DU State Sen. Report: If your State has an open US Senate Set

[usregimechange]

Report on your state. Include pictures, site links, polls, etc.

Missouri 2006 Senate Seat.

Missouri has an open seat in 2006 when Jim Talent' seat comes up for grabs. The most likely contender is current State Auditor Clair McCaskill.



She also just lost the MO Gov. job narrowly. Polls show Talent (who lost a Gov. race before winning the US Senate seat himself) is at risk. McCaskill has recently met with Harry Reid. However, she has not said she will run yet.


http://www.cafepress.com/mccaskill4sen

[evlbstrd]

1. Run, Claire, run!

[Clark2008]

2. Tennessee is getting rid of Fristy-boy, Tennessee is getting rid of

Fristy-boy!

:bounce:

He will NOT be running again - thank MY God (I don't know his fundie one. :crazy:)

So far, for the Dems, it's Harold Ford Jr. and maybe a woman by the name of Rosalind Kurita, a state senator.

For the Republicans, I THINK, Bob Corker (former Chattanooga mayor), Ed Bryant (former congressman) and maybe a fundie or two or three.

[usregimechange]

3. I think Harold Ford would be the best bet. Guys it is winning and #s

that matter now. We have to win the seat for the caucus.

[Clark2008]

4. Yeah. HFjr gets ragged on a lot here for being a DINO, but he's

running in a conservative state (his votes this year have been more conservative than in the past).
However, I think that if the Dems get a majority, more of the fence-sitting DINOs will vote with the Dems. It's a matter of safe politics.
I like Harold Ford, personally, and, while I don't agree with him all the time, I'd still rather have someone I agree with 85 percent of the time as opposed to never.
We have to take baby-steps in the redder parts of the region. Give us time to get there, folks. Us blue voters in red states are TRYING - but we need more of your support and less blasting us because our Dems aren't deep blue... YET.

[usregimechange]

5. Does he have a web site yet? Can you PM me when he does?

[Clark2008]

8. Sure.

In fact, I emailed him night before last and asked him (or his staff - whoever reads the email addy I have for him) to let me know when he had a website. LOL.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. Yes Corker is running

He announced it last year around the election because we had a our mayoral election in April. I'm glad Frist is gone. Corker isn't as crazy as Frist. Hell I don't think he is crazy. He's seen as a moderate but claims to be a conservative. Here's a photo and a few links to read more about him. He recently hired someone from the SBVT team to help him with his campaign (I was disappionted with that since I had respect for Corker).



Links:
http://adamgroves.net/blog/blogarchives/politics/us_senate_2006/ (this blog has some stuff)

http://www.edbryantforsenate.com/meet.htm

http://bloggingforbryant.blogspot.com/2005/03/bob-corker-double-talk.html

http://www.teamgop.org/blog/archives/2005/05/news_release_bo.html (interesting, since it's from the GOP you can take it or leave it. Corker is friends with democratic governor Phil Bredesen though I've heard.)

There are other links if you google Bob Corker for Senate. From the last polls I've seen he's behind.

[bertha katzenengel]

13. Bill Frist is retiring? Is it because he anticipates running for Prez?

Where the hell have I been? Congrats to my home-state-by-marriage!

[Awsi Dooger]

7. You seem to mean a seat that will be contested in 2006, not an open seat

Because Missouri would not qualify as an open seat, since Talent presumably will run for re-election. An open seat is one without an incumbent. As far as I know, the only open seats in 2006 will be Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland and New Jersey, the latter under the assumption Corzine wins his governor bid.

My home state of Nevada is all but certain to re-elect John Ensign by considerable margin. I really hope we don't waste much time on DU speculating that Ensign will fail, based on his relatively tight margin in 2000 and the theory Nevada is trending our way. There simply isn't a logical contender who can give Ensign a battle. The only two Democrats who could make it close are Las Vegas celebrity mayor Oscar Goodman and congresswoman Shelly Berkley. Neither one will be masochistic enough to contest Ensign. He is rare for a Republican in this state in that his base is the Democratic stronghold of Las Vegas. Ensign will always pull far beyond the normal GOP cut in the Las Vegas region and, of course, northern nevada is rural and conservative. I think we're stuck with Ensign for several cycles.

[usregimechange]

9. Yes any seat with a race in 2006, sorry. Havew you written those

two and asked them to run for the sake of the country?

[Awsi Dooger]

18. I'm hoping Oscar Goodman runs for governor in 2006

He can probably have that job if he wants it. We've been stuck with a GOP gov in Kenny Guinn for 8 years after many Democratic governors like Bob Miller and Richard Bryan.

Goodman has an astounding approval rating near 90%. He would pull a huge number from Clark County in a gov race, near impossible for any Republican to overcome. The problem is that Goodman probably won't run, since it would require relocation to sleepy Carson City in northern Nevada. Goodman is a former mob lawyer who loves the Las Vegas atmosphere. He even photographed former Playboy Playmate Jennifer Walcott in the buff a few weeks ago. He's intent on bringing a professional sports team(s) to Las Vegas.

Goodman won't take on Ensign and has shown no desire for a senate run. Shelly Berkley is more of an option. Her district is in Las Vegas and she wins congressional races by big margins. Frankly, I think she would challenge a lesser Republican or one who didn't have Las Vegas as a base.

[msongs]

17. how many californians have to move to NV to make a difference?

ya know, move for a year, then stay or leave :-)

Msongs
www.msongs.com/liberaltshirts.htm

PS - since blue states have such a dems overpopulation we could move around a bit and "share the wealth".

[blondeatlast]

10. Vile Jon Kyl, Arizona, up for re-election, and appears to be vulnerable.

If Governor Napolitano runs for Senate, he won't be re-elected. He's so vulnerable that there are several powerful Dems looking to run next year. Besides Napolitano, Attorney General Terry Goddard and AZ Dem chairman Jim Pederson are talking all around it, and still others are considering it.

Kyl is Bush's butt-lick in the Senate; no backbone whatsoever. I can't wait to see him lose.

McCain is Class III and isn't up until 2010.

[usregimechange]

16. Send Napolitano a note! Ask her to run for the good of the whole

country!

[blondeatlast]

22. Personally, my preference is for Goddard, whom I know

personally and is more liberal besides!

I like Janet where she is, frankly; keeping an iron fist on our bizarro state legislature. I think it's importatnt to have strong state leadership in these days.

[ArtVandaley]

11. DeWine is up in Ohio

While he looks like he'll be tough to beat, his recent participation in the compromise has pissed off the right, which could cause either a low conservative turnout or even a primary challenge.
But, unless a real candidate is put up, the Dems have no shot. So far Fingerhut, the guy that was destroyed by Voinavich last year, is looking like the nominee. Ohio Dems have a habit of finding a candidate who loses statewide elections and renominating them over and over again.
If the Dems want a legit shot, they need Cleveland-area US Rep Sherrod Brown. Very smart, very well spoken. I think that if DeWine gets a challenger in the primary, Brown would be more likely to jump in.

[ArtVandaley]

12. An article on Brown:

From the swing state project: http://www.swingstateproject.com/2004/12/democrats_fight.php

[bertha katzenengel]

14. Maryland Democratic mainstay Paul Sarbanes is retiring.

Kweisi Mfume is running. If I can find the energy, I might work for his campaign.

http://www.mfumeforsenate.com/main.htm

sitting Lt. Governor Michael Steele is running -- no web site found

So far, that's all I know.

[usregimechange]

26. Isn't Mfume a NAACP guy?

[thrift_store_angel]

28. Ben Cardin

Ben is also running for Sarbanes Seat.

http://www.bencardin.com/

[usregimechange]

15. kick

[genius]

19. In 2006, we hope to rid ourselves of Feinstein in CA

We're trying to get Sheen or Farrell or Woolsey, Waters or Lee to run.

[usregimechange]

21. Just make sure you get us a blue victory

[usregimechange]

20. kick

[Comicstripper]

23. MARYLAND

Paul Sarbanes is retiring, obviously. Candidates include:
DEMOCRATS:

Kweisi Mfume


Rep. Ben Cardin

REPUBLICANS:

(To Be Announced) Lt. Gov. Michael Steele

[usregimechange]

24. How do you feel about the race?

Is there a strong popular in your state candidate that could win?

[KingFlorez]

25. Ready for '06

I'm backing Clair all the way. We need to contest as many seats as possible to assure a majority, if we only contest a few we'll fail.

[election_2004]

27. Minnesota

Right next door to me, Minnesotans have to fill Mark Dayton's seat, when Dayton decided not to run for reelection.

The Republican nominee will probably be wingnut Mark Kennedy, who barely beat out Democratic activist Patty Wetterling in a very conservative district.

The Democratic nomination to replace Dayton will go to either Patty Wetterling or Amy Klobuchar.

If Klobuchar is the nominee, conventional wisdom seems to be that Patty won't run for anything again.

If Wetterling is the nominee, Klobuchar could still run in 2008 to challenge Norm Coleman (although I'd prefer Becky Lourey to take a stab at Normie in '08).

Either Klobuchar or Wetterling will have a good shot at holding that seat for the Dems if she runs a smart campaign.

[usregimechange]

29. What were their jobs prior? What do you think the odds are?

[election_2004]

30. Klobuchar and Wetterling

Wetterling is a child advocate (her son, Jacob Wetterling, was kidnapped and never found back in the 1990s).

Klobuchar is a county attorney.

Either of them would have a 50/50 OR BETTER chance of defeating wingnut Kennedy.