AT THE GRASSROOTS

Arizona Squeaker, Delaware Jockeying, New Jersey Re-Entry

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


Arizona

Still Counting In The 5th

National Republicans have targeted freshman Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell this fall in the Phoenix area 5th District -- but the GOP is going to have to wait at least a few more days to find out who their nominee is.

Maricopa County (Phoenix) election officials said Wednesday they still have to count 43,000 early, provisional and conditional provisional ballots left over from Tuesday's Arizona primary. Many of those come from the 5th District and could tip the balance in a six-way GOP primary in which former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert finished with a slim 790-vote lead over his chief rival, Susan Bitter Smith -- a member of the board of directors of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Recorder's Office told the Associated Press that the goal is to finish the count of the remaining ballots by Sunday.

Schweikert ended primary night with 30 percent of the primary vote, while Bitter Smith had 28 percent.

Meanwhile, in another key House race -- the Alaska at-large seat -- more than 25,000 absentee and questioned ballots are to be counted Friday. Those will determine the outcome from the Aug. 26 GOP primary, where Rep. Don Young now leads Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell by a mere 151 votes.

A recount is likely unless one of the two Republicans manages to seize a substantial majority of the absentee and questioned ballots. The winner will face the Democratic nominee, former state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz.

Delaware

Don't Count Him Out

He turns 70 next July, and he has held statewide office in Delaware for nearly three decades. But GOP Rep. Michael Castle isn't ruling out a bid to become a freshman senator if the state's senior senator, Joseph Biden, is elected vice president in November.

"You're never dismissive entirely of any possibility in politics," Castle, who is up for re-election for his ninth House term this November, told Gannett News Service at this week's Republican National Convention.

Delaware law allows Biden to run both for a seventh term in the Senate this fall and as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. If he were to win re-election to the Senate and resign from his seat before Jan. 20, Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner would appoint his successor. After that date, the successor to the term-limited Minner would name a temporary replacement until the 2010 election.

Biden's son, state Attorney General Joseph (Beau) Biden III, is regarded as a potential appointee to succeed his father.

Castle considered running for the Senate in 1994 when he thought then-GOP Sen. William Roth might retire. When Roth decided to run again, Castle decided to avoid a primary. Roth was ousted six years later by now-Democratic Sen. Thomas Carper -- who, like Castle, is a former Delaware governor.

New Jersey

Andrews Back In House Race

Three months after being defeated in a bid to oust Sen. Frank Lautenberg in New Jersey's Democratic primary, Rep. Robert Andrews today announced he is running for re-election to the House -- a reverse from previous statements that he planned to leave Congress if unsuccessful in his Senate bid.

"I changed my mind because my heart told me it was the right thing to do," Andrews was quoted as saying by the Philadelphia Inquirer at a news conference in his district this morning.

In announcing against Lautenberg last spring, Andrews had declared: "Win or lose, I'm not running for Congress. I'm going to be a senator next year, God and the voters willing." He reiterated his intention to leave Capitol Hill on several occasions following the June 3 primary, when he lost to Lautenberg by a 61-34 percent margin.

Andrews' wife, Camille Andrews, an attorney, announced for the 1st District seat when her husband decided to challenge Lautenberg. She won the Democratic nod for the seat -- based in New Jersey's Philadelphia suburbs -- on the same day that Robert Andrews lost the Senate nomination.

But she was largely seen as a placeholder pending the party's selection of a successor to her husband, who has served in the House since 1990.

It will be up to county political committees in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties to decide whether to place Andrews' name on the ballot as a substitute for his wife. They will presumably do so at a vote scheduled for Monday night.

The GOP nominee, Dale Glading, issued a statement saying he was "outraged" that Andrews planned to seek re-election. "A man's word should be his bond, and Rob should be ashamed of himself for breaking his promise not to re-enter the race," Glading declared.

But, if placed on the ballot by party leaders next week, Andrews will be a heavy favorite to win a 10th term in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.

Andrews' decision to take on Lautenberg this year caused a rift between him and other Democratic members of the state House delegation -- many of whom had been eyeing the Senate seat if the 84-year Lautenberg had opted for retirement. During the primary, all six other Democratic members of the delegation lined up behind Lautenberg -- who now faces former GOP Rep. Dick Zimmer in the general election.

Ohio

Choosing Tubbs Jones' Successor

The Cuyahoga County Democratic Committee will meet next Thursday in Cleveland to replace the late Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones on the November ballot. Tubbs Jones died of a brain aneurysm last month.

While a Republican, Thomas Pekarek, is on the ballot, whoever is named by the Democratic committee is virtually assured of being elected to a two-year term in Congress given the overwhelmingly Democratic makeup of the majority-black district.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, citing judicial precedent, has scheduled a special election to fill the seat until the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, but that contest will have no direct bearing on who the committee chooses for the November general election ballot.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, those Democrats interested in the seat include Warrensville Heights Mayor Marcia Fudge; C.J. Prentiss, a former aide to Strickland; former Cleveland Councilman Bill Patmon; and former state Sen. Jeffrey Johnson, notwithstanding that the latter was indicted in 1998 on bribery-related charges and subsequently served 15 months in prison. His record was expunged last October.

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