Wednesday’s political round-up

September 14, 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:

* In New York’s mayoral primary yesterday, Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer came this close to avoiding a run-off race, ending up with 39.95% of the vote — and he needed 40%. As it turns out, however, it was close enough: Rep. Anthony Weiner, who came in second with 29%, conceded the race this morning.

* Stephen Laffey (R) starts off his primary challenge against Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) at a serious disadvantage — a new Brown University poll shows Chafee leading among GOP primary voters, 44% to 24%. On the other side of the aisle, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse leads Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown in the Dem primary, 32% to 16%. When one adds the numbers, it’s obvious that undecideds still dominate in both races.

* Many Montana Dems believe incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns (R) is vulnerable, and a new statewide poll shows the leading Dems within relative striking distance. A Rasmussen poll, released yesterday, shows Burns leading state Senate President Jon Tester (D), 51% to 38%, and leading State Auditor John Morrison (D), 51% to 39%. Both Dems trail Burns significantly in name-recognition.

* Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) received more bad news yesterday, when another Dem announced interest in a primary challenge in next year’s gubernatorial race. Last week, State Sen. Vicki Walker (D) said she’d take Kulongoski on, and yesterday, State Sen. Rick Metsger, a former TV news anchor and reporter, said he’s “seriously thinking” about taking on Kulongoski in the 2006 governor’s race

* In Iowa, the large field of Dems running for governor next year just got a little smaller, with State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald (D) announcing that he will run for re-election instead.

* And in St. Paul, Minn., voters have responded to Mayor Randy Kelly’s decision to endorse George W. Bush last year — by voting against him in droves yesterday. Challenger Chris Coleman (D) outdistanced Kelly by 52% to 27%, with Kelly coming perilously close to dropping behind Green Party candidate Elizabeth Dickinson, who received 19%. Coleman and Kelly will face off again in the general election in November.

Ahhh yes. Mayor Randy “Clueless” Kelly.

An unapologetic opportunist if ever one there was.

AP: “‘We said we’d come in second. That comes as no surprise,’ said Kelly campaign spokesman Vince Muzik, as the mayor and his supporters watched returns at Mancini’s Char House on West Seventh Street.”

And now for Senator Norm.

  • Notwithstanding his endorsement of Bush, Randy Kelly identifies himself as a Democrat, for those of you out of the St. Paul area who might not know this.

  • Coleman and Kelly will face off again in the general election in November.

    Why will this happen?

    Notwithstanding his endorsement of Bush, Randy Kelly identifies himself as a Democrat, for those of you out of the St. Paul area who might not know this.

    So does Zell Miller. What’s your point?

    To be clear, my point is that if you are going to endorse W and his nightmare administration, you can register with any party you like, but I’ll never consider you a real democrat.

  • Saint Paul has a non-partisan primary. Anyone who wants to run, regardless of party affiliation, runs in the primary. Top two vote-getters face off in November.

    It’s worth noting that

  • You bet Edo.

    Clueless is gonna get whomped in November. He didn’t finish that far ahead of the Green candidate. You can be sure very, very few of those folks will be voting for him.

    He might not even get 30% of the vote. That would be pretty funny.

    Speaking of clueless, how about that DLC? From Kos:

    “Now wouldn’t you know who shows up in the DLC’s 2003 ‘100 To Watch’ list? A certain mayor of St. Paul. Not only that, but they love Kelly so much that they profiled him in their magazine in 2002 and made him ‘New Dem of the Week’ in both 2002 and 2003.

    That’s some serious praise they’ve heaped on the guy. And the sad part is that being a Bush-endorsing Democrat lines up nicely with the DLC agenda. It’s not as if he strayed from the DLC path.”

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