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Interesting 2014 Races and Propositions

SezMe

post-pre-born
SezMe
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
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Location
Santa Barbara, CA
I like to follow interesting elections across the country that have an interesting aspect, unusual players or important (or trivial) propositions. These can be at the federal, state or local level.

So the purpose of this thread is to highlight interesting contests and explain why they are worth watching. I'll start.

Gordon Klingenschmitt is the Republican nominee for House District 15 in the Colorado House of Representatives. (Has an auto-play video.) He won his primary in a close race but his district is heavily Republican so he has a good shot at being elected.

This race is interesting because Klingenschmitt is an absolute loon. He's a Satan-obsessed loon of the first magnitude. He got the boot from the Navy, has performed exorcisms and is completely god-besotted. He is so bad I have every confidence that even our most ardent rightists here at JREF would not cross the street to piddle on his shoe. Should be great fun.

What catches your eye?http://www.rightwingwatch.org/conte...ins-gop-primary-colorado#sthash.ascaBmi7.dpuf
 
I see he went to the Airforce Academy School of Evangelism.
And all his degrees seem to be from Regent U.
 
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Puppycow said:
Anyway, I looked up the district to see how Republican it is. A little hard to tell as no Democrat ran there in 2012:
Click to expand...

Yeah... that's usually a sign that no Democrat in their right mind thinks they can win there. I don't think there's been anyone local where I am that has run as a Democrat since the Civil War or so (meaning never, since we weren't a state until after the Civil War). The choice is generally between a more moderate Republican (but not actually very moderate by most standards) and a delusional extremist idiot.

There's a surprising number of Dems running for national office in Kansas this year, and a candidate for governor who will likely actually win, but it hasn't made it to the state rep or local level here yet. The election is essentially the primary locally.

Part of the problem is probably that the other party has never actually tried in such areas though... so it's hard to tell what will happen if they get busy and attempt to change the local political culture. The more liberal minded around here aren't non-existent. They're just disenfranchised and often don't even bother to vote, much less run for office.
 
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I'll add Wisconsin's race for governor between Republican incumbent Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Mary Burke.

This race is interesting because it will ultimately affect the 2016 presidential run. If Walker wins he will certainly run for president and he is great at staying on message and politically savvy, though his policies are terrible imo.

If he loses he won't run for pres. Unfortunately I think he will win reelection.
 
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Another interesting governor's race is in Kansas:

Republican Sam Brownback vs Democrat Paul Davis

Davis is way up in the polls, currently. Brownback isn't very popular after clearly mis-handling the state's finances to the point where we can't pay the bills without borrowing (huge tax cuts for rich people). I'm pretty sure Davis will win this one. We're a strongly red state, but Dem governors aren't unknown (Joan Finney, Kathleen Sebelius). It's usually more due to the Republican candidate being disliked, rather than anyone actually liking the Dem... sometimes it's that those supporting a more moderate primary loser vote for the Democrat (or don't vote), other times, it's an unpopular incumbent.
 
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Looks like there wasn't a strong Republican atheist candidate; here's the closing words from the concession email from the opposing candidate:

Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to point out that any honor and glory is reserved for God Almighty. I believe in the Divine Providence He has for our lives, and He is always worthy of admiration.
I hope that you will have faith with me in believing that no matter what happens in our lives, God is always in control. He gives and takes away, and His grace is always sufficient.
Click to expand...
 
:bump2

I've collected some additional interesting races that I'll post individually so any comments won't get mixed up with other races.
 
District 98 of the Michigan House of Representatives

The Republican candidate is Gary Glenn. Second only to "Dr. Chaps" in Colorado, he is homophobic of the first rank. He was President of the American Family Association of Michigan since 1999 and also one of two co-authors of the Marriage Protection Amendment approved by Michigan voters in 2004. He's pretty far right, to say the least. Can someone so far out there win a general election?
 
Iowa's 4th congressional district

Jim Mowrer (D) is running against Steve King. The only interesting thing here is that Mowrer is a real Iowa grass roots politician running against that wack-a-loon King. How close can he get?
 
4th District of Tennessee

Scott DesJarlais is the incumbent here. He's the "family values", anti-abortion doctor who had affairs with his patients and asked them to get abortions. The question here is can this utter hypocrite and loony rightist get re-elected?
 
Georgia’s 10th District

Jody Hice is running to replace Paul Braun. There is another thread here about Hice (I think) so I won't say more than if you thought it was impossible to get a candidate even more nuts than Braun, think again.
 
Louisiana’s 6th District

Lenar Whitney (R) is running for this open seat. She is truly scary. She believes climate change is “the greatest deception in the history of mankind.” If you watch this, have a garbage pail available to barf into. Can such an extreme pol win even in Louisiana's fever swamp of political bias.
 
Maryland county council

This is just a local race but features an extremely interesting character: Michael Peroutka. He is an unabashed secessionist, racist and nutball. Will a Maryland county elect someone who advocates such oddball views?
 
U.S. Senate in Iowa

Joni Ernst is the Republican candidate for the Senate. She thinks that "Congress should not pass any laws 'that the states would consider nullifying.'” Nullification is an outdated, legally untenable idea that is long past its "sell by" date. Yet Joni persists; will Iowans buy it?
 
Clark County commissioner

Again, this is a local race but features someone with such bizarre views that it will be interesting to see how the election goes. Cindy Lake would "like to see an end to all alphabet agencies ..." whatever that means. But she is also against fluoride in our drinking water and worries about chemtrails. This is Las Vegas territory so who knows what can happen.
 
Oklahoma House District 91

Scott Esk is the Republican candidate. That pretty much makes him the odds on favorite. That he thinks gays should be stoned to death is probably a plus in his district. He's a believer in Old Testament punishments and, of course, biblical principles in government. Are such extreme views such a liability that he might lose. I doubt it.
 
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