July 2003

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Riordan, Feinstein at Center of Parties' Recall Buzz 7/31/2003 1:58 PM Republicans spent Tuesday waiting for confirmation from former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan that he intends to enter the recall election, while two congressional Democrats from California called for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to put her name up as a possible replacement for Gov. Gray Davis. Their plea for Feinstein's entry signaled a significant break in Democratic unity. After actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a moderate Republican, all but pulled himself out of the race, Republicans on Tuesday turned to Riordan as their best hope to replace the Democratic governor if he loses the Oct. 7 recall election. Riordan spent Tuesday talking with friends and political consultants and began assembling a campaign team. Sources say Schwarzenegger, who is friends with the moderate Los Angeles Republican, may be waiting to officially remove his name from speculation in order to give Riordan time to organize his campaign. Read the article Casting the California Recall Election 7/31/2003 10:06 AM Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, the moderate Republican whom Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis targeted with $7 million in TV ads in last year's GOP gubernatorial primary, could be Davis' strongest threat in the October 7 recall election. The 2002 race went according to Davis' plan: Riordan, who Davis feared could have posed a strong challenge in the general election, never overcame Davis' attacks and lost the primary to Bill Simon by 18 percentage points. Simon lost the general election to Davis by 5 points. But little has gone Davis' way since. He now faces a recall election that could make him the second governor in U.S. history recalled from office. Although Riordan, 73, has not formally entered the race, he could be the GOP's strongest candidate, especially if actor Arnold Schwarzenegger bows out as expected. Read the article Republicans Focus on Nevada, South Dakota Races 7/31/2003 10:00 AM Rep. George Nethercutt's decision to challenge Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in Washington state next year plugs a hole in the Republican lineup for 2004. Now the party is looking to veteran politicians in South Dakota and Nevada to follow his example in Senate races. GOP leaders are hoping that Rep. Jim Gibbons will take on the Democratic whip, Sen. Harry Reid, in Nevada. Their choice to challenge Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota is former Rep. John Thune. Gibbons has said he will make his decision by the end of August. An aide, Amy Spanbauer, said Wednesday that the lawmaker "wants to take the time to fully examine the options." Among them are running for governor, the Senate or the House. Thune lost a close, costly race for South Dakota's other Senate seat last year, and remains the GOP's No. 1 choice to run again. "He doesn't have a formal timeline of when he'll make a final decision," said a spokesman, Ryan Nelson. Read the article Shelby: GOP's Fundraising Powerhouse 7/29/2003 2:17 PM Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has used his new chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee to turn himself into a fundraising powerhouse. Shelby raised $2.9 million during the last fundraising quarter that ended June 30, according to Federal Election Commission reports. That brought Shelby's total in the bank to $10.6 million, second only to New York Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has more than $16 million. Shelby has maintained his relentless fundraising pace despite his solid prospects for reelection in one of the nation's cheaper media markets. He won his last election with 63 percent of the vote, and Alabama has been trending Republican for years. (Shelby is a former Democrat). Read the article Nethercutt to challenge Murray in '04 7/29/2003 2:12 PM Rep. George Nethercutt, a Spokane Republican, has decided to challenge two-term Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in a Washington state east-west Senate showdown. Nethercutt declined to confirm his candidacy. But numerous sources close to the fifth-term congressman said that he has made a decision to seek the Senate seat next year. There's heated speculation in GOP ranks about when Nethercutt will make his announcement official. Sources say he has already informed the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Bush White House of his intention to run. Read the article Riordan Is Closer to Recall Run 7/29/2003 1:36 PM With rising doubts over whether Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for governor, another moderate Republican, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, edged closer Monday to becoming a candidate to replace Gov. Gray Davis. Noelia Rodriguez, press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush and Riordan's former close aide, spent Monday at his house in Brentwood helping him assemble a possible campaign team, sources said. President Bush supported Riordan when he ran for governor last year. But until now, White House officials have kept their distance from the recall. Read the article Source: Schwarzenegger Won't Run for California Governor 7/28/2003 2:21 PM Arnold Schwarzenegger won't seek the California governor's office in conjunction with a recall election set for October, a source close to the actor told Fox News. Schwarzenegger, 55, is said to have met Sunday with former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Riordan and Schwarzenegger are close, and Riordan said last week that he would consider a run if Schwarzenegger decided against a bid. "I would support Arnold Schwarzenegger in a second if he ran," Riordan said Friday. "I think he is sensational and if he doesn't run then I will have to make up my mind." Read the article Davis Recall Draws Several Candidates 7/28/2003 2:16 PM California voters waited over the weekend for Arnold Schwarzenegger to announce whether he would seek to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the state's upcoming recall election. Meanwhile, two prominent Republicans seemed on the verge of declaring their candidacies, complicating the recall effort for state Republican leaders. California Rep. Darrell Issa remains the only Republican candidate officially in the race, but he is expected to soon be joined by state Sen. Tom McClintock and former gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon, both of who all but declared their candidacies during a Sacramento rally Saturday. Read the article GOP Seeks Challenger to Senator Mikulski 7/28/2003 2:14 PM Maryland Republicans are struggling to find contenders for the 2004 U.S. Senate race against incumbent Barbara Mikulski. Less than nine months after the GOP won the governor's mansion and pledged to take on Democrats in other races, party leaders have been rejected by several top recruits, including Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, first lady Kendel Ehrlich and former U.S. representative Constance Morella. Read the article GOP Lawmakers Near 'Ranger' Status 7/28/2003 2:13 PM President Bush is getting more than legislative help from his allies in Congress: Several Republican lawmakers are vying to become "Rangers" by raising $200,000 for his reelection campaign. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.) this week is expected to become the first House member to top the magical mark to become a Ranger -- a designation reserved for Bush's most prolific fundraisers. Bush is counting on scores of business executives, lobbyists and other supporters to raise $200,000 each for his reelection campaign, which is expected to take in as much as $200 million. Reynolds "feels anything we can do to help reelect the president helps get more Republicans in Congress," said his spokesman, Carl Forti. Read the article Davis Will Face Recall Election October 7 7/24/2003 2:47 PM Gov. Gray Davis will face a recall election on Oct. 7, the lieutenant governor said Thursday, selecting the last possible date allowed by California law and giving his fellow Democrat nearly three months to campaign to keep his job. The announcement by Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante came the morning after the secretary of state certified that the Republican-led drive to recall Davis had collected more than enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Davis would be only the second governor in the nation ever to be recalled. State law required Bustamante to set the election date 60 to 80 days from Wednesday's certification - Oct. 7 squeaks in at 77 days, the last Tuesday in the timeframe. Read the article Giuliani: Bush Can Win New York in 2004 7/23/2003 2:22 PM Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged Republicans to campaign hard in New York in 2004, arguing that President Bush has a good shot at winning the heavily Democratic state. "New Yorkers like strong leaders," said Giuliani, asserting that Bush fit that description. "The president has a very good chance of winning New York" next year. Opening the Republican National Committee's annual meeting in the city he once led, Giuliani made his case to GOP members. The prime speaking spot also gave Giuliani, who is weighing another run for political office, a chance to shine. Read the article Dole Celebrates 80th Birthday at Institute Dedication 7/23/2003 1:43 PM For his 80th birthday Tuesday, Bob Dole got a U.S. senator and Medal of Honor recipient to sing to him - and received a political institute bearing his name. The dedication of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, though, focused more on Dole's fellow World War II veterans, scores of whom were at the ceremony. Read the article House Majority Whip to Have Prostate Removed 7/23/2003 1:43 PM House Majority Whip Roy Blunt has early stage prostate cancer and will have his prostate removed next month, he said Wednesday. Blunt, 53, said a malignancy was found during routine screening and was diagnosed in the early stages. He said the cancer is unrelated to a cancerous tumor that prompted doctors to remove his left kidney last year. "I have been extremely lucky to have excellent doctors in Springfield and Washington who have encouraged me to have regular checkups and screenings," Blunt, R-Mo., said in a statement issued Wednesday. Read the article California Constitution Raises Questions About Davis Replacement 7/23/2003 1:41 PM If California voters decide to recall Gov. Gray Davis, most expect that they would also get the opportunity to decide who will replace him, but that may not be the case. According to the state Constitution, once the recall qualifies, the lieutenant governor calls for a replacement election, and "if appropriate," a vote to elect a successor. Some say that gives Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante wiggle room to decide that if Davis is ousted, a replacement vote is not appropriate and he could keep the job for himself. Read the article GOP Fund-Raiser Won't Run for U.S. Senate 7/21/2003 5:56 PM Cosmetics executive and major Republican fund-raiser Georgette Mosbacher said Monday she has decided against challenging Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer in his re-election bid next year. The ex-wife of former U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher cited her responsibilities to her company, Borghese Inc. But she said she might be interested in challenging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2006. Mosbacher's decision marked the latest setback for New York's GOP in its effort to find an able opponent to take on Schumer. Only a little-known Wall Street trader, Michael Benjamin, is actively campaigning for the Republican nomination. Read the article Ex-Microsoft Exec Eyes Washington Governor Run 7/21/2003 10:59 AM Former Microsoft executive Bob Herbold says he'll decide in the next few weeks whether to run for governor. "This would be a fairly dramatic change," Herbold told the King County Journal. The 60-year-old Republican from Bellevue served as Microsoft's executive vice president and chief operating officer from 1993 to 2001, following a 26-year career with Procter & Gamble. His wife, Pat Herbold, is the chairwoman of the King County Republican Party. Read the article Bush Raises More Money Than All 9 Challengers 7/16/2003 9:48 AM President Bush raised more money in the past three months than all nine of his Democratic rivals combined, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday, opening up a huge financial advantage that is likely to continue throughout the 2004 election campaign. Read the article Bush Campaign Gathers Big Donors 7/16/2003 9:48 AM One-fourth of President Bush's mammoth reelection treasury was collected by a group of 68 friends and moguls who raised $100,000 or more in the campaign's first seven weeks, according to records released yesterday. These are Pioneers, who raised at least $100,000 each, and Rangers, who raised $200,000 or more. The Pioneers were a well-known part of the financial engine that shattered all fundraising records for Bush's first campaign. The Rangers are new, created by the 2004 campaign's architects to provide an incentive for even more diligent dialing for big money. Read the article California GOP Weighs Options in Davis Recall 7/10/2003 9:52 AM Republicans contemplating strategy as the drive to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis moves toward the ballot generally agree on two things. No. 1: The party would be best off uniting behind one candidate. No. 2: That's unlikely to happen. "If ever a situation called for a smoke-filled room, this is it," said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former speech writer for Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. In such a situation, party leaders would get together to appoint a single person to run, Whalen said. "The problem is the California Republican Party is not really built that way." Read the article