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On Deck: 2022

Howie Klein on Twitter: "The EMILY's List recruit for the Pennsylvania Senate election, who was getting no traction whatsoever, just dropped out." / Twitter
That was Val Arkoosh.

Val Arkoosh drops out of 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race - "She struggled to gain traction despite leading the state’s third-largest county. The field now shrinks to three top-tier candidates, all men."
Arkoosh struggled to gain traction despite leading the state’s third largest county and one of its most Democratic, and running as a physician with local government experience during a pandemic.

She entered the race last April, a few months behind Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. She was soon endorsed by EMILY’s List, an influential women’s group that plays a major role in Democratic politics.

But Arkoosh never found a political opening. In limited polling of the primary, she was often in last place among established candidates in the race. She got just 17 votes last month out of about 300 Democratic Party activists who gathered to consider a formal endorsement, which eliminated her from consideration in the first round of balloting.
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Pennsylvania's high-profile race for Senate begins to take shape | TheHill

The top-running Democrats: "Meanwhile, Rep. Conor Lamb nearly clinched the votes needed for the imprimatur at a Democratic Party meeting last weekend, but Lt. Gov. John Fetterman still leads in the polls. "

Seems like State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is behind. He's supported by Brand New Congress.

On the Republican side: "No crowd-clearing candidate has yet risen to the top in Republicans’ regional caucuses and no endorsement is anticipated to be granted at this weekend’s state party confab, but businessman Dave McCormick and former lieutenant governor candidate Jeff Bartos have emerged with the most momentum, while Mehmet Oz looks to capitalize on his celebrity status. "

Pennsylvania Senate Republican race between Oz and McCormick turns ugly early - CNNPolitics
The ads, particularly from the super PACs, are hitting the rival candidates hard on everything from McCormick's hedge fund investment in China to a PSA from Oz touting the benefits of Obamacare. Pro-Sands ads, meanwhile, aren't yet engaging in the slugfest.

One Oz ad features the candidate pointing to the dormant smokestacks of the Bethlehem Steel plant and lamenting the loss of "Pennsylvania jobs." Oz was born in Ohio and grew up in Delaware but attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. His wife, author Lisa Oz, is from Philadelphia.

"I can't be bought," says Oz in one of his ads, a line he frequently uses on the campaign trail that echoes Trump's own claim during 2016 to be above corruption.

For his part, McCormick was born near Pittsburgh and grew up in Bloomsburg, southwest of Wilkes-Barre. His high school gym is featured in one ad, and two of his friends and hunting buddies from the area are featured in another.

"America's under attack from the woke left, Big Tech, and dumb government," says McCormick in his latest spot.

But the more negative ads indicate where the primary is headed. Groups supporting McCormick have already hit Oz with claims he is a "Hollywood liberal" who supported Obamacare, while the Oz campaign aired an ad warning voters about McCormick's financial investments in China to the sound of a banging gong.

"McCormick: China's friend, not ours," said the ad's narrator.
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Then McCormick's campaign responded.
"Mehmet Oz - citizen of Turkey, creature of Hollywood - has spent the last 20 years making his fortune from syndicating his show in China, enriching itself through censorship and CCP propaganda," said Jess Szymanski, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. "While Mehmet has been silent on China until he needed to knock down Dave's credentials, Dave was serving our country and standing up to the CCP."

Syzmanski continued, "How can he claim to be America First when he has dual loyalties?"

Brittany Yanick, Oz's spokeswoman, called that a "disgusting attack."

"He maintains his dual citizenship to oversee the care of mother, who has Alzheimer's," Yanick said. "McCormick knows this and the attack on a son standing with his mother has no place in public discourse. McCormick should be ashamed of himself."
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The left neutralizes the Dem establishment in Pa. Senate primary - POLITICO - "At one time, the Democratic Party would have cleared the Senate field for a candidate like Conor Lamb. Not anymore."
Conor Lamb is the kind of swing-state Senate candidate who used to make Democratic power-brokers swoon.

A former Marine and prosecutor, Lamb catapulted onto the national scene in 2018 when he flipped a House seat that former President Donald Trump carried by nearly 20 points. President Joe Biden said the young, centrist lawmaker reminds him of his late son, Beau.
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Ideology scores from govtrack.us for Rep. Conor Lamb, D-PA-17:
2020: 0.42, 2018: 0.42
(0 = left, 1 = right)
Yet for all his pedigree as a battleground state candidate, Lamb remains mired in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat, trailing progressive frontrunner Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in both fundraising and the polls. Even more surprising: The party establishment hasn’t swooped in to help Lamb, despite the fact that Democratic leaders have aggressively recruited candidates with a profile like his to run for Senate in the past.

Lamb’s predicament offers a window into how much the Democratic Party has changed in recent years: Progressives have gained a major foothold, small-dollar fundraising has upended election dynamics, and moderate white men like Lamb are no longer shoo-ins.
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In polls, he is currently tied with State Senator Malcolm Kenyatta, and behind former Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.

CL is also being out-raised by JF. JF $12M, CL $4M.

However, Carville promotes new super PAC for Conor Lamb - POLITICO aiming to raise $8M.
That's James Carville, the long-time Democratic strategist.
 
Why are these two debating anyway?

 
Stark contrast between Senate candidates Josh Mandel, Morgan Harper in 1-on-1 debate | WSYX - Jan 27
noting
Tom Bosco on Twitter: "STANDING BY: Get your political popcorn ready! I'm at North Columbus Baptist Church, standing by for debate between US Senate candidates @mh4oh (Morgan Harper) and @JoshMandelOhio. (link)" / Twitter
From that Twitter thread:
Should be 20 questions asked of the candidates tonight. Candidates will get 1:30 response & :30 rebuttal.

Mandel: "Radical left trying to teach our kids to hate America."

Mandel: blasts the other Dem Senate candidate @TimRyan for not debating @mh4oh. Says he's and Dems disrespect Harper b/c she's a black female.

Harper: touts time as a CPB lawyer in Obama admin. Says we don't have a policy problem, "we have a politician problem." Pro-worker, pro-union, pro-health care.

Mandel: on Bitcoin, time to "end the Federal Reserve" and "democratize money... If you distrust the government, Bitcoin is for you." Harper: crypto has some potential, "but as former consumer attorney... we need to be aware of mitigating the risks" of crypto.

On the filibuster... Morgan: filibuster is a barrier, get rid of it, but also blames GOP that's unwilling to get anything done. Mandel: maintain the filibuster, invokes Biden, Pelosi, Schumer. "The Biden inflation" gets snickers from Morgan supporters in crowd.

...
Climate crisis question. Harper: need to recognize that this is "a huge economic opportunity for our state" also need to "make sure my opponent gets nowhere near the US Senate." Mandel: we should be drilling for all the natural gas and oil we can, "the jobs are in the ground."

Mandel: "If Morgan was a white male, @TimRyan would have already debated her." Mandel says he'll "set records for votes I get among the black community... I wear as a badge of honor that the establishment of the Republican party hates."

Harper: "What we don't need is Josh Mandel in any way speaking for the Black community." (Question was about both candidates being outsiders.)

Church & State question now... Mandel: "I do not believe in separation of church & state, there is no such thing." "We're not going to save this country in political offices... we're going to save this country in churches..."

Harper: "I don't even know where to begin... a core American value is separation of church & state... need to get leaders who are bringing us together and solve our problems." Mandel counters with "The left is in this country is a godless left."

Harper: need to invest in renewable energy jobs; Mandel: support for renewables is "corporate welfare... that's why I'm so opposed to" renewables.

Should ICE be abolished... Harper: everyone should be able to have the immigrant story like my mother, who came from Trinidad... "America is country that is made of immigrants." Mandel: "We should do everything we can to finish Pres. Trump's border wall."

Schools question coming... "at what point do parents forfeit their rights to the educational system?" Harper: "we must incorporate the views of parents and educators" so kids get good education. We cannot "defund" education and schools.

Mandel: "The real problem with schools... they care more about parents than the kids." Should be up to parents whether kids wear masks and what's taught. Pivots back to transgender issue, saying schools can't teach "that there are 50 genders and you can pick your gender."

"Will you support John Lewis Freedom to Vote Act?" Mandel: "I'm fundamentally against that, get Washington away from our elections... I believe the 2020 election was STOLEN from Donald J Trump." Go back to paper ballots; get rid of vote by mail, except seniors and servicemen.

Harper: Ohioans she talks to are worried about having enough opportunity to vote. Supports John Lewis act. Opposes gerrymandering. "One party feels like it has to cheat in order to win and deny opportunities for black people to vote."

Mandel "We need to crush organizations like Black Lives Matter."

Pandemic question... Harper: "we now know enough to manage the virus, we know what the tools are.. we need to vaccinate as many as possible." Mandel: "this whole COVID situation was never about science, it was about power and control."

Mandel: "COVID was a bioweapon created by the Chinese Communist party" to get back at Trump because he confronted China.

Last question now. Then closing 2 min statements.

Mandel: "I'm not just going to drain the swamp, I'm going to blow up the swamp." Harper: "Josh Mandel is the swamp."

A handshake after it’s all over.
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Tyler Buchanan on Twitter: "The second Josh Mandel v. Morgan Harper debate is going completely off the rails (vid link)" / Twitter
The second Josh Mandel v. Morgan Harper debate is going completely off the rails

Mandel just directly accused of Harper of absentee voter fraud

Mandel is just openly insulting Harper at this debate, to groans

Mandel, on slavery:

Mandel is asked specifically about Black unemployment. His answer entirely revolved around natural gas drilling and the jobs it would bring to Ohio

After a debate in which Mandel called Harper dumb and scolded her for being "angry" about a dozen times, Harper refuses to shake his hand
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JM said that at one point, he described MH as like AOC but smarter, but he corrected that to only dumber.

Aimie Earle on Twitter: "@Tylerjoelb “Don’t lecture me about race” says the defensive white man. I feel for the moderator but the woman has a point" / Twitter

Katie on Twitter: "@earlegirl4 @Tylerjoelb He gave the military version of "I have Black friends."" / Twitter
 
Yup. He ran for TX-03.
He had an affair with British native Tania Joya, the widow of John Georgelas, an American who joined ISIS in 2013. From the first NY Post article,
Joya, 38, claimed she and Taylor, a Marine vet, were “very close” after meeting through her work helping to reprogram extremists that she started after returning to the US from Syria, the Dallas Morning News reported.

She told the news site that the pair started sexting with each other and an intimate, physical relationship soon followed that lasted about eight months.

A purported text message written by Taylor and shared with National File allegedly shows the elected official graphically describing sex acts he wanted to do with Joya.

Toward the end of their affair, Joya asked Taylor for help paying off some bills and she claimed he agreed and gave her $5,000, but only if she kept her mouth shut. The alleged hush money was first reported by Breitbart News.

“I needed help. I was like, just help me out because that’s the least — the very least — he could do,” she told the outlet.

“For him, it was like, ‘OK, on the condition you don’t tell anyone.’ … I didn’t want to tell anybody anything.”
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He was exposed by rival candidate Suzanne Harp. From The Daily Beast,
Joya says she got in touch with Harp last Thursday, after becoming tired of seeing Taylor’s campaign billboards around town.

“All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say, ‘Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya. Would you like to resign before we embarrass you?’” Joya told The Dallas Morning News. “But it didn’t happen like that.”

Instead, Harp sent a supporter to meet with Joya, who bared her soul in a 35-minute recorded interview posted online Sunday night by National File, a far-right news site accused by traditional media outlets of frequently publishing specious claims. Joya shared text messages with the outlet that Taylor had sent during their relationship, including one that read, “I want a long slow rim job while I have a drink—then for you to deep throat me while you stroke my cock and I cum on your tonsils.”
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That primary election had the results Van Taylor 48.7%, Keith Self 26.5%, Suzanne Harp 20.8%, others 2.7%, 1.3%.

VT and Keith Self were to face each other in a runoff election on May 24, but with VT resigning, KS will continue to the general election.
 
Some more highlights of the Texas primaries.
  • R Gov: Greg Abbott: 66.4%
  • D Gov: Beto O'Rourke: 91.3%
  • R Lt Gov: Dan Patrick: 76.6%
  • R Atty Gnrl: Ken Paxton: 42.7%, George P. Bush: 22.8% (both advancing to a runoff)
(incumbents' names bolded)
George P. Bush is a grandson of former President George H.W. Bush. So will we see a new generation of Bushes in politics?
 
House Democrats name top challengers in fight for majority - POLITICO - "The DCCC put a dozen people on its "Red to Blue" list of top-tier challengers."

"The majority of the program’s roster is running for seats that became much more favorable for Democrats under new redistricting maps. Biden carried 10 of the 12 target districts in 2020."
The Democrat’s “Red to Blue” list includes several candidates running in seats that Democrats lost in 2020: state Assemblyman Rudy Salas, who is challenging Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.); Jay Chen, a Navy veteran running against Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.); state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who is challenging Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-Iowa); state Sen. Liz Mathis, who is running against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa); Gabe Vasquez, a former Las Cruces city council member challenging Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.); and former Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), who has launched a rematch against Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.).

Three others are running in seats that were transformed from Trump-won districts into Biden seats in redistricting. In Illinois, Nikki Budzinski is running for a Springfield-based district that Biden carried by 11 points. In New York, Jackie Gordon is running for a newly created Long Island seat that the president won by a similar margin. And in Michigan, Hillary Scholten is back for a rematch with GOP Rep. Peter Meijer, whose seat was redrawn into one that Biden carried by 9 points.

The DCCC has also placed two Ohio candidates in the program: state Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is running for an open Akron seat, and Cincinnati Councilmember Greg Landsman, who is challenging GOP Rep. Steve Chabot.

Another addition, state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, is running to replace retiring Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) in a deep blue district that Biden carried by 14 points.

Some of these could be easy pickups even in a tough environment: Salas, for example, is vying for a seat in California’s Central Valley that Biden won by 13 points.
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All But One House Republican Who Voted To Impeach Trump Faces A Trump-Endorsed Challenger | FiveThirtyEight

Impeach him last year, that is.

Is the candidate retiring? Did Trump endorse a primary challenger? Is the candidate running against a fellow Republican incumbent in that district? 538's estimate of partisan lean.

CandidateDistrictRetiring?Trump oppo.?Fellow inc.?Partisanship
Liz CheneyWY-01XR+49.7
Tom RiceSC-07XR+25.8
Dan NewhouseWA-04XR+24.6
Jaime Herrera BeutlerWA-03XR+11.2
Fred UptonMI-04XXR+8.9
Peter MeijerMI-03XD+2.5
David ValadaoCA-22D+10.1
Anthony Gonzalez--XX--
Adam Kinzinger--X--
John Katko--X--
 
Trump endorses Rep. Nancy Mace's primary challenger | TheHill
Former President Trump endorsed GOP candidate Katie Arrington on Wednesday in her bid to unseat Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has blamed Trump for causing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Trump, in a statement via his Save America PAC, knocked Mace, calling her “an absolutely terrible candidate” who has been “disloyal” to the Republican Party. He also said the congresswoman’s “remarks and attitude have been devastating for her community, and not at all representative” of the GOP.

The former president said Arrington is liked, respected “and a true Republican,” writing that she is “strong on the Military, our great Vets, Law Enforcement, the Border, and will fight very hard for our under-siege Second Amendment and Lower Taxes.”

“Katie is a wonderful woman and has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” he added.
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She soon responded.
Rep. Nancy Mace pushes back after Trump endorses GOP primary challenger in South Carolina | Fox News
One day after Donald Trump endorsed a primary challenger against Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, the first-term lawmaker from South Carolina showcased that she was one of the former president's earliest supporters.

And in a video posted to social media on Thursday, Mace warned that if Katie Arrington, her Trump-backed challenger, wins the GOP primary, the Democrats would likely recapture South Carolina's coastal-based 1st Congressional District.

"I remember in 2015 when President Trump announced his run, I was one of his earliest supporters. I actually worked for the campaign in 2016. I worked at seven different states across the country to help get him elected," Mace highlighted in her video, which was recorded as she stood in front of Trump Tower in New York City.
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noting
Nancy Mace on Twitter: "I’m standing in front of Trump Tower with a message this morning…
#SC01 #LowcountryFirst (vid link)" / Twitter
Then saying how much of a Trumpie she is.

However,
Former Trump chief of staff endorses Nancy Mace | TheHill
Mick Mulvaney
 
The Trump 2022 endorsement tracker - Feb 17 - Axios
Endorsements by Donald Trump - Ballotpedia

The Axios article has a chart that shows the status of everybody that Trump has endorsed so far.

Type of OfficeTotalR IncR ChalDemOpen
US Senate138122
US House5340706
Statewide2373310
State leg.1431010

  • R Inc = endorsed Republican incumbent
  • R Chal = endorsed challenger of Republican incumbent
  • Dem = endorsed challenger of Democratic incumbent
  • Open = open-seat race
Trump has mainly endorsed incumbents so far. His House-Republican challengers are all those that I've listed, and he's endorsing Kelly Tshibaka against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Elsewhere, he is endorsing fmr. Sen. David Perdue against Gov. Jack Kemp in Georgia Governor, and Rep. Jody Hice against Brad Raffensperger for Georgia Sec'y of State. That's to have someone in charge of elections that he will like.

The Ballotpedia list is more up-to-date than the Axios list, and not surprisingly, it includes more candidates.
 
blastula said:
Senate candidate Herschel Walker has cracked the case.

sports.yahoo.com

Herschel Walker Skeptical Of Evolution: 'Why Are There Still Apes? Think About It'

The former NFL player, who is now running for Senate in Georgia, gets some basic facts wrong.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com
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He's cracked alright.
My family came from Scotland. Why are there still Scots?
The Air Force came from the Army. Why is there still an Army?
The Monty Python movie, Life of Brian, came from the Bible. Why is there still a Bible?
The Mel Brooks movie, Passion of the Christ, also came from the Bible. Why did he make the same movie but skipped all the jokes?
 
Like a dead fish going with the flow, Sarah Palin is running for office.

www.alaskapublic.org

Sarah Palin among 50 candidates running to fill remainder of Don Young's term in US House

Palin joins more than 50 other people who have filed to represent Alaska in the U.S House of Representatives.
www.alaskapublic.org www.alaskapublic.org

Good, we need someone to keep their eye on Putin as he rears his head.

This election is this year though. They will have an open primary in June, and the top four candidates will move on to the ranked-choice ballot in August.
 
www.huffpost.com

Trump-Backed Vernon Jones Says Civil Rights Don't Apply To Gay People Because They 'Can Change'

On the other hand, "I'm Black, from cradle to grave," the Georgia congressional candidate told Steve Bannon. "I don't have a choice."
www.huffpost.com
Donald Trump-endorsed Georgia congressional candidate Vernon Jones said Thursday that civil rights don’t apply to the gay community because he insisted that gay people “can actually change” to become straight.
And if they do that, they also apparently don’t need any civil rights protections, Jones indicated.

“Civil rights for Blacks, and gay rights for gays are two different things,” Jones declared to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on his “War Room” podcast.
“I don’t know what you are unless you tell me what you are if you’re gay. When I walk into that room, you can tell that I’m Black. I’m Black from cradle to grave,” Jones said. “Let’s not get that confused.”
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