Today’s “independent expenditure” isn’t as independent as you might think. As this fall’s battle for the House and Senate comes into focus, party strategists on both sides of the aisle can, and often do, communicate, even though there is a “wall” separating the official side of the parties’ campaign committees from their IE arms. From […]
The Republican candidate that cries “conservative” the loudest doesn’t always win the primary. Child care center owner Greg Sowards, who had the support of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), tried to run to the right of Heather Wilson but the former congresswoman prevailed with almost 70 percent of the vote. She’ll face Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) […]
Some races are easy to handicap. Two essentially evenly matched candidates in a competitive state normally produces a tossup rating, while a popular entrenched incumbent against an under-funded, unknown challenger almost always produces something close to a safe contest for the incumbent. But the Senate race in Ohio is more complicated. It’s certainly a competitive […]
A new Public Policy Polling survey confirms what I am hearing elsewhere: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is close – but still short – of getting more than 50 percent of the vote in Texas’ May 29 Republican Senate primary, which would allow him to avoid a runoff. The May 22-23 survey of 482 likely GOP […]
In the end, it was neither the establishment candidate nor the anti-establishment candidate who can claim victory in the GOP Senate primary in Nebraska. State Sen. Deb Fischer took 41 percent of the vote on Tuesday to win the Republican nomination and will face former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) in the general election race to […]
To loyal readers of the Rothenberg Political Report, Sen. Richard Lugar’s primary loss is not a surprise. “Lugar is a highly-respected moderate conservative with a reputation of being willing to work across the partisan aisle to get things done. But in the current political environment, experience is overrated to conservative activists who are more interested […]