Congress '08

Candidate spent $1,000 on clothes

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:02:24 -0500

Sarah Palin wasn't the only one with new clothes thanks to donors.

North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale also used campaign money for clothing, according to a complaint that a watchdog group filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Breazeale and five other candidates each spent hundreds of dollars on clothes, violating a ban on personal use of campaign money, the Associated Press reports.

The group had earlier complained about spending by the Republican National Committee on the GOP vice presidential candidate.

According to campaign finance reports, Breazeale's campaign spent $1,000 in clothing for Breazeale at Fisher's Men's Store in Elizabethtown on Oct. 4, 2007.

A spokesperson for the campaign did not respond to the AP's request for comment.

Breazeale lost to longtime Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre in November.

Which Congressman was most popular?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:49:18 -0500

Which North Carolina Congressman was most popular?

That depends on how you break down the numbers, but U.S. Rep. David Price clearly won the largest number of votes in the November elections.

The Chapel Hill Democrat snagged 265,751 votes. The next most popular were Reps. Sue Myrick (241,053), Brad Miller (221,379), Howard Coble (221,018) and Mel Watt (215,908).

The numbers are slightly different if you look at percentages, though.

From that perspective, Watt was the most popular, winning 71.6 percent of the vote, followed by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (70.3), Mike McIntyre (68.9), Coble (67) and Bob Etheridge (66.9).

Either way, the least popular was Rep.-elect Larry Kissell, who picked up just 157,185 votes, or 55.4 percent.

Generally speaking, the newer members of Congress were less popular than the older ones.

Kissell wins Eighth Congressional seat

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:32:36 -0500

Democratic high school teacher Larry Kissell has defeated 10-year Republican incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District, the AP reports.

The Associated Press called the race for Kissell based on an analysis of voter interviews, conducted for the AP by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

Two years ago, Kissell came within 329 votes of taking the seat despite a long-shot, low-budget campaign. National Democrats took notice after that election and backed Kissell this year, providing support and funding for television advertising.

Kissell capitalized on a struggling economy by knocking Hayes for backing trade legislation that he said has hurt the area’s once-booming textile industry.

Democrats give their victory speeches

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:27:49 -0500

Some comments from the raucous Democratic celebration tonight:

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge: "Those of us elected tonight — or re-elected — had better get working ... Tonight is a night of history."

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller: "We need to be careful not to underreach."

Has the GOP given up on Hayes?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:48:45 -0400

Have House Republicans given up on Rep. Robin Hayes?

An internal document provided to U.S. News & World Report writer Paul Bedard lists the Concord Republican among the likely casualties of an expected Democratic wave of Congressional wins in the November elections.

Hayes is among 10 Republicans from New York to Alaska the memo lists as "likely gone."

"The document provided to Whispers is no gag: It comes from one of the key House GOP vote counters," writes Bedard on his blog, Washington Whispers. The source called it a 'death list.'"

Hayes faces Biscoe schoolteacher Larry Kissell in a rematch after beating him by just 329 votes in 2006. Hayes recently took heat for saying "liberals hate real Americans" at a rally for presidential candidate John McCain in Concord.

Etheridge holding fundraiser tonight

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:28:05 -0400

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge is holding a fundraiser tonight.

The Lillington Democrat will meet with supporters at 5:30 p.m. at The Mint, a lavish, city-subsidized restaurant on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh.

The Mint's slogan — "A restaurant so grand they keep it in a vault." — is printed on the invitations.

Tickets to the event range from $100 for a guest to $2,300 for a gold sponsorship.

The reception is hosted by Etheridge's wife, Faye.

Hat Tip: Sunlight Foundation

Liberals v. America?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:51:37 -0400

Liberals v. America?

"Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God."

— U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, addressing the crowd before a Concord rally for Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Oct. 4, 2008. Hayes denied making the remark until audio surfaced.

Comments (6)

Hayes: Liberals hate real Americans

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:48:36 -0400

U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes is taking heat for his warm-up act.

Speaking at a John McCain rally in Concord Saturday, the Republican said that opening speakers need to "make sure we don’t say something stupid" because the liberal media would distort the remarks.

He then accused Democrat Barack Obama of "inciting class warfare” and said that "liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God," according to The New York Observer.

A spokeswoman for Hayes, who is running for re-election against Democrat Larry Kissell, at first denied that Hayes had made the remark to the Washington-based political newspaper Politico, calling its account "irresponsible journalism."

However, a reporter with local radio station WFAE had audio of the remarks. (Politico posted the audio here.)

"I genuinely did not recall making the statement and, after reading it, there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way. I actually was trying to work to keep the crowd as respectful as possible, so this is definitely not what I intended," Hayes then said in a statement.

Lawson's 'Ripoff' ad on Price

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:02:49 -0400

An ad from Republican B.J. Lawson criticizes U.S. Rep. David Price over his support of a Wall Street bailout.

Lawson airing ads against Price

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:54:39 -0400

A Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. David Price is running T.V. ads thanks to help from Ron Paul.

Cary resident B.J. Lawson has raised more than $460,000 from more than 3,000 individuals in North Carolina and around the country, according to a campaign spokeswoman.

He raised more than $177,000 in a single day of fundraising, thanks in part to an e-mail sent to supporters of Paul, a Texas Congressman and former Republican presidential candidate.

The fundraising success has allowed Lawson to air a television ad, something typically not seen in races against Price, who has represented the heavily liberal district since 1987, losing only one race.

The Lawson campaign is airing the ad, which criticizes Price for supporting the recent Wall Street bailout, on several stations on Time-Warner Cable, including MSNBC, News 14 Carolina and B.E.T., according to campaign media consultant Gail Marold.

"The economy is still crashing," a narrator says. "This election, fire David Price. Vote Lawson for Congress."