Archive

Massachusetts 5: Clark Wins Critical Democratic Primary

October 16, 2013 · 2:59 PM EDT

State Sen. Katherine Clark won the Democratic primary Tuesday in the the race to replace Sen. Ed Markey (D). Clark finished first with 32 percent in the seven-candidate field, followed by Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian (22 percent), state Rep. Carl Sciortino (16 percent) and state…

Florida 13: Democrats Finally Get an Opportunity

by Nathan L. Gonzales October 16, 2013 · 2:58 PM EDT

After a decade of tormenting Democrats with retirement rumors, Rep. C.W. Bill Young announced that he would not seek re-election. The Florida Republican’s decision creates an open seat opportunity for Democrats in Florida’s 13th District.

Now candidates in both sides of the aisle are jockeying…

Is Ted Cruz Causing a Democratic Wave?

by Stuart Rothenberg October 16, 2013 · 8:56 AM EDT

Last week I observed that I hadn’t yet seen “compelling evidence” that a Democratic political wave could be developing. I can no longer say that after seeing the recently released NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

That highly regarded poll showed Republican numbers have taken a considerable…

Florida 13: Young’s Retirement Creates More Competitive Contest

by Nathan L. Gonzales October 10, 2013 · 11:22 AM EDT

For those of us who follow congressional races for a living, Rep. C.W. Bill Young retirement rumors had become a running joke.

But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and talk of a Young retirement finally proved right this time. The Florida Republican’s decision to not seek re-election…

Shutdown Fever: Is the House in Play Now?

by Stuart Rothenberg October 9, 2013 · 10:03 AM EDT

On Sunday, a Huffington Post headline screamed what most Democrats were hoping: “GOP In Grave Danger Of Losing House In 2014, PPP Polls Show.” Of course, anything coming from Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling and MoveOn.org Political Action, which paid for the surveys, must be taken with…

Marriage Equality and New York’s 19th District

by Nathan L. Gonzales October 3, 2013 · 10:12 AM EDT

Last week, Democratic activist Sean Eldridge officially announced his run in New York’s 19th District against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson.

But there was one glaring issue left out of his nearly-three-minute introductory Web video: marriage equality.

The omission was noteworthy because Eldridge, who…

Republican Senate Hopefuls Vary in Quality, Approach

by Stuart Rothenberg October 2, 2013 · 9:46 AM EDT

I recently interviewed four Republican Senate candidates in the space of one week, and if I had to draw a single assessment from those meetings it would be that there is plenty of diversity in the GOP’s class of Senate hopefuls.The four differed in stature, style and background, and they dealt…

Tennant Not a Game Changer Yet for West Virginia Democrats

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 30, 2013 · 9:51 AM EDT

A few weeks ago, Democrats didn’t even have a warm body in the West Virginia Senate race. So getting Secretary of State Natalie Tennant to run for the Senate was quite a catch.

But even though Tennant is a credible statewide elected official, she starts as a significant underdog in the…

OMG!!! A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. Or Maybe Not

by Stuart Rothenberg September 28, 2013 · 10:09 PM EDT

Once again, Henny Penny is running around to warn us that the sky is falling. A government shutdown is only [fill in the blank] days, [fill in the blank] hours and [fill in the blank] minutes away. The countdown clock shows the seconds ticking by. The end is near.

Well, maybe that’s true. Maybe…