News reports from the final debate between Democrat Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez conclude that Gomez, a first-time candidate and self-styled "new kind of Republican," delivered a strongperformance. With just days left in the campaign before the June 25 special election for Senate, Gomez has trailed Markey, a 37-year veteran of the House, in every single poll. Markey currently leads by average of more than 9 points.
But in the debate Tuesday night, Gomez hit Markey hard on the Democrat's long Washington tenure, a running theme in the Republican's campaign. Here's an excerpt from the Boston Globe's report:
Gomez, the Republican nominee, is trailing in the polls and in need of a jolt to shake up the race. He all but pleaded with voters to give him a shot at serving the remainder of John F. Kerry’s Senate term.
“I ask you to give me 17 months, and see if I’ve kept my word,” he said in his closing statement. “And if I have, then you can reelect me. And if I haven’t, then vote me out.”
He repeatedly argued that electing his Democratic rival to the Senate, after 37 years in the House, would only continue the gridlock in Washington.
“Nothing’s going to change if Mr. Markey wins this election,” Gomez said. “We’re going to have the same D.C. down there and the same dysfunction. The only thing we’re going to have is him moving from one building to the next.”
As Joanna Weiss, a Globe columnist, put it, "when Gomez says, “Give me 17 months” — and promises to fix all of Washington in that time — a part of you wants to dare him to try."
The Gomez campaign released a web video of the Republican's best moments in the debate:
With 9 days left before the June 25 special election for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, Democrat Ed Markey maintains a significant lead. The latest poll from the Boston Globe shows Markey, a longtime House member, ahead of Republican Gabriel Gomez by 15 points. Here's more from the Globe's analysis, which portends trouble for Gomez:
A new poll on the Massachusetts special election for U.S. Senate shows Democrat Ed Markey with a 12-point lead over Republican Gabriel Gomez, with 49 percent supporting Markey and 37 percent supporting Gomez.
A new poll from Suffolk University finds Democratic congressman Ed Markey with a seven-point lead ahead of this month's special election for the U.S. Senate in Massachsuetts. In a survey of 500 likely voters, Markey received 48 percent support, while his Republican opponent, businessman and retired Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, received 41 percent support.
A Republican polling firm has found that the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate is in a dead heat. Democrat Ed Markey, the longtime congressman, leads Republican and first-time candidate Gabriel Gomez by just a point. According to McLaughlin and Associates, a firm that often works for Republican candidates, 45 percent of likely voters in Massachusetts support Markey, while 44 percent support Gomez and 11 percent remain undecided. The election is on June 25.
The New York Times reports today that New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Republican, is considering setting a special election for the vacant New Jersey Senate seat ahead of the already scheduled November election. This move, as the Times reports, could cost around $24 million:
Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, his party's nominee for Senate in next month's special election, asked a former House colleague not to show up to a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. earlier this week. A Markey staff member reportedly called Ben Jones, a former Democratic congressman from Georgia who also starred as Cooter in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard, to disinvite him from a fundraiser.
Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, has won his old House seat back in a special election to succeed Tim Scott, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate earlier this year. The Associated Press reports:
It's been a roller coaster of a special election in South Carolina's First Congressional District, and about 24 hours before the polls close, the race for the House seat once held by Senator Tim Scott looks to be a close one.
The special election campaign for Senate in Massachusetts is only a few days old, but it's already looking close. A new PPP poll shows Democrat Ed Markey leading his Republican opponent, Gabriel Gomez, by only four points. Here's more from PPP:
PPP's first poll of the general election in the Massachusetts Senate special finds a close race, with Ed Markey leading Gabriel Gomez by a 44-40 margin.
Ed Markey, the 19-term Democratic representative and dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, will face political newcomer Gabriel Gomez, a Republican, in next month's special election for the U.S. Senate.
In the primary elections held Tuesday, Markey handily defeated rival congressman Stephen Lynch for the Democratic nomination to succeed fellow Democrat John Kerry, who resigned from the Senate upon being confirmed for secretary of state. The 66-year-old liberal Democrat from Malden has held a significant lead in the polls over any GOP challenger.
Retired U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, a Republican, announced Tuesday he would be entering the U.S. Senate special election to fill the seat of Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry. In a video posted on his campaign website, Gomez begins by announcing in Spanish before continuing in English. "I spent my career as a Navy SEAL and as a businessman right here in Boston," he says. "I'm not a politician, so I'll have a very different kind of campaign." Watch the video below:
Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, will run for the House of Representatives, sources close to Sanford confirm. He will try to win election to the seat formerly held by Tim Scott.
Sanford, a Republican who held the House seat himself from 1995 to 2001, will announce his intention to run early next week, ahead of the January 18 filing deadline. The special election to succeed Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Governor Nikki Haley last month, will take place on May 7, with a GOP primary being held on March 19.
The special election to fill the last six months of Gabrielle Giffords’s term in the Eighth Congressional District of Arizona is rapidly approaching. Although the race looks close, no one can say that the candidates are neck and neck. At 6’8”, Republican Jesse Kelly stands head and shoulders above most people—not just his opponent, former Giffords staffer Ron Barber.