Candidate Filing Deadline Passes,
2008 Campaign Officially Begins!
The
deadline for candidates to file for office has passed and Campaign
2008 is now officially in full gear! There are Fifty-seven
Democrats who have filed for various positions on the August primary
ballot-YES 57 Democrats are running for office in Sedgwick
County!! A record number of Democrats have filed
for the state legislature, for county courthouse offices, and
for judicial races.
Overall, we fielded Democrats in all but two seats.
We were not able to find a candidate to run for County Treasurer
nor were we able to find a challenge to run against Joe McLeland
in the 94th State House District. Three of our state representatives
will go unchallenged-Reps. Delia Garcia, Geraldine Flaharty, and
Melody Miller. Also, no Republican filed for the open 84th House
District seat. Additionally, no Republican filed against Democratic
Judges Richard Ballinger and Joe Bribiesca. All
of our other Democrats, though, face general election opponents.
Before the general election, we have to get through the August
primary. Democrats have a total of 8 primaries in Sedgwick
County. Jim Slattery and Lee Jones have both filed
for the right to face off against Pat Roberts this fall for the
U.S. Senate. Rep. Oletha Faust- Goudeau and K.C. Ohaebosim are
both running for the 29th Senate District, being vacated by Donald
Betts as he aims for higher office in his bid against Tiahrt.
The winner of that primary will face Republican Kenya Cox in November.
Inga Taylor and Gail Finney are running to succeed Faust-Goudeau
in the 84th State House seat. In the open State Board of Education
Dist. 8 seat, Charles Wiggins and Walt Chappell are running for
the Democratic nod to face off against the winner of the GOP primary.
This is the seat being vacated by Carol Rupe. At the County Courthouse,
Marcey Gregory and Pat Quaney are running for the 3rd County Commission
District. The primary winner will go on to face the victor of
the GOP primary, either incumbent Commissioner Tom Winters or
anti-tax activist Karl Peterjohn. Finally, there are three Democratic
judicial primaries. Carol Bacon and Richard Sanborn have filed
for the Division 1 position, where Phil Journey is one of the
Republican candidates. Judge Rebecca Pilshaw and Ross Alexander
are running in Division 14. In the newly created Division 28,
Don Riley and Mike Foster are running. Both Division 14 and Division
28 Democratic primary victors will face Republicans in the fall.
With all of these primaries, it's more important than
every for voters to register and vote Democrat-- don't let anyone
tell you that the Republican primary is the only one that counts!
The primary election is Tuesday, August 5.
In terms of the races overall, we as Sedgwick County Democrats
have a lot to be proud of. We have a strong federal ticket with
Obama, Slattery, and Betts. We have Democrats running in every
state senate seat, a Democrat running in 21 of the 22 state house
seats, a Democrat in both State Board of Education seats, Democrats
running in all but one county courthouse office, and a total of
13 Democrats running for Judge in 10 different divisions. For
a full list of all candidates from both parties and their contact
information, click
here.
Now it's time to get to work!! Roll up
your sleeves are get ready to help elect Democrats. We can't do
this alone. We won't win any of these races without your help.
When you are asked to knock on doors, make phone calls, put together
mailings, and help out in other ways, please do so! Your local
Democratic Party has worked hard these past 18 months to fill
the ballot with quality candidates. Now it's up to you to help
us get them elected!!
McCain
Myth Buster: John McCain and Transparency
June 13, 2008
John
McCain says he wants to bring a new transparency standard to campaigns.
Yet just yesterday, after billing a campaign event as a town hall
for Republicans, Independents and Democrats, Fox News revealed
that the audience had been filled with campaign supporters and
invited guests, not the general public.
Looks like instead of offering change, all Senator McCain offers
is a third Bush term of a president who only wants to hear from
people who agree with him. Add to this the fact that John McCain
has refused to release many of his tax records and has lobbyists
running his campaign, and it's clear that Senator McCain's campaign
is anything but transparent.
See the clip here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G9979CZ9vII
Fox News Clarifies Nature of McCain Town Hall.
Shepard Smith: "I reported at the top of this hour that the
campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made
up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received
a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it
along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters,
Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and
other independent groups." [Fox News Channel, 6/12/08]
2008: McCain Promised "A New Standard For Transparency
And Accountability." In a May 2008 speech in Columbus,
OH, McCain said, "My administration will set a new standard
for transparency and accountability." [McCain speech (http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/e8114732-e294-4a0d-b0b6-e5fa16857f61.htm),
Columbus, OH, 5/15/08]
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000,
the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush,
pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing
the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has
callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even
contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into
a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the
real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present
a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
A Statement by
Democratic Leaders on the End of the Presidential Primary Process
June 4, 2008
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
DGA Chairman Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean today issued
the following statement:
"We
have come to the end of an exciting primary and caucus process
- the voters have spoken. As the Democratic leaders of the Senate,
House of Representatives, the Governors and the Democratic National
Committee we commend all of the participants of the 2008 primary
process, especially Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,
for making this such a transformational election. Because of the
enthusiasm our candidates have inspired, our party has brought
record numbers of voters to the polls, gained millions of newly
registered Democrats and now has advantages in states many thought
were difficult to win. We are grateful to the millions of Independents
and Republicans who have crossed over to vote for a Democratic
candidate for President.
"Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general
election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted
super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this
week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward
reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that
have weakened our country. 
"We once again congratulate all of the candidates for their
leadership and dedication to providing this country with a New
Direction. We look forward to working with them and with all Democrats
to win the White House, congressional seats and state capitals
so we can deliver the change the American people deserve and demand."
DNC blunts GOP voter targeting
efforts
By David Paul Kuhn
The Politico
May 23, 2008
"After years of struggling to catch up to the Republican
Party's sophisticated microtargeting efforts, the Democratic National
Committee appears to have come close to parity. The DNC has now
reorganized its data banks into one centralized file that goes
a long way toward neutralizing the GOP's advantage in drilling
down and identifying crucial constituencies of voters.
"In the last two presidential cycles, the Republican national
voter file allowed them to more efficiently locate, communicate
with, and galvanize voters. Democrats, by comparison, relied on
a disjointed compilation of national and state party data files
that varied widely in quality. To boot, said one DNC analyst,
many of their files would vanish after each election year. For
Democrats, the shift to one 'solid voter file' is 'transformative,'
said Ben Self, the DNC's director of technology. 'Whether it is
microtargeting, regular targeting, neighbor-to-neighbor knocking
on doors, or volunteers making calls,' Self said, 'all these vital
campaign activities are built on a national voter file and were
not available in 2000…'
"The party continues to build the DNC's voter file--with
some assistance from the Obama and Clinton campaigns, which have
been offloading data to the DNC file. That, in itself, is an accomplishment
for a party that only brought its voter file in-house for the
first time in the 2006 midterm elections. That year, Democrats
conducted a pilot program using the data in six states, including
Montana, where Jon Tester unseated Republican Sen. Conrad Burns…'A
lot of the consumer data helps at the margins,' said Keith Goodman,
the director of special projects in the DNC's political department.
And, as Goodman notes, many elections are decided at the margins."
For the full story, click here:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10573.html
Kansas
Moves Forward Despire Inaction From Republican Legislature
As
the 2008 Legislative Session concludes, Governor Kathleen Sebelius
discussed the proposals she made during her 2008 State of the
State Address in the areas of quality education, the innovation
economy, centers for rural opportunity, increasing access to affordable
health care and seizing our opportunities in renewable energy.
“In the past six years we have laid the foundation for
a more prosperous Kansas. As we meet those commitments which will
keep us on course, we must remove those barriers that still stand
in our way,” Sebelius said. “We must tackle the rising
cost of health care and lift its burden from families and businesses
across the state.”
The governor’s budget proposed strategic investments in
early learning opportunities for young children, included a fourth
year of the K-12 school finance plan and made college more affordable
for Kansas students and families. All of these goals were addressed,
but with fewer resources than the Governor recommended.
Additional job creation in Kansas continued as a top priority
in 2008, with additional workforce development for aviation, support
for the national Bio and Agro-Defense laboratory, and affordable
housing for workers and their families. Growth and development
in rural areas was encouraged with the creation of three offices
for Rural Opportunity. All of these goals were achieved.
In spite of the Legislature’s refusal to craft comprehensive
energy policy for Kansas, renewable energy and energy efficiency
efforts continued to advance, with support from the Administration.
Utilities are well ahead of schedule on their agreements for new
wind energy production and energy conservation efforts. At the
end of 2008, Kansas will be the seventh state in the nation to
reach 1,000 MW of wind energy, and the second state to do so without
a government mandate. Plans are underway for new transmission
projects, and the Bioscience Authority has accepted the aggressive
challenge from the Governor to position Kansas as a national leader
in bio-fuels production.
Once again the Legislature failed to address the rising costs
and availability of quality health care for Kansas families. Prior
to the start of the 2008 Session, Sebelius was joined by Republican
and Democratic Senate leaders to endorse the Health Policy Authority’s
comprehensive recommendations for health reform. Despite efforts
in the Statehouse and with stakeholders throughout Kansas, the
Legislature failed to address these challenges once again.
“The Legislature formed the Health Policy Authority and
asked them to come up with a plan,” Sebelius said. “Once
the recommendations were presented, they were ignored by legislative
leaders. This will remain a top priority for my administration
as we move forward.”
Past News
April 2008
June
2007
April
2007
February
2007
December 2006
October
2006
September 2006
August
2006
July 2006
June
2006
April 2006
March 2006
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December 2005
November
2005
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2005
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2005
August
2005
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