the DSCC

Alaska

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Tea Party favorite Joe Miller defeated incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski for the Republican nomination. This is the seventh establishment GOP candidate to be defeated in a primary this year. Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka and former school board president, will challenge Miller in November.

Two New Ads From Senate Candidates

Arjun Jaikumar

Two new ads from Democratic Senate candidates hit the airwaves today, one from Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania and the other from Robin Carnahan in Missouri.

Watch Joe Sestak’s ad, “Zero”, here:

And watch Robin Carnahan’s ad, “Mug”, here:

Week In Review

Arjun Jaikumar

-In Alaska, the extremists of the Tea Party seem to have won yet another Republican primary, as right-wing attorney Joe Miller leads incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski

Miller could become the sixth Tea Party-backed insurgent to topple a GOP frontrunner.

-In Colorado, Ken Buck has been taking fire from the Denver Post for his hypocrisy on earmarks. Although Buck has crusaded against earmarks during his campaign, even signing an anti-earmark pledge, the Post revealed that Buck himself has requested over $5 million in earmarks.

Meanwhile the DSCC has gone on the air with an ad against Buck in Colorado, and Buck’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Michael Bennet, has done the same.

-In Nevada, Sharron Angle has been caught on yet another jaw-droppingly outrageous statement of her campaign, on a radio show with conservative host Bill Manders:

MANDERS: We have domestic enemies. We have home-born homegrown enemies in our system. And I for one think we have some of those enemies in the walls of the Senate and the Congress.

ANGLE: Yes. I think you're right, Bill.

-In Wisconsin, Ron Johnson has been called out for hypocrisy similar to Ken Buck’s: the businessman who rails against government subsidies got at least $4 million in government loans to help build his business. Though Johnson claims “never to have lobbied” for government assistance, there are now four million examples to the contrary.

-Though Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey has supported privatizing Social Security for years, he apparently doesn’t want anybody to know. Earlier this week he denied ever having supported the idea:

“I’ve never said I favor privatizing Social Security,” Toomey said Monday in response to a question at the Press Club of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. “It’s an intentionally misleading term,” he added.

The DSCC subsequently came up with no fewer than 36 instances where Toomey supported Social Security privatization. Quite the embarrassment for Mr. Toomey.

Georgia

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In Georgia, Johnny Isakson is running for a second term in the Senate. Democrat Mike Thurmond, Georgia’s labor commissioner, is challenging him in November.

South Carolina

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Sen. Jim DeMint heads into 2010 with many vulnerabilities. In recent years, DeMint has racked up a voting record that is completely out of step with even conservative-minded South Carolina. Whether the issue is health care, economic recovery, or holding up confirmation of important administration officials, DeMint continues to demonstrate that he will place his extreme-right agenda ahead of serving the people of his state. DeMint is increasingly out-of-touch with his constituents, who want common-sense solutions – not far-right ideology – from their elected officials.

Maryland

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Senator Mikulski will be running for re-election in 2010. She is being challenged by Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Eric Wargotz, a self-funding Republican, and a number of other GOP candidates. Mikulski won 65% of the vote in 2004. Watch for Mikulski to be serving the people of Maryland for another 6 years.

Vermont

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Senator Leahy is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate for his seventh term. He is committed to fighting for President Obama's agenda of lasting change that works for the people of Vermont. Republican Businessman Len Britton will challenge Leahy in November.

Utah

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Conservative lawyer Mike Lee is Utah Republicans’ choice for Senate, after Tea Party activists and other conservatives voted Sen. Bob Bennett out of office during Utah’s Republican primary. Lee – a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito – is far to the right of average Utahns. He has made repealing health care reform one of his top issues and was endorsed by ultra-right Senator Jim DeMint and FreedomWorks, a major Tea Party group run by former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey. In contrast, Democratic nominee Sam Granato is a successful businessman who is putting job creation, Wall Street reform and Utah’s economy – not radical ideology – first.

Oklahoma

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Republican Senator Tom Coburn is seeking another term in the U.S Senate after repeatedly blocking President Obama's efforts to turn our economy around and involving himself in the scandal over disgraced Nevada Senator John Ensign. Democrat Jim Rogers will challenge Coburn in November.

Oregon

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Senator Wyden is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate for his third full term. He is committed to fighting for President Obama's agenda of lasting change that works for the people of Oregon. Republicans nominated law professor and political activist Jim Huffman. Expect Senator Wyden to return to the Senate next year.