The following diaries are examples of this week's Election Diary Rescue. This post features a collection of
70 diaries.
(IA-Sen) Door to Door for Braley: Smith & Wesson Edition by Master Alchemi - Diarist relates interesting experiences while going door-to-door for Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley.
(CA-17) Silicon Valley Kossack's Day of Action with the Mike Honda campaign 10/11 by Glen The Plumber - After shopping other districts first, DINO and patent lawyer Ro Khanna decided to challenge long-time progressive incumbent Mike Honda. These Kossacks are on the ground in an effort to send this right-of-center carpetbagger packing.
(CA-MtnViewCityCouncil) Diary of a City Council Candidate #14: Terrorist Threat by BayAreaKen - Our candidate/diarist has been suffering campaign sign vandalism. Upon confrontation with a vandal, some very scary things happened...
Coloring me some voters! by JamieG from Md - Diarist: "I did a search on the internet for election related coloring pages and found quite a few good ones. We have been printing out an assortment of pages and bringing them to the library during voter registration. We offer the pages to the kids or their parents. We also have a few boxes of crayons available for those who have time to do the coloring there in the lobby. This has been bringing attention to our efforts!"
This is the 37th weekly edition of Election Diary Rescue. It covers rescued down-ticket election diaries published from Sunday, September 14 through Saturday, September 20. We hope you enjoy the following gems dug up by our dedicated team of miners.
VOLUNTEER ALERT! As the election approaches we may be switching back to our traditional daily schedule for producing this blog. We will need a few good Kossacks to join the team.
Please e-mail us if you would like the opportunity to contribute to this legacy project. DKosEDR at gmail.com.
Diaries: (70)
Senate: (18) posts, (10) states
House: (8) posts, (5) states, (7) districts
State and more: (31)
General: (13)
EDR has compiled, described and linked
down ticket election related diaries since 2006.
EDR chronicles the passion, power and effectiveness of political engagement and shines a light on candidates and issues that might be otherwise missed. It gives quick access to races, hopefully inspires people to write about contests that interest them, and has become an archive for thousands of election related diaries over the years.
Archive links
Format and Tags
Diarists can help the EDR mining team by identifying the race in the diary title, for example: (FL-14) or (GA-Gov) or (NY-Sen). Using the "Elections" tag is also very helpful and keep in mind that your first sentence or two can be what you would like to see in the EDR description.
This edition of EDR was made possible by the following miners and editors: Alma, eeff, DougTuttle, Joieau, Land of Enchantment, Pucklady, randallt, sylv, suejazz and turbonerd. Special thanks to Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse.
Senate - 18
(AR-Sen) Sen. Mark Pryor backstabbed his state for the NRA. It got him nothing. by Hunter - The National Rifle Association thanks Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) for voting to kill the Manchin-Toomey gun control bill by spending $1.3 million to support Pryor’s Republican opponent Rep. Tom Cotton.
(IA-Sen) IA-Sen: Bruce Braley (D) Calls Out Joni Ernst's (R) Missed Votes Hypocrisy In New Ad by poopdogcomedy - Communication from Representative Bruce Braley's US Senate campaign and link to his new ad.
(IA-Sen) Door to door for Braley by Master Alchemi - Diarist reports experience canvassing for Bruce Braley in Iowa.
(IA-Sen) Door to Door for Braley: Smith & Wesson Edition by Master Alchemi - Diarist relates interesting experiences while going door-to-door for Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley.
(KS-Sen) Kansas Supreme Court Debates Taylor Withdrawal (Awaiting Verdict) by tmservo433 - Diarist's live blog of the Kansas Supreme Court session developments. Get the blow-by-blow here.
(KS-Sen) Kansas Democrats Should Find A Random Dude Named Pat Roberts by YeaYouRite - Taylor's name has been ordered off the ballot. But the court refused to rule on whether or not Democrats must replace him with someone, and you can bet your ass that crazy Kris Kobach is gonna force Dems to replace him.
(KS-Sen) Chad Taylor Removed from Ballot by tmservo433 - The decision provides the basis for the story about the removal of Chad Taylor.. but another story is developing behind this: Who, in fact, hired the firm that represented Kris Kobach, and was the bidding process for the firm in question in order?
(KS-Sen) Breaking: Dem off the Ballot in Kansas!!! by joelgp - The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Democratic Senate nominee Chad Taylor's name should be removed from the ballot in November. The ruling shakes up one of the most-watched Senate races in 2014 once again. Independent candidate Greg Orman is set to square off with Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts.
(KY-Sen) Is Grimes trying to lose? by DrillSgtK - Diarist wonders if Alison Lundergan Grimes is trying to alienate Democrats in her attempt to defeat Mitch McConnell.
(KY-Sen) This makes me want to bang my head on the desk by LaFeminista - Diarist highlights the ways Alison Lundergen Grimes is trying hard to position herself as a Republican in order to beat Republican Senator Mitch McConnell. It's downright embarrassing.
(KY-Sen) Neo-Nazi, racist KY write-in senate candidate who spews "With Jews, We Lose"! by Denise Oliver Valez - Yep, this one's a head-spinner. Fortunately, professor and student response to this kind of spew from Robert Ransdell (Neo-Nazi National Alliance) is heartening.
(ME-SEN) ME-Sen: well-positioned engine by emorej a Hong Kong - Kossack favorite Shenna Bellows is positioning herself for the final stretch for the contest against Republican Susan Collins.
(NC-Sen) One of Thom Tillis's worst legacies by Intheknow - As Speaker of the North Carolina State House, Thom Tillis repeatedly quashed politically embarrassing votes on amendments by Democrats. He also allowed floor votes when timely public notice was lacking, and allowed controversial Republican amendments to be attached to nonconfrontational technical bills.
(NH-Sen) Scott Brown spent how much on makeup and grooming? by Joan McCarter - Massachussets New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown (R) claimed over $4,000 for hair and makeup expenses on his taxes. Two problems: 1) the IRS says those aren't tax-deductible, and 2) get ready for the "$200 haircut" payback, beyotch.
(NM-Sen) NM-Sen: Game Of Thrones Creator, George R.R. Martin, Fundraises For Tom Udall (D) by poopdogcomedy - Link so you can help Tom Udall (D) too if you would like.
(OR-Sen) Monica Wehby thinks she can win in Oregon, if you ignore the polls and the plagiarism by Jeff Singer - Republicans initially held out some hope that physician Monica Wehby could give Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley a real race. There were just two problems: Oregon is a blue state and Wehby is... not a good candidate.
(SD-Sen) SD-Sen: Ready for Prime-Time? Progressive tunes up his message; auditions in 311 towns by emorej a Hong Kong - How progressive Democrat Rick Weiland campaigned his way into striking distance. A musical version of his message, spliced with his own singing and guitar performance, with nice back-up band, at a political rally.
(Sen-Gen) Only Democrats can Win the Senate in November by NCJim - Diarist offers his analysis on Senate races Democrats have a good chance of winning.
House - 8
(CA-17) Silicon Valley Kossack's Day of Action with the Mike Honda campaign 10/11 by Glen The Plumber - After shopping other districts first, DINO and patent lawyer Ro Khanna decided to challenge long-time progressive incumbent Mike Honda. These Kossacks are on the ground in an effort to send this right-of-center carpetbagger packing.
(IL-15) Congressman Shimkus faces backlash for facebook fracking support by Willinois - Illinois' most embarrassing congressman, John Shimkus (R) faced an outraged backlash for pro-fracking statements made on facebook. He's also a climate change denier and conspiracy theorist. Shimkus faces Democrat Eric Thorsland this election.
(IL-17) IL-17: Bobby Schilling's dishonesty continues unabated by onanyes - Famous for dishonesty in campaigning, has not become more honest over the years. This time he's being dishonest about Democratic incumbent Cheri Bustos' work for veterans.
(MN-02) MN-02: Bill Maher, John Kline, Mike Obermueller and student debt by ericf – Bill Maher has picked this district as one of his #FlipADistrict contest. So let’s get John Kline (R) out of office and replace him with Mike Obermueller (D).
(PA-08) Gabby Giffords: Working to Keep the House Red by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees - Former Democratic representative Gabby Giffords and her husband started an ambiguously named PAC called Americans for Responsible Solutions to push for gun control legislation. The group has endorsed Republican incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick over his Democratic challenger.
(PA-16) PA 16th is in play by dgrhoads - The 16th Pennsylvania Congressional District is in play due to a proposed natural gas pipeline. Even many die-hard Republicans are afraid of potential damage to their property and livelihoods, may be willing to vote for Democrat Tom Houghton over incumbent Republican Joe Pitts.
(WI-06) The Cowardice of Glenn Grothman by Edgeworth - State Senator Glenn Grothman (R) and County Executive Mark Harris (D) had their first debate of the cycle, and if Grothman has his way, their last. Looks like Grothman is hiding from the voters.
(House-Gen) StephenCLE's Baseline House Rankings - The Pacific Coast by StephenCLE - StephenCLE has been examining House districts around the country and on Tuesday he gave rankings and analysis for every district in Alaska, California, Washington state and Oregon.
State, local and more - 31
(CA-MtnViewCityCouncil) Diary of a City Council Candidate #14: Terrorist Threat by BayAreaKen - Our candidate/diarist has been suffering campaign sign vandalism. Upon confrontation with a vandal, some very scary things happened...
(CA-OaklandMayor) Oakland Mayor: Siegel or Kaplan, please by doomvox - 'Lefties' tend to choose Dan Siegel in this race, where more moderate people seem to like Rebecca Kaplan. The incumbent Mayor is Jean Quan.
(CO-StLeg District 15) Court Ruling Obliges Americans To Worship Sodomy, Says GOP Candidate by Retroactive Genius - GOP candidate for the Colorado state legislature Gordon Klingenschmitt lets his freak flag fly.
(GA, SC-State) New Daily Kos Elections interactive legislative maps for Georgia and South Carolina by Stephen Wolf - More useful state legislative district maps following redistricting, and breakdown of the votes in 2012 to help with predictions.
(GA-Gov) GA-Gov: Nathan Deal (R) Claims Democrats Are Cooking The Books On Jobless Data by poopdogcomedy - Thursday, Gov. Nathan Deal's campaign planned a press conference, hoping to announce good news for the governor. Instead, the Republican found himself explaining a fourth straight month of rising unemployment.
(FL-Gov) FL-Gov: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) Helps Charlie Crist (D) Get Ready To Defeat Rick Scott (R) by poopdogcomedy - Diarist offers Crist campaign missive from Florida Senator Bill Nelson in support of Crist's gubernatorial bid.
(FL-Gov) Charlie Crist doubles down on Medicaid expansion in Florida governor race by Joan McCarter - Crist isn't just supporting expansion, he told the Florida Nurses Association he's got a team working on figuring out how he could implement expansion with an executive order his first day in office.
(FL-Gov) BUSTED! Rick Scott Caught Using Donor as "Fake Victim" in Ad by SemDem - The FL GOP saw an opportunity to falsely accuse Charlie Crist (D, used-to-be R) of somehow being involved in a ponzi scheme, so ran an ad from a supposed "victim" of the scheme. Turns out the "victim" was not really much of a victim.
(HI-Ballot Initiative) Group sues to prevent vote on Maui GMO moratorium by Karen from Maui - Attorneys from Dow are suing the Maui County citizens' initiative for a GMO moratorium from appearing on the November ballot.
(KS-Gov) Sam Brownback (R-KS) strange night in Grant County, Kansas (Update: KS Lobbyists Respond) by tmservo433 - Gov. Sam Brownback (R) gives a rambling, factually challenged speech at a community event.
(KS-Gov) Brownback's Staffer's Dad Suing To Replace Taylor by MisterOpus1 - It was terrific news to see Chad Taylor's name stricken from the Democratic ballot by the Kansas Supreme Court, but who is David Orel and why is he doing the dirty work for incumbent Governor Sam Brownback's re-election campaign?
(KS-Gov) (Live Diary) Sam Brownback VS. Paul Davis in Public Debate, Overland Park by tmservo433 - Live diary of the Sept. 19th gubernatorial debate between Democrat Paul Davis, incumbent Sam Brownback (R), and Libertarian Keen Umbehr.
(KS-Gov) Full Video: Kansas Governor Debate, Brownback V Davis V Umbehr by tmservo433 - Diarist offers the full video coverage of the gubernatorial debate between incumbent Republican Brownback and challengers Paul Davis (D) and Keen Umbehr (L). Umbehr provided interesting takes...
(KS-SoS) Worst secretary of state in the nation hits a federal bump in the road in Kansas by Jen Hayden - As if things weren't bad enough for Kansas SoS Kris Kobach with his attempt to keep Chad Taylor on the ballot for Senate, now he's managed to totally mess up the overseas military ballot schedule. Democrat Jean Schodorf needs to defeat this guy.
(KS-SoS) Kris Kobach (R-KS) uses POW-MIA Day to take a punch at Military Voting by tmservo433 - In the Kansas state house Secretary of Disenfranchisement... er, State Kris Kobach took a swipe at the military vote. His democratic challenger Jean Schodorf asked for an end to the Kobach 'disclaimer' that influences military individuals not to vote.
(ME-Gov) ME-Gov: PPP Shows A Tight Race Between Michaud (D) & LePage (R), Cutler (I) A Distant Third by poopdogcomedy - Diarist offers PPP's newest survey of the Maine governor's race, with key findings.
(MI-Gov) ] MI-GOV: Republican Rick Snyder now running on Obamacare after failure to lead on Medicaid expansion by Eclectablog - After dragging his feet on expanding Medicaid for Michiganders, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Kochistan) is trying to appear more moderate by touting the success of the program.
(NC-SupCt) Voters guide to 2014 North Carolina State Supreme Court elections by Docdawg - The North Carolina Supreme Court elections are coming up in November and last Tuesday DocDawg examined the candidates and which elections are competitive.
(NE-Gov) NE-Gov: Libertarian Party Loses Court Challenge to Keep Withdrawn GOP Lt. Gov. Candidate on Ballot by Village Vet - The fight over the ballot in Nebraska seems even stranger than the one in Kansas. This one involves allegations of domestic abuse.
(NY-Gov) Why I am Voting for Zephyr Teachout by teachesl - A long-time Democratic activist tells us how Andrew Cuomo has failed to deliver leadership and services to New Yorkers. Instead, he has practiced crony capitalism. Time to kick him out and elect Zephyr Teachout!
(NY-StSen) Calling all Dems... THIS year we can win the NY State Senate. Are you with us? by mole333 - The problem with Albany politics is that the Dems don't act like Dems even when Democrats control both houses of the state legislature. This year that can change. Diarist looks at the best candidates.
(TX-Gov) Abbott Busing in and Housing Fake Supporters for Debate Tonight Against Wendy Davis by ericlewis0 - Abbott's campaign has resorted to busing supporters to the Rio Grande Valley to show faux-support for the Republican in the region. He's even paying for their lodging! Links to Democrat Davis' website and info on watching the debate.
(TX-Gov) Watch TX Gov Hopeful Wendy Davis(D) Debate Greg Abbott(R) TONIGHT! by Deja - Excitement for this event is running high. Links and websites that will be carrying the debate live and on delay.
(TX-Local) 79% of Texans Did NOT Vote for Perry by Bluehawk - GOTV efforts by the Bexar County Democratic Party to let voters know it's important to vote in the midterm, for more offices than just governor.
(TX-LtGov) TX: How are we going to stop Dan Patrick? Easily. VOTE for Leticia. by Libby Shaw - Diarist details Texas State Senator (D-26th District) Leticia Van de Putte's bona fides for being elected Lt. Governor of the state when Wendy Davis is elected Governor this November. She's a lot more impressive than Dan Patrick (R).
(TX-Gen) Good Morning Texas! Politics with a Texas Accent by Libby Shaw - Diarist offers links to various progressive Texas blogs covering the races statewide.
(WA-StSen35) Just Got A Push Poll Call.... by The Way The Wind Blows - describes how the author handled a push poll that was designed to promote incumbent Conservadem Tim Sheldon. If the push polls are starting, it's time to get to work!
(WI-Gov) Scott Walker Defends Voter ID Decision; Now Wants to Drug Test Anyone on Public Aid by Puddytat - The 7th Circuit court has reinstated Wisconsin's voter ID law and Scott Walker(R) running for Governor against Mary Burke(D) is praising the decision. But the diarist exposes Walker's lies about the law and explains the potential impact the law will have in disenfranchising voters.
(WI-Gov) Scott Walker: Jobs Promise Broken per PolitiFact (even they can't prop up the BS anymore) by Puddytat - Long after the rest of us have long given up, Wisconsin PolitiFact finally declares Scott Walkers one and only campaign promise, creating 250,000 "good paying" jobs in his first term, as broken.
Really? Ya think?
(WI-Gov) Walker poll "gain" due to oversample of GOPs- Burke in good shape by Jake formerly of the LP - The latest poll from Marquette University shows Gov. Scott Walker (R) surging ahead of Democrat Mary Burke, but also includes more Republican voters than past surveys.
(WI-StAssembly44) Idaho student Jacob Dorsey Drops Wisconsin Assembly race after racist and anti-gay slurs by The Book Bear - 19-year old Idaho student Jacob Dorsey (R) dropped out of the race against Democrat Deb Kolste after admitting to offensive comments about gay and black people on Youtube and Twitter.
General - 13
An Educated, Diverse and Tolerant TX vs. the Far Right and the Willfully Stupid by Libby Shaw - Texas drives the textbook market in the U.S. And not all states are pleased about the Texas right wing snow job of facts and history. We ignore the polls. We blow off the pundits. We don't complain about the heat, humidity, voracious mosquitos or mean, stinging fire ants. We work to elect Democrats.
What would a 2014 Republican wave look like? Odds are, not like this. by Steve Singiser - The diarist analyzes the data and concludes that, contrary to conventional wisdom in some circles, the coming election will not be a wave election for Republicans.
Dems Kicking butt In a Whole bunch of New Polls!! by joelgp - Diarist offers poll results for the Senate elections that show Democratic candidates kicking butt.
Democrats lead Republicans by 12 points in the generic ballot? by wdrath - More good polling news.
Election Modeling Round 1 by terranova108 - The diarist, a biostatistician, presents his model-based predictions of the final results for the Senate. This week's predictions, based on criteria spelled out in the diary, is D/I -52, R-47, Tie,1. These predictions will be updated every 2 weeks until the Sunday before election day.
2014 is Definitely Not Like 2010, but it Could be Like 2002 by JBtakenote - The diarist makes the case for the possibility of a wave election for Democrats in November.
Coloring me some voters! by JamieG from Md - Diarist: "I did a search on the internet for election related coloring pages and found quite a few good ones. We have been printing out an assortment of pages and bringing them to the library during voter registration. We offer the pages to the kids or their parents. We also have a few boxes of crayons available for those who have time to do the coloring there in the lobby. This has been bringing attention to our efforts!"
Why Should a 35 Yr. Old, Black Female Vote For Democrats this November? by InformedDiva - A thought provoking diary on the tension between GOTV for Democratic candidates and DINO candidates taking one of the core Democratic constituencies for granted.
VPC Mails 12M Registration Forms to Americans, Biggest Voter Reg Drive Ever in Non-Presidential Year by Page Gardner - The Voter Participation Center is expanding its efforts, already sending out 7.4 million registration forms in September and 12 million since the beginning of the year. This is the most they’ve ever sent out in a nonpresidential election year.
2014: GOP Does Not Value Work, Time To Clean House by EagleOfFreedom - Nice photo diary about the relative value of hard work, and Republican disdain for hard work.
NC vote-by-mail trends continue Dem after 2 weeks by dean4ever - Democrats have a big margin so far in the traditional GOP dominated mode of vote-by-mail in North Carolina, with a 19.6% swing from 2010 when the GOP carried NC.
On Tuesday, help Daily Kos register voters for National Voter Registration Day by Paul Hogarth - We all know what the stakes are in November. On Tuesday, September 23rd, Daily Kos will join more than 1,900 organizations to host National Voter Registration Day - a coordinated field, technology and media effort to increase voter registration.
The Narrative of the Koch Brothers Tapes: The Debate We Have to Have by Michael Lux - The Koch brothers' secret conference tapes have generated well over a hundred national media stories, cable news segments, local news clips and blog posts. We need to have a public debate over corporate money influence in our political/electoral system.