State by State

Alabama

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright (D) has been on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) Red to Blue list for months, but it appears few people knew that.

The DCCC neglected to announce the addition of Bright to the list, but his name was among the 25 candidates already part of the program when the committee announced its new slate of Red to Blue candidates Wednesday.

{mosads}The program helps top candidates running for seats currently held by Republicans.

“Bobby Bright is a strong, independent candidate for change in Alabama’s 2nd district, and we’re happy to have had him on the DCCC’s Red to Blue program since late February,” DCCC spokeswoman Kyra Jennings said. “Bright has been featured as a strong candidate online and to Democratic supporters, which is the purpose of the Red to Blue program.”

Bright, who was elected mayor as an Independent but is running for retiring Rep. Terry Everett’s (R) seat as a Democrat, is a top Democratic hope.

— Aaron Blake

Louisiana

Rep. William Jefferson (D) will run for reelection despite being indicted on federal bribery charges.

“I will run on my record of effective service to the people of my district over the years, and in particular over the last three years since Hurricane Katrina,” Jefferson said in a statement.

Jefferson said, “The fact that I am the target of an overly zealous prosecution has not prevented my delivering for our district and our state.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals has already found that the raid of my office violated the Constitution, and the Supreme Court decided to let that ruling stand. We are mounting a forceful attack on the government’s false factual allegations and its flawed legal theory, and we are going to continue to insist that I receive a fair trial.”

Jefferson learned last week that he will again face a primary challenge, this time from state Rep. Cedric Richmond and Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee.

Jefferson’s brother, sister and niece were also indicted earlier this month.

— Andy Barr

Maryland

Rep.-elect Donna Edwards (D) will be sworn in Thursday, according to her campaign.

Voters chose Edwards in a special election Tuesday over Republican candidate Peter James, 67 percent to 30, in Maryland’s 4th district.

Edwards replaces former Rep. Albert Wynn (D), who resigned his seat earlier this month after losing to Edwards in a Democratic primary. Wynn opted to leave early to become a lobbyist.

Edwards had been executive director of the public-interest Arca Foundation until she took a leave of absence for the campaign.

Edwards, 49, will become the first black woman from Maryland in the House of Representatives.

— Michael O’Brien

Minnesota

Former Sen. Dean Barkley (I) pulled his name out of contention for the state’s Senate race on Wednesday, but he said he thinks former Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) is leaning toward running.

Speaking on Minnesota Public Radio, Ventura’s former campaign manager hazarded a guess that the professional wrestler-turned-politician would enter the race against Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and Democrat Al Franken.

Barkley claimed no ability to predict what will happen, but he is close with Ventura.

“My read on Jesse is that he’s torn,” Barkley said, ticking off the reasons Ventura wants to run, including his distaste for Washington, Coleman and Franken. “The negative is that he has developed a very nice lifestyle” living half the year in Mexico.

Pressed, Barkley said, “He’s got a taste of it, he’s mad enough, I’ve talked to [his wife] and I don’t think [she’s] going to say no.”

Ventura has said he won’t decide until right up to the July 15 filing deadline.

Barkley, whom Ventura appointed to serve briefly between Sen. Paul Wellstone’s (D) 2002 plane crash death and Coleman’s swearing-in, has previously said that he would run for the seat if Ventura did not.

But he said his job will no longer allow him to do that.

A SurveyUSA poll released Friday showed Coleman leading Franken, 52 percent to 40, in a head-to-head match-up. When Ventura was added to the mix, Coleman led Franken, 41 percent to 31, with Ventura taking 23 percent.

A race with Barkley showed the former senator at 8 percent, with Coleman leading Franken, 48-37.

— Aaron Blake

Nevada

A recent poll by Mason-Dixon of Nevada congressional races showed a tight contest in the 3rd district between Rep. Jon Porter (R) and challenger Dina Titus (D).

The poll showed Porter maintaining a slight advantage, 45 percent to 42, over Titus, with 13 percent undecided and a 6.6 percent margin of error. Porter barely escaped defeat in 2006, eking out a 48 percent-to-47 percent win over former Senate aide Tessa Hafen.

Titus, a state senator and her party’s 2006 gubernatorial nominee, will face Porter this fall for the district, which includes Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, in the 2nd district, freshman Rep. Dean Heller (R) maintains a wider margin over his Democratic challenger, Jill Derby, the former chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party. According to Mason-Dixon, Heller leads Derby 53 percent to 39, with 8 percent undecided and a 6.6 percent margin of error.

— Michael O’Brien

North Carolina

Rep. Robin Hayes (R) trails Democratic challenger Larry Kissell by two points in a head-to-head match-up in the 8th district, according to internal polling results released Wednesday by Kissell’s campaign.

The poll shows Kissell leads Hayes, 45 percent to 43 in the initial match-up. It was conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research, which contacted 600 likely general-election voters in the district.

The poll also showed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) leading Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.),  50 percent to 37, in the presidential race in the district.

“The voters of North Carolina’s 8th district know that Larry Kissell connects with them and shares their concerns,” said Kissell spokesman Thomas Thacker.

Hayes spokesman Steve Quain said Kissell’s polls can’t be trusted.

Hayes defeated Kissell by just 329 votes in 2006.

“In October of 2006, Larry Kissell was hyping a poll that said he was winning by five points, and as he found out, the only poll that mattered was the poll on Election Day that said Robin Hayes was the winner,” Quain said.

— David Matthews

 

Ohio

Rep. Steve Chabot (R), who anticipates a difficult reelection battle in Ohio’s 1st district, on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to lower gas prices that closely mirrors legislation Senate Democrats pushed last week.

Both bills seek to limit the effect of market speculation on rising oil prices by targeting foreign trading boards. They would limit foreign boards’ impact by extending the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The Senate bill would also raise margin requirements for domestic traders, a step Chabot does not take. This provision would require speculators to put more at stake in deals, making risky gambles more costly. Chabot prefers to hold foreign traders to current U.S. standards.

Chabot spokesman George Cecala said his boss is eager to work with Democrats to solve the high cost of energy.

“We think we should be working together to solve this problem,” said Cecala. “It’s a national problem that transcends party lines.

“We need to look at the entire industry and analyze where the problems are and propose ideas to fix the problem,” he said. “Our hope is to work across the aisle to solve this problem.”

Chabot is a constant Democratic target and faces a top-tier challenge from state Rep. Steve Driehaus (D) this year.

— Alexander Bolton