WASHINGTON STATE, MASSACHUSETTS HOLD PRIMARIES TODAY Voters in Washington State and Massachusetts trek to the polls today to cast ballots in several primary races. Washington voters will face crowded ballots today. In the US Senate race, former Congresswoman Maria Cantwell (D) is expected to win a comfortable victory over State Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn (D) and two little-known Democrats. Incumbent US Senator Slade Gorton (R) -- who is currently running virtually even with Cantwell in the polls -- should easily defeat his three minor GOP challengers. Cantwell, who served only one term, became an Internet multimillionaire after her re-election defeat in 1994. Attorney Jeff Jared (Libertarian) is also running. In District 5, Congressman George Nethercutt (R) is facing an energetic primary challenge from conservative radio talk show host Richard Clear (R). Clear is attacking Nethercutt for breaking his 1992 term-limits promise. Attorney Tom Keefe (D) and union official Tom Flynn (D) are facing off for the Democratic nomination. Despite the voter resentment at him for breaking his pledge, Nethercutt should still win renomination. Incumbent Governor Gary Locke (D) and conservative radio talk show John Carlson (R) are expected to win easy victories in their respective gubernatorial primaries. Real estate broker Steve LePage (Libertarian) is also running. Three open state posts have set off a mad scramble for the seats -- and prompted comeback attempts by three for congressmen. Secretary of State Ralph Munro (R) and Public Lands Commissioner Jennifer Belcher (D) are retiring (and Insurance Commissioner Senn is running for US Senator). Eleven candidates are running for Secretary of State including Thurston County Auditor Sam Reed (R), State House GOP Caucus Chair Mike Wensman (R), former Congressman Don Bonker, Snohomish County Auditor Bob Terwilliger (D) and former State Democratic Chairman Charles Rolland (D). Liberal former Congressman and Governor Mike Lowry (D) -- who did not seek re-election in 1996 after being implicated in an embarrassing sexual harassment scandal -- is trying to make a comeback today in the open race for Public Lands Commissioner. Lowry is facing stiff primary opposition from State Senator Georgia Gardner (D). Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland (R) is the likely GOP nominee to face the winner of that contest. Former Congressman Mike Kreidler (D), Deputy Insurance Commissioner John Conniff (D), former Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson (R), insurance agent Curtis Fackler (R) and King County Water District Commissioner Mike Hihn (Libertarian) are seeking the Insurance Commissioner post. Massachusetts will only see two Congressional primaries today -- both largely inconsequential. In District 5, Congressman Marty Meehan (D) is facing two minor opponents who were angered by his decision to break his self-imposed term-limits promise. Tax consultant Joe Osbaldeston (D) and actuary Tom Tierney (D) both say that Meehan has shown he is dishonorable by breaking his pledge -- but Meehan should easily sweep past both challengers. In District 6, attorney Fred Golder and GOP activist Paul McCarthy are competing for the Republican nomination to face incumbent Congressman John Tierney (D) in November. A Congressional run-off is also set for today in Oklahoma. THE MAN WITH THE PLAN Now that the Federal Elections Commission has cleared the way for him to receive $12.6 million in Reform Party federal matching funds, nominee Pat Buchanan is back on the campaign trail. A recent hospitalization also sidelined the former White House speechwriter for a little while earlier this month. Buchanan gave an address yesterday at Bob Jones University -- and received a near-endorsement from controversial school President Bob Jones. Buchanan plans to target the matching funds largely on radio and television advertising on Christian stations in order to mobilize the Religious Right vote. Buchanan yesterday told reporters he is not worried about his current 1% showing in the polls -- and believes he can push his total well above the 5% mark by Election Day. Enough, Buchanan notes, to qualify his party for Presidential matching funds for the 2004 race. NUMBERS, NUMBERS, NUMBERS A new Detroit Free Press poll released today shows incumbent US Senator Spence Abraham (R) widening his lead over Congresswoman Debbie Stabenow (D). The results: Abraham-44%, Stabenow-32%. The same poll last month showed Abraham holding a 5-point lead. A Detroit News poll released yesterday has Abraham leading by a 10-point margin ... The Pennsylvania US Senate race is narrowing. A new independent poll out today shows incumbent US Senator Rick Santorum (R) leading Congressman Ron Klink (D) by a surprisingly tight vote of 41% to 37%. Despite the poll numbers, Santorum continues to hold a decided advantage over Klink in money ... Ohio US Senator Mike DeWine (R) looks like he's heading to an easy re-election victory. A new independent poll released today shows DeWine leading challenger Ted Celeste (D) by a vote of 48% to 26% ... Another fairly comfortable incumbent appears to be US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The latest poll shows Feinstein with 48%, Congressman Tom Campbell (R) at 31% and non-profit organization director Medea Benjamin (Green) at 6% ... An Albuquerque Journal poll released yesterday has incumbent US Senator Jeff Bingaman (D) leading for re-election with 57%, followed far behind by former Congressman Bill Redmond (R) at 28% ... A WCBS poll on the hot US Senate race released yesterday shows First Lady Hillary Clinton (D) leading Congressman Rick Lazio (R) by a 48% to 43% vote ... A new University of Delaware poll released this weekend shows the US Senate race there still too close to call. Incumbent US Senator Bill Roth (R) has 42.7%, followed closely by Governor Tom Carper (D) at 42.1%. This is good news for Roth, who was narrowly trailing Carper in past polls ... A Mason-Dixon poll released Saturday on the open Nevada US Senate race shows former Congressman John Ensign (R) continuing to lead wealthy attorney Ed Bernstein (D). Ensign leads by a vote of 50% to 39% ... In Maine, the Bangor Daily News released a poll Saturday showing incumbent US Senator Olympia Snowe (R) holding a whopping 51-point lead over State Senate President Mark Lawrence (D). For lots of poll numbers and other campaign news -- updated twice daily -- be sure to check out the wonderful http://www.orvetti.com/ site. HAWAII PRIMARY PREVIEW The long Congressional and state primary season will finally end on Saturday, September 23, when voters in Hawaii cast primary ballots. US Senator Dan Akaka (D) and former State Senator John Carroll (R) are favored to win their respective primaries in the US Senate race. In District 2, former pro football player Russ Francis is facing two primary opponents for the right to challenge heavily favored Congresswoman Patsy Mink (D) in the general election. In the race for Honolulu Mayor, incumbent Jeremy Harris (D) is being challenged by popular City Councilman Mufi Hannemann (D), former Mayor and perennial candidate Frank Fasi (I) and five minor candidates. All of the mayoral candidates regardless of party run in a pack and -- if no candidate gets a majority of the vote -- the top two finishers will meet again in a November 7 run-off election. FORGET THE TRILATERAL COMMISSION ... THIS CONSPIRACY IS EVEN BETTER! One of the strangest candidates on the ballot today is Louis Bloom (D-WA), a candidate for State Treasurer. Bloom -- who admits he has no shot at defeating incumbent Mike Murphy (D) in the primary -- is using his campaign to "rant" (Bloom's word) about a child molestation cover-up conspiracy ... masterminded by the Kiwanis Club of Olympus, Washington. "My 'axe to grind' is the Olympia Washington Kiwanians and the child abuse they allowed," he explains on his campaign web site. In his official candidate statement published in state voter guides, Bloom writes that he is "pro-family religious values ... and that having sex for just pleasure (whether married or unmarried) is immoral." He then concludes his official statement with: "Biblically challenged television preachers from Afghanistan to Spokane predict that the anti-Christ will be an Olympia Kiwanis woman. It's probably all nonsense. Have a nice day." Huh? See for yourself at Bloom's unusual campaign site at http://www.lbloom.net/ IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA - PART I Perennial candidate Mary Jane Rachner (R-MN), 79, has been running and losing political races for years. She's lost races for everything from local school board to Congress to President of the United States. She hit upon a new campaign strategy this year: she ran on the ballot this time as "Patricia Reagan" instead of Mary Jane Rachner. Patricia, you see, is her second middle name. As for the Reagan name -- usually a big hit in GOP circles -- Rachner had her name legally changed before this election cycle began. Rachner ... um, I mean Reagan ... entered the Republican primary for the open Congressional seat in District 4. The results from last Tuesday's race: State Senator Linda Runbeck-86%, Reagan-14%. Maybe next time she'll change her first name to Nancy ... or even Ronald. IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA - PART II Not that Republicans have even been accused of cozying up to the country club crowd ... but one hapless US Senate candidate played right into that stereotypical reputation. Forget those candidates who like to walk or bike across a state or district to get attention. Retired engineer Hamilton Bartlett (R-FL), 71, thought he had a better idea! "I tried walking and it's boring as hell -- so I play tennis," Bartlett told the Stuart News. And that's just what Bartlett did: he campaigned mainly by playing tennis in over 40 cites around the state. A conservative, Bartlett said he was running to bring the GOP back to its traditional conservative roots and get the federal government out of the education arena. Congressman Bill McCollum (R) was able to ace the Senate primary last week, defeating Bartlett in a grand slam by a vote of 82% to 18%. Bartlett may have lost, but he got a nice tan and burned some calories along the way. McCollum, on the other hand, is still kinda pale ... and is now a decided underdog for November against State Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson (D). Ten others are also competing in November including Democratic State Rep. Willie Logan (I), former Indiana GOP Congressman Joel Deckard (Reform), legal activist Andy Martin (I) and former beauty salon owner "Nicki O" (Write-In). "... MAYBE NO ONE WILL EVER FIND OUT ABOUT IT" If you thought some of the political contests here featured poor choices, just wait until you hear about the problems in the upcoming city elections down in Sao Paolo, Brazil. According to Reuters, nearly 20% of the 1,018 candidates in competing in next month's elections are facing current criminal charges. 34 of the candidates are facing fraud charges, 2 are accused of homicide and 1 is charged with kidnapping. Other candidates are currently facing charges ranging from theft to battery to receiving stolen goods. According to the report, Sao Paolo voters are upset about political corruption problems in local government. Go figure! LOOSE LIPS SINK CUSHY PRISON TRIPS When a Rhode Island federal judge sentenced former Providence City Tax Collector Anthony Annarino (D) to 2½ years in prison last month on bribery and extortion charges, he emerged from the sentencing hearing to joke with reporters that a stretch in a "Club Fed" prison would give him time to "sharpen up on my golf game." The Feds were not amused. Annarino started serving his sentence last week, only to find that the US Bureau of Prisons assigned him to a medium-security prison. "It was a slap at the system that the Bureau of Prisons did not take lightly," US Marshal John Leyden told the AP. Annarino's lawyer is trying to get his client reassigned to a minimum-security facility (like the one his more discrete co-defendant ended up at). And speaking of prisons ... Basehor Mayor John Pfannenstiel (R-KS), 38, was charged last week with two felony counts of engaging in unlawful sexual relations with prison inmates and one felony count of smuggling contraband into a prison. Pfannenstiel -- the former Leavenworth County GOP Chairman -- works as a prison guard at the Lansing Correctional Facility. According to the criminal complaint filed in Leavenworth County, Pfannenstiel allegedly engaged in consensual sodomy with two male inmates while working as a sergeant at the prison. The complaint also alleges that he smuggled a watch battery and three pairs of jeans to an inmate. Pfannenstiel's lawyer said he needed time to review the charges before he could adequately respond. As for Pfannenstiel, he announced Wednesday that he would not resign as Mayor and intends to seek re-election next year. POLITICS1 REPORT SUBSCRIBER NEWS Politics1 Report subscriber and community college official Michael Kelly was nominated recently at the Michigan Republican State Convention as a candidate for the Wayne State University Board of Governors. Check out Michael's new site at http://www.kellywsu2000.org/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber Jeremy Slaughter (D-WV) emailed that he was selected to be one of the five Al Gore electors from the state -- and was recently elected the Vice President of the West Virginia University Young Democrats ... Politics1 Report subscriber and National Taxpayers Union staffer Jeff Dircksen emailed that the NTU's Congressional endorsements are now online at http://www.taxpayerschoice.com/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber and former State Rep. Ruth Johnson (D-MN) -- a 1998 candidate for Lieutenant Governor -- is seeking a return to the House. Check out her new site at http://rjohnson4mn.org/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber and Illinois Department of Revenue official Paul Bonilla emailed that he is the GOP nominee for State Representative. Paul invites you to visit his site at http://www.paulbonilla17.net/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber and veteran political activist Anthony Schinella (I-MA) emailed that he's been hired to organize the Ralph Nader (Green) for President campaign in New Hampshire. Tony also maintains his own site at http://www.schinella.com/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber Bob Fertik is Managing Director of the huge http://www.Democrats.com/ site. Bob invites you to visit the site, which he describes as a fun site for "hardcore, partisan Democrats." The site also publishes a daily Democratic email newsletter ... Politics1 Report subscriber Jared Callanan, webmaster of the "Unofficial Bob Dornan 2000 Homepage" (which went online a years ago!) emailed that he's now using the site at http://www.angelfire.com/il/Dornan/ to promote Pat Buchanan's candidacy ... Politics1 Report subscriber Erik Heidemann emailed that he is working as the finance chair for State House candidate Jerel Thomas (R-ID). Erik says Jerel is facing a tough Democratic incumbent and would appreciate any help readers could offer. Contact Erik at mailto:edh1156@yahoo.com ... Politics1 Report subscriber and Alan Smith emailed that he's the political director for State Senate candidate Larry Stirling (R-CA). Alan invites you to check out Larry's site at http://www.stirling4senate.com/ ... Politics1 subscriber and political consultant Kathleen Lisson (R-NY) emailed that she designed the Pillsworth for Congress website and invites you to check it out at http://www.pillsworthforcongress.com/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber Chris Remhof emailed he is recruiting chair of the New Democrats, a group of Democrats under age 40 in the Northern Illinois area. Check out their site at http://www.il-democrats.org/newdemocrats/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber Rob Latham (Libertarian-CA) is a board member of Californians for Proportional Representation and invites you to visit their site at http://www.fairvoteca.org/ ... Politics1 Report subscriber Mike Van Orden is campaign manager for State Senate candidate David Burris (R-DE). Mike invites you to visit their site at http://www.davidburris4statesenate.com ... Politics1 Report subscriber Josh Driskell emailed that he is the webmaster for Larry Miller, the GOP nominee for Pawnee County (KS) Sheriff. Josh invites you to check out Larry's site at http://i.am/larrymiller ... Jim Long of the Westerly Democrats (RI) emailed that they "would like the world to know" about their new site at http://www.westerlydemocrats.com/ ... As always, if you have political news, please email me at mailto:publisher@politics1.com Until next time, Ron Gunzburger Publisher Politics1 - http://www.politics1.com publisher@politics1.com ************************* TO SUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to mailto:Politics1-subscribe@listbot.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to mailto:Politics1-unsubscribe@listbot.com *************************