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Rundown of Last Week’s Elections

Last Tuesday, cities and states across the nation held elections to decide initiatives, ordinances, governors, state legislators, and city officials. Here is our rundown of last week’s most important elections nationwide:

1) Kentucky Gov.- Republican Matt Bevin defeated Democratic State A.G. Jack Conway 53-44 with an Independent candidate taking approximately 4% of the vote. 2) Virginia State Senate- Republicans kept their hold on the closely divided chamber. Both parties traded seats and when the dust settled, the GOP retained their 21-19 majority. 3) Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO)- In an election where turnout only reached 27%, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was defeated by a crushing 61-30 margin. 4) Penn. Supreme Court- Democrats had a very good night in the Keystone State as they swept all three seats up for grabs last week. The Democrats now hold a majority of the Court's seats which may be important come 2020's legislative redistricting. 5) Ohio Issues 2 & 3- Issue 3, which would have legalized marijuana in Ohio, but would limit growing legal marijuana to only ten farms failed by nearly a 2-1 vote. Issue 2, which would make changing the state's Constitution more difficult, and which was seen as an attempt to prevent Issue 3 from being implemented if passed, succeeded by 52-48 margin. 6) Miss. State A.G.- Incumbent Democrat Jim Hood was re-elected by a 55-45 margin. He remains the only statewide elected Democratic official in the Deep South. 7) Seattle's Initiative 122- The initiative which would provide each taxpayer in Seattle with $100 in "Democracy Vouchers" for donation to local campaigns won with almost 60% of the vote.

With Primary Season rapidly approaching, stay tuned for more Election Rundowns from IssueVoter.

#ElectionDay

Why Voting Tomorrow Matters

Tomorrow night is Election Day across the nation. Keeping that in mind, we wanted to do something a little different for our last big election post, so we are going to take a minute and discuss why we at Issue Voter feel voting in mid-term elections is so vital. Every two years, the entire House of Representatives, 1/3 of the Senate, and state and local officials across the country are up for election. We often hear the mantra that "every votes counts" but we see many races that aren't close due to redistricting, outside money flowing into the campaign, voter disenfranchisement, and a number of other reasons. Historically midterm turnout has lagged far behind that of Presidential year turnout. Over the last decade, midterm turnout has been anywhere between 6 to 10% lower than that in Presidential election years. With a lower turnout, you can get some really nail biting elections. For instance in 2012, 10 House Races were decided by 1.4% or less. Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre won North Carolina's 7th District by a total of 654 votes or 0.2% of the total vote. This year the focus has been on the Senate where Republicans need to pick up six seats to take control of that chamber. Polling shows a number of Senate seats that are ranked as tossups going into tomorrow. Races in states as varied politically and culturally as Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, and New Hampshire are all neck-and-neck, and these are the types of races that will decide control of the Senate. These races just illustrate how important getting out the vote is for not only candidates, but also anyone trying to make a difference in their community and trying to impact decision making. All of this isn't not even counting state or local races where even smaller numbers of voters may turn out, and a single vote can be even more important to the outcome of an election. So happy Election Eve. If you haven't voted already, get out there and do it tomorrow! If you have voted already, get a friend, a family member, or a neighbor to the polls tomorrow so they can fulfill their civic duty. Remember, the only sure way for your vote not to count is for you to not vote. Oh and don't forget your "I Voted" sticker!

#VotingMatters

The Week That Was (Sept. 12th Edition)

Domestic Quick Hits

1) 9/11 Anniversary- Thursday marked the 13th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In New York, friends and families of the victims shared a moment of silence at Ground Zero, and then read out the names of the 2,983 who died on 9/11, including the victims at the Pentagon and Flight 93, as well as the names of the six people who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

In Washington, Pres. Obama and his staff honored the victims of 9/11 with a moment of silence on the South Lawn, and then the Pres. and Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke at events at the Pentagon.

In Shanksville Pa., former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert spoke at an event held at the National Flight 93 Memorial and donated the flag that flew atop the US Capitol on 9/11 to the Memorial.

http://usat.ly/1BuExRq

2) Hundreds of Children in US Hospitalized with Severe Respiratory Virus- Hospitals in up to 10 states, including Colorado and Missouri, have noticed a severe uptick in cases of a rare and severe respiratory virus called Enterovirus D68. The virus causes symptoms that are similar to a cold or asthma, yet there are currently no vaccines or antiviral medications that can effectively prevent or treat it.

The CDC, state health authorities, and hospital officials are looking into the recent outbreak of the virus.

http://wapo.st/1pHIutr

3) Gov't Sought to Punish Yahoo for not cooperating with NSA Surveillance- Recently unsealed court documents show that the US government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day while the company fought a lengthy, and secret, court battle over turning over user data to the NSA for use in its PRISM program. The PRISM program was brought to the public's attention by Edward Snowden last year, and gave the NSA great levels of access to user data held by US tech companies.

After Yahoo lost their court battle, other companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook, and AOL complied with the NSA's requests for access. Microsoft complied with the government's requests even before the requests were deemed to be legal by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

http://wapo.st/1lZ9TfQ

International Quick Hits

1) Pres. Obama lays out plan to fight ISIS- In arguably the most important foreign affairs news of the, Pres. Obama laid out his strategy for fighting the terrorist group ISIS in a primetime Presidential address Wednesday night. The President's plan included the following:

The US will lead a sustained bombing campaign against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Administration officials acknowledge that this could last for several years.

Obama requested Congressional approval for $500 million to train and equip “moderate” Syrian rebels.

The US will send 475 more troops to “advise” Iraqi security forces. Obama promised that his strategy “will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.”

We will provide humanitarian relief to people displaced by ISIS fighters.

Obama said that “in each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners.”

The President's plan was met with both guarded praise and criticism from both sides of the aisle. One particular point of contention was the President's statement that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) gives him authority to launch strikes against ISIS without first obatining Congressional approval.

After meeting with diplomats from several Arab nations on Thursday, Sec. of State John Kerry, gained at least a measure of support of several Arab nations in the fight against ISIS.

http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/11/obama-declared-war-on-isis-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/217052-9-11-commission-rips-congress-on-isis

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/09/10/and_now_training_the_syrian_rebels.html

http://wapo.st/1uzMEJv

2) Scottish Independence Vote Less than a Week Away- Next Thursday, Sept. 18th, a historic vote will take place in Scotland that could end up with the nation gaining its independence for the first time in over 300 years. While the two countries have shared a monarch since 1603, they still maintained separate legislatures and were separate states until the Acts of Union of 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would eventually evolve into what we now know as the UK.

A new Scottish Parliament was formed in 1998, and first took office in 1999 and was given authority over a broad array of Scottish affairs. In the May 2011 Scottish Parliamentary elections, the Scottish National Party, a left leaning pro-Independence party, took a majority of the seats, and would subsequently place Scottish independence on the ballot.

Currently polling shows that race as extremely close as the pro-Independence Yes Campaign has been gaining in polls in recent months. This will certainly be a race to watch next week.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/scottish-independence/55716/pros-and-cons-of-scottish-independence-the-referendum-countdown

Science News of the Week

1) NASA prepping Orion Capsule for Deep-Space Test Flight- The future of American manned-space exploration took another step forward as NASA began prepping its Orion Capsule for an unmanned test flight this December. The flight will test the capsule's heat shielding to ensure that it can withstand re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

The Orion Capsule is being designed to replace NASA's shuttle fleet which last flew in 2011, and may one day bring astronauts to Mars. NASA is currently working towards a manned mission using an Orion Capsule where the crew will land on an asteroid sometime in 2021.

In the interim, NASA is buying space on Russia's Soyuz capsules to fly to the International Space Station. Three American companies, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corp., and Boeing, are engaged in a race to build the first viable commercial space taxi.

http://yhoo.it/1xVERdC

As always thank you for taking time out of your day to read our blog, and keep following us here on Tumblr, on Twitter (@issuevoter), and on Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter). Have a great weekend!

#WeekThatWas

Final Primary Election Season Roundup

Yesterday marked the end of primary season this election cycle with races in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island. Here are some of the highlights from our last election post until November: 1) MA Gov (D): State Attorney General Martha Coakley nevertheless prevailed over state Treasurer Steve Grossman and former Medicare chief Don Berwick in a much closer than anticipated race. Despite polls never showing the race to be within single digits, Coakley only received 42% of the vote. Despite her weaker than expected win, Coakley goes into November the strong favorite over Republican nominee Charlie Baker. 2) MA-06 (D): A fourth and final member of the House lost in a primary this year with Democratic Rep. John Tierney falling 49-41 to Iraq vet Seth Moulton. Tierney has been dogged by a tax evasion scandal, and despite his never having been directly implicated, his wife received jail time for the incident. Recent polling showed that a Moulton win would likely make the election against Republican nominee Richard Tisei easier for Democrats. 3) NY Gov/LG (D): Despite a cloud of corruption allegations hanging around him, Gov. Andrew Cuomo came out of last night's primary having beaten law professor Zephyr Teachout by a 62-34 margin. In NY, the governor selects their running mate for LG and the two run on the same ticket. Cuomo's choice for LG, ex-Rep. Kathy Hochul, won with a similar margin of victory, 60-40, over law professor Tim Wu. The Cuomo/Hochul ticket is expected to easily win in November. 4) NH Sen (R): Sen. Scott Brown, last seen as a US Senator from Massachusetts, won the Republican primary with just 50% of the vote, with former state Sen. Jim Rubens and ex-Sen. Bob Smith splitting the anti-Brown vote with 23% apiece. Brown enters the November election against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen as an underdog. 5) NH-01 (R): Ex-Rep Frank Guinta beat Rep. Carol Shea-Porter will face her third match in a row with ex-Rep. Frank Guinta, who beat former business school dean Dan Innis 49-40 to win the Republican nomination. Guinta will face off for a third time with Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter in this tossup race. 6) RI-Gov (D & R): State Treasurer Gina Raimondo, won the Democratic nomination with 42% of the vote. Raimondo bested both Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and attorney Clay Pell who received 29% and 27% of the vote respectively. Raimondo enters the general election as a favorite to defeat Cranston Mayor and Republican nominee Allan Fung. That's it for the 2014 primary season. We started in the Lone Star State back in March, and we end up here today. We'd like to take a moment to thank all our readers who've followed us this primary election season. As always, we invite you to keep reading our posts here on Tumblr, follow us on Twitter (@issuevoter), and read our post over on Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter).

In-Depth: The Fight Over Common Core

To wrap up our Education week at Issue Voter, we're going to discuss one of the most controversial education policies in the news lately, Common Core. What is it and why is it controversial? In 2009, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) began working with teachers and academics on the development of the Common Core standards with the stated purpose of creating a set of nationwide educational standards that would "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them." The standards apply to Language Arts instruction and Math. States were not required to adopt the standards, but were given incentives in the form of federal grants to adopt the standards that came out of the work done by the NGA and the CCSSO. As of September 2014, 43 states have formally adopted the standards. The standards were controversial from the get go, with proponents and opponents on all sides of the political spectrum. The pdf linked below lists some of the major arguments for and against the adoption of the Common Core: http://www.parents4publicschools.org/Documents/Common_core_chart_final.pdf Some of the main arguments in favor of adopting the standards: 1) the standards are in alignment with the expectations of colleges, workforce training programs, and employers 2) the standards promote equity by ensuring all students are prepared for life after school 3) money will be saved since states that have adopted the standards can collaborate on the development of tests 4) adoption of the standards will make American students more competitive on the global stage Some of the main arguments against adopting the standards: 1) the standards force teachers to "teach to the test" and focus too much time on standardized testing 2) there is no proof that adopting these standards will lead students to be better prepared for college of employment 3) the implementation of the standards is too inflexible and too difficult to update or change as needed 4) this is an attempt by the federal government to takeover the traditional local government control of public education The fight over Common Core is not likely to end anytime soon with supporters and opponents on both sides of the political aisle lining up to fight for their positions.

#commoncore #educationreform

Breaking International Quick Hits- Ukraine and Gaza

Its been a very busy day on the international news scene as two major events have happened today. Here's a quick rundown of what is being reported so far about the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine and the new Israeli ground invasion in Gaza: 1) Malaysia Airlines Flight 17- Earlier today, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine near the border with Russia in an area held by pro-Russian separatists. All 295 people onboard were killed. American intelligence officials have confirmed that MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, but have not been able to pinpoint who fired the missile that brought down the plane. Ukrainian officials are blaming pro-Russian separatists for the attack, while the separatists and Russia are blaming Ukrainian forces for the attack. Separatists denied Ukrainian officials access to the crash site for over an hour and absconded with the plane's black box which they said they would send to Moscow. Huib Gorter, a senior vice-president of Malaysia Airlines, released a partial list of the nationalities of the deceased, which underscores how international this tragedy really is: 154 Dutch 27 Australian 23 Malaysian 11 Indonesian 6 UK 4 German 4 Belgian 3 Philippines 1 Canadian The Malaysian PM, Najib Razak, has called for investigators to have full access to the crash site and that the perpetrators be brought to justice swiftly. Pres. Obama called the event a "terrible tragedy" and has offered US assistance to Ukrainian officials in investigating the disaster. The link we're providing below goes directly to the Washington Post's liveblog reporting about the disaster: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews-live/liveblog/report-malaysia-airlines-plane-shot-down-over-ukrainian-airspace/ 2) Israeli Groud Offensive Begins in Gaza- The day's second major international event is taking place in Gaza where the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has initiated a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The IDF issued the following statement relating to this new ground offensive: "Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation, the IDF has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip." In response, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told media that "The start of the Israeli ground attack on Gaza is a dangerous step, the consequences of which have not been calculated. Israel will pay a high price and Hamas is ready for the confrontation." This new ground offensive comes after a brief five-hour humanitarian truce between the two sides ended on Thursday. Both sides reported violations of that truce prior to the beginning of this new ground offensive. It also comes after a failed attempt by Egypt to mediate a ceasefire between the two sides. Since the current outbreak of fighting began on July 8th, approximately 230 Palestinians and 1 Israeli have died in the fighting, although these numbers will surely climb as fighting intensifies. This link takes you to the BBC's live coverage of events in Gaza: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28359853

#MH17 #Israel-Palestine

Election & Voting Law (Part 1 of a New Series)

Leading up to Election Day in November, we're launching a new series of blog posts that make an effort to explain some of the legal issues that can impact elections and people's ability to vote in them. We're going to focus on things like redistricting, the Voting Rights Act, Voter ID laws, and other similar issues when they pop up in the news. So to kick off this new series, we're highlighting last week's court ruling that threw out part of Florida's Congressional map that was drawn in 2012 and helps shed some light on the frequently secretive and partisan world of redistricting: In 2010, Florida passed the Fair District Amendments. In short, the Amendments state that new districts cannot be drawn to protect incumbents or political parties, must be as compact as feasible, and cannot deny minorities the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. Last week, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that two of Florida’s Congressional districts (one Democratic held and one Republican held), and any other districts affected by them, must be redrawn to come into compliance with the state’s Fair District Amendments. The judge held that the State Legislature allowed for a “secret, organized campaign” by Republicans in violation of the state Constitution. The issue in this case was the portion of the Fair District Amendments dealing with the protection of incumbents and political parties. In Florida, the Democratic Party actually enjoys an advantage in the number of registered voters, but approximately two-thirds of both houses of the Florida Legislature are Republican, and the map the Legislature drew in 2012 gave Republicans 17 out of 27 of the state's Congressional seats. A group led by League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause argued that such a discrepancy could only have been caused by a concerted effort by the Legislature to protect political parties and their incumbent members. Judge Lewis agreed with the group's assessment stating that evidence showed that Republican operatives had written statements for witnesses who testified at public hearings regarding redistricting and prepped witnesses who advocated for certain maps. He noted that political operatives and leaders in the Legislature had destroyed emails and documents pertaining to the redistricting process leading the judge to state that political operatives were impermissibly "successful in their efforts to influence the redistricting process and the congressional plan under review here” There is a strong chance that the new maps the court has ordered will not be in place for this November’s elections, but they should be in place prior to the 2016 election cycle. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/10/4229862/judge-throws-out-floridas-congressional.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-usa-florida-redistricting-idUSKBN0FG01D20140711

#Election&VotingLaw #redistricting #Florida

The Week That Was (July 11th Edition)

Domestic Quick Hits

1) GOP Plan to Sue Obama Moving Forward- In a move Pres. Obama blasted as nothing but a “taxpayer funded political stunt”, Speaker of the House John Boehner finally explained what he is seeking to sue the President over. House Republicans are accusing the President of sidestepping Congress by issuing executive orders. In particular, Republicans are focusing on the administration’s decision to delay the requirement that large employers provide health insurance to their employees under the ACA for one year.

Despite Republican cries to the contrary, Pres. Obama has actually issued the fewest executive orders per year (33.58) since Pres. Cleveland’s second term ended in 1897. (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php)

Republicans also find themselves in an interesting quandary as they are now seeking the quicker implementation of a provision of the ACA that they vehemently opposed while the bill was moving through Congress.

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/11/330760853/house-gop-plows-forward-with-plans-to-sue-obama

2) CDC Lab Crackdown- the director of the CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden, announced that the agency was placing a moratorium on all shipments of biological agents from CDC biosecurity Level 3 and 4 facilities after a series of security lapses including the exposure of 80 CDC scientists to anthrax, the loss of vials containing live smallpox, and a report of the accidental shipment of a highly contagious strain of bird flu.

Congress has scheduled a hearing on the matter to take place next week.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-cracks-down-labs-after-anthrax-bird-flu-scares-n153636

3) HIV detected in baby thought cured of HIV- a baby in Mississippi who doctors thought had been cured of HIV was found to have detectable levels of the virus in her bloodstream. The baby was born to an HIV-positive mother who received no prenatal care, and doctors gave the baby three powerful anti-retroviral drugs 30 hours after her birth, and continued treatment for the next 18 months.

While doctors said the child had an undetectable viral load for those 18 months, tests conducted during a routine doctor’s appointment earlier this month detected the presence of HIV antibodies in the now 4-year-old child. This means that she will have to be put back on the anti-retroviral drugs.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/10/health/baby-not-cured-hiv/index.html?hpt=hp_t4

4) Federal Judge Throws out part of Florida’s Redistricting- On Thursday, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that two of Florida’s Congressional districts, and any other districts affected by them, must be redrawn to come into compliance with the state’s Fair District Amendments. Judge Lews held that the State Legislature allowed for a “secret, organized campaign” by Republican in violation of the state Constitution.

The new maps that will be drawn will likely not be in place for this November’s elections, but should be in place prior to the 2016 election cycle.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/10/4229862/judge-throws-out-floridas-congressional.html

International Quick Hits

1) Kurds Seize Oil Fields in Northern Iraq- Kurdish peshmerga forces have seized control of production facilities located in the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in northern Iraq on Friday as Kurdish MPs have withdrawn from the Iraqi central government. Kurdish forces have moved into areas the Iraqi army has recently abandoned in their fight with ISIS insurgents over the past month. Kurdish leaders have announced their intent to hold a referendum on independence in Kurdish controlled parts of Iraq.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28265064

2) Israel-Palestine Conflict- The current spate of fighting between Israel and Palestine continues to intensify as Israeli forces responded to rocket attacks from Palestinian territories and southern Lebanon over the past several days. Israel has responded with a series of airstrikes on over 1,000 targets in Palestine killing about 100 Palestinians. International pressure is mounting on both sides to reach a ceasefire, but so far, despite an offer from Pres. Obama to broker a ceasefire, no progress has been made.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/israeli-air-strikes-gaza-continue-us-barack-obama-offers-broker-ceasefire

That’s it for this week, and as always we hope you keep following us here on Tumblr, on Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter), and on Twitter (@issuevoter).

#TheWeekThatWas

The Week That Was (July 4th- Early Supreme Court Edition)

Since tomorrow is the 4th of July, we're posting our weekly blog a day early. Just like last week, this week we'll be focusing on the Supreme Court's final two decisions of the term: Hobby Lobby and Harris v. Quinn.

1) Hobby Lobby- dealt with the Affordable Care Act’s requirement for employers to provide contraceptive coverage for their employees. Hobby Lobby argued that the requirement violates the owner’s religious beliefs as they erroneously believe such products cause abortion, and thus they should be exempt from the requirement. Opponents argued that such a decision by the Court would open the floodgates for anybody to claim a religious exemption from a law they don’t like. The majority sided with Hobby Lobby on Monday, extending religious rights to so called "closely held corporations". Such corporations are defined as having a majority of their shares owned by 5 or fewer people, and account for approximately 90% of all US businesses. In this immediate case, the Court applied this decision to cover all contraceptive care, not just the four specific types Hobby Lobby objected to. Justice Alito, writing for the majority said the contraceptive mandate "would put these merchants to a difficult choice: either give up the right to seek judicial protection of their religious liberty or forgo the benefits, available to their competitors, of operating as corporations." Alito went out of his way to argue that the ruling was narrowly tailored to just the contraceptive mandate. Justice Ginsburg wrote a stinging dissent stating that the "exercise of religion is characteristic of natural persons, not artificial legal entities" and warned that despite the majority's claims to the contrary, the decision was one of "startling breadth" and warned that it would undoubtedly be applied in other areas as she stated, "The Court, I fear has ventured into a minefield." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/07/01/how-justice-ginsburgs-hobby-lobby-dissent-helps-shape-the-debate-about-reproductive-and-religious-rights/ 2) Harris v. Quinn- The second big case the Court handed down on Monday dealt with agency fees and public-sector unions. Currently, public-sector unions are required to bargain on behalf of all workers in their shop/office/workplace regardless of whether a particular worker actually belongs to the union or not. In order to recoup the costs of bargaining on behalf of non-union employees, such unions in 26 states are allowed to charge non-members “agency fees.” This case seeks to prohibit unions from collecting such dues saying they are a violation of non-union workers’ 1st Amendment rights. Their opponents say a loss in this case could potentially cripple the ability of unions to collectively bargain. Quinn dealt specifically with home healthcare workers in Illinois. The Court sided against the unions, ruling that home healthcare workers in this case were not “full-fledged public employees” since they were hired and fired by private individuals even though they are paid in part by the state, through Medicaid. The Court deemed them to be "quasi public sector" workers, and decided that such workers did not have to pay union dues. The Court did not strike down all agency fee laws, and limited the decision to this new type of worker, but opponents of the decision warn that the Court may not allow such laws to be on the books for much longer. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-harris-v-quinn-ruling-108428.html

As always follow us here, on Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter), and on Twitter (@issuevoter).

We hope you all have a great Fourth of July and a great weekend!

#SCOTUS

The Week That Was (June 27th Supreme Court Edition)

Our post today is going to focus on this week's four big Supreme Court decisions on issues ranging from Cell Phone Privacy, to Cloud Storage, to Presidential Recess Appointments, to Buffer Zones around Abortion Clinics.

1) Cell Phone Privacy (Riley v. US)- this case asked whether or not police need a warrant to search through data located on a suspect's cell phone. Chief Justice Roberts writing for the Court stated that in most cases, absent some compelling interest on the part of the police, a warrant will be needed to look at such data. The Chief Justice argues that the rationales behind the 4th Amendment require such a ruling stating that:

Prior to the digital age, people did not typically carry a cache of sensitive personal information with them as they went about their day. Now it is the person who is not carrying a cell phone, with all that it contains, who is the exception.

The Court left open the possibility that in cases where data may be destroyed by the suspect or the phone might be used in a manner to further a crime (e.g.- communicating with an accomplice), the police may be justified in conducting a warrantless search.

2) The Future of Cloud Storage (ABC v. Aereo)- Aereo is a company that rents our remotely stored mini-antennas that subscribers can use to record and watch TV shows over the internet in almost live-time. The service functions via cloud storage. The broadcast networks argued (successfully it turned out) that this service violated portions of the Copyright Act and that Aereo should pay licensing fees for the shows.

Joan Solsman of Cnet.com explains the decision- "the Supreme Court said Aereo violates copyright law because it is basically the same as a cable company yet doesn't pay broadcasters the same fees that cable companies must."

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-the-supreme-court-ruling-affects-aereo-the-cloud-and-you/

The case raises further questions about the future of cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google, but for now the future of cloud storage is cloudy (bad pun very much intended).

3) Presidential Recess Appointments (NLRB v. Noel Canning)- In January 2012, Pres. Obama appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board while the Senate was in a series of pro forma sessions to be conducted every three days in which no business was being conducted. Prior to the appointments, the NLRB lacked a proper quorum to conduct business as Republicans had held up all of the President's previous nominations to the Board.

Noel Canning, a Pepsi distributor, challenged the appointments saying that the three day break in Congressional activity was not long enough to trigger the President's ability to make recess appointments under The Recess Appointments Clause.

The Court sided with Noel Canning and invalidated Pres. Obama's appointments. As Justice Breyer wrote for the Court, “for purposes of the Recess Appointments Clause, the Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business.” Basically, the Senate is in session when it says its in session, even if they aren't actually doing anything.

This decision virtually wipes out any President's ability to make recess appointments if the opposing party wishes to prevent them from happening.

4) Buffer Zones Around Abortion Clinics (McCullen v. Coakley)- In 2007, Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting anti-abortion protesters from protesting within 35 feet of an abortion clinic. The law only allowed passersby, patients, clinic employees, and law enforcement from entering within this 35 foot buffer.

In a very narrow ruling, the Court struck this law down holding that it was a violation of protesters 1st Amendment rights as it removed them from public sidewalks and spaces (termed "public forums") where 1st Amendment protections are traditionally strongest. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a majority of himself and the four liberal justices, pointed out that while Massachusetts certainly has a legitimate interest in protecting public safety, “The buffer zones burden substantially more speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s asserted interests.”

The majority seemed to go out of their way to narrowly tailor the ruling to the specific buffer zone in the case, so this cases' wider impact will not be immediately known until similar buffer zones are challenged.

What to Look for Next Week:

There are two final, and potentially landmark, cases that the Court will hand down next Monday:

1) The Hobby Lobby Case- deals with the Affordable Care Act's requirement for employers to provide contraceptive coverage for their employees. Hobby Lobby says that the requirement violates the owner's religious beliefs, and thus they should be exempt from the requirement. Opponents say that would open the floodgates for a anybody to claim a religious exemption from a law they don't like.

2) Harris v. Quinn- currently, public-sector unions are required to bargain on behalf of all workers in their shop/office/workplace regardless of whether a particular worker actually belongs to the union or not. In order to recoup the costs of bargaining on behalf of non-union employees, unions are allowed to charge non-members "agency fees." This case seeks to prohibit unions from collecting such dues saying they are a violation of non-union workers' 1st Amendment rights. Their opponents say a loss in this case could potentially cripple the ability of unions to collectively bargain.

As always, keep reading our posts here, on Facebook, and on Twitter to follow up with the latest news on issues that are important to you. Have a great weekend!

#SCOTUS

The Primary Rundown (June 25th Edition)

Here is our recap of June the electoral action from last night (June 24th): 1) MS-Sen (R): The big story from last night's elections was Sen. Thad Cochran's conventional wisdom and public poll defying win in the Mississippi Senate run-off as he bested challenger State Sen. Chris McDaniel 51-49. Sen. Cochran's strategy of appealing to black voters appears to have paid off for him as turnout in predominantly black counties spiked higher than turnout in predominantly white counties. McDaniel for his part has refused to concede the race and has hinted that he might bring a lawsuit saying that there were "dozens of irregularities" in how the voting was conducted. Cochran enters November's general election the heavy favorite in his race against Democratic candidate, and former Rep., Travis Childers. 2) NY-13 (D): The other big story of the night was 22 term incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel's victory in his tightly contested primary election. Rangel who has been dogged by ethics probes the last few years defeated State Sen. Adriano Espaillat 47-44. A large reason for Rangel's victory is that he performed better in majority black precincts than Espaillat did in majority Hispanic precincts in areas like Spanish Harlem. This seat is safely blue, and Rangel has said that this coming term will be his last in office. 3) CO-Gov (R): Ex-Rep. Bob Beauprez narrowly defeated fellow Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo 30-26. Beuaprez faces an uphill battle against Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in November. 4) CO-04 (R): Failed 2010 Senate Candidate Ken Buck successfully defeated State Sen. Scott Renfroe 44-24. Buck will face little serious opposition for this very red seat in November. 5) MD-Gov (D): Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown cruised to an easy victory garnering 50 percent of the vote in a three way race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley. Brown is the heavy favorite to win in November. We get to take a little breather from Primary Season for the next few weeks, but keep reading our other posts here on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Have a great week!

#elections

The Primary Edition (June 10th)

Here's our recap of last night's primaries including the political bombshell in Virginia: 1) VA-07 (R): The major news from last night's primaries occurred in Virginia, where Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary to political unknown, Prof. Dave Brat. Cantor outspent Brat 20 to 1, and despite his internal polling showing him winning by 34 pints, Cantor ended up losing by twelve points. He becomes the first incumbent Majority Leader in American history to lose a primary. His loss has thrown Republican Leadership in the House into disarray as people are scrambling to take his position as Cantor has announced he will resign his Leadership position by the end of July. As for November, Brat is now favored to win this district which went for Romney 57-42 in 2012. 2) SC-Sen. (R): Unlike Cantor, incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham won his primary with 56% of the vote in a crowded field. 3) AR-AG (R): Leslie Rutledge decisively won the GOP nomination last night, and she will face Democratic state Rep. Nate Steel in November. Democrats have held this office since Reconstruction, but the contest is expected to be fiercely contested this cycle. 4) NV-LG (R): Republican State Sen. Mark Hutchison, defeated former State Party Chair Sue Lowden 54-36, and now Hutchison faces Democratic Assemblywoman Lucy Flores in November. 5) ME-02 (D & R): On the Democratic side, State Sen. Emily Cain won her primary, and former state Treasurer Bruce Poliquin won the Republican nomination. The two will face each other in November in this blue leaning district. 6) VA-08 (D): Former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer won his party's nomination in this safely blue seat. 7) North Dakota- North Dakota had no contested statewide or federal races. There are no primaries next week, so everyone gets a little breather before the next big round of primaries on June 24th when voters go to the polls for primaries and run-offs in Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, NY, Oklahoma, and Utah. Until then, have a great week, and keep following us here on Tumblr, on Twitter (@issuevoter), and on Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter).

#elections

The Week That Was (May 30th Edition)

Domestic News

1) Election 2014- Primary season rolled down to the Lone Star State on Tuesday as voters went to the polls to pick their candidates in a series of run-offs:

TX-04 (R): Rep. Ralph Hall became the first sitting Republican Congressman in Texas history to lose a primary election as he was beaten by former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe 53-47.

TX-23 (R): Former CIA agent Will Hurd handily beat ex-Rep. Quico Canseco, 59-41. This was the reverse of the 2010 runoff between the two men that Canseco won. Hurd will now go on to face freshman Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego this November in Texas' only real swing district.

TX-Sen (D): Wealthy dentist David Alameel wiped the floor with LaRouche follower Kesha Rogers 72-28. Alameel is the heavy underdog in his November matchup with Sen. John Cornyn.

TX-LG (R): Incumbent David Dewhurst, who lost the 2012 Senate runoff to Ted Cruz was crushed by Tea Party ultra conservative State Sen. Dan Patrick 65-35.

Primary season rolls on next week featuring primary elections in Alabama, California, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota.

2) Pres. Obama's West Point Address- On Wednesday, Pres. Obama gave a major foreign policy address at the US Military Academy at West Point. During the address Pres. Obama announced the creation of a $5 billion fund to help other countries combat terrorism. The President argued that the drawdown of forces in Afghanistan will free up resources for fighting terrorism elsewhere.

The President stated that money from such this fund would be reallocated to missions such as training Yemeni security forces, supporting a peacekeeping force in Somalia, helping European allies train Libyan security forces, and helping French anti-terror operations in Mali.

The President also stated that American foreign policy would should focus on development and education because "a strategy that involves invading every country that harbours terrorist networks is naïve and unsustainable."

3) VA Scandal- On Friday, embattled VA Sec. Gen. Eric Shinseki resigned amidst allegations that some 42 VA clinics across the country have falsified data to cover up lengthy delays in treatment.

In a press conference announcing his acceptance of Gen. Shinseki's resignation, Pres. Obama said that he accepted Shinseki's resignation with "considerable regret" and would look for a new VA Secretary who could deal with the VA's problems without the distraction of politics from Congress and the Press.

Domestic Quick Hits

1) On Friday, Press Secretary Jay Carney announced his resignation. He will stay on the job until sometime in mid-June, when he will be replaced by his Deputy Josh Earnest.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/30/jay-carney-white-house-spokeman-resigns/9772421/

2) Early Friday morning, the House passed a bill that would prohibit the DEA from interfering with medical marijuana laws that have been passed in 32 and Washington D.C. Speaking on the measure, Democratic Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado stated that "Congress is far from leading the country in this regard. Rather, we're catching up with where the country already is."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2014/05/30/317427925/gop-house-votes-to-leave-states-alone-on-medical-marijuana

International News

1) Thai Military Leader Says No New Elections for at Least One Year- Amidst international condemnation and a surge in the crackdown of members of the media and anti-military protesters, the leader of Thailand's military junta, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, stated that the country would not hold new elections for at least the next year.

Gen. Prayuth stated that the reason the military took the country's government early last week was "because of the prolonged political deadlock, protests and violence" and urged the Thai people to give the military time to solve the country's problems. He warned that anti-coup protests were standing in the army's way of returning the nation to civilian rule and would delay a return to representative government.

This current crisis started earlier this month when Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine cabinet officials for improperly reassigning a senior level security official in 2011.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/30/317409753/thailands-military-ruler-says-no-elections-for-at-least-a-year

2) Pakistani "Honor" Killing- Police in Lahore, Pakistan are disputing claims that they did nothing to prevent the murder of Farzana Parveen in front of a courthouse Tuesday. Parveen was bludgeoned to death by members of her family who were upset because she refused to marry the man they wanted her to marry.

Parveen's relatives brought a court case against the man that she eloped with, Mohammad Iqbal, saying that he kidnapped her and forced her to marry him against her will. Parveen was murdered as she was on her way to testify that she was marrying Iqbal of her own free will.

In a disturbing twist to the case, Iqbal admitted to killing his first wife so that he could marry Parveen. Iqbal was arrested and charged with the 2009 murder of his first wife, Ayesha Bibi, but the case was withdrawn in accordance with a Pakistani law which allows for the dismissal of a case if a relative of the victim forgives the perpetrator and accepts "blood-money" as payment for the crime.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the murder calling it a "brutal killing" that was "totally unacceptable."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/29/317160595/husband-of-woman-stoned-to-death-in-pakistan-killed-first-wife

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27633227

International Quick Hits

1) Turkey's Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, issued a strong warning to the nation's youth to avoid participating in a series of protests planned to mark the first anniversary of a series of protests in Taksim Square last year that were directed against the proposed redevelopment of Gezi Park. The protests turned violent, and scores of protesters were killed. Erdogan said that the protests were led by "terrorist organisations that manipulated our morally and financially weak youth to attack our unity and put our economy under threat".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27646216

2) Ukraine's new President-Elect Petro Poroshenko vowed to root out the "bandits" who shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter on Thursday. A dozen Ukrainian servicemen were killed and a pro-Russian separatist group has taken responsibility for the attack.

Also on Thursday, in a potentially hopeful sign, US officials said that approximately 30,000 Russian troops that had been amassed on the Ukrainian border have gone back to their respective military bases leaving a force of 10,000 Russian troops on the border.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/30/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

We hope you have a good weekend, and as always, please continue to follow us here on Tumblr, Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter), and Twitter (@issuevoter).

#weekthatwas #issuevoter

The Week That Was (May 23rd Edition)

Domestic News

1) Elections 2014- Primary season kept rolling on Tuesday as voters went to the polls in several states to pick their candidates for November:

KY Sen (R)- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell convincingly beat back Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin, 60-35%. McConnell will face Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Bluegrass State’s Democratic Sec. of State, in November in what is shaping up to be a very expensive and nasty race.

PA Gov (D)- Wealthy businessman Tom Wolf, who spent millions of his own on his campaign, walked away with a large victory Tuesday night as he took an outright majority of 58% in the crowded field. Wolf will now face off with incumbent GOP Gov. Tom Corbett, who has looked very vulnerable in recent polling.

Next week is a little bit of a breather as the only major races in the country will be the Democratic and Republican Primary Election runoffs in the Great State of Texas.

2) VA Scheduling Scandal- As the VA finds itself embroiled in a scandal regarding irregularities in scheduling practices to make its wait times for treatment appear shorter, calls for VA Secretary Gen. Eric Shinseki to resign are mounting. The Department’s Inspector General has launched an investigation into the issue, and Shinseki has appeared before a Senate panel to answer questions about the issue. Late last week, Dr. Robert Petzel, the Undersecretary for Health, tendered his resignation due to the problems.

Meanwhile, a new report from Pew shows that the states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are leaving over 258,000 poor veterans without healthcare.

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/21/5738512/states-that-refuse-medicaid-are-leaving-over-250000-poor-veterans

3) Marriage Equality- Supporters of marriage equality continued their streak of wins at the courthouse this week:

Oregon- U.S. District Judge Michael McShane struck down Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage on Monday stating in his opinion that, “Oregon’s marriage laws discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, [therefore] the laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Pennsylvania- On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III struck down Pennsylvania’s law banning same-sex marriages. In his opinion, Judge Jones wrote in part:

In the sixty years since Brown v. Board of Education was decided, “separate” has thankfully faded into history, and only “equal” remains. Similarly, in future generations the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage.

Democratic State Attorney Gen. Kathleen Kane immediately announced that she would not fight the order in court. And on Wednesday, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, facing a tough re-election bid, also announced his refusal to appeal Judge Jones’ ruling.

4) NSA Drone Strike Memo- On Tuesday, the White House announced that it would release a redacted copy secret memo detailing the legal justifications for a 2011 drone strike against three Americans in Yemen, including Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida leader born in the U.S. in order to comply with a court ruling on the issue in a Freedom of Information Act case brought by the NY Times and the ACLU.

An unnamed White House source told NPR that "while the legal analysis that justifies the use of drones will be disclosed, some facts will still be excluded from the document."

The memo had become an issue since the Justice Dept. lawyer who drafted the memo, David Barron, was nominated for a seat on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, and he was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/20/314392949/white-house-to-release-secret-memo-on-drone-strikes

International News

1) Thailand Military Coup- After declaring martial law on Tuesday, Thailand’s military announced that i had taken control of the country on Thursday. The country’s military chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced that the military had taken control of the country after rival government groups were unable to reach an agreement to govern and that he would be acting as the new Interim Prime Minister until a permanent selection could be made.

The military did not consult with the country’s civilian interim Prime Minister, Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan, prior to instituting martial law, and taking control of the country.

The current crisis started earlier this month when the Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine cabinet officials for improperly reassigning a senior level security official in 2011.

In the last 80 years, Thailand’s military has attempted 19 coups; 12 of which have been successful. Prior to Thursday’s coup, the last successful coup took place in 2006.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/asia/thailand-crisis-up-to-speed/

International Quick Hits

1) Former Guatemalan President Sentenced to Jail- On Thursday, former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in jail after pleading guilty to attempting to launder money through US banks in March.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27531896

2) Congolese Warlord Sentenced to 12 Years- Former Congolese rebel militia leader Germain Katanga was sentenced by the International Criminal Court to 12 years in prison for his role in leading the massacre of more than 200 people in the village of Bogoro.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27531534

3) Suspected Taliban Gunmen Attack Indian Consulate in Herat-The Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan came under attack Thursday from four suspected Taliban gunmen. The gunmen assaulted the consulate with RPGs and machine guns, but after a fierce gun battle, all four were killed by Afghan and Indian security forces. All of the consulate’s staff and security forces escaped survived the attack.

http://www.ibtimes.com/indian-consulate-herat-afghanistan-attacked-gunmen-suspected-be-taliban-1589051

We hope you have a good Memorial Day weekend, and as always, please continue to follow us here on Tumblr, Facebook (facebook.com/issuevoter), and Twitter (@issuevoter).

#weekthatwas #issuevoter

Secret Spending in California Congressional Race Shows Dangers of Dark Money

A primary election in California's Inland Empire is the perfect encapsulation of the problems we are facing with secret money flooding our elections.

Republican Rep. Gary Miller is retiring at the end of his term, and seven candidates are running to replace him in California's 31st Congressional District which is a blue leaning district based in San Bernadino County.

For Congressional races, California uses a top-two primary system in which the top two candidates go on to face each other in the general election regardless of which party they belong to. In 2012, this benefited Miller as the Democratic candidates split the vote between them so that the top two vote-getters ended up both being Republicans. This year, several of the candidates from the 2012 election are on the ballot again, and early polling showed Democrat and former Redlands, CA Mayor Peter Aguilar with a commanding lead, but that lead has started to dwindle recently.

Enter former Democratic Rep. Joe Baca. Baca lost his 2012 run for Congress in the neighboring 34th District, but this year, he decided to run in the 31st District this year.

Recently several billboards supporting Baca have appeared along highways within the 31st District, and three separate mailers have been sent out touting Baca's candidacy. But there are problems with them both. Not all the billboards have the legally required disclosure statements about who is paying for them. The three mailers have very similar messages to the billboards, and the group that is putting them out, Cal Voters for Honest Government, has failed to file required reports with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) despite the FEC sending the group a letter stating that it needs to disclose its spending.

UC Riverside political scientist Shaun Bowler said this situation highlights the dangers of dark money in politics as, "You don't know who's doing this and, in this case, not even what they are spending."

For his part, Baca claims to not know anything about the group merely saying "I have an angel out there."

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-joe-baca-20140520-story.html

#campaignfinance #darkmoney #PACs

Recap- Tuesday Night's Primary Election Results

Several of Tuesday night's races ended up being decidedly less exciting than anticipated with several establishment figures winning by bigger margins that expected. Here are the results of the races we previewed for you yesterday: 1) AR-04 (R): In one of the few races that ended up being closer-than-expected, State House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman defeated businessman and energy executive Tommy Moll 54-46. Westerman will square off against Democrat James Lee Witt, a former FEMA director under Bill Clinton, in November to replace Republican Rep. Tom Cotton who is running for Senate. 2) GA-Sen (R): Businessman, and cousin of a former governor, David Perdue came in first place in this election gaining 31% of the vote compared to Rep. Jack Kingston's 26%. No other candidate received more than 22% of the vote. Because neither Perdue or Kingston cleared the 50% vote threshold, they will face each other in a July 22nd runoff. The winner of that race will face Democrat Michelle Nunn, a non-profit CEO, and the daughter of ex-Sen. Sam Nunn, in November. 3) KY-Sen (R): In what turned out to be one of the biggest blowouts of the night, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demolished his Tea Party opponent, Matt Bevin, 60-35% and will face Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Bluegrass State's Democratic Sec. of State, in November in what is shaping up to be a barn burner. 4) PA Gov (D): Wealthy businessman Tom Wolf, who spent millions of his own on his campaign, walked away with a resounding victory last night. Wolf took an outright majority of 58% in the crowded field with the second place finisher, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, taking only 18%, and State Treasurer Rob McCord taking just 17% of the vote. Wolf now faces off with GOP Gov. Tom Corbett, who has looked very vulnerable in recent polling. 5) PA-13 (D): Our final spotlighted race brings us to Philly and its environs where State Rep. Brendan Boyle rode heavy union support to victory in a four way race in this heavily blue district. Boyle garnered 41% of the vote, Ex-Rep. Marjorie Margolies finished second with 27%, State Sen. Daylin took 17%, and physician Val Arkoosh 15%. Boyle, while the most socially conservative candidate, was strongly added by the fact that he was the only candidate who is actually from Philly itself. All three of his opponents are from the suburbs surrounding the city. Boyle immediately becomes the strong favorite to win election in November in this heavily Democratic district. Next week is a little breather for us as the only races in the country will be the Democratic and Republican Primary Election runoffs in the Great State of Texas. Look for our reports on those races next week!

Primary Election Preview (May 20th Edition)

Today voters are going to the polls to vote in primary elections in AR, GA, ID, KY, OR, and PA. Here are some things to look for in tonight's most watched races:

Arkansas

1) AR-04 (R): State House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman and businessman Tommy Moll are running to replace Rep. Tom Cotton who vacated his House seat to run against Sen. Mark Pryor in November. The winner of this race tonight will face off against Democrat and Clinton-era FEMA Director James Lee Witt.

Georgia

1) GA-Sen (R): Going into today's election, polls showing that there are a whopping total of five candidates within striking distance of winning, and a runoff is virtually assured in one of the night's most exciting races. Right now former Dollar General head David Perdue (a cousin of former Gov. Sunny Perdue) is favored to advance into the runoff in July.

Rep. Jack Kingston and former Secretary of State and 2010 gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel are the two most likely candidates to win the second runoff spot. Two other congressmen, Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun, are also running for this seat.

The eventual Republican nominee will face former non-profit CEO Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, in November.

Kentucky

1) KY-Sen. (R): Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to win tonight's primary against Tea Party favorite businessman Matt Bevin. While Bevin's challenge to McConnell was much ballyhooed by Tea Party groups never really materialized into actual support.

The winner of tonight's primary will face Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes in November.

Pennsylvania

1) PA-Gov (D): Four Democrats are running for the chance to take on the vulnerable Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in November. In the early stages of this races both Rep. Allyson Schwartz and State Treasurer Rob McCord were the best-known of the four. That changed once businessman and former State Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf started spending a huge amount on ads which have apparently proven effective as he is now in the lead and expected to win outright tonight.

2) PA-13 (D): Four Democrats are running for this safely blue open seat that covers part of Philly and its suburbs. Each of the four candidates appears to have a realistic chance to win tonight. Former Rep. Marjorie Margolies, who is Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law, has the support of the Clintons. Physician Val Arkoosh is running a well funded race. State Sen. Daylin Leach, has specifically been appealing to the district's more liberal voters and also has plenty of resources. State Rep. Brendan Boyle is likely the most conservative of the candidates, but he has received the backing of many of Philly's influential ward leaders and unions. This is shaping up to be one of the night's most unpredictable and exciting primaries.

Keep in mind when looking at tonight's results that it is against federal law for a Representative to keep their seat while running for Senate, so regardless of the results of tonight's outcomes, several House seats will change hands come November.

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