Archive for the ‘Attorney General News’ Category
KS: AG-Elect Sees Quick Jump into Health Care reform Lawsuit
Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 November 2010 01:57 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 17 November 2010 01:57
From KansasCity.com:
Kansas Attorney General-elect Derek Schmidt said he expects to bring the state into a legal challenge to the new federal health care law soon after taking office.
Schmidt told The Associated Press he believes many voters are concerned that the federal government is assuming too much power.
Schmidt, a Republican, takes office Jan. 10. He defeated Democratic Attorney General Steve Six, who said joining litigation over the health care law would not be a wise use of state resources.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
Politico: Democrats’ Losses were Wide and Deep
Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:08 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:08
From the Politico:
Republicans have already gained as many as 60 seats in Congress, but when GOP gains are looked at on a state-by-state basis, the bloody picture for Democrats nationwide becomes even more gruesome. Several state legislatures made historic transitions to Republican hands — some for the first time since the 19th century — and nearly an entire generation of state Democrats saw its ranks obliterated. Here is POLITICO’s look at states that saw the political landscape change dramatically.
• Alabama’s most monumental shift came in the state Legislature, in which Republicans gained control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1874. State Sen. Robert Bentley’s win kept the governor’s mansion in GOP hands, and Republicans picked up a net of seven seats in the Senate and 19 seats in the House. In the state’s most contested U.S. House seat, Martha Roby defeated freshman Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright.
• Wisconsin was painted red as Ron Johnson defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, Republican Scott Walker won the open governor’s race and two House seats flipped: Republican Sean Duffy won the seat of retiring Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, and roofing contractor Reid Ribble defeated Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen. But perhaps the Republicans’ most historic victory was gaining control of the state Assembly and the Senate — marking the first time the GOP has had total control of the state government since 1998 and the first time one party won control of both houses on the same day since 1938.
Posted under Attorney General News, State Legislature News | No Comments
Republican AG-Elect Announces Resignation from Senate
Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 02:21 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 November 2010 02:21
From wibw.com:
Kansas Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt announced his resignation from his Kansas Senate post on Friday.
Schmidt, who was elected Kansas attorney general earlier this month, notified Secretary of State Chris Biggs of his resignation, effective January 10th, 2011. That is the date on which Schmidt will be sworn in as attorney general.
“It has been a tremendous honor to represent the 15th State Senate district for the past 10 years,” said Schmidt, R-Independence. “We have done some good work on public policy and made some real gains for our district, and I’m truly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve my friends and neighbors in the nine counties of the 15th district. I’m looking forward to serving the entire state as our attorney general.”
Under Kansas law, Schmidt’s announcement sets in motion the process for selecting a replacement to serve the remaining two years of his current Senate term. The Republican county chairman in Montgomery county, the county with the greatest number of qualified voters in the district, must soon convene a 15th Senate district convention. The convention, which will be attended by Republican precinct committee men and women who were elected in August, will select a person to replace Schmidt in the Senate for the next two years. Voters will next decide who their Senator will be in 2012.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
Are Days Numbered for Alabama Democrats?
Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 02:04 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 November 2010 02:04
From al.com:
What do dinosaurs and Democrats have in common?
They once roamed Alabama.
That’s one of the jokes making the rounds after what was a triumphant election for Alabama Republicans and a disaster for state Democrats.
But behind the joke is a real question: In the wake of a historic election that saw Democrats lose every single statewide race and lose control of the Legislature for the first time in 136 years, is the Alabama Democratic Party, like the dinosaur, extinct?
“Obviously the Democrats were beaten badly in Alabama, more than ever before. But, the truth is the Democratic Party in Alabama has been on life support since 1986 and on Tuesday, Nov. 2, the Republicans pulled the plug,” said Natalie Davis, a longtime professor of political science at Birmingham-Southern College. Guy Hunt won the governor’s race in 1986, becoming the first Republican to hold that job since Reconstruction.
Tags: Alabama | Posted under Attorney General News, State Legislature News | No Comments
Kansas Could Join Health Care Lawsuit
Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 02:03 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 November 2010 02:03
From KansasCity.com:
As changes imposed by federal health care reform begin to take effect, states are joining together in a federal lawsuit to try to halt implementation.
If Kansas Gov.-elect Sam Brownback and Attorney General-elect Derek Schmidt have their way, Kansas will soon be among them.
Brownback and Schmidt campaigned on their promise to join the litigation and call for repeal of the health care law. But the effects of such a lawsuit could be minimal and take a while to materialize in Kansas.
Schmidt’s office did not return phone calls asking for specifics on his intentions.
Sherriene Jones-Sontag, a spokeswoman for Brownback, said the governor-elect would support whatever legal action Schmidt takes.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
California Attorney General Race Remains Undecided
Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 01:41 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 November 2010 01:41
You can check out RSLC.com for the latest update on this race.
From mydesert.com:
Ace Smith, Harris’ chief strategist, said today that “recent developments in Los Angeles County have made it abundantly clear that Steve Cooley’s campaign is attempting to disqualify as many provisional ballots as
possible” and called on the Cooley campaign to “immediately cease any tactics designed to disenfranchise voters.”Kevin Spillane, a senior consultant with the Cooley campaign, called Smith’s comments, “typical campaign hyperbole and not supported by the facts.”
“The Cooley campaign, working closely with legal counsel, has repeatedly expressed concerns to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office about the conduct of some individuals and raised questions about proper procedure being followed,” Spillane said.
Tags: California | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
WA: Republican AG Presents Anti-Gang proposal
Last Updated on Monday, 15 November 2010 01:36 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 November 2010 01:36
From MyNorthwest.com:
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna is speaking in Yakima today about a new anti-gang bill he wants the Legislature to consider.
To try to stem the tide of violence, McKenna wants to spend $10 million for gang prevention and intervention. The Yakima Herald-Republic reports McKenna will also proposal sentence enhancements for gang crimes and wants to empower local governments and property owners to keep gangs out of certain areas.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
CA: Republican AG Candidate’s Lead Grows
Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 November 2010 01:16 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 10 November 2010 01:16
From DailyNews:
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley holds a 43,212-vote lead over San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris in the race for attorney general entering today’s count of vote by mail, provisional and damaged ballots.
Cooley, a Republican, added 2,254 votes to his lead over Harris, a Democrat, in the updated count released Tuesday by the Secretary of State’s Office. He began the day leading by 40,958 votes.
Cooley has 3,875,037 votes, 46.1 percent, to 3,831,825 for Harris, 45.5 percent.
When polls closed Nov. 2, Cooley declared victory, but by early Nov. 3, Harris led by almost 15,000 votes. However, with thousands of ballots remaining to be counted, the race was too close to call.
Under state law, county registrars of voters must complete the vote counting by Nov. 30 and provide their counts to the Secretary of State’s Office by Dec. 3.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
California AG Race Remains Tight; Republican Cooley Keeps Slight Lead
Last Updated on Tuesday, 9 November 2010 01:03 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 9 November 2010 01:03
From SFGate:
It’s been seven days since the election, but in a highly unusual situation, the outcome of California’s attorney general race remains up in the air – leaving political observers perplexed and the campaigns of Steve Cooley and Kamala Harris waiting anxiously for counties around the state to complete their ballot counts.
The unusual tightness of the race has thrown the state’s tallying process into the spotlight and left both campaigns readying their lawyers, in case there’s any need for a legal challenge. Harris’ camp is also monitoring vote tabulation in counties around California.
As of late Monday, Republican Cooley led Democrat Harris by a fraction of a percentage point.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
PA: Corbett to name his Replacement
Last Updated on Tuesday, 9 November 2010 12:04 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 9 November 2010 12:04
From MorningCall.com:
Now that he’s been elected governor, Republican Tom Corbett faces the same task confronting any incoming chief executive: filling Cabinet slots and making political appointments across state government.
One of them will hit particularly close to home.
Corbett, who has two years left in his current term as Pennsylvania attorney general, has to nominate his replacement to serve out the two years remaining in his term, which expires in 2012.
AdvertisementThat person, if confirmed by a vote in the state Senate, will become the state’s top prosecutor and lawyer and will be responsible for continuing the Bonusgate public corruption probe that began on Corbett’s watch.
Corbett himself was an appointed attorney general in the mid-1990s, when he was tapped to finish the unexpired term of Ernie Preate, who was convicted on federal corruption charges and sent to prison.
Corbett held the position for two years and ran for a full term in 2004 against Democrat Jim Eisenhower. He was re-elected in 2008, defeating Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.
Corbett’s not naming names for a successor – yet.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments