Congressional Elections

DAYTON, Ohio - Republican John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate Friday, a stunning selection of a little-known conservative newcomer who relishes fighting the establishment.

DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Energized by a historic Democratic convention, Barack Obama Friday plunged back onto the campaign trial as his Republican rival John McCain shook up the White House race with a surprise VP pick.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' political fate could be up to his colleagues if a jury decides the Senate's longest-serving Republican has violated the law.

NEW YORK - A longtime Brooklyn congressman who has gone most of his career without ever facing much of a re-election challenge is facing an aggressive fight this year from a former "Real World" cast member.

CLEVELAND - Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has ordered a special election Nov. 18 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Don Young, Alaska's lone congressman for the last 35 years, remained locked in a tight race with the lieutenant governor Wednesday, a day after the state's primary election, and the winner may not be decided for days.

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Ted Stevens won his Alaska Republican primary race less than a month after his indictment on corruption charges, while Representative Don Young's bid for a 19th term is too close to call.

DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani crowed Wednesday that Hillary Clinton's showstopping convention speech would help Republicans defeat the Democrats in the White House race.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Republican John McCain on Tuesday questioned rival Barack Obama's belief in American leadership in world affairs with two days to go before the Democratic senator accepts his party's nomination for U.S. president.

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Patrick Murphy is the only Iraq War veteran in Congress, so when he argues for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops, people tend to listen.

DENVER - Democrats ridiculed several Republican congressional candidates for planning to skip their party's nominating convention in St. Paul next week. It turns out many Democrats are using the same strategy.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, faces six challengers Tuesday in Alaska's primary, but his recent indictment on corruption charges poses little threat to Stevens' quest for the GOP nomination to seek a seventh full term.

DENVER - Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden as a running mate sets the bar for John McCain. The Republican could use his own pugnacious No. 2 to deliver attack lines and a solid debate performance.

DOVER, Del. - Sen. Joe Biden will pursue two campaigns at once this fall: his race for the White House as Barack Obama's running mate and his quest for re-election to the Senate.

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic governors of two states that the party is targeting in the November presidential election said Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joseph Biden as a running mate will reassure voters who question the presumptive nominee's experience on foreign policy and national security.

The Democrats are strongly favored to make gains in this year's Senate elections that will bolster the fragile majority the party won in the 2006 elections. And one big reason is that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has greatly outraised its counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic governors of two states that the party is targeting in the November presidential election said Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joseph Biden as a running mate will reassure voters who question the presumptive nominee's experience on foreign policy and national security.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Like many voters in this port city and the gritty urban areas of Rep. Laura Richardson's political turf, Johnetta Walker is disenchanted with the lawmaker whose meteoric rise has been marked with personal financial failures.

WASHINGTON - Republican prospects in U.S. Senate races this November grew grimmer Friday, as the head of the party's campaign arm announced he must reduce its budget because GOP senators are raising too little money.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - White House hopeful Barack Obama said Friday a tentative US-Iraqi deal to get American troops home by 2011 exposed his rival John McCain's war plan as mere "bluster" and divorced from reality.

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The best hope for Republicans in this year's Senate elections is a former Democrat with a familiar Democratic name: John Kennedy.

Obama says he's chosen his running mate, but won't say who ... Obama pounces on McCain for not knowing how many houses he and multimillionaire wife own ... Election panel rules McCain not bound by spending limits in primaries, doesn't rule on loan ... Conservative group places ad questioning Obama relationship to 60s radical ... Obama spends $55 million to McCain's $32 million in July ... McCain, Obama agree to three presidential debates

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain chided his Democratic rival on Wednesday for getting "a little testy" as Barack Obama sharpened his tone amid a tightening White House race that gets nastier by the day.

NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Sen. David Vitter can use campaign funds to pay some legal costs from his involvement in an escort service scandal, according to a draft opinion prepared for the Federal Election Commission.

WORCESTER, Mass. - The week before the 2004 Democratic National Convention, John Kerry drafted his presidential nomination speech and then set off on a cross-country trip that brought him home to thousands of delegates waiting in Boston.

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - A hospital spokeswoman says U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has been admitted to a Cleveland-area hospital.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Authorities are investigating a letter sent to the headquarters of a South Dakota congressional candidate containing threats and a white powder.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Emil Jones, who helped Barack Obama reach the U.S. Senate and has been Gov. Rod Blagojevich's staunchest ally, said Monday he will not seek re-election in November and plans to retire at the end of his term.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve Kagen's congressional campaign claims in a fundraising e-mail that former White House political adviser Karl Rove called him the top target this year — but Rove says he has no recollection of ever saying that.