2010 elections

First Quarter Fundraising Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | April 6, 2010, 6:38PM

MN-06 Democratic candidates Tarryl Clark and Maureen Reed

Here are some key fundraising numbers from today:

• State Sen. Tarryl Clark (D-MN), who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against the vocally right-wing Rep. Michele Bachmann (R), raised over $505,000 in the first quarter. Clark, the officially endorsed candidate of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, must still face a Dem primary against former state university regent Maureen Reed, who was also the 2006 Independence Party nominee for lieutenant governor. Reed has not yet released her fundraising numbers.

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Roy Herron

Is The NRCC Using Anti-Gay Innuendo Against Dem Candidate?

Eric Kleefeld | December 4, 2009, 11:58AM

TN-08 candidate Roy Herron (D)

The NRCC has been quick to attack Tennessee state Sen. Roy Herron, who has emerged as the Democratic candidate for the seating of retiring Blue Dog Rep. John Tanner -- and along the way, they seem to be using some rather interesting rhetoric.

Herron is a former minister and an attorney, and he has taught at both the divinity and law schools at Vanderbilt, his alma mater. He has been married for 22 years, and has three sons. He has also written several books, including Tennessee Political Humor, How Can a Christian Be in Politics?, and God And Politics. However, the NRCC says Herron isn't being honest about his social liberalism.

Over the course of the past week, the NRCC has mounted a series of attacks on Herron that taken together could suggest they're trying to say that Herron is gay or effeminate. The NRCC denies that's their line of attack, and the Herron camp hasn't publicly raised the issue (see late update below), but take a look at what the NRCC has been saying.

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John Tanner

Tanner's Retirement Opens Up Race In Swing Southern Seat

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2009, 11:53AM

Rep. John Tanner (D-TN)

The retirement of Rep. John Tanner (D-TN) appears at first glance to give the Republicans a decent pickup opportunity in 2010, in a district that voted heavily for John McCain in 2008 -- but the Dems could have a shot at keeping the seat, too.

The district's recent voting history in presidential elections suggests a Republican trend. It voted for Al Gore in 2000 by 51%-48%, but in 2004 went for George W. Bush by 53%-46%, and in 2008 for John McCain by 56%-43%.

However, a Democratic source told us that the picture isn't so simple. "The biggest misnomer out there right now is this a Republican seat," the source said, pointing out that the district also voted for the Democratic candidates in the 2002 gubernatorial and Senate races -- Dems narrowly won the former, and substantially lost the other -- and also voted for Harold Ford Jr. in his unsuccessful 2006 Senate race.

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