Daily Archives: November 23, 2021

With the 2022 midterm elections less than a year away, Senate Republicans are building on their cash advantage, while House and national committees are sitting on similar warchests.

The Republicans' Senate campaign arm continued to outraise the Democrats' campaign committee, beating the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in October for the seventh straight month. In June, the DSCC brought in slightly more from individual donations than the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

The NRSC raised $9 million in October compared to the DSCC's $6.9 million haul. It ended October with about $29.7 million in the bank, while the DSCC had $15.9 million cash on hand.

But there is some good news for the Democratic Party its candidates have been outraising Republicans in key battleground races. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia raised $8.9 million in individual contributions in the third quarter. Six other Democratic Senate candidates all topped $2 million in individual contributions in the quarter.

On the GOP side, Senator Marco Rubio ($5.5 million) of Florida and Herschel Walker ($3.7 million), who could face Warnock in Georgia, were the only Republican Senate candidates to crack $2 million in individual contributions. Some other Republicans have contributed large sums to their own campaigns to shore up their financial standing.

In the battle for the House, Democrats held a slight financial advantage with less than a year to go before Election Day 2022. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $11.6 million in October, with about $7.5 million from individuals, while the National Republican Committee raked in $9.7 million, including $6.4 million from individuals. Both committees were sitting on about $67 million at the end of October.

Midterm elections are historically difficult for the party controlling the White House. With state lawmakers redrawing districts around the country, Democrats have seen 17 members announce plans to retire or run for a new office. Over the weekend, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas retired. On Monday, Representative Peter Welch of Vermont said he would be leaving his House seat to run for the Senate following Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy's retirement, and received the coveted endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders. Just 10 House Republicans have announced they'll retire or say they're running for a different office.

The House and Senate campaign committees are key allies for the political parties in tight races to supplement candidate spending. They can use their millions on television and digital advertisements and send other material, much of which is negative, in an effort to persuade voters.

The Republican National Committee reported raising $13.8 million in October, including $10.9 million from individual donors. The Democratic National Committee brought in $11.4 million, with $7.9 million coming from individual donors.

It was the third straight month, and sixth month this year, that the RNC has brought in more money than the DNC. But Democrats have closed a massive cash gap between the two committees at the start of the year.

At the end of January, the DNC had $44.8 million in the bank and more than $5 million in debt. The RNC, meanwhile, had $83 million in its coffers and no debt. At the end of October, both committees were sitting on about $68 million.

The RNC has spent nearly $150 million this year, including transferring about $5 million to GOP Senate and House campaign committees through the end of September. The committee's biggest expenditure total, about $11.4 million, has been paid to a mailing vendor.

In October, the RNC reported spending about $120,000 to pay a lawyer who is representing former President Trump in investigations into his finances in New York. The spending was first reported by The Washington Post.

"The RNC's Executive Committee approved paying for certain legal expenses that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump," an RNC spokesperson said in a statement. "As a leader of our party, defending President Trump and his record of achievement is critical to the GOP. It is entirely appropriate for the RNC to continue assisting in fighting back against the Democrats' never ending witch hunt and attacks on him."

The DNC has spent about $100 million in 2021. Through the end of October, the law firm Perkins Coie was the top recipient of DNC spending, receiving about $12.6 million from the committee.

Another big factor in the midterms will be how Mr. Trump spends his Save America PAC's millions. The committee doesn't have to report its fundraising figures again until January, but was sitting on $90 million at the end of June.

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Senate Republicans hold fundraising edge over Democrats, House and national party committees even on cash - CBS News

Republicans are in an advantageous position, albeit one that is not of their making.

Just under one year out from the midterm elections, Republicans find themselves with substantial advantages in polls asking voters which party they want to see in control of Congress. Democrats are in bad odor across the board, in part because they have set their sights on an agenda the public isnt overly enthusiastic about while also failing to see to the basics of governance little things like preserving a healthy economy, maintaining national security and delivering the nation out of a historic pandemic.

All Republicans have to be is something other than Democratic.

Because the party in power has turned in such a lousy performance over the last year, Republicans dont have to be anything more than against Democratic governance. They dont have to offer an alternative governing vision for the country. They dont have to grit their teeth and rubber-stamp Democratic initiatives. All Republicans have to be is something other than Democratic.

Thats easy enough, for now. But it will not last.

The GOP is benefiting from a lack of specificity. Right now, Republican governance is a hypothetical, and the partys candidates are generic. But soon enough, those hypothetical candidacies will become flesh and blood. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California has shown little ability to impose any kind of discipline on his conference. That is going to make it harder for Republicans to present themselves to voters as an unobjectionable vehicle of opposition to the Democratic presidents agenda. And if McCarthy thinks maintaining discipline in the minority is hard, just wait until he becomes speaker of the House.

In the majority, the House GOP will have to present a positive agenda to contrast with Joe Bidens. That mission will be frustrated by the demands of the GOPs base voters, who seem to want little from their elected representatives beyond the relentless trolling of their political opponents. McCarthys primary interest so far has been to give those base voters what they want.

For example, McCarthy has devoted inordinate attention to what he alleges is the persecution of his conferences most irresponsible members: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona. Democrats removed both members from their committees after they repeatedly made odious spectacles of themselves. Greene was the subject of House Republican condemnations before the demands of negative partisanship made her into a GOP cause clbre. Gosar spent his time flirting with Holocaust deniers before he landed himself in the dock for posting a cartoon featuring his caricatured likeness murdering a House colleague. According to McCarthy, the majority party is unduly punishing both. He promised to restore those members assignments as speaker. Indeed, he added, they may have better committee assignments.

McCarthys defiance in support of these unworthy members stands in stark contrast to the opprobrium he rained down on Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming a reliable vote for Republican leaderships legislative priorities only because her conscience compels her to say out loud what McCarthy hasnt allowed himself to say since the shock of the day wore off: That Jan. 6 was a stain on the countrys history, and that Donald Trump bears responsibility for it.

Its entirely likely that Democrats will regret using their majorities to police the misconduct of minority members without a buy-in from GOP leadership.

Its entirely likely that Democrats will regret using their majorities to police the misconduct of minority members without a buy-in from GOP leadership. Republicans are likely to use their power in the majority to impose similar consequences on the Democratic Partys more contemptible members. But the sidelining of these two spotlight-hogging, addlebrained conspiracy mongers adds fuel to the populist persecution complex overtaking McCarthys party. Their presence in the media spotlight only makes it harder for Republicans to brand themselves as a generic vehicle of opposition to Democrats. McCarthy is not, however, obliged to lend credence to the notion that these members are being unfairly targeted. That was his choice.

But maybe McCarthy is just being a good steward of his conference? After all, as speaker, he would be responsible for maintaining the good faith of all his members. Herding 218 self-interested cats into corrals not always of their choosing is tough and thankless work. Sometimes pride or even prudence must take a back seat to the drudgework of legislating. But Republicans cant have much confidence in McCarthy to keep his conference in line in the majority when hes been unable to do that in the minority.

Despite his public admonitions against voting for the bipartisan infrastructure package, 13 Republicans bucked leadership and voted for that Democratic-sponsored initiative. It was always too much to expect that there would be no GOP defections when that bill received the support of 69 senators, including 19 Republicans. But the tactical incentives to deny Democrats a victory couldnt compete with the interests of those members constituents, most of whom live in infrastructure-heavy states in the Northeast. As far as we can tell, the minority leaders warnings werent a factor for the 13 defectors.

Nor could McCarthy keep his conference in line ahead of a vote on a proposal to create an independent commission to investigate the events leading up to the siege of the Capitol. "Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the speaker's shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation," McCarthy said. Strong words words that 35 Republicans summarily ignored when they voted in favor of the commission, preferring a framework deal hashed out on the sidelines by four-term Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y.

McCarthys style of leadership as minority leader has been to either ignore or defend his conferences most embarrassing members and to play to the partys pro-Trump base, even at the risk of reinforcing the general perception that the GOP remains captive to the former presidents cult of personality. At the same time, he has repeatedly failed to demonstrate the ability to keep his members in line. These are inauspicious signs for a party poised to hand him the speakers gavel. Maybe Republicans should start thinking about a Plan B.

Noah Rothman is the associate editor of Commentary Magazine.

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Republicans have a Kevin McCarthy problem on their hands - MSNBC

DENVILLE Back during the Watergate era, Morris County Democrats won a county freeholder seat for theonly time and a handfulof state legislative seats.

But when the embers of Watergate died down, Republicans regained their posture as the countys dominant party.

History may not literally repeat itself, but its an open question if something similar is afoot more than four decades later.

Fueled by Donald Trumps unpopularity among many suburbanites, Democrats flipped four congressional seats in 2018 and held three of them last year. (The exception was CD-2 where then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew switched parties and won as a Republican).

But the 2021 election was not a good one for Democrats.

Phil Murphy won a surprisingly close race, the GOP gained seven seats in the Legislature and in Morris, Republicans won the mayors seat in Parsippany.

Whether the county is returning to its traditional form as the Trump presidency slips further into the background day by day is an open question. Well have to wait for the 2022 midterms to find out, but to Laura Ali, the county GOP chair, its a time for optimism.

I feel great, Ali said Tuesday during a chat at a local coffee shop. I think CD-11 although Mikie Sherrill is a popular candidate is going to be a referendum on Joe Biden and his horrible and disastrous policies.

Before that happens, Republicans need a candidate. Theres no shortage of possibilities.

At least six individuals have expressed interest so far and Ali expects more to come forward.

And that excludes Rosemary Becchi, who ran against Sherrill in 2020 and lost by about 30,000 votes. Becchi, who has stayed in the local political limelight through a grassroots organization called Jersey 1st, may run again.

There is time for all this to be sorted out, but not a lot of time.

Morris County now has a county line and Ali said she wants to hold a nominating convention in February.

You really need to get going soon, because you need to get those county committee votes, Ali advised all would-be candidates.

Then again, what complicates things is that no one knows what the 11th district is going to look like. It now covers most of Morris and small sections of Essex, Passaic and Sussex. The redistricting commission is now holding public hearings.

Rumors abound that CD-11 may incorporate Millburn and all of Montclair, thereby making it more Democratic.

That would hurt Republicans, but Ali is not all that troubled.

Morris will still be a strong part of the district, she said.

Fair point, but hows Morris going to vote? The county backed Sherrill in 2018 and 2020. No matter how you slice the numbers, its going to be virtually impossible for a Republican to win in CD-11 without carrying Morris.

Ali says the turnaround of GOP fortunes began three weeks ago.

Biden carried the county by 12,000 votes last year, but this year Republican Jack Ciattarelli won it by 21,000 a 33,000 vote swing. Many, many more people voted in 2020 than they did in 2021, so this is not a direct comparison, but you see the point.

As the GOP field jockeys for position, Ali has no favorite.

I dont want to go into the county convention with any preconceived favorite, she said.

The most important thing for me is that the person who comes out of the convention is the person who has the biggest chance to beat Mikie Sherrill. I want to make sure that happens.

And when a candidate emerges, Ali said she will work hard to energize and expand the Republican base, adding a bit cryptically, We have a lot of good plans up our sleeve.

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Ali Seeks the Best Republican to Take on Sherrill - InsiderNJ

by: TheRealDeal Staff via Nexstar Media Wire

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(TheRealDeal) Where you live and whom you vote for have never been moreclosely tied. Mappedelection resultsover the past few decades show the red middle has grown redder and the blue coasts bluer.

But when it comes to settling down in another partys territory, areportby apartment-listing site Zumper shows registered Republicans are more liberal about living among Democrats than the other way around with one caveat.

To conduct the survey, Zumper asked 1,500 people from across the country, Would you move to an area that did not match your political leaning?

Democrats were less inclined than Republicans to lay down roots among people on the other end of the politician spectrum, as 40 percent said they would not move to a red area and only 27 percent said they would.

Republicans, however, were game to mix with the left, with 43 percent of GOP voters saying they would move to an area that did not match their politics and 36 percent saying they would not.Read more

Jeff Andrews, report author and data analyst at Zumper, said Republicans openness to liberal enclaves makes more sense if you split them into two camps upper-middle-class and wealthy constituents who prize low regulation in one, and low-income, rural voters who favor identity politics in the other.

A wealthy Republican who works in finance might prefer to live in New York City, despite its blue leaning, Andrews said, pointing to job location and the perks of living in a cultural hub as factors. Plus, higher earners could afford to relocate.

The lasting popularity of Manhattans Metropolitan Republican Club speaks to that cohorts existence. Just last month, the group sold out its 118th annual dinner honoring Forbes Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes with the Ronald Reagan Award in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Reagan Tax Cuts.

The Silk Stocking District on the Upper East Side is also routinely the top-donating area to Republican campaigns.

Similarly, in San Francisco, where just over 6 percent of voters are registered as Republicans, some ballots were cast for Donald Trump in 2016. The votes were concentrated in the citys richest areas Pacific Heightsand Sea Cliff, among them, the San Francisco examinerreported.

In New York, there are likewise Republican pockets within the cities tight-knit communities, such as Brooklyns Hasidic and Russian Jewish enclaves. Brighton and Manhattan Beachelected a Republican City Council memberthis year for the first time this century.

Still, Republican openness to relocation knows some bounds, the report found. For many, Covid-19 protocols were a critical catch.

While 86 percent of Democrats said they would move to an area with a mask mandate, less than half of Republicans said the same. Aversions to vaccine mandates held similar sway. Just over one-third of Republicans said they would move somewhere that had vaccination requirements; 82 percent of Democrats said they would.

Considering the strict vaccine mandates for certain jobs and venues in San Francisco, Los Angeles andNew York, it seems unlikely that the three cities will see an influx of Republicans anytime soon.

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Republicans more willing to live among Democrats than vice versa, survey says - KXAN.com

Republicans have seized in particular on a March 2020 commission vote lifting a rule that required special voting deputies trained and dispatched by municipal clerks offices to visit nursing homes twice before issuing absentee ballots to residents. The special voting deputies, like most other visitors, were barred from entering nursing homes early in the pandemic, and the commission reasoned that there was not enough time before the April primary election to require them to be turned away before mailing absentee ballots.

The vote was relatively uncontroversial at the time: No lawsuits from Republicans or anyone else challenged the guidance. The procedure remained in place for the general election in November.

But after Joseph R. Biden Jr. won Wisconsin by 20,682 votes out of 3.3 million cast, Republicans began making evidence-free claims of fraudulent votes cast from nursing homes across the state. Sheriff Christopher Schmaling of Racine County said the five state election commissioners who had voted to allow clerks to mail absentee ballots to nursing homes without the visit by special voting deputies as is prescribed by state law should face felony charges for election fraud and misconduct in office.

Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the State Assembly, who represents Racine County, quickly concurred, saying that the five commissioners including his own appointee to the panel should probably face felony charges.

The commissioners have insisted they broke no laws.

Ann Jacobs, a Democrat who is the commissions chairwoman, said she had no regrets about making voting easier during the pandemic and added that even my Republican colleagues were afraid about the future of fair elections in the state.

We did everything we could during the pandemic to help people vote, she said.

Mr. Johnson a two-term senator who said he would announce a decision on whether to seek re-election in the next few weeks is lobbying Republican state legislators, with whom he met last week at the State Capitol, to take over federal elections.

The State Legislature has to reassert its constitutional role, assert its constitutional responsibility, to set the times, place and manner of the election, not continue to outsource it through the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Mr. Johnson said. The Constitution never mentions a governor.

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Wisconsin Republicans Push to Take Over the States Elections - The New York Times

Tony Quinn| Special to CalMatters

After 70 years of political squabbling, it looks like California will finally have a state redistricting not tainted by partisanship. Thats the message the new California Citizens Redistricting Commission seems to be sending.

It is hard to believe but we have had seven decades of political fights over district lines, beginning in 1951. In 1981, Rep. Phil Burton showed the nation what gerrymandering could really be with a plan he called My contribution to modern art. That led to Republicans trying to hand off redistricting to a nonpartisan commission, which was finally achieved for the 2011 cycle.

But that commission quickly came under attack that some of its commissioners had partisan motives and were corrupting the process.

So why is it different this time? For one thing, none of the 14 current commissioners had involvement in partisan politics.

Another major reason is that there are really no partisan stakes left as California has become such a deep shade of blue. There is no way a plan could be written that would deny Democrats supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature; the Republican collapse has been so pronounced over the past decade.

But California almost certainly will be a factor in the U.S. House of Representatives, something that has not been the case for decades. Democrats have only a five-seat majority in the House, and the make or break for Democrats could be California.

More importantly, Republicans control more legislatures around the country and Republican-run states are gaining seats. So one might have expected pressure on the California commission to help balance Democratic losses with some sweetheart districts here. A careful examination of the four visualizations and theinitial draft planreleased by the commission shows that this simply is not the case.

Democrats won seven GOP held Congressional districts in 2018, and Republicans won back four of them in 2020. The three remaining Democrats, Reps. Josh Harder, a Democrat from Turlock,Katie Porter, a Democrat from Irvine, and Mike Levine, a Democrat from San Diego, all have worse districts under the commissions first draft.

Why is this? For one thing, the commission has followed the lead of its legal staff and made a priority of creatingVoting Rights Act districtswith a majority of Latino voters, as the law requires them to do. This makes playing partisan games much more difficult. The2020 Censusshowed an interesting phenomenon: The Latino population is rapidly reaching middle-class status and moving to the suburbs, so the new Voting Rights Act districts are in the suburbs like the Inland Empire.

This is nothing new, for decades Democrats depended on urban political machines populated by immigrant Irish, Italians and Jews. After World War II, second and third generations moved to the suburbs. The same thing is occurring with Californias Latino population. Only it is happening faster than with other immigrant groups.

There is criticism in some Latino circles that the commission has not created more Latino districts, but in fact Latino, Asian and African American candidates regularly win in non-minority areas. The commission has collapsed the Los Angeles district of Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal Allard, a seat that has been in her family for 60 years. But it was the most underpopulated district in the state, and Los Angeles grew much slower than the rest of the state.

This is not to say everything the commission has done is perfect. They have made a mess of Bakersfield and Fresno, creating wild-looking districts that violate communities of interest. In trying to create three Voting Rights Act congressional districts in the Central Valley they actually lowered the Latino population in the two that exist now. So they do have some clean-up work to do.

But Californians should be pleased with this commission so far. Finally, after 70 years, it seems that partisan politics has been taken out of district drawing.

Tony Quinn was a longtime Republican consultant whose work on redistricting began in 1971. He was an expert witness in two lawsuits against the 2011 commission plans.

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Commentary: I'm a Republican, and I think California's redistricting commission is doing well - The Desert Sun

COLUMBIA, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela S. Evette, and First Lady Peggy McMasters schedules for the week of November 22includethe following:

Note: There are no scheduled public events at this time. You will be notified if an event is added.

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Gov. Henry McMasters Weekly Schedule: November15, 2021

COLUMBIA, S.C. Gov. Henry McMasters schedule for the week of November 15, 2021, included:

Monday, November 15

8:00 AM:Policy meeting.

Gov. McMaster was in the Office of the Governor for office hours, State House, firstfloor, Columbia, SC.

10:30 AM:Meeting with members of the South Carolina General Assembly.

Tuesday, November 16

8:30 AM:Gov. McMaster held a COVID-19 briefing call with state officials.

3:30 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

5:45 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

6:30 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

8:30 PM (MST): Republican Governors Association event.

Wednesday, November 17

10:30 AM (MST): Republican Governors Association meeting.

10:45 AM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

11:00 AM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

11:15 AM (MST): Republican Governors Association meeting.

11:30 AM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

11:45 AM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

12:00 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

12:15 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association meeting.

2:00 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

3:15 PM (MST):Gov. McMaster spoke at the Republican Governors Association event - Corporate Plenary I: DC Dysfunction - Republican Governors Lead the Way Forward, Phoenix, AZ.

4:45 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

6:30 PM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

8:30 PM (MST): Republican Governors Association event.

Thursday, November 18

8:00 AM (MST):Republican Governors Association event.

10:30 AM (MST): Republican Governors Association event.

11:45 AM (MST): Republican Governors Association event.

1:00 PM (MST): Republican Governors Association event.

Friday, November 19

8:30 AM:Gov. McMaster held a COVID-19 briefing call with state officials.

3:00 PM:Gov. McMaster and First Lady Peggy McMaster attended the funeral service for Senator Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr., Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center, 201 S. Dargan Street, Florence, S.C.

Sunday, November 21

6:00 PM: Gov. McMaster and First Lady Peggy McMaster participated in the 55th Annual Governors Carolighting, north steps, State House, 1100 Gervais Street, Columbia, S.C

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Gov. Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela S. Evette, and First Lady Peggy McMaster's Weekly Schedule, November 22, 2021 | SC Governor Henry McMaster - S.C....

Dr. Johnson

Dr. A. Wayne Johnson

Plains, GA, Nov. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Dr. A. Wayne Johnson, successful businessman and a former senior official with the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Trump Administration, announced today he will run for the Republican nomination from Georgias 2nd Congressional District in the May primary.

Johnson said he believes the upcoming mid-term Congressional election in this newly balanced district will be one of the most competitive, most highly watched and most pivotal Congressional races in the nation.

I want to go to Washington and work on the kitchen table issues that citizens of this district discuss as part of their everyday lives, said Dr. Johnson. Rural healthcare, family-wage jobs, senior care, support for farmers and a quality education for their children are important things that people care about and that I will focus on.

Dr. Johnson was born in Georgia and has been a lifelong resident of Georgia.

Having been introduced to public policy in Washington by Sen. Johnny Isakson, Dr. Johnson, a recognized national expert in the field of educational funding, served in the Executive Branch as head of the $1.7 trillion Federal Student Loan program.

I learned how Washington works and know it can be made to work better for residents of the 2nd District, said Dr. Johnson.

Dr. Johnson is a respected former banker who has established businesses in the district and other parts of Georgia. He has enjoyed both cattle and tree farming and worked for a major corporation in the 2nd District.

I have a deep appreciation for public service, and I look forward to once again serving, said Dr. Johnson. I will be visiting with people from all parts of the 2nd District to hear what is important to the hard-working people who live in this important part of Georgia.

Dr. Johnson is an Eagle Scout and served as an Officer in the U.S. Army. He obtained his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Mercer University and his MBA from Emory University. Dr. Johnson currently resides in Macon.

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Contact:Davis Lundy478-324-8856davislundy@aol.com

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Dr. A. Wayne Johnson, Former Trump Administration Official, Announces Bid for Republican Nomination in Georgias 2nd Congressional District - Yahoo...