2009/2010: Five states to watch
Posted: Monday, June 29, 2009 9:10 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
2009, 2010
Roll Call looks at the elections in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, California and New York, which it says “have the most overlap in terms of competitive elections on the state and federal levels. All of the states are relatively large, and the gubernatorial and Senate races there are expected to be very expensive.”
KENTUCKY: “Sources close to Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R), who has formed a Senate exploratory committee, say he is on track to report raising close to $500,000 in the second quarter of the year. Grayson had only two months to fundraise this quarter after filing his exploratory committee in early May. Grayson, who has said he does not plan to challenge Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and has said he will only run if the incumbent decides to step aside, has fundraisers scheduled for Monday in London, Ky., and Tuesday in Lexington.”
NEW JERSEY: Vice President Joe Biden
-- shockingly --
misspoke at Thursday’s LGBT fundraiser in Washington, this time confusing the New Jersey and Virginia governors. When introducing Virginia Governor Tim Kaine at the event, Biden said Kaine is a “great governor for New Jersey.” That distinction, of course, goes to Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine.
VIRGINIA: Gubernatorial hopefuls Creigh Deeds (D) and Bob McDonnell (R)
made their first back-to-back appearances on Friday, speaking to an audience of 800 high school students. They both said they would not raise taxes for state transportation improvement but would find alternative means of paying for planned projects. Deeds said he would “promote business growth” to increase state revenues, while McDonnell said he’d cut “spending on things that are not a priority.”
Those statements came on the heels of several polls showing “increasing anxiety nationally about rising government spending--”a fear that both candidates are trying to assuage among Virginia voters. The Washington Post says “the challenge for McDonnell will be to paint Deeds as a reckless spender without making himself look like an extremist who would starve government services.” McDonnell has already come under fire from Republicans for declaring his intent not to sign a pledge against raising taxes.
