Poll: Booker Cruising in NJ SEN; Cotton Kicks Off AR SEN Bid; Detroit, Seattle Mayoral Races Set
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WHAT'S NEWS
At a speech Tuesday in Phoenix, Pres. Obama "called for a dramatic reworking of the mortgage landscape by lending support to a bill pending in the Senate that ... would end" gov't backing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, "the federally controlled mortgage companies, and would scrap some housing goals currently required of them" (Arizona Republic).
A new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of NJ SEN Special Dem primary LVs, conducted 8/1-5, shows Newark Mayor Cory Booker leading Rep. Frank Pallone, 54-17%, with Rep. Rush Holt at 15% and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver at 5% (release). The Bergen Record endorsed Booker on Wednesday.
Freshman Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced Tuesday that he will run for AR SEN, "arguing that he has served in Congress 'long enough to know that Washington needs to change'" (Washington Examiner).
Businessman Matt Bevin (R) unveiled his first TV ad in KY SEN, hitting Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell (R) for pushing the TARP program in '08 and tagging McConnell with the nickname "Mudslinging Mitch" for his early TV ads critical of Bevin (release).
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA) announced Tuesday he won't seek reelection, "saying he's grown weary of brutal partisan party politics ... and fundraising" (Monroe News-Star). Potential candidates in LA-05 immediately "began lining up to run, or at least consider running." State Sen. Neil Riser (R) "said he's '100 percent in the race,'" Alexander CoS Adam Terry (R) "said he will consider running for the seat" and Alexander state dir. Jonathan Johnson (R) "is another potential ... candidate." On the Dem side, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo (D) "didn't rule out a run," atty Charles Kincade (D) "said he is interested," state Sen. Rick Gallot (D) "is also a potential candidate" and state Rep. Marcus Hunter (D) "said he, too will consider the race" (Monroe News-Star).
In the Detroit mayoral primary on Tuesday, ex-Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan "overcame long odds and numerous legal challenges" as a write-in candidate while Wayne Co. Sheriff Benny Napoleon "cruised comfortably" into the second spot in the 11/5 general election (Detroit News).
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn (D) "survived a hard-fought primary Tuesday and is headed to" an 11/5 runoff against state Sen. Ed Murray (D), "a matchup likely to revolve around leadership style as much as any single policy difference" (Seattle Times).
OFA "is looking to help" GA SEN candidate Michelle Nunn (D), "marking the first time that ... Obama's political arm has explicitly crossed into" Dem politics (Politico).
SC state Sen. Lee Bright (R) "is expected to make his" SC SEN candidacy "official sometime next week" (Columbia State). Meanwhile, PR firm owner Nancy Mace (R) "retweeted a tweet calling" Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) "'Nancy boy,' according to the Sunlight Foundation's Politwoops, which monitors politicians' deleted tweets" (Politico).
Army Maj. Gen Jerry Cannon (D) "officially announced on Tuesday that he will challenge" Rep. Dan Benishek (R-MI) in MI-01 (Roll Call).
Army vet Aaron Miller (R) announced Tuesday that he would run in MN-01 against Rep. Tim Walz (D) (New Ulm Journal).
GA state Schools Supt. John Barge (R) "said Tuesday that he was weighing a challenge" to Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in next year's GA GOV GOP primary "that could upend statehouse politics and add a deeply personal element to the race" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Ex-TN Regulatory Authority Dir. Sara Kyle (D) said "she's 'seriously considering any position that I can be of service and help the Democrats move forward,'" including a potential TN GOV run (Nashville Tennessean).
KY LG Jerry Abramson (D) "said Tuesday he won't run" for KY GOV '15 (cn|2).
Rep. Steve King (R-IA), "whose hard line immigration rhetoric has angered some of his fellow" GOPers, "is quietly planning meetings with political activists" in the first-in-the-South primary state of SC (CNN).
Two more women have come forward to say that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) sexually harassed them, and that Filner, the ex-chair of the House Vets' Affairs Cmte, "used his significant power and credentials to access military sexual assault survivors, who they say are less likely to complain" about unwanted advances (CNN).
OUR CALL
Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day
• One element of the disgust-with-Congress storyline that doesn't get covered a lot is the fact that low approval ratings make it harder to convince good candidates to run in the first place. When members like Kurt Schrader kvetch over how awful DC is, and when Rodney Alexander cites Congressional dysfunction in his decision to call it quits, it demonstrates how much repair the system needs.
• The headlines generated by the latest NH WH '16 GOP primary numbers in a new WMUR-TV Granite State Poll are focused on NJ Gov. Chris Christie and his recent sparring partner, Sen. Rand Paul, leading the GOP pack, but another senator's standing might be just as interesting: Marco Rubio checks in with only 6% -- a 9-point drop from his first-place showing in the same poll in April.
HAIR OF THE DOG
FRESH BREWED BUZZ
"Federal agents and prosecutors investigating the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi have filed charges against Ahmed Khattalah, leader of a Libyan militia that officials believe was involved in the assault, people briefed on the investigation said," representing "the first criminal counts to emerge from the probe" (CNN).
George W. Bush "underwent a procedure Tuesday morning to have a stent placed in an artery after a blockage was discovered in an annual physical examination, according to his office" (NBC News).
"Things got heated and personal Tuesday" between NYC mayoral candidates Anthony Weiner (D) and George McDonald (R) "as they attended" an AARP-sponsored "town hall forum at Hunter College." Before the event, McDonald approached Weiner "and told him to keep his hands off him." Weiner "then told McDonald he had anger issues and called him 'grandpa'" (NY1).
Ex-madam Kristin Davis, a "long-shot" NYC comp. candidate and "nemesis" of ex-NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), was arrested Tuesday "for illegally peddling prescription pills to an FBI informant" (New York Daily News).
"Keep in mind she's been there. ... She doesn't have to measure them" -- Obama, asked by Jay Leno if, at his recent WH lunch with ex-Sec/State Hillary Clinton (D), Clinton was "measuring the drapes" (NBC News).
"The PBS 'NewsHour,' which was co-anchored for decades by the two men who created it, will soon be co-anchored by two women," Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff (New York Times).
"Goats In The Graveyard: Congressional Cemetery To Get Capra Cleaning" (WAMU-FM).
SWIZZLE CHALLENGE
Theodore Roosevelt served as as a police commissioner, assistant secretary of the Navy, army colonel, governor of New York and vice president in the span of four years.
The winner is Lee Forlenza, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "Name the one person who served as both secretary of State and secretary of War in separate Republican and Democratic Administrations." The 3rd correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.
NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS
SHOT...
"Why don't we talk about Rand Paul? I'm the one doing the interview. You can go ahead and beat up on an ex-employee of mine, but why don't we talk about Rand Paul, what I'm trying to do to grow the party?" -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), pressed in an interview with WBUR-FM in Boston about ex-staffer Jack Hunter (New York Times).
...CHASER
"Jimmy might have a compound fracture. Jimmy's goin' into shock" -- "Jimmy" ("Seinfeld").
Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief
Steven Shepard, Executive Editor
