Tag: midterm roundup
Midterm Roundup: Could Democrats Win In South Dakota?

Midterm Roundup: Could Democrats Win In South Dakota?

Here are some interesting stories on the midterm campaigns that you may have missed on Wednesday, October 8:

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is spending $1 million to support Democrat Rick Weiland in South Dakota’s suddenly competitive Senate race. The news comes one day after Mayday PAC also committed to spend $1 million on Weiland’s behalf. Although Republican Mike Rounds still leads by 11.7 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average, a recent SurveyUSA poll found Rounds 7 percent up on Weiland, and just 3 percent ahead of Independent candidate Larry Pressler. Pressler is a former Republican, but Democrats reportedly believe that he would caucus with them if he wins election to the Senate.

• A new SurveyUSA poll of Georgia’s Senate race finds Republican David Perdue clinging to a 1-point lead over Democrat Michelle Nunn. Perdue has 46 percent of the vote, followed by Nunn at 45 percent, and Libertarian Amanda Swafford at 3 percent. If no candidate wins a majority on Election Day, then the race would advance to a January runoff — with control of the Senate possibly hanging in the balance. Perdue leads by 3.2 percent in the poll average.

• Meanwhile, Nunn’s campaign is up on the airwaves with a new ad hammering Perdue for admitting that he outsourced jobs overseas throughout his business career.

• The DSCC released a new attack ad accusing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of using his three decades in office to enrich himself. The move suggests that the Democrats still view Kentucky’s Senate race as winnable, despite McConnell’s 4 percent lead in the poll average.

• And a new CNN/ORC poll finds that embattled Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) has recovered enough Republican support to reclaim a 1-point lead over Independent candidate Greg Orman. Every other recent public poll has found Orman ahead, and he leads by 4 percent in the poll average.

Photo: Total due via Flickr

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Midterm Roundup: GOP Surrenders In Michigan

Midterm Roundup: GOP Surrenders In Michigan

Here are some interesting stories on the midterm campaigns that you may have missed on Tuesday, October 7:

• As Republican Senate nominee Terri Lynn Land falls further behind in Michigan, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling the plug on its planned TV ad spending in the final two weeks of the campaign. The move, which will allow the NRSC to invest in more competitive races, is a tacit acknowledgement that Land no longer has a path to victory over Democrat Gary Peters.

• In Minnesota, another state where Republicans hoped to expand the Senate map, Senator Al Franken (D) has opened up an 18-point lead over GOP challenger Mike McFadden, according to a new KSTP/SurveyUSA poll. Franken now leads by 11.5 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average, and appears to have re-election in the bag.

• Mayday PAC, the SuperPAC that hopes to limit the influence of money in politics, will spend $1 million over the next four weeks on behalf of South Dakota Senate candidate Rick Weiland (D). Two recent surveys have suggested that the race is getting tighter, although Republican Mike Rounds still leads comfortably in the poll average.

• According to three new polls, Florida Democrat Charlie Crist holds a narrow lead in his race against incumbent Republican governor Rick Scott. Crist is ahead by just 1.4 percent in the poll average.

• And this won’t help Senator Mark Pryor’s re-election campaign: The embattled Arkansas Democrat stumbled badly after being asked about the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola crisis. He has previously run ads attacking his opponent on the issue. Pryor trails by 3.7 percent in the poll average.

Photo: Jimmy Emerson, DVM via Flickr

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Midterm Roundup: Grimes Pulls Ahead In Kentucky?

Midterm Roundup: Grimes Pulls Ahead In Kentucky?

Here are some interesting stories on the midterm campaigns that you may have missed on Monday, October 6:

• After weeks of polls suggesting that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was pulling ahead of Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes, a new Courier-Journal/SurveyUSA poll reaches the opposite conclusion. It finds Grimes leading McConnell among likely voters, 46 to 42 percent. That result is within the margin of error, but represents a 6-point shift from the August edition of the poll. A startling 57 percent of respondents said that after 30 years in office, it’s time for McConnell to be replaced. Still, the minority leader is up 4.2 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average.

• A Loras College poll released Monday finds Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst deadlocked at 42 percent in Iowa’s Senate race—12 percent remain undecided, suggesting that the race could still tip either way. Ernst leads by just 1.9 percent in poll average for the crucial race, which could determine which party controls the Senate.

• A new round of NBC News/Marist Senate polls contained some good news for Democrats. In Iowa, Ernst leads Braley by 2 percent, within the margin of error. But in North Carolina, incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan leads Republican challenger Thom Tillis by 4 percent, roughly equal to her 3.7 percent lead in the poll average. And in Kansas, Independent Greg Orman leads incumbent Republican Pat Roberts by 10 percent, pushing his lead in the poll average up to 5.2 percent. Orman has said that he will caucus with whichever party holds the majority — but he could switch allegiances later in his term.

• Most Democrats on the ballot aren’t eager to showcase their ties to President Obama — but Illinois governor Pat Quinn is an exception. On Monday, his campaign released an ad starring First Lady Michelle Obama, who explains why “Barack and I are casting our votes for our friend, Pat Quinn.” Quinn leads Republican Bruce Rauner by 1.5 percent in the poll average.

• And if you have been closely tracking the 2014 campaign, you are in the minority. According to the latest numbers from the Pew Research Center, just 15 percent of Americans are following the midterm campaigns very closely — less than half the number that has been closely monitoring the Ebola outbreak or the U.S. military campaign against ISIS.

Photo: UFCW International Union via Flickr

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Midterm Roundup: Senate Control ‘On A Knife-Edge’

Midterm Roundup: Senate Control ‘On A Knife-Edge’

Here are some interesting stories on the midterm campaigns that you may have missed on Friday, October 3:

• Control of the Senate is “on a knife edge,” according to a bipartisan NPR poll conducted by Democracy Corps and Resurgent Republic. Among other notable results, the poll finds that Democratic candidates are winning the message battle, and are being helped — not hurt — by Obamacare.

• Speaking of the Affordable Care Act, Iowa Republican Joni Ernst’s fierce opposition to the law may come back to haunt her. Talking Points Memoreports that in 2012, Ernst said that she would “support legislation to nullify Obamacare and authorize state and local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement” it. Ernst leads by 2.8 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average.

• In light of three new polls finding Democrat Gary Peters leading Republican Terri Lynn Land by over 9 points, FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten declares that Michigan’s Senate race “can’t be considered competitive anymore.”

• Republican David Perdue continues to hold a narrow lead over Democrat Michelle Nunn in Georgia’s Senate race. Perdue is up 4 percent in a new Ramussen Reports poll; he leads by 3.2 percent in the poll average.

• And control of the Senate may not be decided in November. As The Wall Street Journalreports, both parties are buying television advertising time to prepare for the possibility of runoff elections in Louisiana and Georgia.

AFP Photo/Mark Wilson

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