Republican Party Projected To Pick Up 6 State Attorney General Seats on November 2

/PRNewswire/ -- Republicans may pick up as many as six state Attorney General seats on November 2, according to Joseph Kastner, Ballotpedia's state Attorney General elections editor.

Kastner says that Attorney General seats currently held by Democrats in Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, and Oklahoma are in the "leans Republican" or "likely Republican" column based on factors that include polls and campaign funding.

Heading into November 2, the Democratic Party holds the AG position in 32 states, while the GOP holds it in just 18.

However, only 30 of the 50 state attorney general seats are up for election in 2010. In the 30 states with 2010 attorney general elections, Democrats hold 20 seats and Republicans hold 10.

If the GOP picks up six seats as projected, holding all its "safe, likely and leans" elections, it will win 57% of the 30 November elections. It will also then be in possession of 24 state AG seats altogether, while the Democratic Party, if it holds all its "safe, likely or leans" Democratic seats, will be at 25.

Just one state, Iowa, is in the toss-up column, according to Kastner's analysis. Iowa's AG position, currently occupied by a Democrat, could go either way. The Iowa Attorney General election pits incumbent Tom Miller against Republican challenger Brenna Findley. According to Kastner, Iowa's race is "one of the toughest to predict" because of limited polling information in the down-ballot race. GOP challenger Findley has significantly outperformed Miller in the money sweepstakes since mid-summer which may enable her to be competitive with Miller's incumbency and name-recognition advantage.

If the "leans/likely" elections come in where projected for Democrats and Republicans, then toss-up Iowa is the state to watch to see if the final national tally is 26 D–24 R, or a 25-25 split.

Two attorney general offices are likely to get a new occupant as a result of their 2010 gubernatorial election, because in these states, the AG is appointed by the governor. Hawaii currently has a Republican governor, but is thought to be a gubernatorial pick-up opportunity for the Democratic Party in 2010. The reverse is true in Wyoming.

Ballotpedia.org is sponsored by the non-profit, non-partisan Lucy Burns Institute (LBI) based in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Georgia Republicans Got It Right, But Macon Telegraph Won’t Hear of It

The Macon Telegraph ran a column on Sunday encouraging the Georgia Republican Party to take action to change the ballot in light of misleading information spread in the press. After agreeing to give the GAGOP space to refute their claims, the Telegraph rejected the response.

While it is the paper’s prerogative to refuse op-eds, the Georgia Republican Party believes the column printed by the Macon Telegraph was misleading and warrants response. Below is the op-ed submitted by the GAGOP.

Georgia Republicans Got It Right

Kenny Burgamy made many claims in his recent opinion piece (There’s Time to Get It Right, Macon Telegraph, 9/19/2010) that were untrue and infeasible. Perhaps the most errant assumption was that Georgia Republicans got it wrong when they nominated Nathan Deal as the Republican candidate for Governor. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Nathan won the nomination in a close primary and runoff. In a state considered to be a Democratic stronghold for generations, Georgia Republicans showed up in record numbers in two successive elections showing their preference for the party of personal freedom and smaller government. While Nathan won the runoff by less than 1 percent, the top two finishers in the primary both bested Roy Barnes with 10 percent more votes.

Mr. Deal’s personal finances have been well documented over the last week, but let’s not ignore the facts. Nathan is a successful small businessman who has created jobs and turned a profit – even in these difficult financial times. Businesses have their ups and downs. The only thing unique here is that Deal’s ups and downs are front-page news.

I can see how that point would get lost in the Democrats’ spin cycle. Most people understand that they simply cannot spend more than they take in. Democrats, however, have overlooked that rule as they have escalated our country into further debt with their binge spending legislation, plunging our nation into $13 trillion in debt.

In Georgia, Roy Barnes has shown he’s not all that different than Washington Democrats. As governor, he turned a $700 million budget surplus into a $620 million shortfall. Now, he’s proposed $2.4 billion in new spending with no way to pay for it, just like a Washington Democrat.

Roy has spent most of his career suing small businesses rather than creating them and destroying jobs for his personal gain. He doesn’t embrace the creative spirit of Georgians who take calculated risks — he demonizes them.

The Georgia Republican Party is the party of small businesses and strong families across Georgia. We believe that Americans can better themselves through hard work, personal responsibility and seizing opportunities. While the road to success is lined with periodic setbacks, we see them as learning opportunities that can move us forward.

Georgia’s successful economic recovery will depend on people willing to take a calculated risk to start a business and employ Georgians. It will also depend on policy-makers’ willingness to create an environment that fosters our American and exceptional entrepreneurism. That’s why we need Nathan Deal.

Nathan’s Real Prosperity plan increases Georgia’s competitiveness by lowering income taxes on Georgia’s families and reducing corporate income taxes by a third. The Tax Foundation estimates that his plan will improve Georgia’s business climate from the bottom half of states to the top one-third.

Nathan’s plan for education, “Real Results,” provides maximum flexibility for local school districts, protects the HOPE scholarship and will bolster math and science education.

He has led the fight against Obamacare. He stands up to Washington liberals whose brand of “change” comes with hefty price tags that Georgians can’t afford.

Georgians are concerned with issues, not petty and personal attacks. Nathan Deal has the philosophy, plan and experience to put Georgia back on track. I ask you to vote for Nathan Deal and not rewind Georgia to the bad old days of Roy Barnes.

Sue Everhart is the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and lives in Marietta.

Boehner Previews House GOP Plan on Healthcare

OEHNER PREVIEWS HOUSE GOP’S PLAN TO EXPAND AMERICANS’ ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE:
“We’re going to make sure that all Americans have access to high-quality health insurance. Part of the way of doing that is to make sure they get the same tax treatment as companies do today so insurance premiums are deductible for people, whether they get their insurance from their company or not. Bigger risk pools in states for those people who have pre-existing conditions. Help for those who can’t afford health insurance, in the private market. But we want to take the current system and improve it, to cover almost all Americans. We don’t want the government to come in and bigfoot this like they’ve done other things.”

BOEHNER CONTRASTS HOUSE GOP PLAN WITH DEMOCRATS’ COSTLY GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE:
“We agree with the President and want to work with the President, to make sure that all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable, health insurance. But we’re not for the government taking control of our health system. And if you look at the leading Democrat proposals in the House and Senate, they have this giant government bureaucracy that literally is going to take over private health insurance in America. And if you think the post office is the model of efficiency, can you imagine what they’re going to do to America’s health care? We’re going to unveil our plan today that will bring down costs, insure most Americans, and improve the quality of care that we have in our country.”

BOEHNER WARNS ADMINISTRATION’S FINANCIAL REGULATORY PROPOSAL MAY SLOW JOB GROWTH EVEN FURTHER:
“If you look deeply into some of what the President’s calling for, we’ll have the federal government deciding what interest ought to be charged on credit cards. We’ll have the President’s proposal having to decide what kind of financial products are available. And I just think that the government involvement in the financial industry is going to be too big of a foot, on an industry that’s already having problems. I think at the end of the day, what the American people want is they want to know, how do I get my job back? How do I hold on to my job? And these kinds of policies that we’re seeing out of the Administration are going to work to slow down job growth and prevent the private sector from growing and bringing people back to work."

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Hunter and Paul Excluded From Debate

by Michelle Oddis

Presidential candidates Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul have been excluded from a Fox News GOP “presidential candidates forum” in New Hampshire on January 6, just two days before the primary.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24243

Paul snub exposes censorship of competitive voices

From the Libertarian Party:

No room for dissent in the ivory tower of politics

Quick Quotes:
Shane Cory, Executive Director, Libertarian Party
• "The Republican establishment shuns Paul for his pro-liberty views, and will do everything it can to marginalize him."
• "There is simply no tolerance of competing voices against the political elite of two-party politics."

Bob Sullentrup, Founder, Rockthedebates.org
• "We have people dying in Iraq to promote democracy in that part of the world, and in this country, we can't even have full, open, inclusive debates."

Washington, D.C. - The Libertarian Party says the decision by Fox News to cut GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul out of this weekend's debate illustrates the culture of censorship of competitive views in mainstream politics. "There is simply no tolerance of competing voices against the political elite of two-party politics," says Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian Party.

"The leading GOP fundraiser for the fourth-quarter is being snubbed from the debates for nothing more than having political views outside of mainstream Republicanism," says Cory. "The Republican establishment shuns Paul for his pro-liberty views, and will do everything it can to marginalize him. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. There is a long-standing culture of censorship among the political elite when it comes to competing viewpoints."

Third party candidates, such as those from the Libertarian Party, are routinely denied participation in political debates, both locally and nationally. The Libertarian Party claims the competition of opinion is vital for healthy and open debates, which are essential to democracy.

Despite the institutional bias against competing viewpoints, one group has taken up the charge to try to open debates to third party candidates.

"We have people dying in Iraq to promote democracy in that part of the world, and in this country, we can't even have full, open, inclusive debates," says Rockthedebates.org founder Bob Sullentrup. "There is something fundamentally wrong with that."

Rockthedebates.org is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to opening up debates to all candidates. Rockthedebates.org has asked presidential candidates if they would be open to debating a third party candidate. Of those that have responded, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee are the only two current GOP candidates that have agreed to do so. Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have said they are opposed to open debates. Democrat Barack Obama has also said he is opposed to debating a third party candidate, while Hillary Clinton has been ambiguous with her answer and John Edwards has yet to respond.

"The Republican and Democratic Parties may say they are dedicated to open and democratic debates," Cory concludes, "but their track records with limiting competition in debates shows the hypocrisy of their rhetoric."

The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.lp.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

President Bush, Representative Roger Wicker

Today, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour announced the appointment of Representative Roger Wicker to serve as United State Senator for the State of Mississippi, succeeding Senator Trent Lott.

I welcome Representative Wicker's appointment and commend Governor Barbour for the selection. Representative Wicker's leadership has earned the respect of his constituents and his colleagues in the House of Representatives. He is an advocate for our men and women in uniform and a champion of modernizing our health care system, and he shares Senator Lott's commitment to promote the interests of the people of Mississippi.

I look forward to working with Roger in his new role representing Mississippi in the United States Senate.