While I typically focus on Senate races, the special election in New York's 20th Congressional district is an excellent opportunity to stick it to the Republican Party.
NY-20 is a Republican leaning district in voter registration, but has been recently represented by now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and even narrowly supported now-President Barack Obama over John McCain.
The Democratic nominee, Scott Murphy, has turned a deficit in the polls into a narrow four-point lead over Republican Jim Tedisco. Momentum is on our side! A victory in this special election wouldn't just be a nice Democratic hold, but, since it is a Republican-leaning district, it would also be a major embarrassment for Republicans, particularly new RNC Chair Michael Steele.
How desperate are Republicans in this race? Well, they're very literally reduced to going with a noun, a verb, and 9-11 in flailingly attacking Murphy. And how loathsome is the Republican nominee? Even the Libertarian candidate, who was booted from the race after - it would appear - Republicans made a concerted effort to get enough Libertarian ballot signatures overturned, has endorsed Scott Murphy. (And it's one hell of an endorsement.)
The special election is this Tuesday! So what can you do to help?
This is a special election, so GOTV is everything. On Monday or Tuesday, if you can spend literally one single hour making calls, that could be the difference in a Republican pick-up versus a Republican embarrassment.
First off, I apologize to all of my readers (both of them!) for the light posting for the last week. I am now finally over the Plague & Pestilence which has reigned over my household for the better part of ten days or so. In the interim though I have been following the local political version of Deal Or No Deal starring Andre "The Juggernaut" Carson and Jon "Not Your Parents' Republican" Elrod via teh blogz and what passes for a news media in Indy these days. Pravda circa 1959 was more objective IMHO.
I was glad to see Wilson Allen's favorite Carson Machinist showed up for the Indiana Equality forum for the candidates last week. It was the first chance many folks had to hear the candidates debate directly and the debate went pretty well for both major candidates and the Libertarian Sean Shepard even got a few pointed jabs in that impressed a few bloggers on both sides of the Hoosiersphere.
What I would like to discuss today though is why I am opposed to Andre Carson's candidacy on a more macro view level. I've got my reasons for not liking Carson politically, but it is his professional record that is most troubling to me. The man has never held a job which Grandma Julia didn't prearrange for him in his life. Now that Grandma has passed on to the Congress in the sky and her last wishes were to see "her seed" ascend to her seat (feudalism! YAY!), we see the Carson Machine has swung into full force in backing their candidate of choice.
I just got off a conference call with the DCCC netroots outreach folks discussing the Special Election in IN-07 March 11th. I had an opportunity to ask a couple of questions and received some rather enlightening answers.
When asked if the DCCC would be supporting Andre Carson in the May Primary after the Special Election, the DCCC said that they would indeed be staffing and funding the Carson campaign against the other contenders in the crowded Primary field. The Primary includes candidates such as State Reps. David Orentlicher and Carolene Mays, as well as Dr. Woody Myers and Frances Nelson among other rumored but not yet official candidates.
The fact that the DCCC will be monkeying around in such a contentious primary is a slap in the face to the voters in the Special Election March 11th. Should Carson lose the Special to GOP nominee State Rep. Jon Elrod on March 11th, his campaign essentially is getting a do-over in the May Primary. This is truly an astounding turn of events, as prior to today the DCCC had been non committal about supporting Carson in the May Primary.
Abdul from Indiana Barrister is live blogging from the Democratic caucus this morning at Shortridge Middle School in Indianapolis where the party is slating its candidate for the Special Election being held March 11th to fill the vacant Congressional seat caused by the death of Rep. Julia Carson in December. This thread will be for updates on the action taking place at Shortridge this morning.
UPDATE #1 - 10:20am
The first round of voting has begun, Andre Carson,
Carolene Mays, Stephanie McCabe, David Orenlichter, Randle Pollard, Mike Rodman, Joanne Sanders and Jeffrey White are the candidates on the ballot. Andre Carson and Carolene Mays received the most applause when introduced according to Abdul.
UPDATE #2 - 11:00am
First round voting continues, several more rows of delegates left to vote. According to Abdul, rumors are floating that Andre Carson will make it on the second round of voting, but he also adds he saw Randle Pollard supporters convince a delegate not to vote for Carson.
UPDATE #3 - 11:45am
After one round of voting, delegates have chosen Andre Carson as the nominee for the special election on March 11th. Of 599 eligible precinct committeemen, 440 registered to vote in today's caucus. With 223 votes, 3 votes more than 50%, Andre Carson has been nominated to represent Democrats in the special election. The other candidates and their totals are as follows:
Carolene Mays -26
Stephanie McCabe - 1
David Orenlichter - 123
Randle Pollard - 6
Mike Rodman -27
Joanne Sanders - 21
Jeffrey White -8
I'd like to thank Abdul Hakim-Shabazz from Indiana Barrister for covering the event live. Congratulations to Andre Carson for winning the nomination, and I'd also like to thank the other candidates for participating in our democracy by standing for the nomination.
The latest out of Governor Daniels' office yesterday was the release of a letter from his legal counsel that appears to advocate for pushing the 7th District special election back to May, forgoing the earlier date in the name of financial expediency. Of course, that would leave the seat open for nearly five months, denying the residents of our state capital congressional representation. Taking Down Words has the letter if you want to check it out, but the essence of the argument revolves around saving the taxpayers the time and money associated with getting everyone together to elect a new representative.
While I understand the money argument, and am definitely sympathetic to those who are frustrated with how close the special election date will be to the May primary, I'm inclined to always default to the position that offers representation in the Congress over the one that doesn't. Of course, I don't live in the district so maybe my opinion doesn't count. What do you folks in the Indy area have to say?
The blogosphere is buzzing today with speculation regarding what may (or may not) be going on as we move toward the yet-to-be-announced 7th District special election in March. (Abdul says keep an eye out for either the 4th or 11th.)
Brian Howey notes that despite there being no shortage of names thrown around by supporters in both parties, there are only two candidates who have officially filed to run for the seat held by the late Julia Carson. State Reps. Jon Elrod (R) and David Orentlicher (D) have both signaled their intentions with the FEC, but it still isn't clear what support the two enjoy from Marion County officials in their respective parties. Equally unclear is whether the two will be running for the seat during the caucus selection process -- both parties are expected to have their slatings by the middle of next month -- or whether they will forgo this with an eye toward the May primary election.
Outside of these two, not much has solidified beyond whispered rumors and arguably wild speculation. Andre Carson received vocal support from numerous individuals at the ceremony for his grandmother, but any maneuvering on his behalf has largely been kept out of public view.
Jerame over at Bilerico writes this morning about the rumored candidacy of Rep. Carolene Mays, and the problematic relationship she has had with the GLBT community. Needless to say, she will have some questions to answer should she emerge as an option.
On paper, Carolene Mays looks like the perfect replacement for Julia. Mays is the president and publisher of the Indianapolis Recorder, the paper of record for the African-American community in Indianapolis. She is a 3 term Indiana State Representative. She serves (or has served) on numerous non-profit and foundation boards. She's won numerous awards for service and she's even a member of the same church Julia attended.
The area she falls most short of Julia is her support of LGBT Hoosiers. As a State Representative, Carolene Mays voted in favor of SJR-7, the Indiana Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Mays has never disavowed her support of the marriage amendment - an amendment Julia spoke against often - and she has shown no indication she would change her vote if it came before her again.
On the GOP side of things, the lack of initial vocal support for Jon Elrod seems to imply that there is room for movement by someone. Who that might be isn't very clear.
In conclusion: The only thing we know is that we don't know much. At least not yet. Expect the next few weeks to reveal a lot, but with the potentially contentious special election season giving way to a May primary, things may not shake out for months.
For you Indy folks with your ear to the ground, what are you hearing?
We are still waiting for Governor Daniels to set the date for a special election in the 7th District, but the Indiana Democratic Party has already set the time and place for their caucus. You won't be getting in unless you happen to be a precinct committeeperson, but here's the info for those who are interested:
DATE: Saturday, January 12, 2008
TIME: 10 a.m.
LOCATION: Shortridge Middle School Auditorium
There are 560 precinct committeepersons who are eligible to vote in the caucus. To be eligible, a committeeperson must have been on the list no later than Nov. 15, 2007, and must live in the district.
The winner of the caucus must receive a majority of votes from eligible precinct committeepersons who are present and voting. If there are multiple candidates, and no one receives a majority of the first vote, the candidate receiving the least number of votes will be dropped, and a new ballot will commence until the winner has a majority.
Candidates for the caucus must declare their candidacy by filing with the Indiana Democratic Party and the Indiana Election Division at least 72 hours prior to the caucus.
Candidates also must file a financial disclosure report with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. If they intend to raise money, candidates must establish a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission.
Filing with the Indiana Democratic Party will begin on Jan. 2.
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