Just in: Another GOP says no to 2006 race
Another GOP candiate decides to forgo a 2006 Senate race:
Capito will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House, and
Promoting progressive thinking and upholding North Dakota values.
Real. Now. North Dakota.
Another GOP candiate decides to forgo a 2006 Senate race:
Capito will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House, and
Hoeven’s press person Don Canton has been reported saying that timing of Hoeven's announcement to not run in 2006 had nothing to do with the release of an upcoming television ad. The ad produced by the state Democratic party challenges Hoeven’s commitment to the people of ND to serve as Governor for four years. The ad is based upon a 2004 television interview in which the interviewer, who is off camera, says to Hoeven: "You'll fill out your term, no matter what." Hoeven replies: "I'm running for four years, absolutely."
In response to the recent decision by Hoeven not to run for the Senate, US Senator Charles Schumer has been reported saying: “Today’s news is more evidence that running as a Republican could be hazardous to your health in 2006.”
Let's do a brief roll call of the candidates GOP has failed to recruit for 2006:
North Dakota
Today, Governor John Hoeven announced he will not challenge Kent Conrad in 2006, “depriving Republicans of someone they considered their strongest candidate against the Democratic incumbent.” Last weekend, Karl Rove visited North Dakota and met with Hoeven, and just yesterday the Washington Times reported, “The White House has promised to give Mr. Hoeven its fullest support if he runs.”
Vermont
In April, Senator Jim Jeffords announced that he would not be running for re-election. Immediately, Governor Jim Douglas was widely labeled as the strongest potential Republican candidate for the Senate seat, with one local paper noting that Douglas “is expected to face intense pressure from Republicans in Washington to enter the Senate race.” Douglas spoke to NRSC Chair Sen. Elizabeth Dole and to at least one White House official before announcing that he would not run for the Senate.
Michigan
Last December, President Bush publicly urged Congresswoman Candice Miller, telling her Chief of Staff, “You need to tell her she needs to run for the Senate,” before calling the Congresswoman personally. Described as “the party's top choice,” Miller announced in January that she would not run for Senate. As one Detroit columnist noted, “Top Republicans with safe jobs looked at this, and shook their heads. No, thank you.”
Florida
Since last November, Florida Republicans have been urged unsuccessfully to enter the 2006 Senate race, including Governor Jeb Bush. Even after Katherine Harris announced her candidacy for the seat, the White House and NRSC continued to speak to Republicans about getting into the race, with a huge focus on Florida House Speaker Allan Bense and former Congressman Joe Scarborough, both of whom subsequently decided not to enter the Senate race.
Washington
Labeled “Republicans' brightest star,” 2004 candidate for Governor Dino Rossi announced in July that he would not challenge Senator Maria Cantwell in 2006. The AP reported that Rossi’s decision process froze the field in place until he told the salivating national party that he was declining their call to duty. Polls had showed Rossi as the strongest Republican candidate. Rossi’s announcement came just one week after Sen. Elizabeth Dole was in Washington, personally urging Rossi to enter the race.
Nebraska
In August, Omaha World-Herald, reported that Republicans have failed to recruit a top-tier challenger for Senator Ben Nelson in Nebraska. When pressed to change his decision to run for reelection and instead challenge Nelson, Governor Dave Heineman said “that on a scale of zero to 100 his interest in the Senate race is ‘minus-1000 and dropping.’” Heineman joined former Governor and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Rep. Tom Osborne, and NE Attorney General Jon Bruning as prominent Nebraska Republicans who have declined to challenge Nelson. Most recently, when the White House asked former Senator Dave Karnes to run for his old job, he too said no.
New York
And finally my favorite! Since the GOP hate the Clintons so much and it doesn't even matter if it's Bill or Hillary: In New York, Republicans failed to draw a top-tier challenger to Sen. Hillary Clinton when Governor George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani both declined to run for the Senate.
The tide is turning.... 2006 will be a big year for Democrats!
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Gov. John Hoeven says he will not run against U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad next year, depriving Republicans of someone they considered their strongest candidate against the Democratic incumbent.
"A day may come when we ask the people of North Dakota to allow us to serve them in a different capacity, but that time is not now," Hoeven said Friday in a brief statement issued by his office.
"The outpouring of support and encouragement I have received to run for the United States Senate is truly humbling, but as I have said, repeatedly, I am focused squarely on the job of governor," his statement said.
Hoeven could not be reached immediately for additional comment. He was overwhelmingly re-elected last year, defeating Democrat Joe Satrom with more than 70 percent of the vote. A recent independent poll, commissioned by The Forum newspaper, showed Hoeven making a strong showing against Conrad.
Republicans have been attempting to push Hoeven into a race against Conrad, who is seeking re-election in 2006. A former state tax commissioner, Conrad was first elected to the Senate in 1986, upsetting Republican Mark Andrews, who had been in Congress for 23 years.
Since Conrad's victory, North Dakota's congressional delegation has been entirely Democratic. Only Rep. Earl Pomeroy has had close races against GOP challengers, despite Republican arguments that North Dakota needed a GOP voice in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Conrad professed to be unworried about the prospect of running against Hoeven, but he began running a television campaign ad statewide earlier this month, touting his work on energy and highway legislation and promoting his role in helping to ensure the Grand Forks Air Force Base survived a national round of base closings.
If Hoeven had undertaken a campaign, it was uncertain what issues he would emphasize. The governor has not made a point of drawing distinctions between his own policy views and those held by the Democratic delegation.
The governor even declared himself a Democrat in February 1996, while party activists were trying to interest him in running against incumbent GOP Gov. Ed Schafer, and spoke warmly of Dorgan and Conrad.
Hoeven subsequently switched parties, and was able to wrest the Republican endorsement for governor in 2000 from Gary Nelson, the Republicans' majority leader in the state Senate. It was Hoeven's first campaign for public office; in the general election race for governor, he defeated Democratic Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp.
Hoeven, a Minot banker, became active in state government when he was hired as president of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota in 1993. He resigned the position in 2000 to devote full time to his first campaign for governor.
I really loved Stverak's recent letter in the Grand Forks Herald. It is so comical as he tries to say that Hoeven's comment to serve ND for a full term was not really a promise to serve a full term. (What?)
That's great, so Governor Hoeven really doesn't care about serving ND as our Governor? So, Hoeven is just waiting until a bigger and better position comes along? Hmm... it sounds like Stverak (like Rove) is encouraging Hoeven to put his personal political ambitions ahead of the best interests of ND.
Is this really what's best for our state? To let someone say yes, I will serve ND UNTIL Rove tells that me that I should run for another office in 2006? Is this how a real statesman acts? I think the Republicans (Stverak included) need to get their priorities in order: ND should always be number one, not personal political ambitions.
More and more North Dakotans are wondering what dirty tricks Rove has up his sleeve and if Hoeven will sell out ND for a possible Senate bid in '06. Is Hoeven and Rove's newfound friendship really what’s best for ND? Rove and his cronies have created and passed legislation that is destructive to our farmers and ranchers. Despite the fact that Hoeven touts himself as a moderate, Rove is looking for someone who will “forgo state interests” for political gain. Rove does politics. Rove doesn’t do ND. Why can’t Hoeven see that Rove is bad news for ND? Is Hoeven strong enough to say just say no to Rove? Or will Hoeven sell out and put his personal political ambitions ahead of ND?