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Alex Mooney tops crowded field to win GOP U.S. House primary in West Virgina
Republican primary race in state’s 2nd District featured Tea Party-versus-establishment battle
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
CHARLESTON, West Virginia (CFP) — Just a year after moving across the Potomac River from Maryland into West Virginia, Republican Alex Mooney has won his party’s nomination for his new state’s open 2nd District U.S. House seat.
GOP House candidate Alex Mooney
In a seven-way race, Mooney captured 36 percent of the vote, defeating Ken Reed, a pharmacy owner from Berkeley Springs, who came in second at 22 percent, and Charlotte Lane, a Charleston lawyer and international trade commissioner under President George W. Bush, who took 18 percent of the vote.
West Virginia does not have primary runoffs.
The battle for the GOP nod in the 2nd District turned into a closely watched tussle between outside conservative activists and Tea Party groups, who backed Mooney, and business and party leaders who lined up behind Lane. Reed poured more than $500,000 of his own money into the race.
Lane had the backing of the powerful West Virginia Coal Association. Mooney was endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Tea Party Express and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Despite her establishment credentials, Mooney eclipsed Lane in fundraising by $150,000, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Both Lane and Reed had accused Mooney, who served in the Maryland Senate from 1999 to 2010, of being a carpetbagger who parachuted into West Virginia to seek political office.
He had formed an exploratory committee for a U.S. House race in Maryland in 2012 but eventually decided not to run, and he moved to West Virginia in 2013. His Maryland Senate district was adjacent to the Mountaineer State.
Nick Casey, the former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, easily won his party’s nomination for the 2nd District seat and will face Mooney in November.
The 2nd District meanders across 17 counties from Charleston, the state capital, to the Eastern Panhandle sandwiched between Maryland and Virginia. The seat is currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who is giving it up to run for the U.S. Senate.
Capito easily won her Senate primary and will face Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in the fall.
Even though Capito has held the seat since 2001 and Mitt Romney captured 60 percent of its presidential votes in 2012, Democrats see the seat as a potential pickup target. Casey has raised more than $890,000 in a district with modest media advertising costs, according to FEC reports.
Capito did not endorse any of the candidates in the Republican primary.
Clay Aiken’s opponent in North Carolina U.S. House primary dies in fall
Keith Crisco dies as absentee ballots were still being counted in razor-close contest with Aiken
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
RALEIGH (CFP) — American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken’s opponent in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 2nd District U.S. House seat, Keith Crisco, died May 12 after a fall at his home in Asheboro, his family confirmed in a statement.
U.S. House candidate Keith Crisco
Crisco’s death came as provisional and absentee ballots were still being counted from the May 6 primary, with Aiken leading by just 369 votes. Crisco, 71, a businessman and former state commerce secretary, had not conceded the race.
Aiken, saying he was “stunned and deeply saddened” by Crisco’s death, announced that he was suspending all campaign activities.
“He was a gentleman, a good and honorable man and an extraordinary public servant. I was honored to know him,” Aiken said in a statement.
Crisco’s death will mean that Aiken will be his party’s nominee for the seat now held by Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers, who beat back a Tea Party primary challenge from Frank Roche, a Raleigh radio talk show host.
Ellmers also released a statement of condolence, saying Crisco’s “kindness and dedication to his principles were models we should all strive toward, and he will be dearly missed.”
The 2nd District includes parts of Raleigh and suburban areas to the west, southeast and northeast..
Democratic U.S. House candidate Clay Aiken
Aiken, 35, a Raleigh native, was a special education teacher when he rocketed to fame in 2003 by coming in second on the Fox network’s popular singing competition. He is making his first bid for political office. If elected in November, he will be the first openly gay congressman from North Carolina.
American Idol Clay Aiken holds tiny lead in North Carolina U.S. House primary
If his lead holds, Aiken will face Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers for 5th District seat in November
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
RALEIGH (CFP) — American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is holding a razor-thin lead in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 2nd District U.S. House seat, just enough to avoid a runoff.
Democratic U.S. House candidate Clay Aiken
With provisional and absentee ballots still to be counted, Aiken had 11,634 votes, compared to 11,265 votes for Keith Crisco, the former state commerce secretary, and 5,593 votes for Toni Morris, a professional counselor who sought the 2nd District seat in 2012, according to tallies from the State Board of Elections.
In order to avoid a primary runoff in North Carolina, a candidate has to win more than 40 percent of the vote. The current vote totals show Aiken clearing that hurdle by just 237 votes.
State law also calls for an automatic recount if the margin of victory turns out to be 1 percent or less. It currently stands at 1.3 percent.
Despite the narrow margin, Aiken told supporters at a victory rally in Raleigh that “we are feeling incredibly comfortable tonight.”
“People are ready to see a change in Washington, and we’re going to bring it to them,” he said.
Aiken, 35, a Raleigh native, was a special education teacher when he rocketed to fame in 2003 by coming in second on the Fox network’s popular singing competition. He is making his first bid for political office. If elected in November, he will be the first openly gay congressman from North Carolina.
U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers
If his lead holds, Aiken will face incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers in November. Ellmers beat back a Tea Party primary challenge from Frank Roche, a Raleigh radio talk show host, with 58 percent of the vote.
Roche had criticized Ellmers for her support of an immigration reform bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Ellmers is one of the few House Republicans who supports the measure, and Roche’s challenge was seen as a test of how strongly that issue resonates within the GOP electorate.
The 2nd District includes parts of Raleigh and suburban areas to the west, southeast and northeast.
Click here to watch video of Clay Aiken’s victory speech.
Louisiana U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister won’t run again in November
McAllister’s exit comes after video surfaced showing him kissing a female staffer outside his district office
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitcs.com editor
MONROE, Louisiana (CFP) — Three weeks after video surfaced showing him passionately kissing a female staffer, embattled Republican U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister has announced that he won’t seek re-election this fall.
U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister
However, despite calls from leading Louisiana Republicans and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for his resignation, McAllister is vowing to serve out the remainder of his term.
“The people of the Fifth District of Louisiana need and deserve a voice in Washington,” McAllister said in a statement released April 28. “Today, I am announcing that I will not seek re-election, but I will continue to be that voice and will uphold the office to which I was elected to serve for the remainder of my term.”
“As I’ve said before, there’s no doubt I’ve made a mistake. I’ve failed those I care most about and let down the people who elected me to represent them. I take full responsibility for this personal failure, and I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done.”
The decision to hang on to his office ran into immediate opposition from Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, who met with McAllister and told him he needed to resign, Politico reported.
McAllister, 40, a Christian conservative and married father of five, was elected to the vacant 5th District seat last November in his first bid for political office.
Both Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Roger Villere, chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, have called on McAllister to resign.
Curt Clawson wins GOP primary for vacant Florida U.S. House seat
Clawson, who billed himself as the outsider in the race, will be heavily favored to win June’s special election
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
FORT MYERS, Florida (CFP) — Curt Clawson, a wealthy businessman and former basketball star at Purdue University, has won the Republican primary for the vacant 19th District U.S. House seat in Florida.
Republican nominee Curt Clawson
Clawson, 53, making his first bid for political office, defeated two veteran officeholders, State Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto and former state Rep. Paige Kreegel. Although Clawson claimed just 38 percent of the vote, he won the nomination without a majority because Florida does not have primary runoffs.
“I think we sent a pretty clear message tonight, and I think it’s a good time for an outsider or two in Congress,” Clawson said at his victory rally April 21.
Both Clawson and Benacquisto had big name endorsements — Clawson from U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Benacquisto from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
The 19th District, which is centered in Fort Myers and runs along the coast of southwest Florida, is heavily Republican, which will make Clawson will be a heavy favorite in the June 24 special election over Democrat April Freeman, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination.
The seat became vacant in January when first term U.S. Rep. Trey Radel resigned after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.
Clawson played on Purdue’s 1984 team that won the Big 12 Championship
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