn't get in the way of his meetings with the President," said Dan Ronayne, NRSC Spokesman. "But the least Fancy Ford could have done was call her back after news broke of their relationship. Not providing closure is distinctly un-fancy." The Commercial Appeal Reports "The Younger Ford's Dating Life Is An Active, But Quieter Affair. 'He Met Julia...

While I was in the Volunteer State a couple of weeks ago, I heard a radio commercial from Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Bob Corker about a $1,000 donation his opponent's campaign fund made to the Dwain Kyles Defense Fund that jogged my memory. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. is the Democratic candidate for the senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist. Who is Dwain Kyles? He was the owner of Chicago's E2 nightclub, where on February 17, 2003, 21 club patrons were killed in a stampede. Kyles was subsequently charged for involuntary manslaughter. The club was greatly overcrowded that night. Kyles...

Ford called self a lawyer but did not pass bar exam By Michael Davis Staff Writer Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Harold Ford Jr. referred to himself as a lawyer earlier this week, but the congressman has not passed the bar exam. Michael Powell, senior adviser to the Ford campaign, said U.S. Rep. Ford took the Tennessee bar exam in February 1997 and failed. He said that was the only time Rep. Ford has taken the test. Rep. Ford, of Memphis, got his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996, according to his congressional Web site. He...

There are more than five weeks to go before the midterm elections, and I'm already sick of the ubiquitous Senate campaign ads on TV -- especially those from the Johnny one-note former Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker. I know, I know, he's just doing the Republicans' well-practiced three-step shuffle -- repeating buzz words, labeling Democrats as evil people and ignoring the massive failures of the last six years. The spots that feature Corker's overbearing mother are quickly becoming as annoying as the "Head-On! Apply directly to the forehead!" ads. For this voter, who isn't exactly a fan of the Democratic candidate,...

NASHVILLE -- Democratic senatorial candidate Harold Ford Jr. charged Friday that opponent Bob Corker's new statewide TV ad saying that Ford voted against reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act is a "lie." The Memphis congressman's remarks followed a news conference at the Tennessee Vietnam Veterans Memorial here where he and about two dozen military veterans announced formation of a Veterans for Ford group. Ford rejected claims by Republican Corker that he has a "weak record in protecting America," including the charge in a new Corker TV ad that Ford voted against renewing the Patriot Act. The anti-terrorism law originally passed following...

The latest Rasmussen Reports election survey shows U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. closing in on Bob Corker in what has become one of the country’s marquee Senate races. Ford now trails Corker by a single point, 44% to 45% (see crosstabs). Last month’s poll showed him down by six; he trailed by 12 in July. Throughout Election 2006, Democrats have felt competitive in five races featuring incumbent Republicans—Pennsylvania, Montana, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Ohio. However, they need a net gain of six seats to take control of the Senate. Tennessee may now be on the radar screen as the potential...

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. is virtually tied with Republican opponent Bob Corker, according to internal poll results released by the Ford campaign. Rep. Ford, a U.S. congressman from Memphis, leads the former Chattanooga mayor 44 percent to 42 percent in the poll of 1,118 likely Tennessee voters. Thirteen percent of respondents were undecided in the head-to-head matchup. The poll was taken Aug. 10-15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.93 percent. Ford campaign senior adviser Michael Powell said during a Tuesday morning conference call that Mr. Corker was hurt during the fierce Republican...

State Sen. Steve Cohen won Thursday’s Democratic primary in the Ninth Congressional District. With all precincts reporting, Cohen had 23,570 votes. Nikki Tinker, who conceded about 10:30 p.m., was second with 19,132. She was followed by Joe Ford Jr. with 9,329, Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton with 8,050 and Ed Stanton with 6,920. Mark White easily won the Republican primary, collecting 12,013 votes to Tom Guleff’s 2,927 Cohen and White will face independent candidate Jake Ford in the November general election for the seat left open by U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.’s bid for the U.S. Senate. Jake Ford is...

Tennessee Democratic Rep. Harold E. Ford (news, bio, voting record) Jr., though highly competitive in his bid to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Bill Frist (news, bio, voting record) this year, faces two formidable obstacles. One is a trend against his party in a Southern state that jilted native son Al Gore for George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race. The other is that Ford is battling history in trying to become the first popularly elected black senator from the South. But Democrats argue that the three contending Republican candidates for the Aug. 3 Senate primary — former Reps. Ed...

Latest News Ford Wins Howard Dean Award Friday, July 07, 2006 NRSC Honors Rep. Harold Ford Jr. With The First “Howard Dean Award Of The Day” For... Thursday, July 06, 2006 GOP rips Ford for missed votes Thursday, July 06, 2006

NASHVILLE — The state Republican Party on Monday demanded that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. apologize for calling the three main GOP candidates "the three stooges" at a rally last weekend. "Last time I checked, name-calling didn’t win too many elections in Tennessee," state GOP chairman Bob Davis said. "Maybe Ford’s immaturity and insulting character assassination works in Washington, D.C., but in Tennessee it doesn’t fly." The main candidates in the Republican primary are former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker and former U.S. Reps. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary. "All three of the Republicans in the race for U.S....

NASHVILLE - The level of discourse between the three Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate is embarrassing and offensive to Tennessee voters, Democratic candidate Harold Ford Jr. said at a Democratic rally Saturday. Speaking to supporters at a block party before the state Democrats' annual Jackson Day event, the congressman from Memphis called his three GOP opponents "the three stooges." The candidates in the Republican primary are former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker and former U.S. Reps. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary. "They really need to grow up," Ford later told reporters. "They should be running a race that is worthy...

MEMPHIS — The fight over Ophelia Ford's removal from the state Senate isn't over, even though a majority of senators voted for it, a federal judge said Tuesday. In granting a request from Ford to block appointment of an interim replacement by the Shelby County Commission, Judge Bernice Donald said she must decide if the Senate's decision to remove Ford was proper. "There may be no vacancy for the county to fill," Donald said. Ford won a special election to the Senate by 13 votes last year, but senators decided in April to overturn those results, citing evidence of two...

When beer truck driver Wes McNeal was fighting for his life with an armed robber, he would have loved to have seen a blue and white Memphis Police cruiser turning the corner at Looney and Dunlap. McNeal, a distributor for D. Canale Beverages, was robbed at gunpoint of $603 and about $1,000 in receipts. He was the second vendor victimized at that spot recently. "It's a hot corner," McNeal said as he left the hospital for treatment of shoulder, elbow and face injuries. "I'm there, and I never see cruisers in the area." McNeal was one of 10 people robbed...

May 7--In the competitive race to fill the Senate seat of departing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R), likely Democratic nominee Harold Ford continues to trail all three potential Republican opponents. Representative Van Hilleary now leads Ford 47% to 38%. Representative Ed Bryant leads Ford 44% to 36%. And Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker leads him 43% to 39%. Those numbers are little changed from our previous Tennessee election poll. Since the beginning of the year, the gaps between Ford and the Republicans have widened. Hilleary does a bit better among conservatives than Bryant or Corker. All four candidates are viewed...

Brother makes 2 Fords in 9th race Congressman's younger sibling files late, taking on own cousin Joseph Ford Jr. and his cousin Jake aren't the Hatfields and the McCoys, but as potential Ninth District congressional opponents they aren't exactly kissing cousins either. Jake Ford shied away from kissing and telling why he waited until Thursday, the qualifying deadline, to officially enter the bloated race to succeed his older brother, U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. "There's nothing strange about it," said Jake Ford, 33, who filed to run as an independent. "You have such a crowded field in this congressional race....

The infamous North Memphis precinct where ballots were cast in the names of dead voters no longer exists. The Shelby County Election Commission has dissolved Precinct 27-1, consolidating it with an adjoining precinct. And all the 27-1 poll workers are barred from working future elections. "On its face, someone committed an illegal voting act,'' said commission Chairman Greg Duckett. "Until it's resolved ... we as a body felt it was important that no one affiliated with that ward and precinct works for the organization.'' A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe is in its fourth month following reports that someone used...

Was the matriarch of a Memphis political dynasty a white woman who married into a black family? Or was she a black woman with a white forefather buried in her lineage, a past shared with millions of black people?And why does it matter?Vera D. Ford The race of Vera Ford, the paternal grandmother of U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., came up when Harold Jr. declared she was white while campaigning for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee. His statement, first reported in December in a USA Today profile of the congressman, surprised many longtime Memphians who knew the Ford family and...

This is a verbatim transcript of Sen. Ford's remarks to reporters as she was leaving the Senate committee examining her election Thursday. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, that's why God is using me _ little old me _ to make needed laws that needed to be changed. It's not just affecting our state, it's going to affect our whole country with laws needing to have been change. They had to come upon a way to do it. What can they do but something like that? I think they're doing the very best that they can, my colleagues, I...

http://fancyford.com/Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. likes to live the good life...perhaps a little too much. Lavish hotel stays. Fine dining. Couture suits. Parties with Playboy Playmates...all on his campaign contributors' dime.It makes you wonder...what would the folks back in Tennessee think?