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GOP businessman Vance McAllister wins House seat in Louisiana
McAllister easily beats fellow Republican State Senator Neil Riser in 5th District runoff
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
MONROE, Louisiana (CFP) — Armed with an endorsement from the stars of Duck Dynasty, Republican businessman and political newcomer Vance McAllister easily won a special election for a vacant U.S. House seat in Louisiana.
U.S. Rep.-elect Vance McAllister
McAllister, 39, from Swartz, beat Republican State Senator Neil Riser, 51, of Columbia, by a 60-40 percent margin in the November 16 runoff. He will replace GOP U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, who resigned his seat after he was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal to head the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
Riser had finished first in the first round of voting on October 19, with 32 percent of the vote, setting up a runoff with McAllister, who captured 18 percent. Under Louisiana’s blanket primary system, candidates from all parties run in the same primary, which set up the battle between two Republicans in the heavily GOP district.
The 5th District takes in 24 parishes in northeastern and central Louisiana, including some parishes along the Mississippi River east of Baton Rouge.
Alexander, first elected as a Democrat in 2002, switched to the GOP in 2004. McAllister’s election keeps Louisiana’s House delegation steady at six Republicans and one Democrat.
Riser had the backing of Alexander and the state GOP establishment. But McAllister fought back by pouring more than $400,000 of his own money into the race and enlisting support from Willie and Jep Robertson, family friends and stars of the popular A&E series.
Both Robertsons cut ads for McAllister that aired during the runoff campaign.
Southern Democrats support bill prohibiting anti-gay job discrimination
Senators Pryor, Landrieu and Hagan back controversial measure amid tough re-election campaigns
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
WASHINGTON (CFP) – Senators from the South split along party lines on a pivotal vote to pass a bill extending workplace non-discrimination protection to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans.
U.S. Senator Mark Pryor
Among the senators voting in favor of the Employment Non-Discriminaton Act were three Southern Democrats facing tough re-election battes in 2014 — Senators Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is also facing a tough re-election battle in 2014, voted against ENDA, as the bill is known. His likely Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, has come out in favor of ENDA.
The final tally in the on November 7 was 64-32. However, ENDA is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House, where it will run into a wall of opposition from religious conservatives. House Speaker John Boehner opposes the measure, making it unclear if ENDA will even come up for a vote.
Of the Senate’s 53 Democrats, 52 – include seven from the South – voted for the bill, along with two independents. Ten Republicans also broke ranks to support ENDA, but that list included none of the 21 Republican senators representing Southern states.
Two GOP senators from the South did not cast a vote – Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. However, Sessions opposed ENDA in a procedural vote earlier in the week that Coburn also skipped.
Other Southern Democrats voting yes were Bill Nelson of Florida; Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia; and Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Landrieu and Hagan have been long-time co-sponsors of ENDA. However, Pryor did not announce a position on the measure until a week before the vote, providing the Arkansas Times with confirmation through his press office but making no formal announcement on either his Senate or campaign Web sites.
Pryor is being challenged by GOP Rep. Tom Cotton, who has so far not reacted to Pryor’s decision to support ENDA.
Democrat Terry McAuliffe wins Virginia’s governorship
Clinton confidante gets narrow win; attorney general race is headed for a recount
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
(Note: CNN’s coverage of McAuliffe’s victory speech below)
RICHMOND, Virginia (CFP) – The second try proved a charm, as Democrat Terry McAuliffe narrowly defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to claim Virginia’s governorship.
Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe
McAuliffe, a long-time confidante and fundraiser for both Bill and Hillary Clinton, won the commonwealth’s top post with 48 percent, compared to 47 percent for Cuccinelli in November 5 vote. Libertarian Robert Sarvis drew 7 percent.
While the governor’s race proved closer than pre-election polls indicated, Democratic State Senator Ralph Northam easily defeated Republican pastor E.W. Jackson in the race for lieutenant governor.
In the race for attorney general, with all of the precincts reporting, GOP State Senator Mark Obenshain held a lead of less than 300 votes over Democratic State Senator Mark Herring, out of more than 2 million votes cast. The race was within the margin to trigger a recount.
McAuliffe’s win gives Democrats control of four statehouses across the South, with Virginia joining West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas in the Democratic column. Republicans hold the top spot in the other 10 Southern states.
McAuliffe, 56, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, was making his second bid for governor. He lost in 2009 to Republican Governor Bob McConnell, who was barred by state law from seeking re-election.
McAuliffe has a long history in national politics, chairing Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996 and Hillary Clinton’s White House bid in 2008. However, he has never held elective office.
Veteran Republican Senator Thad Cochran draws Tea Party challenger in Mississippi
State Senator Chris McDaniel is getting backing from national conservative groups
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
ELLISVILLE, Mississippi (CFP) – Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran has drawn a Republican primary challenge from State Senator Chris McDaniel, a Tea Party favorite with backing from national conservative groups.
McDaniel, 41, in his second term in the State Senate, announced his bid to unseat Cochran in front of a hometown crowd in Ellisville on October 17.
Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel
“I’ve been told that the powers that be are going to come after me with everything they’ve got,” McDaniel said. “Take names when they come, because they’re not after me, they’re after the people.”
“The idea that I would let a spirit of fear keep me away from this race is absurd,” he said.
McDaniel has been endorsed by both the Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund, which have been critical of Cochran for being, in their view, insufficiently conservative. Chief among Cochran’s sins: His recent vote in favor of the compromise legislation that restarted the government.
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran
Cochran, 75, is the most senior Republican in the Senate and was a former chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He has not announced if he will run for a seventh term in 2014, but he has salted away more than $700,000 for a potential race.
The winner of the GOP primary would be a prohibitive favorite in the general election, given Mississippi’s strong Republican tendencies.
Cochran is the third Southern Republican senator to face a Tea Party-inspired challenge. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is facing three foes in that state’s GOP primary, and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is being challenged by Louisville businessman Matt Bevin, who has also claimed the Tea Party mantle and was recently endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin’s decision not to seek a third term opens door for Arkansas Democrats
Griffin’s Little Rock-based district is the least Republican in the Natural State
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CFP) — GOP U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin’s surprise announcement October 21 that he would not seek re-election has given Democrats hope that they might be able to capture his seat after going 0-for-4 in House races in the Natural State in 2012.
Just a day after Griffin stepped aside, former North Little Mayor Pat Hays announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District seat. The popular Hays served six terms as mayor of North Little Rock, the second-largest city in the district, before retiring in 2012.
In a kickoff speech in front of a senior center named for him, Hays, 66, said he was spurred into running for Congress by the recent government shutdown.
“Sixteen days in October was a travesty,” Hays said. “Real people are affected when you have the kind of action those 16 days gave us.”
Other Democrats are considering the race, including former Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, who dropped out of the 2014 governor’s race this past summer. No Republicans have announced so far.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin
Griffin, a former U.S. Attorney and aide to Karl Rove in the Bush White House, won his seat in the Republican landslide in 2010 and easily won re-election in 2012. His decision not to seek a third term – at a time when he had $500,000 in campaign cash on hand — surprised the Arkansas political establishment.
In a statement announcing his decision, Griffin said he and his wife “have decided that now is the time for me to focus intently on my top priority, my family, as Elizabeth and I raise our two young children.”
The 2nd District includes eight counties in Central Arkansas, including the state’s largest county, Pulaski, which contains Little Rock. While Mitt Romney carried the district in 2012 with 55 percent of the vote, President Obama carried Pulaski County, giving Democrats hope that they might be competitive in the district.
Until Griffin won the seat in 2010, the 2nd District had been traditionally Democratic. For nearly 40 years, it was the home base of the legendary Wilbur Mills, and from 1997 until 2011, it was held by Vic Snyder.
In 2012, Republicans for the first time carried all four of Arkansas’s congressional seats. With Griffin’s departure, two of those seats are now open. The other is the 4th District, in southern and western Arkansas, which is now held by Rep. Tom Cotton, who is giving up the seat to run for the Senate.
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