Conor Kenny's News Articles

Meet the Candidates: The Victors of Tuesday's Congressional Primaries

by Conor Kenny — June 4, 2008 - 5:12pm
  • Topics: Election 2008, U.S. Congress

    • Seven states held congressional primaries for a total of six Senate and 70 House seats this Tuesday. We've got the results of the congressional primaries in Alabama, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey and South Dakota, thanks to the citizen journalists posting information to the candidate profiles in Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project.

    New Mexico definitely had the most interesting race as two current Republican representatives and one Democratic representative vie for the seat of retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, but this is an especially turbulent election and nearly every seat is being contested, so they're all worth a look.

    You can find full listings of all the candidates and profiles at the Wiki the Vote project homepage or through the listings below. 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.)

    Meet the Candidates: Seventy-six congressional primaries today

    by Conor Kenny — June 3, 2008 - 12:24pm
  • Topics: Election 2008

    • By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

    As the presidential primary season draws to an expected close tonight, attention is beginning to shift toward congressional races across the country. Seven states are holding nominating contests for House and Senate seats today: Alabama, California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Our citizen-journalists have kept Congresspedia’s Wiki-the-Vote project humming with updates to candidate profiles and portal pages for every state, but we welcome your knowledge if you’ve got information that can be added. Here’s a quick guide to getting started.

    On to the races: Sen. Barack Obama is favored in both South Dakota and Montana, and Sen. Hillary Clinton's next move remains unknown. Elsewhere, six Senate seats are up for grabs, and 70 House seats as well, and while many are competitive we thought we would highlight some of the most interesting or important races. Click through for our state-by-state breakdown.

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (May 30 - June 5, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — June 2, 2008 - 10:05am
  • Topics: This Week In Congress

    • The major action on Capitol Hill this week will be centered around around climate change legislation: the Senate should spend most of the week debating one of the competing proposals, America’s Climate Security Act. The House, meanwhile, will likely vote on an Iraq War supplemental, and both chambers still have to approve a 2009 fical year budget resolution that establishes the framework for next year's spending bills. In election news, the final Democratic presidential primaries happen tomorrow, as well as congressional primaries in seven states.

    The America's Climate Security Act is bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the country by 70 percent by 2050. It would establish a “cap-and-trade” program: emissions would be "capped" at a certain level (with the ceiling dropping further every few years) through a permit system for polluters, with the holders of those permits allowed to reduce their emissions and then "trade" (read: sell) the permits for the remainder. This creates a financial incentive for polluters to reduce emissions that will increase over time as the lowering cap makes the permits more precious.

    It's unlikely the bill will become law this year, however: it faces an uphill battle in the Senate and a likely veto from President Bush. Still, the the battle lines formed in the debate this weak will auger the the fate of the inevitable resurfacing of the issue in next year's Congress.

    More on this week's legislation, committee schedules and an update on superdelegates after the break.

    Superdelegates to Decide the Fate of Michigan and Florida Votes

    by Conor Kenny — May 30, 2008 - 12:01pm
  • Topics: Superdelegates 2008, Citizen Journalism, Election 2008, Democracy

    • On Saturday the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet to decide the fate of Florida and Michigan's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. As DNC members, the 30 rules committee members are all superdelegates and also have a vote at the convention. Between them, 13 have endorsed Hillary Clinton, eight have endorsed Barack Obama and nine are uncommitted. They also include one DNC member from Michigan (uncommitted) and one from Florida (endorsing Hillary), who are unable to cast a vote concerning their home states. (See the full membership here.)

    The committee will hear challenges to its earlier ruling that Michigan and Florida's delegates would not be seated at the national convention, with their votes thus not counting towards the presidential nomination. Bringing the challenges are Florida superdelegate and DNC member Jon Ausman (undeclared for either Clinton or Obama) and a representative from Michigan's state democratic party. Other representatives from the two state parties and the presidential campaigns will also make their case to the committee.

    The committee will hear three specific challenges:

    Rep. Vito Fossella Makes 30 Republicans Retiring or Resigned from the House

    by Conor Kenny — May 26, 2008 - 9:01pm
  • Topics: Election 2008, U.S. Congress

    • When Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) allegedly ran a stoplight in Virginia earlier this month, he hit the brakes on his career in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has now ended with his retirement. While he resisted calls for his resignation for a while, his drunk driving arrest and the ensuing scandal proved to be too much for his Republican colleagues, who kept up the pressure on Fossella to vacate his Staten Island seat in the hopes of fielding a candidate not under investigation.

    Meet the Candidates: The Victors of the Kentucky and Oregon Congressional Primaries

    by Conor Kenny — May 22, 2008 - 3:04pm
  • Topics: Election 2008, U.S. Congress

    • Kentucky, Oregon and Arkansas had their congressional primaries on Tuesday and, as usual, Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project is on the case with which candidates made the cut for the November ballot.

    Well, Arkansas sort of had congressional primaries - as best we can tell, every member of its incumbent congressional delegation faced no challenge from within their own party or from the other major party, so each will face only Green and Libertarian challengers in the fall. Oregon and Kentucky, which both have a Republican senator up for reelection and at least one House member retiring, had vigorous primaries.

    Each candidate and incumbent has a profile within Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project, which you can find at the Oregon, Arkansas and Kentucky portals, or through the full listing of the primary victors below. 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.)

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (May 16 - 23, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — May 21, 2008 - 3:54pm

    Legislation to fund the Iraq War through early 2009 will head to the Senate this week, and both chambers will try to iron out differences on a 2009 budget resolution. In addition, Congress may have to vote on a veto override of the 2007 Farm bill. In elections news, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oregon hold congressional primary elections this week, while a controversial nominee to the Federal Election Commission withdraws his name from consideration.

    The Senate will take up the 2008 Iraq war supplemental this week, following the House’s vote on the measure last Thursday. The Senate will serve to temper the bill produced by the House, by reinserting $162 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars while likely stripping out some of the most controversial provisions.

    One potential victim could be the new G.I. bill, which – along with extended unemployment benefits and other domestic spending – was part of the package approved by the house last week.

    Sen. Edward Kennedy diagnosed with brain cancer

    by Conor Kenny — May 20, 2008 - 3:57pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)was recently hospitalized after suffering an apparent seizure. Paramedics responded to his home on Saturday, and the senator was then airlifted to a Cape Cod hospital. Doctors have since diagnosed the Democratic fixture with a malignant brain tumor. His physicians have said a normal prescription would include radiation and chemotherapy, but said a specific treatment would be worked out with Kennedy when his condition is further analyzed.

    Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (May 9 - 16, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — May 16, 2008 - 5:13pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • The big action last week in Congress was the passage of the Farm Bill and continuing negotiations over the next round of funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which this week included votes on torture, troop pullout timetables and veterans' benefits.

    Meet the Candidates: The Victors of the Nebraska and West Virginia Congressional Primaries

    by Conor Kenny — May 15, 2008 - 6:02am

    Coverage of the presidential campaigns stole the spotlight in West Virginia last week, but voters there also selected their parties' nominees for three House of Representatives seats and one Senate slot on Tuesday. Across the country, Nebraskans headed to the polls in their own congressional primary election. There's an open Senate seat in Nebraska, and strong competition in its three congressional districts as well.

    Each candidate and incumbent has a profile within Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project, which you can find at the Nebraska and West Virginia portals, or through the full listing of the primary victors below. We need your help to find out more about these candidates, so remember that these profiles are editable by anyone and jump right in. You can always contact one of the staff editors for help.

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