Free Republic

In Sen. Maria Cantwell and challenger Mike McGavick, Washington has two fully qualified choices for the Senate. The better choice is the Republican, McGavick. Some see this election as a referendum on George W. Bush. If we did, we would be for a solid Democratic ticket. But like most Washington voters, we take our candidates one at a time. Mike McGavick is an unusual businessman-politician. He managed the multibillion-dollar turnaround of Safeco Corporation, sacrificing some jobs but saving many others. He showed a sense of social purpose in his stress on racial inclusion at Safeco. He knows politics, having worked...

Democrat vs Democrat Connecticut sees primary victor, Ned Lamont, facing off against the loser, and former Veep candidate, Joe Lieberman. Lamont is against the war, and seems to have solidified his lead among Democrats, but in the general election independents and Republicans can vote too, so Lieberman retains a small lead. Confusingly, the Republican candidate is against the war, probably why his support is in single figures. Democrats did not want this fight, as it puts Democrat divisions on national security at the top of the news, but now they are stuck with it. Tossup. Republican targets New Jersey, sees...

The Seattle Times has recently reported on the close ties between Sen. Maria Cantwell and former boyfriend, boss and campaign consultant, lobbyist Ron Dotzauer ...

19. If the election for United States Senate were held today and the candidates were Maria Cantwell, the Democrat or Mike McGavick, the Republican, whom would you vote for? Maria Cantwell 49% Mike McGavick 40% Undecided 11%

To oust incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell, it's said that Republican challenger Mike McGavick needs to run a virtually perfect campaign and then hope for Cantwell gaffes and other developments beyond his control. Lately, though, he's making missteps and Cantwell forces are rushing to blunt his insurgent campaign. But on Friday, the Democratic senator suffered a setback of her own when The Associated Press reported that she helped line up more than $11 million in federal money for projects benefiting the clients of a lobbyist pal who owes her money.

This is a Rasmussen poll that's still on the premium portion of Rasmussen's site but got leaked to Leip's site. Cantwell 52% McGavick 35% Undecided 13% MOE +/- 4.5 percent from a sample of 500 likely voters.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell helped arrange more than $11 million in federal money in the past year for projects benefitting clients of a lobbyist who is advising re-election campaign and still owes her money from a personal loan.

Friends, I want to take a minute to reach out to you with a couple of thoughts. Recently, I told you all in an open letter on my blog that one of my biggest mistakes in life was a DUI some 13 years ago. Granted, this disclosure was an unconventionally honest approach to politics, but I want to be candid with voters about my mistakes and the lessons I’ve learned. I did not have a written record of the event, and I am not a lawyer. I relied only on my memory of a 13-year-old event. A copy of the...

U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick ran a red light, reeked of alcohol, failed a roadside sobriety test and fell asleep during police processing on a 1993 drunken-driving charge, according to a Maryland police report. The report was obtained Friday from the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department. It suggests that McGavick, a Republican running against Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell this fall, was less candid than he seemed when he disclosed the previously unknown arrest on his campaign Web site Aug. 24.

In a November Head-to-Head, Cantwell Defeats McGavick: In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in Washington today, 8/30/06, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell beats Republican challenger Mike McGavick, 53% to 36%, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 669 Registered Voters conducted exclusively for KING-TV Seattle. Independent Robin Adair, Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon, and Libertarian Bruce Guthrie each get 3%. Another 3% are undecided. Cantwell leads by 30 points among women and by 4 points among men, a 26-point "gender gap." Cantwell gets 85% of Democrat votes. McGavick gets 84% of Republican votes. Independents favor Cantwell by 21 points. Those who...

In a November Head-to-Head, Cantwell Defeats McGavick: In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in Washington today, 8/28/06, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell beats Republican challenger Mike McGavick, 56% to 39%, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 808 Registered Voters conducted exclusively for KING-TV Seattle. Cantwell leads by 29 points among women and by 4 points among men, a 25-point "gender gap." Cantwell leads among Democrats 15:1. McGavick leads among Republicans 7:1. Independents favor Cantwell 3:2. Those who approve of President George W. Bush's job performance choose McGavick 80% to 16%. Those who disapprove of Bush's performance choose Cantwell 81% to...

You know how a candidate's campaign blog is usually very staid and dull because the politician can never go off message? Well, this is something a little different. Mike McGavick, the Republican candidate for Senate in Washington used his blog to 'fess up to every bad thing he's done that is likely to become a campaign issue or already has. He addresses a divorce, a DUI, a nasty campaign ad, and a controversy over his management of a company during a time of lay-offs, all in an open letter on his blog. He closes with this thought: I have no...

Cantwell (D) 46% McGavick (R) 40%

Anti-war liberals blast Cantwell But her supporters say senator is no Lieberman By NEIL MODIE P-I REPORTER While anti-war liberals were high-fiving Sen. Joseph Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut's Democratic primary, mainstream Democrats here were busy explaining Wednesday why Washington's Sen. Maria Cantwell is no Joe Lieberman. Yes, she is, insisted Cantwell's two anti-war election opponents, at least when it comes to support of the Bush administration's Iraq war policy. The reality, however, is that Lieberman's loss to Ned Lamont, a wealthy, anti-war businessman who won the primary Tuesday by spending $4 million of his own money, bears little resemblance to...

...Rightroots has picked fourteen conservative House candidates and four conservative Senate candidates according to the belief that “properly funded, these candidates represent our best chance to retain control of Congress and to enact a conservative agenda.” The candidates are as follows: U.S. House of Representatives Michele Bachmann (MN-06) Chuck Blasdel (OH-6) Max Burns (GA-12) John Gard (WI-08) Diana Irey (PA-12) Jeff Lamberti (IA-03) Ray Meier (NY-24) David McSweeney (IL-08) Rick O'Donnell (CO-07) Peter Roskam (IL-06) Scott Tipton (CO-3) Van Taylor (TX-17) Chris Wakim (WV-01) Mike Whalen (IA-01) U.S. Senate Thomas Kean (New Jersey) Michael Steele (Maryland) Mark Kennedy (Minnesota) Mike...

WASHINGTON - Antiwar critics running against Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., lost one of their candidates this month when the Washington Democrat hired him to work in her campaign for $8,000 a month. In a contest that was always one of the Republicans' better opportunities to beat an incumbent, the big story of the summer was Cantwell's decision to hire (and silence) anti-Iraq War candidate Mark Wilson, one of several war critics whose candidacies threatened her bid for a second term. With polls showing Republican business executive Mike McGavick in a near dead-heat with the liberal lawmaker, as antiwar Democrats attacked...

A prominent Seattle lawyer and a scion of a prominent Seattle family are suing a prominent politician -- U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick -- over his lucrative retirement package from a prominent Seattle company, Safeco. The intriguing cast of characters came together Tuesday in a shareholder lawsuit, heavy with political overtones, against Safeco's board of directors and McGavick, a Republican who was its chief executive. It was filed in federal court in Seattle. The complaint said Safeco paid the candidate $28.4 million in early 2006 in an illegal "waste of corporate assets" after he resigned to run against Democratic Sen....

UNNYSIDE, Wash. — Hispanics need to become more involved in the political process to ensure their voices are heard on issues facing the nation, including immigration, the nation's only Hispanic governor said during a weekend visit to the state. Registering to vote and going to the polls are critical parts of that process, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said in a Saturday speech at the Sunnyside Community Center in Eastern Washington. ''The more we register, the more politicians on both sides of the aisle are going to listen to us,'' Richardson told the largely Hispanic crowd of about...

Dwindling voter support for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's re-election bid has put her in a statistical toss-up with her Republican opponent, according to a new poll announced Wednesday. Rasmussen Reports, an independent national polling firm, said a survey of 500 likely Washington voters June 13 showed the Democratic incumbent leading challenger Mike McGavick 44 percent to 40 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.