Political Roundup for June 1, 2018

The filing deadline has passed in Arizona; click for full coverage on the resources page.

Senate:

AZ-Sen: A key deadline passed on Wednesday that means there will not be two Senate seats up in the state this year. May 30 was the last day according to state law that filing could occur for a potential special Senate election to fill the seat of Sen. John McCain (R). State law says that filing cannot occur less than 90 days before a state primary. The state’s primary is set for Aug. 28, making May 30 the latest possible filing day. If the ailing senator dies or resigns, Gov. Doug Ducey (R) would appoint a replacement that would serve until the 2020 election. With the state’s other Senate seat considered highly vulnerable to a Democratic takeover, it removes the possibility of Democrats taking both of the state’s Senate seats this November.

WY-Sen: Charlie Greene, a former Democratic Senate nominee is switching parties and running against Sen. John Barrasso (R) in the Republican primary. Greene was the Democratic nominee for US Senate in 2014, taking 17% of the vote against Sen. Mike Enzi (R) in 2014 and finished 2nd in the 2016 Democratic primary for WY-AL. He has a solid liberal agenda, supporting universal healthcare and a steep increase in the minimum wage, but says he doesn’t think he can succeed as a Democrat in Wyoming, calling himself a “Eisenhower Republican”.

House:

SD-AL: Dusty Johnson (R) appears to be a solid frontrunner to be the Republican nominee for Congress in Tuesday’s primary. The chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) had 41% in a Sioux Falls Argus-Leader/KELO-TV poll, well ahead of Sec. of State Shantel Krebs (R) at 23% and state Sen. Neal Tapio (R) at 13%. Krebs and Tapio are running the strongest Trump-supporting campaigns, and while the poll showed high approval for the president in the state, they appear to be splitting the support of the strongest Trump supporters.

VA-5: The Republican nominee to replace Rep. Tom Garrett (R) on the ballot will be chosen tomorrow by the 5th District Republican committee. 4 candidates have declared interest in running. They are state Rep. Michael Webert (R), farmer Martha Boneta, real estate developer Jim McKelvey, and distillery owner Denver Riggleman, who ran a brief campaign for governor last year, but dropped out before the primary. State Sen. Bryce Reeves (R) has decided not to run, but state Sen. Bill Stanley (R) is still considering. The nominee will face author and anti-Semite Leslie Cockburn (D).

Governor/states:

AK-Gov: Ex-Sen. Mark Begich (D) is said to be considering a last-minute entry into the governor’s race. If he decides to run, then Gov. Bill Walker (I) says he will not run in the Democratic primary as planned and will petition to get on the ballot as an independent. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D) also says he’s thinking about running, but will step aside if Begich runs. Ex-LG Mead Treadwell (R) still says he has not made up his mind on making a last-minute entry. The filing deadline is today.

KS-Gov/KS-LG: State Sen. Jim Barnett (R) was the last major candidate for governor to name a running mate. He decided on his choice yesterday-his own wife, Rosemary Hansen, who he married last September. It is believed to be the first time a husband and wife have run together since gubernatorial candidates began picking their running mates in 1974. Barnett, a moderate in the Kansas GOP moderate/conservative split, was the losing Republican nominee to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) in 2006, and has trailed in polls behind Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) and Sec. of State Kris Kobach (R).

MN-Gov/MN-LG: As speculated earlier in the week, LG Michelle Fischbach (R) will be the running mate for ex-Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R). Fischbach had been state Senate President and ascended automatically to the Lieutenant Governor’s office when former LG Tina Smith (D) was appointed to replace Sen. Al Franken (D). Fischbach had continued to serve in the state Senate, arguing that she could serve as both a Senator and LG at the same time, but she resigned her Senate seat last week. Republicans are gathering this weekend for their state convention, but Pawlenty is not seeking the party endorsement.

NY-Gov: Ex-Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner (D) is considering running for governor as an independent. She also has not ruled out entering the Democratic primary, although that seems unlikely as she would split the anti-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) vote with actress Cynthia Nixon. She says she has supporters that are talking with firms that specialize in gathering petition signatures and has been speaking with potential campaign volunteers. Miner briefly considered running for AG before deciding not to, and also passed on running for Congress and state Senate.

SD-Gov: The Republican nomination for governor appears to be too close to call according to a new poll. The poll, commissioned by the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader and KELO-TV shows the two candidates neck in neck, with Rep. Kristi Noem at 45% and AG Marty Jackley at 44%. The primary is on Tuesday.

AZ-SD-13: Ex-state Rep. Don Shooter (R) who was expelled from the state House in February after sexual harrassment incidents came to light, is running for the state Senate. Shooter is trying to return to the same Senate seat he held from 2011-2016 before being elected to the House(House and Senate seats in Arizona use the same district lines with each district electing 2 House members and 1 Senator). He will face incumbent state Sen. Sine Kerr (R) and one other candidate in the GOP primary.