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Democrats picked former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas to challenge Feeney this cycle, and now even Republicans are admitting that the seat will be difficult for them to retain. Adding to Feeney’s woes, through Aug. 6, Kosmas had more money than the incumbent, $836,000 to $804,000, and the lawmaker is undoubtedly high on the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee’s Member-retention list.
Polling also suggests Feeney is widely unpopular in his central Florida district. According to a recent Democratic poll, only 37 percent of those interviewed had a positive impression of him.
25th district
Incumbent: Mario Diaz-Balart (R)
3rd term (58 percent)
Outlook: Leans Republican
Considered by Republicans to be more vulnerable than his brother, Diaz-Balart appears to have been somewhat blindsided by Miami-Dade County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Garcia’s challenge this cycle.
Diaz-Balart raised $1.2 million through Aug. 6, while Garcia brought in about $1 million. But perhaps more startling to the incumbent, a recent poll conducted for the liberal Web site DailyKos.com showed that Garcia was in striking distance of Diaz-Balart.
In the late-September ballot test conducted by Research 2000, 45 percent of those polled chose Diaz-Balart and 41 percent chose Garcia.
Georgia
Senate
Incumbent: Saxby Chambliss (R)
1st term (53 percent)
Outlook: Likely Republican
Chambliss boasts a high net approval rating and a massive cash-on-hand advantage, and some polls have shown him up by wide margins. But national Democrats have shown an interest in playing in the Peach State Senate race in part because they believe Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could boost turnout among the state’s large black population.
About 28.5 percent of Georgia’s population is black, and according to exit polls from the 2004 election, black voters made up 25 percent of the electorate that year.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee got behind former state Rep. Jim Martin during a crowded primary, and Martin will need the committee’s help to make up the financial disparity in the race.
But Democrats are excited about recent polling that showed the race closing. However, Martin definitely remains the underdog — and with the clock ticking, time appears to be on Chambliss’ side.
House
8th district
Incumbent: Rep. Jim Marshall (D)
3rd term (51 percent)
Outlook: Tossup
While national Republicans were quick to hype the 8th district race early in the cycle, even some GOP operatives on Capitol Hill admitted over the summer that retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard’s campaign had fallen off the national radar.
Indeed, by early September the most notable press Goddard was getting was of the negative variety when he received flak in local papers for using the term “uppity” to describe an African-American newscaster at the Republican National Convention.
But Goddard went on a bit of an ad blitz in September, and he still has a good profile to fit this conservative district. Republican operatives also say that Goddard was busy throughout the summer bringing in campaign cash. They say he was saving his powder (and money) in the expectation that the 8th district race would break late in the cycle.
Goddard is not only a decorated veteran but also a former commander of the massive Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base, which is a major employer of 8th district residents.
But Marshall is also a decorated veteran who has proved over his three terms that he can hold onto a district that President Bush carried with 61 percent of the vote in 2004. Marshall narrowly escaped defeat in 2006, a banner year for Democrats nationally, and Republicans hope that turnout in a presidential election year will help push Goddard over the top.
At this point, the race could still go either way.
Schumer Advocates for Many on Panel
Nov. 16, 12 a.m.
As Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson once said of the Joint Economic Committee, “It’s as useless as tits on a bull.” But as that panel’s chairman during the 110th Congress, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) seized the opportunity to elevate the traditionally low-profile post to the forefront of shaping policy. Read Full Article
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