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American Idol Clay Aiken considering run for U.S. House in North Carolina
Aiken, a gay rights activist who finished second in the popular singing contest in 2003, is reportedly considering a run against GOP U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers.
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
RALEIGH, North Carolina (CFP) — American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is reportedly considering making a bid for North Carolina’s 2nd District U.S. House seat in 2014.
American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken
Two Democratic sources familiar with Aiken’s plans told the Washington Blade newspaper that Aiken has been in discussions with Democratic campaign operatives about a race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers, a second-term Republican.
Aiken, 35, a Raleigh native, has not publicly confirmed that he plans to run in the 2nd District, which takes in part of the city Raleigh and suburban areas to the south and east.
Two Democrats are already running in the 2nd District — Houston Barnes, an attorney from Durham, and former State Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco.
Ellmers, a former nurse who was elected in the Republican wave of 2010, is facing a primary challenge from Frank Roche, a conservative radio talk show host.
Armed with an endorsement from Sarah Palin, Ellmers won the seat in 2010 by less than 1,500 votes over the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Bob Etheridge, after a recount.
However, after Republicans took control of the state legislature, the 2nd District’s lines were redrawn to make it more Republican. Mitt Romney carried the district with 57 percent of the vote in 2012, so Democrats will likely have an uphill battle to flip the seat in 2014.
Alabama blogger jailed over reporting on potential congressional candidate
The allegation that Rob Riley, a potential 6th District candidate, had an affair has sparked a lawsuit, an injunction and an arrest
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitcs.com editor
BIRMINGHAM (CFP) — U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus’s decision to retire has set off a mad political scramble in suburban Birmingham that has already taken an extremely strange turn with the arrest of a blogger over what he reported about one of the possible candidates.
Jailed blogger Roger Shuler
Roger Shuler, who writes a blog called Legal Schnauzer, alleged that Rob Riley, the son of former Gov. Bob Riley who is widely expected to run for Bachus’s seat, had an extramartial affair with a lobbyist.
Both Riley and the lobbyist vehemently denied the allegation, and Riley sued Shuler for defamation. Then, he got a state judge to issue an injunction ordering Shuler to remove the information from his Web site.
When Shuler refused to comply, he was arrested for violating the court order. He has been in the Shelby County Jail since October 23, insisting that the judge’s ruling violates the First Amendment.
“Free press, free speech, the First Amendment — none of this means anything to these people,” Shuler said in a jailhouse interview with the Web site WhoWhatWhy. “I don’t see any reason I should remove the material. Is a person obliged to take an action based on a judge’s unlawful order?”
Free press advocates have rallied to Shuler’s defense, including the ACLU, The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and The Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ, which keeps track of more than 200 journalists jailed around world, has Shuler as the only American on its list.
Rob Riley
The national and international coverage of Shuler’s detention has likely drawn more attention to his original allegations against Riley than they would have received on Legal Schnauzer alone. But Riley, an attorney, told the CPJ that he decided to take action against Shuler because the blogger “has a history of making up things and writing things that are outlandish lies.”
“He has no proof this is true. He has just decided to be a cyber-bully and make stuff up, and I’ve had enough,” Riley said.
Riley is one of more than a dozen potential Republican candidates in what’s likely to be a crowded field for the 6th District seat, which Bachus has held since 1992. It is one of the most Republican districts in the country, giving Mitt Romney 74 percent of the vote in 2012.
Among those who have already announced are State Rep. Paul DeMarco; Gary Palmer, former head of the Alabama Policy Institute; Chad Mathis, a surgeon and Tea Party activist; businessman Ed Langan; and Will Brooke, an attorney with a venture capital firm. State Senator Scott Beason, who challenged Bachus in the 2012 GOP primary, is also considering a bid.
Embattled GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais faces primary struggle in central Tennessee
State Senator Jim Tracy, DesJarlais’s challenger, has outraised the incumbent more than 4-to-1
By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (CFP) — The Republican primary battle in Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District is shaping up to be one of the most contentious of the 2014 cycle, with incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais trying to hold his seat amidst an avalanche of negative personal publicity.
U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais
DesJarlais, 49, first elected in the GOP landslide of 2010, is facing State Senator Jim Tracy, 57, of Shelbyville, who is telling anybody who will listen that voters in the district “deserve a strong and effective voice in Congress, which right now they do not have.”
Tracy’s not-so-veiled reference is to revelations from the case file from DesJarilais’s bitter 2001 divorce from his first wife. In it, the congressman admitted having a string of extra-martial affairs and — perhaps even more damaging for an avowed right-to-life lawmaker — encouraging his then-wife to have two abortions.
DesJarlais (pronounced Dez-yar-lay), a medical doctor, also admitted having relationships with two female patients, which prompted the Tennessee State Board of Medical Examiners to reprimand him for unprofessional conduct and fine him $500.
Details about DesJarlais’s divorce became an issue in his contentious 2012 re-election campaign, which he won with just 56 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican district. However, DesJarlais successfully fought to prevent release of the full transcript of the case file until after the election.
After the transcript contradicted some of DesJarlais’s previous explanations about his behavior, his political support began to crumble. Two months later, Tracy jumped in to run against him.
To combat the damage, DesJarlais has been campaigning around the district, which includes 15 counties in central Tennessee, with his second wife, Susan, by his side. His campaign Web site also features a picture of him with his wife and three children.
DesJarlais has tried to deflect questions about his past by noting that his messy divorce happened nearly 13 years ago, long before he got involved in politics. However, fundraising figures show how much damage has been done.
State Senator Jim Tracy
During the first nine months of 2013, Federal Election Commission reports show that DesJarlais raised about $273,000, with $182,000 in cash on hand. By contrast, Tracy has raised nearly $922,000, with $768,000 on hand.
During the 2012 election cycle, DesJarlais raised $1.26 million.
A number of prominent conversative activist groups have lined up behind Tracy, including the Citizens United Political Victory Fund, the Concerned Women for America’s political action committee and the Tea Party Leadership Fund.
However, DesJairlais has held on to some conservative support. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California has given him $2,500, and the National Rifle Association tossed in another $1,000.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who is leading a number of congressional investigations into the Obama administration, appeared at a DesJarlais fundraiser back in March.
In November, DesJarlais announced that he would introduce legislation to impeach Attorney General Eric Holder, a stance that should play well in his district.
The congressman also defended remarks he made during a town hall meeting in Murfreesboro in August when an 11-year-old girl asked what she could do to help her father, an undocumented immigrant, stay in the country with her.
“We have laws, and we need to follow those, too,” DesJarlais responded, to cheers from the crowd. After he came under attack from liberal groups, he put a YouTube video of the exchange on his Web site, accompanied with a fundraising pitch.
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.
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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