Tuesday’s political round-up

July 19, 2005

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* A sweeping scandal surrounding Ralph Reed and his ties to Jack Abramoff is already undermining Reed’s campaign to become Georgia’s lieutenant governor, but if he wins the GOP primary, there’s another challenge looming ahead: a top-tier Dem opponent. State Dems are actively wooing former Sen. Max Cleland (D) to jump into the race and stop Reed (via Taegan Goddard).

* Now that Dino Rossi has made it clear he’s not running for the Senate, Safeco Corp. CEO Mike McGavick (R) will announce today that he will challenge incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) next year. McGavick announced yesterday he is resigning as chief executive officer of the Seattle-based insurer and will hold a press conference this afternoon about his Senate plans.

* Perrenial target Rep. Chris Shays (R) will face Westport First Selectwoman Dianne Farrell (D) again next year, creating a rematch of one of Congress’ closest elections last year. “The issues are virtually the same today as they were in 2004 — but the problems have gotten worse,” Farrell said. Last November, Farrell came within 15,000 votes of knocking off the nine-term incumbent.

* Former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler filed papers with the Federal Election Commission yesterday, clearing the way for his congressional campaign next year. Shuler, a Democrat, will take on Rep. Charles Taylor (R) in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

* The once-vulnerable mayor of New York seems to be gaining in public popularity at just the right time. A new Quinnipiac poll shows New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (R) approval rating on the rise and his lead over Democratic challengers inching up. In this poll, Bloomberg leads his top Dem rival, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, 52% to 36%. The 16-point margin is three points higher than that of a Quinnipiac poll from a month ago.

Former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler

Now if this guy can’t appeal to the stereotypical Red State voter, I’m afraid we’ll have to adopt classic Rove style tactics–holding our nose the entire time. Seriously, a former professional athelete should be able to talk the talk in a red state such as North Carolina.

  • McGavick, prior to taking over at Safeco Corp., engineered Slade (“Fishstick”) Gorton’s 1988 brief return from the dead (I know, he still looks cadaverous – I’m referring to his return from political defeat at the hands of Patty Murray), then worked as his Senatorial chief of staff for two years. Part of his accomplishment in turning Safeco around involved outsourcing tons of jobs overseas

    McGavick’s opponent Maria Cantwell already has a war chest of $3 million. With our peculiar election laws in WA (still in turmoil, btw) Reps fear that an contested primary for McGavick would be a disaster. Still, Diane Tebelius of Bellevue, a former federal prosecutor and 2004 congressional candidate, is giving serious consideration to running (I guess it’s time for Rove to bring out the “kill Tebelius” machine). Other possible contenders: state Rep. Linda Evans Parlette (no, not that Linda Evans), R-Wenatchee, and Susan Hutchison, former KIRO/7 news co-anchor.

    Just so no one feels to sorry for McGavick, quitting his job at age 47 in order to try knocking off Cantwell, his Safeco salary is $1.15 million this year, with a $2 million bonus last year, According to Safeco’s latest proxy statement, his full compensation last year (salary, bonus, stock grants, perquisites including a below-market home loan and personal use of a plane, and retirement contributions) amounted to $8.9 million.

  • I dunno about Shuler–he hasn’t actually lived in North Carolina in more than a decade. And I recall somewhere that he helped raise money for Congressman Jimmy Duncan (R-TN2).

    Where are you, Patsy Keever?

  • In addition to the stuff on Heath Shuler in the link CB provided, I found this interesting (from an undated webpage of Nashville’s WBIR-TV):

    The national Republican Party tried to recruit Shuler in 2001 to run for a Tennessee congressional seat. He declined.

    Adviser Randy Flack says Shuler is considering political office because he sees the people of western North Carolina continuing to suffer with the loss of jobs and plant closings.

    Sounds promising, huh?

    NC State Democratic Chairman is calling for an investigation of the two-term incumbent, Charles Taylor, on his “ethical lapses”. Among them:

    * the top official at the bank owned by Taylor, who was also Taylor’s campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering for making illegal loans to a major campaign contributor. Taylor, who micromanages everything at the bank, knew of the loans but escaped investigation himself.

    * Jackson County had to garnish Taylor’s congressional wages in order to collect back taxes from this very wealthy Congressman.

    * Taylor also owns a bank in Russia. His business partner is a former KGB General. Newspapers there say Taylor may be fleecing Russians with interest rates as high as 60%.

    Wouldn’t it be fun to manage Shuler’s campaign?

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