Tuesday’s political round-up

January 3, 2006

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:

* Two weeks ago, Texas Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn dropped hints that she’d consider leaving a GOP primary against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry (R) to ran as an independent. Yesterday, she made it official, announcing she’s still a Republican, but hopes to become the first independent governor of Texas since Sam Houston nearly 150 years ago. It sets up one of the more entertaining gubernatorial contests of the year. At this point, we have one vulnerable incumbent Republican (Perry), a Republican running as an independent (Strayhorn), a musician/writer/humorist running as an independent (Kinky Friedman), and two credible Democrats (former Rep. Chris Bell and former State Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage).

* Speaking of Texas, former Rep. Nick Lampson (D) formally filed the paperwork to run against Tom DeLay next year. Polls show DeLay very vulnerable in his district after a series of ethical and criminal scandals. Lampson will almost certainly not face a primary challenger, though DeLay, with three primary challengers, isn’t as fortunate.

* Dems hoping to recapture the governor’s office in Connecticut have an uphill climb ahead. The latest Rasmussen poll shows Gov. Jodi Rell (R) with an almost-ridiculous 87% approval rating and 40-point leads over likely rivals including Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy (D) and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano.

* Speaking of Rasmussen polls and popular incumbent governors, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) appears ready to cruise to a second term. Napolitano leads her closest challenger, Don Goldwater (R), 50% to 30%, and has even bigger leads over former state Senate President John Greene (R) and former state appeals judge Jan Smith Florez (R).

* Despite rumors that real estate mogul Donald Trump would enter New York’s gubernatorial campaign as a Republican, Trump ruled out the possibility this week, saying, “I have no interest in running for public office at this time.”

DeLay’s actually facing a challenge from his right: Steve Stockman is running as an independent.

  • I’m sure you know this, but it bears repeating for those who may not…Strayhorn is Scottie McClellan’s mom.

    I guess we know how he got his job now (Son of Texas Republican), don’t we?

  • Being in Oregon, I’m not too familiar with state and local politics in the northeast. Can someone enlighten me as to why Gov. Rell has such a huge approval rating? Apparantly she’s doing a lot of things right, I wonder if other politicians could follow her lead. What is she doing that her constituents like so much?

  • Hold the presses! McCllelan has a mother? I just thought it was hatched or found washed up on the shore. Damn. I can’t believe something gave birth to that.

  • Re: Rell

    She’s not John Rowland and she had breast cancer in ’05. That gets her to 65% popularity right out the gate.

  • Can someone enlighten me as to why Gov. Rell has such a huge approval rating?

    I probably wouldn’t put it quite the way Ozymandias did, but it’s a valid enough response. Gov. John Rowland (R) was deeply unpopular as corruption charges overtook his administration and he ultimately went to jail. Rell took over after serving as his Lt. Gov. and did everything right — by not being Rowland

    One almost gets the impression that Connecticut just wanted someone who wasn’t criminally corrupt and wouldn’t pick ridiculous fights for no reason. Rell has avoided both (so far), so she’s enjoying broad support.

  • One small point – Carole Keeton Strayhorn is actually Carole Keeton McClelland Rylander Strayhorn. Not sure if all of the rest of the husbands got divorced or died willingly.

  • I really like that the round-up is back and wanted to offer some fodder. Check out this campaign in IL-6th. The Democratic primary between Cegelis and Duckworth is going to be interesting. I am a strong supporter of Duckworth and think she’s a really compelling candidate check her out: http://duckworthforcongress.com/

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