Conor Kenny's News Articles

With Congress in recess and the elections quickly approaching, our citizen editors from across the country have spent more than a year identifying candidates, researching the issues, and writing about politicians' records. With just 8 days left before the election (unless you're in Louisiana's 2nd or 4th congressional district), our candidate profiles are receiving some heavy traffic.

Of course, you can help: do you have some information about any of the candidates in your state or district?

(For a full list of candidates, see the Louisiana portal.)

By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

Louisiana finally held their primaries on Saturday, which had been delayed from their original September 6th date by Hurricane Gustav. Under Louisiana's system, only congressional candidates who win 50.1% in the primary move on to the general election. In the 2nd and 4th congressional districts, no one reached that threshold and a run-off primary will be held for their candidates on Election Day, November 4th, with the general election following on December 6th.

The 2nd district is home to Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who only won 25% of the vote on Saturday and will now face TV anchorwoman Helena Moreno in the Democratic runoff on November 4. The winner will be up against Republican nominee Anh Cao on December 6th. That may be inconvenient for Jefferson, however, because he is scheduled to head to trial on federal corruption charges on December 2nd (full details here).

In the 4th congressional district, where Rep. Jim McCrery is retiring, two runoffs are required. Republicans John Fleming Jr. and Chris D. Gorman survived the primary, as did Democrats Willie Banks Jr. and Paul Carmouche. Both parties will have runoffs on November 4, with the winners squaring off in December.

In the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th districts, the parties' nominees gained a majority of the vote and citizens will choose their representative when they cast presidential ballots on November 4.

Also, one of the country’s most closely-watched Senate races is playing out in Louisiana, where Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) is fighting to retain her seat. However, recent trendlines show her pulling ahead with a double-digit lead over Republican nominee and state treasurer John Kennedy (R), once considered the GOP’s best chance for flipping a Senate seat this cycle.

As part of Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project, citizen journalists from around the country (and even some candidates!) have been logging information about the candidates' positions, biographies and records. A full list of the candidates and their professions are below, but you can also find them at their respective state portals via the Wiki the Vote project homepage. We need your help to find out more about these candidates, so if you know something about them please add it to their profile. (You can always contact one of the staff editors for help.)

By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

Monday was supposed to be the day the House approved a $700 billion rescue/bailout plan for the U.S. financial services sector. With Congress set to adjourn after approving the rescue and a few other bills, the week was shaping up to be a quick one.

However, with the House’s defeat of the bailout measure Monday, the legislative calendar has been thrown into upheaval. Rather than vote on tax package, it appears the House will reconvene Thursday in order to give the rescue bill another try.

Confusion seems to be running the day. Democratic leaders in the Senate, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) have signaled they still want to work towards a vote on the measure. There is no agreement, however, as to what changes should or could be made to the bill, or whether the House or Senate should take up the revised legislation first.

New details have emerged about the Bush Administration’s plan to inject an estimated $700 billion into the country’s financial sector, which would be used to buy risky and possibly bad debt. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has released a counter-proposal, which includes a number of restrictions not included in the original plan. Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to take action by the end of the week while also tackling a continuing resolution to keep the government operating past the end of the fiscal year next week.

Over the weekend, a draft of the Administration’s plan was leaked and members of the public (and some lawmakers) had their first opportunity to review the proposal. The legislation would give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson broad authority to use federal funds to purchase assets that have no defined value, including loans that are unlikely to be repaid and securities backed by those loans. The government would purchase these assets from banks and other institutions through an auction or some other mechanism.

The plan precludes the courts, Congress or other federal agencies from reviewing the program and, while Paulson hopes to recover most of the funds by selling off the assets once the markets stabilize, there is no guarantee that the taxpayer money will be recovered.

Sen. Dodd’s proposal (leaked to the press Sunday night) introduces several measures that would substantially change the recovery program. Dodd’s bill creates an oversight board that would include congressionally-appointed officials. It also authorizes bankruptcy judges to modify existing mortgage loan terms for Americans facing foreclosure, and limit executive compensation for firms that take taxpayer cash.