Fundraising Good, Fundraising Bad

Nate Silver (of FiveThirtyEight.com) published a ranking of the best and worst fundraisers for the 2010 Senatorial Elections in the first quarter of 2009. Ohio and Kentucky make some interesting names for themselves:

Best Fundraising -- Incumbent

1. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
2. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)
3. Harry Reid (D-NV)
4. John McCain (R-AZ)
5. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

Worst Fundraising -- Incumbent

1. Roland Burris (D-IL)
2. Jim Bunning (R-KY) -- apparently the Mitch McConnell "get out of the race" shouting match is working
3. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
4. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
5. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Best Fundraising -- Challenger

1. Bill White (D-TX)
2. Kendrick Meek (D-FL)
3. Rob Portman (R-OH)
4. Alexi Gioannoulias (D-IL)
5. John Sharp (D-TX)

Worst Fundraising -- Challenger

1. Roy Blunt (R-MO) (TIED WITH) Paul Hodes (D-NH)
2. Jennifer Brunner (D-OH)
3. Peter King (R-NY)
4. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

In short: Bunning and Brunner are not doing well yet, whereas Portman is doing very well. Side notes in the store mark that KY AG Mongiardo (running against Bunning) is performing amazingly well, with OH Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (running against Brunner) performing adequately well -- about 4 times better than Brunner, but only raising about 60% as much as Portman.

It's no secret that I'm a Brunner girl, but I'll be interested to see the reported numbers from 2Q.

Election 2010: OH-GOV, KY-SEN

The Ohio Daily Blog gives us the heads up to a Washington Post piece that indicates Congressperson Tim Ryan will "run" for Lt. Gov. Wait ... I thought, in Ohio, the Gov-Lt. Gov. ran as a ticket. Am I wrong on that one? Sabrina Eaton, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer confirms that Ryan is being considered. But it may just be a lot of rumor-mongering. We bloggers are good at that.

And we have two Democrats sort of announced for the Kentucky Senate seat against embattled Republican Jim Bunning: Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (who has been endorsed by Gov. Beshear) and Attorney General Jack Conway (as yet unconfirmed, but he's floating it).

Meanwhile, the Republicans remain adamantly opposed to endorsing Bunning, but I have no news for that one. I just think it's still funny.

And we're off!!!!

The next round of entrants into the 2010 election has popped up! I'm a little late on a couple of these, so bear with me:

• Both Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner have announced their intentions to run for the Senate seat being exited by Sen. Voinovich. Gov. Strickland is behind Fisher, stating that he's the "most qualified," which many took as an indicator for other hopefuls to hold off until Fisher is in or out. Brunner, apparently, decided the time was ripe. I like Brunner. Both are excellent as far as queer folks go, and both have been acknowledged as being pro-LGBT by Equality Ohio, but I think the appeal of electing the first female Senator from Ohio is too great.
• And, despite the strength of Portman's name, it doesn't appear like he's going to go in for an easy run. Even possible contender for the Republican nomination -- state Auditor Mary Taylor -- is not holding up well against either Democrat. In all cases, there is a double digit lead in the early (early early) polling in favor of Brunner or Fisher. Fisher, btw, fairs the best. (The NYTimes also notes the Dem favor in the general election, saying that the Republicans will still bear the brunt of the Bush administration into 2010.)
• Meanwhile, don't think that Brunner/Fisher will be the final match-up. Christopher Celeste, son of former Democratic Governor Richard Celeste, has announced his intentions to run for Senate, as well. Though he claims he doesn't feel entitled, with no political history of his own to rely on, one wonders: what's the frakkin' point?
• Gov. Strickland looks poised to be OK in his seat, even against former Senator Mike DeWine or former Representative John Kasich, polling double digits above either candidate. I just think it says quite a bit that we're talking about a lot of "former this" Republicans, while we have a lot of seated Democrats. I'm just saying...
• In the midst of a lawsuit against WCPO for age and gender discrimination, former newscaster Laure Quinlivan is considering a run for Cincinnati City Council. I have some serious questions about the appropriateness of journalists becoming politicians. In fact, with the history this very article details, I'm really uncomfortable with the number of jumps that has happened. How good are newscasters if they always think: one day, I'll run for office.
• The Kentucky Senate race against Jim Bunning is starting to shape up, with Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo announcing his intentions to run. Two other Democrats -- Attorney General Jack Conway and state Auditor Crit Luallen -- may also announce in the next few weeks.

There's not a lot of gay in all these things, but it got me thinking on this: if we have such a fabulously supportive Executive Branch in Ohio for LGBT rights, why don't we have them yet?

Mongiardo (or Conway)-Bunning in 2010?

The KYPost is reporting that Daniel Mongiardo, Lt. Gov. of Kentucky, is seeking to replace Jim Bunning in his Senate seat. Unfortunately for Bunning, he is not being widely supported by his own party.

Mongiardo lost his bid for Senate in 2004 against Bunning by a paltry 1%.

So we have: popular Lt. Gov. with a history of performing well against a popular incumbent GOP Senator, after the incumbent's own party asked him to retire. Sounds like a fun recipe.

Electoral-vote.com is also reporting that Attorney General, Jack Conway, may also seek the Dem nomination for 2010. As we saw in 2008, primaries are not always a bad thing as they get a chance to vet the candidate on softer terms between people of the same party who have a vested interest.

If it's all the same, 2010 looks like the year a Dem is elected to the Senate in Kentucky. Too bad Mongiardo is bad on same sex marriage, but he IS good on safe schools.

Oh, but this is fun, apparently Bunning likes to accuse both of these men that they are gay. Fabulous. Here is goes again. Jesus. To which Mongiardo, btw, responded by getting engaged to a 21 year old. Ha! Charlie Crist what? And apparently the Jack Conway rumors arise out of the fact that he has accepted money from homosexuals. Outing -- not just for the Advocate anymore.

Meanwhile, in more appropriate news from this blog, Jack Conway is gorgeous. Jack, if you are gay, call me. I have lots of women that can cover for us: