(Mostly) Political One-Liners: Pennsylvania Special, Kentucky Governor, and the Trail Blazers
May 23, 2019 · 10:49 AM EDT
California’s 48th District: The Orange County Republican Party endorsed County Supervisor Michelle Steel on Monday in the race against freshman Democratic Rep. Harley Rouda, which could give pause to potential candidates such as former state Sen. Janet Nguyen.
Colorado Senate: Former District Attorney John Walsh, a Democrat, came by the office for an interview on Tuesday to talk about the Colorado Senate race, and we’ll publish our Candidate Conversation in the May 31 issue of Inside Elections.
Colorado’s 6th District: Former GOP state Rep. Phil Covarrubias said he’s “about a foot” away from joining the race against Democratic Rep. Jason Crow (but he’s miles away from winning considering how quickly suburban districts have shifted away from Republicans in the era of Trump).
The Future is Now: In a pre-election robocall for Republican Fred Keller, President Donald Trump referred to “the radical liberal socialist Democrats who only obstruct and oppose our tremendous accomplishments,” which sounds a whole lot like a 2020 message.
Iowa’s 2nd District: GOP state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann’s decision not to run for the open seat could cause more candidates (including former Illinois Rep. Bobby Schilling) to jump into the race if they didn’t want to create hostility with Kaufmann’s father, chairman of the state Republican Party.
Kentucky Republican Gubernatorial Primary: It will be at least a couple of weeks before we know whether the 47 percent of GOP voters who voted against Gov. Matt Bevin (52 percent) are unhappy enough with the incumbent to vote for a Democrat in November.
Kentucky Democratic Gubernatorial Primary: It wasn’t a blowout, but state Attorney General Andy Beshear (38 percent) moved on to the general election after defeating state Rep. Rocky Adkins (32 percent) and state Auditor Adam Edelen (28 percent).
Let’s Remember Some Candidates From Nebraska: Jim Simon, Curt Bromm, Matt Connealy, Greg Ruehle, Janet Stewart, Nancy Thompson, David Kramer, Maxine Moul, Jay Vavricek, and Tom White. (h/t Deadspin)
Michigan Matters (a): According to Politico, the White House is discouraging 2018 GOP Senate nominee John James from challenging Democratic Sen. Gary Peters for fear that a competitive race will attract outside money into a state, even though Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss will likely do that anyway.
Michigan Matters (b): The White House’s effort to dissuade James from running for the Senate is even more remarkable considering it could cause Republicans to sacrifice Michigan, which could limit legitimate GOP takeover opportunities in the Senate to just one (Alabama).
Pennsylvania’s 12th District Special (a): On Monday, Trump correctly predicted that the media wouldn’t make a big deal out of the special election if Republicans won, considering he performed as well in Pennsylvania’s 12th in 2016 (66 percent) as he did in West Virginia’s 2nd District (Alex Mooney), Florida’s 2nd District (Neal Dunn- 66 percent) and Tennessee’s 8th District (David Kustoff).
Pennsylvania’s 12th District Special (b): Despite Republicans’ tendency to make easy races closer and more interesting than they need to be, Tuesday’s race was surprisingly drama free.
Pennsylvania Flashback: One of my all-time favorite quotes from Trump came from a 2018 rally for another special election when the president attempted to compliment state Rep. Rick Saccone: “He knows things that many people don’t know.”
Thanks, Blazers: Getting swept in the Western Conference Finals by the Warriors is a lot better than swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Pelicans, and I agree with John Canzano, the future is bright for the Blazers.
The Folding Table: A recent Wall Street Journal story about being able to rent clothes from Urban Outfitters reminded me of working at UO at The LAB Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa, Calif., and giving me laundry folding skills that will last a lifetime.