Presidential politics

Jim Bunning retirement imminent?

April 30th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Congressional elections, 2010

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a Republican who has insisted he would not challenge Sen. Jim Bunning unless the Republican decided not to seek a third term, announced Thursday that he had formed an exploratory committee for the 2010...

Jennings urges changes in bidding, bonding rules

April 30th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Breaking News, Business News, City News, Government, Politics

Syracuse, NY -- Redevelopment of Syracuse's Inner Harbor should be open to "merit shop" bids as well as those that include a project labor agreement and paying prevailing wages, Republican mayoral designee Otis Jennings said Thursday. "We're talking about job...

Chafee makes it official — by mistake

April 30th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Republicans

Lincoln Chafee, the former Republican senator from Rhode Island, has a website chafeeforgovernor.com. And he made it perfectly clear that he's running for governor during an interview Tuesday on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. “I’m running as an independent...

DSCC goes after ‘Teflon Charlie’ in Florida

April 30th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Congressional elections, 2010

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist hasn't jumped into the U.S. Senate race yet -- a decision could come next week, The Washington Post says -- but he is getting a taste of what it will be like if he does. The...

House Democrats add one more member, and another is likely

April 29th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Democrats

New York Democrat Scott Murphy took the oath of office today in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving the Democrats 256 members to 178 for Republicans. Gannett Washington Bureau's Brian Tumulty reports: Murphy brought about 30 family members and friends...

Al Franken hires chief of staff

April 29th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Senate

Democrat Al Franken isn't waiting for the courts to decide who won Minnesota's Senate election to build his staff. Today, he picked Drew Littman, a veteran campaign consultant, to serve as his chief of staff in Washington. It is his...

Obama made quick decision on Specter

April 29th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Congressional elections, 2010

President Obama is the new decider -- and a quick one at that. The president "probably took ... less than about seven seconds" to make his decision to endorse Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, says the president's spokesman...

Senate Republicans launch campaign to restore STAR rebate checks

April 29th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Breaking News, Government, Politics, State News, Top News

Sen. John DeFrancisco and members of the Senate Republican Conference launched a statewide petition drive today to try to restore STAR rebate checks to middle-class New Yorkers. Senate Republicans created an online petition to pressure leaders to reinstate the rebate...

Specter defection divides GOP

April 29th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in Republicans

Brace yourself for another round of soul-searching for the Republican Party now that Sen. Arlen Specter has jumped to the Democrats rather than lose to conservative ex-congressman Pat Toomey in a GOP primary. This time it is a deep dive....