Who are the great Dem candidates this fall in your

[merrily]

state and/or district? And what are his or her chances of success, in your estimation? Could be an incumbent or a newbie.

I was posting with another DUer today and we both agreed we wanted to focus on November.

I have a very specific reason. I don't think any Dem in my state, Massachusetts, will get unseated, no matter what. That is usually the case in my state, so I try to find people in other states about whom I am enthusiastic and who do seem to need support. Then, I donate to a few of them.

But, I think it's just a good exercise this time in the election season.

Is your incumbent Senator or Rep a gem? Is he or she facing a challenge? Or do you have a Dem challenger who has a realistic shot?

If so, it's time to brag on them.

[femmocrat]

1. PA: Tom Wolf for governor.

Not sure about Congress. Neither of our senators is up for reelection this time and our congressman is a lifer (repuke).

Wolf has a very good chance of unseating the hated Corbett. In a recent poll, Wolf was whipping him by 22 points.

[merrily]

2. Thank you. Care to add a sentence or two praising Wolf?

[femmocrat]

6. He's a businessman, but seems like a "mainstream" liberal.

He self-financed a $10 million primary campaign that swamped several better-known opponents. Whether it was name-recognition from all of the TV ads or if he just struck a cord with democrats, I'm not sure. He seemed to come out of nowhere, but did serve in the Rendell cabinet.

He says he supports public education and promises to restore the devastating cuts that Corbett made.

He's a solid democrat and has a great chance of beating Corbett. That is good enough for me.

Link to his campaign site: www.wolfforpa.com

[merrily]

15. Thank you. I support public education, too.

I'm glad he seems to have a good shot at a win.

Thanks for the link to the website, too.

[Maedhros]

3. OR: Jeff Merkley for Senate

Merkley has been outstanding in his first term. He's earned a second.

[merrily]

4. Thank you. Happy to hear it. Is his candidacy in danger?

Oregon seems like a relatively safe state for a Dem, but I am looking at it from clear across the country, so maybe I'm wrong.

[Maedhros]

10. Most polls give Merkley a double-digit lead, but I haven't checked recently.

His opponent, Monica Wehby, is a self-styled "Reagan Republican" trying to push a moderate image. She's a surgeon, and is running on an "Obamacare = bad" platform.

A bunch of dirt came out on her in the primary. Apparently, both an ex-husband and an ex-boyfriend have restraining orders on her for stalking them. Also, there was a scandal involving a local woman with Munchausen-by-Proxy Syndrome (or something similar) who was having her child undergo unnecessary surgeries. This woman shopped her child around to a number of doctors who refused to perform the surgery, but Wehby said yes.

Her campaign hunkered down for a long time, but there are some upcoming debates. I imagine Merkley will do pretty well in those, but the local rag (The Oregonian) has a track record of supporting Republican candidates.

[merrily]

11. Sounds as though justice and sanity should be on the side of Merkley.

[MohRokTah]

5. IL Pat Quinn for governor.

He simply must beat the self funding corporate thug running against him, and he's ahead in the money race right now even though the corporate thug is self funding.

If Rauner wins, he'll make Scott Walker look like a liberal by comparison.

[merrily]

7. Thank you. Care to say what you like about Quinn?

[MohRokTah]

12. HE's no nonsense.

He's been having a running feud with the Madigan machine in the Illinois House, and that's good. I'm no real fan of Madigan. It's machine politics at its worst, IMO.

[merrily]

16. Thank you. I like someone who will fight Republicans.

[JeffHead]

8. Dick Durbin, Brad Schnieder and Pat Quinn.

Durbin running against serial candidate Jim Oberweis who seems to run every year for every open seat and always loses. He should stick to selling overpriced milk and shitty ice cream
Schneider running for a 2nd term against Robert Dold who seems to have some big money behind him. I seen a tea party express type bus with Dold graphics all over it. Those things aren't cheap. Pat Quinn has done some pretty good things in his 1st term plus. He's running against a freak named Bruce Rauner who has already said he would veto a minimum wage increase and other twisted right wing garbage. Durbin's a slam dunk, the other two are toss ups. Illinois Dems need to get the fuck out and vote dammit.

[merrily]

9. Thank you. Good info. GOTV is always critical.

Republicans are a minority party as far as registered voters. If Dems GOTV, they are powerful.

[safeinOhio]

13. Ed Fitzgerald for Gov. in Ohio.

Great background as an FBI agent, prosecutor and success in running his county. Look out Kasich.

[merrily]

17. Thank you, Kasich needs to go, that's for sure.

[femmocrat]

26. What are Fitzgerald's chances?

Hasn't Kasich has come up in the polls since his rocky start as governor?

[safeinOhio]

33. Kasich has been putting out lots of ads

and Ed is getting started. I think once people of Ohio learn about his record, he has a great chance of winning.

[LWolf]

14. My Senator and my governor.

Both will most likely prevail.

My Senator is great. My governor is not that great, but better than the Republican local tea party enthusiasts would like him replaced with.

My Senator: Jeff Merkley.

My Rep...will win again even if someone decides to oppose him. I'd love to see him go down. If someone will run against him, I'll campaign for him even though the chances of taking him out are nil. Greg Walden.

My governor, Kitzhaber...supposedly a good Democrat, but I'm not really happy with him on education. Of course, that's true for most Dems these days. It weighs pretty heavily with me, since I'm a teacher.

[merrily]

18. Thank you. That's the second endorsement of Merkley, so I

guessing he is good. Besides, his opponent seems to bring the cray cray even more than usual. Stalker? Not good.

I cannot abide the idea of charter schools, so I am certainly on your side about that.

[theHandpuppet]

19. Natalie Tennant for Senate, West Virginia...

...though Shelley Moore Capito is expected to win (UGH!) Natalie is in there fighting. This is the crucial Senate seat being vacated by Jay Rockefeller. Natalie needs our support! Please visit her website to contribute...

http://natalietennant.com/

[merrily]

20. Thank you Do you know how big the gap is between the two candidates?

Or the alleged gap?

[theHandpuppet]

22. At this point Natalie is a real underdog

Outside money from big business and RW interests has been pouring in for Capito's war chest and Natalie needs all the support she can get in order to close that gap! Paul Ryan (UGH!) will be campaigning for Capito, so you know exactly where she stands. We need some big names to get out the vote for Natalie.

[merrily]

23. I hope you get those big names.

[theHandpuppet]

25. The Clintons were wildly popular in WV

Still are. They could certainly help.

[merrily]

37. If so, I hope they show up.

Nowhere near as good, but it's something: As our very popular former Mayor got into health problems, he did robo calls for various candidates. At least, people heard from him (literally).

[cali]

21. I don't think anyone is even running against Peter Welch, my rep

and dems and Vermont Progs will do very well in the State Legislature.

[merrily]

24. Thank you. Sounds as though you are as good to go in Vermont

as I am in Massachusetts. Feels great, doesn't it?

I would have preferred to Capuano move up to the Senate when Kerry left than Markey, but not by a lot. Warren and Markey are more than okay with me. And my rep, Lynch, is a pro-union guy.

He's not been the most socially liberal in the delegation, but he seems to get more liberal as he goes along. About gays, where I really had a problem with him, he now says, "Equal means equal" and he was referring to marriage.

I have lived in three states, but I have never lived in a red state and I never hope to.

[Alittleliberal]

27. Sean Eldridge in NY-19

Running against Chris Gibson who is a real jackass. I think he's got a shot as our current gerrymandered district contains a lot of Maurice Hinchys former district, but Gibson is trying to paint himself as a pro business centrist despite voting with the Tea Party for 4 years.

[merrily]

38. Ouch. That's not centrist!

Thanks for putting up your candidate.

[rurallib]

28. Bruce Braley for senate! Dave Loebsack for congress! Jack Hatch for guv

and in nearby districts in Iowa: Staci Appel to be Iowa's first woman in congress; Pat Murphy to succeed Bruce Braley and Jim Mowrerto take out the insane Steve King.

[merrily]

39. First woman in Congress from a state is important. So is ousting King.

Don't know the rest, but I wish all your candidates well. Thanks for letting DU know about them.

[JustAnotherGen]

29. Janice Kovach

NJ - and our current Republican Leonard Lance is flat out incompetent and lazy.


However - she can only win if we buck the Democratic Party leadership and do it our way. That means people focused/originated PACs and 'committees to elect' that can play down and dirty and as mean as possible.

I'm sorry - but it's true.

We had a flawless liberal and progressive Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate in November 2013 and the Democratic Leadership at the National and State levels completely disregarded her.

Between the decimation of VRA last summer and the direct punch in the nose to women this summer by the Scrotum Five - I think we can gin up enough 'hatred' for Lance based upon the company he keeps.

We've been playing nice and waiting for help since 2006. We can't play nice here - our only shot is from a place of pure vicious.

[merrily]

40. Dare I say, Go for it?" I hope she gets a lot of volunteers and

other support.

We had a flawless liberal and progressive Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate in November 2013 and the Democratic Leadership at the National and State levels completely disregarded her.

That's one of the several important things that so many here don't seem to understand when they say, "Just elect liberals." Yeah, "just."

You've won me over. Sounds like exactly like the kind of candidate and grass roots effort that I want to help. Do you have a link for where to contribute to Ms. Kovach? I won't be Bill Maher-ing it by any means, but something is better than nothing! I try to make it worth more than the effort it takes to log in the donation, anyway.

[Blue_Adept]

30. Yeah, MA feels kind of quiet this year.

I suspect we'll be more enamored with watching what Brown does in NH than our own politics.

The only excitement we'll get is for governor, and even then we have to wait until the September primary is done. So a quiet few months ahead for us.

[merrily]

41. Thanks. Do you have a pick yet for Guv, or are you watching and

listening?

I can't say any of the field has captured my imagination yet. I fear Coakley is a very good AG, but not a very good candidate and, should she win, I'm not sure she'll make a good guv. I would love to see a woman, though.

[Blue_Adept]

43. I haven't paid much attention

Partially because I'm wary of Coakley, largely because of her previous senatorial run. I expect her to "get it right" this time but that's a hard image to overcome. I'll wait it out until the primary is over and let those more invested figure it out. I do like her as an AG though and have been pleased with her performance there.

[merrily]

49. I try to catch On the Record, with Harding and Wu, on WCVB Sundays.

I think they both lean right, and Wu sometimes seems to conflate obnoxious and hard-hitting, but they do a decent job of interviewing local candidates and politicians.

[MannyGoldstein]

31. Does Don Berwick count?

A good Liberal battling two Third Wayers.

Centerpiece issue is obtaining First-World health care and health insurance in MA.

[merrily]

44. Sure he counts! Why not?

Summa from Harvard; cum laude from Harvard Med. Not shabby.

No political experience. Hard to tell if he is a liberal outside the medical field but he wants single payer for Massachusetts. That alone might be enough to sway me. It's a little unsettling for me that Obama appointed and Center for American Progress hired him, though.

I live in Boston and have great insurance, so health care looks world class to me. Seems pretty good on the Cape, too. However, I am sure there are parts of Mass. that could use improvement.

Meh. Single payer it is.

[kwolf68]

32. Tim Murphy-PA

I know nothing about him at all. In looking up his positions, he's bad but could be worse for a Republican. I don't know if he has a challenger. My area is taxed very high which I think fuels many of the anti-Dem fervor, even though our high taxes are supported by local Republican politicos.

[merrily]

46. You are endorsing an unopposed Republican? Sorry, just cannot get on board.

Last edited Wed Jul 9, 2014, 01:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Surely, there has to be some Dem in PA worthier of an endorsement.

[UrbScotty]

34. Mark Schauer for Governor, Gary Peters for Senate (nt)

[merrily]

47. Thanks! I see Schauer used to represent Michigan's 7th.

He was rating "a centrist follower." But, I see he's also very green and very pro-union. Can't have everything. And he's not Rick Snyder.

I can get behind Schauer for Gov.

Thanks for putting your candidates' names forward.

This is great. I wish everyone who is advocating for candidates would start a thread in GD or Politics telling us about them.

[TBF]

35. Wendy Davis for Texas Governor

http://www.wendydavistexas.com/

[merrily]

48. No argument here. What a hero! Thanks for the link.

[geardaddy]

36. Al Franken - Senate

Mark Dayton - Gov
Rick Nolan - MN 8

All are facing potentially tough re-election campaigns.

[merrily]

51. Thanks. I donated to Franken after his first run, to

help with the expenses of his recount battle.

A young man answered the phone at .campaign headquarters. He sounded as though I might have woken him. After he asked for my address, he perked up incredibly to think someone from across country was calling with a donation.

Gotta say, I seemed to make his day and, in return, he made mine, too. It was bright spot in my day.

[geardaddy]

64. Thank you for giving to Al.

He's up against a guy with a huge war chest.

[merrily]

65. You're welcome. T'weren't nutthin. By then, no one else was running, so what

else could I do with my money?

Reid had the Constitutional authority to seat him, but it would have caused a heck of a flap.

Why don't you start a thread telling everyone? Cross post in politics and the Minnesota forum, too. Al's a sentimental favorite with a lot of Democrats. I bet you'd raise some nice coin.

[geardaddy]

66. That's a great idea.

Thanks!

[alp227]

42. CA: JERRY BROWN for Governor! nt

[merrily]

52. Thanks. An oldie. Is he still a goodie?

I've heard his wife moved him to the right.

[sadoldgirl]

45. CO: I think that Sen. Mark Udall has a real fight on his hand.

Our governor Hickenlooper too, but I am more concerned about the US Senate at this point. His opponent is a very slick personhood tea bagger, although he tries to hide it now. While I detest the fact that Udall is a member of the Third Way group, he has worked for environmental issues and has tried to get the Congress as well as PBO to reign in the NSA.

[merrily]

53. Thanks. I know what you mean. The prior generation of Udalls was

better, in my book, anyway.

Who controls your state legislature, Republicans or Democrats?

[sadoldgirl]

57. The senate is by one vote D, the house is R in majority

The reduction of bullets in a magazin has been detrimental to the Ds, though I think it is only a minor improvement if any. After all we had two major shootings here.

[merrily]

62. Wow. Talk about a hair's breadth.

Yet they okayed recreational marijuana and are offering free birth control?

Colorado must grow a saner variety of Republican than we tend to find in the rest of the country.

[William769]

50. ALL OF THEM!

I will not speak ill of any one running this fall that are trying to keep the assholes out. I know some will disagree with me, but there is to much at stake to do otherwise.

[merrily]

56. Did you read the title of the thread? The Op? The thread itself?

People are paying attention to all three and putting forward the Dems they support and I've been thanking them. No one has spoken ill of anyone on this thread, except that, based on past horrific experience, I did wonder if Coakley should win the gubernatorial primary in my home state. (If she does, she'll be facing a much brighter bulb than Scott Brown, whom she couldn't best.)

[William769]

58. I gave my opinion, nothing more, nothing less.

[merrily]

59. Of course. I take you at your word.

[Blaukraut]

54. Tierney, MA 6th. He's vulnerable

First, he has a primary challenger: Moulton. Iraq War Vet. I don't think that Moulton is going to beat Tierney in the primary, but having to spend precious resources so early is going to hurt Tierney in the General. Teabagger Tisei is waiting in the wings again and this time the NRCC is putting a lot of money behind him. They're smelling blood.

[merrily]

63. I didn't know that. Who is better, though? Tierney or Moulton?

Wasn't Tierney involved in some mess around his wife and her relatives? Tisei ran against him before. How did he do? I mean, obviously, he lost, but was it close?

Maybe it would be better if a clean challenger faced Tisei, especially a vet? What do you think?

[Blaukraut]

68. I'm torn here.

If it weren't for Tierney's wife's legal troubles, his reelection would be guaranteed. Although the scandal is by now 4 years old, the RNCC is going to run on it once again.

As to Seth Moulton, Tierney's primary challenger....Honestly, there is no daylight between his and Tierney's positions on issues. Both are progressive Democrats. Moulton apparently decided to run on the dysfunctional congress - a problem he wouldn't be able to fix anymore than Tierney could. Losing Tierney's seniority and committee seats would suck, too.

I guess on the one hand, we here in Massachusetts are pretty lucky in that our representatives have staying power. On the other hand, when the congressperson has baggage, it might be better to start with a clean slate.

No clue though who would have the better chance against Tisei. Tierney has old baggage, Moulton is an unknown and does not have the loyal following Tierney has cultivated over the years.

More on Moulton here:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/05/11/marine-veteran-seth-moulton-wages-insurgent-campaign-against-fellow-democrat-john-tierney/3RdZyq5hE0o8QicDcNGVQO/story.html

http://www.sethmoulton.com/issues

[merrily]

69. Thank you. When people run on the dysfunctional Congress, they

usually also say they know how to work with others, or reach across the aisle, or whatever. Could be a good thing or a bad thing. So could a "fresh face." New ideas, maybe, but rookie mistakes, tool

I didn't know Tierney was in a close race, though. I wonder who is backing Moulton? His positions seem more than acceptable to me.

I have to confess, I found it very difficult to believe that Tierney knew nothing about what his wife and her family were doing. And, it will probably become an issue every two years. Why not? But, he isn't my rep, so none of my business.

On the other hand, you make a good point about his seniority. I'm glad I don't have to make this choice. Lynch is my rep, I like him and Boston won't go red. But, best wishes to you in your district.

[KamaAina]

55. CA17: Mike Honda (D) is being challenged by another D

thanks to our screwy top-two primary system.

Ro Khanna (D-?) is a district shopper who raises big $$$ from $iliValley types. He chose to run against Honda because he sees the 75-year-old as vulnerable. I see Honda as having one of the most progressive records in all of Congress.

[merrily]

70. Often, the seniors are more liberal because they became Democrats before

New Democrats existed. They were too young to have voted for FDR or Truman, but old enough to have voted for LBJ. They knew which party they joined and which party they belong to.

I'm with you. I'd go with Honda. (I am pro-Rangel, too, despite the attacks on him, even by Jon Stewart. Didn't declare a couple of weeks rent from his vacation home? Wow. How does that compare with taking war crimes off the table or voting for the Iraq War? )

[kag]

60. Andrew Romanoff in CO is EXCELLENT!

AND, if he wins, it will be a "pick-up" in the House. He's running to unseat Mike Coffman, an absolutely moronic Republican (or is that redundant?).

I've been a Romanoff fan for many years. Even since before he ran for Senate and lost to Michael Bennet (but only after Obama stepped in to endorse Bennet in the primary. I'm still pissed at Obama for that.) Romanoff is a great Democrat, and a really great guy. And, I think he has a real chance.

[sadoldgirl]

61. I agree totally,

the amount of money coming in for Coffman is really obscene!

[merrily]

72. Thank you. Always good to get confirmation, tho' kag did a great job of

selling us on Romanoff.

[fizzgig]

67. jared polis - co cd 2

Incumbent, young, anti-fracking dem. Supports marijuana legalization, reproductive freedom, full marriage equality (he and his partner just welcomed their second child), co-sponsored the enda the last time around. I'm sure I can find things I disagree with him on, but he's solid, imo.

oh, and I'm pretty sure he'll will freeze over before boulder (a good chunk of the district) votes for a repub.

I'm so glad I was redistricted from freeper-baggistan.

[merrily]

71. Sounds great and with a great chance to win. Like to hear things like that.

In fact, I'm loving this whole thread.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

73. I don't consider Kay Hagan (NC) a "great Dem,"

but she's being challenged by Thom Tillis for her Senate seat. And we need that seat.

[merrily]

74. To help readers: Tillis is a Rep challenger and Hagan, of course, is the Dem incumbent NC Senator.

Tillis seems quite undesirable: http://thomtillis.com/

Thanks for telling us.