Week of March 29, 2004

PA-13: Torsella tries to close the gap as Schwartz fights back

With five weeks until the April 27 primary, state Sen. Allyson Schwartz is working hard to beat back her Democratic primary opponent, Joe Torsella, and has gone on television highlighting her 14-year legislative record. Torsella lacks the extensive list of accomplishments that Allyson Schwartz has and is comparatively unknown to the voters of the district but has already spent close to half a million dollars in television ads trying to introduce himself to voters. As proof that Schwartz is the right person to represent this district, her campaign released a poll, taken last week, showing Schwartz still has a commanding lead among likely primary voters, 29 percent to 13 percent (conducted 3/21-22; 400 likely Democratic primary voters; margin of error 4.9).

SD-AL: Republicans put all of their firepower in Sou th Dakota

Republicans are pulling out all of the stops to keep the South Dakota at-large seat in GOP hands. They've already spent over $1 million to keep Democrat Stephanie Herseth from becoming a member of Congress and have brought in every conservative icon they can to raise money for Republican nominee Larry Diedrich. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL), who helped hand the presidential election to Bush in 2000, headlined a fundraiser for Diedrich in South Dakota this week and White House senior advisor Karl Rove is scheduled to headline a fundraiser next week. Herseth continues to run a strong campaign and is on television with three ads. With only nine weeks until the June 1 election, Herseth continues to raise her own considerable resources to deliver her message to voters in every corner of the state.

FL-Sen: Martinez may have made political trips on taxpayer's dime

Former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez has come under fire for questionable travel he made to Florida before he officially threw his hat in the ring for the open U.S. Senate seat and while he was still on the federal government's payroll. The Washington Post reports that many of the trips generated newspaper and television coverage that allowed Martinez to elevate his profile before he became a candidate and had to spend campaign funds for his events. Both the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, Scott Maddox, and one of Martinez's GOP primary opponents, Bill McCollum, have called for a federal inquiry into the possibility that Martinez abused taxpayer money. "Basically what he was doing was testing the waters for a U.S. Senate run. I was appalled," Maddox said.

WA-Gov: Gregoire fundraising freeze gets ready to thaw

After a four-month freeze on accepting campaign contributions, Christine Gregoire is gearing up to start fundraising again for her campaign for governor of Washington. As the sitting attorney general, Gregoire had to abide by a state law requiring state officials to cease all campaign fundraising 30 days before, during, and after the state's legislative session, which ended on March 11. Gregoire's Republican opponent, former state Senator Dino Rossi, resigned from his Senate seat, avoided the fundraising freeze, and has raised more than $600,000 with close to $900,000 in hand. "We're not past her yet, but we're getting close," Rossi said. "It could happen by the end of this month" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/21). Rossi has been buoyed by positive press recently and many expect this to be one of the most expensive gubernatorial contests in state history.

OR-05: Oregon Right to Life endorses both Republican challengers in Hooley's race

In the race to challenge Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) in the November election, both Republican candidates were recently endorsed by the Oregon Right to Life Committee. Republican Jim Zupancic, a millionaire international lawyer and GOP state Senator Jackie Winters are equally appealing to anti-choice voters. Winters was encouraged to run for this seat by President Bush, in hopes that she would reduce Hooley's appeal among women voters. The candidate who wins the May 18 primary will face four-term Rep. Hooley in this swing seat.

EMILY adds three new House candidates to the List

EMILY's List announced the endorsements of three new House candidates this month. In Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, attorney Lois Murphy is off to a strong start in her race against freshman GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach. Murphy has been a board member and president of Pennsylvania NARAL; Gov. Ed Rendell chairs her campaign. State Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is on the path to win the open seat race for Florida's 20th congressional district. During her 11 years in the state Senate and Florida House of Representatives, Wasserman Schultz has been a strong advocate for women and children's issues. Attorney Kalyn Free is running in Oklahoma's open 2nd congressional district, a highly Democratic seat. Free spent more than a decade as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and would be the first Indian woman ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. To learn more about these candidates, visit www.emilyslist.org.