Arizona And New Jersey Special Congressional Elections Heat Up

Democrats have released a new ad in the race to succeed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The races to fill open seats in Congress in Arizona and New Jersey have heated up, with a national Democratic group releasing an ad in Grand Canyon State and Garden State Democrats rushing to take sides in the race to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Donald Payne.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has released a new ad in the Arizona race to succeed Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (who resigned to focus on her recovery from a 2011 shooting). The ad ties Republican nominee Jesse Kelly to potential cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

The DCCC commercial, which can be seen below, follows the national Democratic playbook on Medicare and Social Security. It cites quotes by Kelly from December 2009 and July 2010 during his unsuccessful race to unseat Giffords, including ones indicating a desire to eliminate Social Security and Medicare while cutting taxes in half for millionaires.

On Kelly's website for the current campaign, he says, however, that he supports "preserving, protecting and strengthening" Social Security and Medicare.

In the June 12 race to fill the remainder of Giffords' term, Kelly is running against Democrat Ron Barber, a former Giffords aide who also was injured in the January 2011 shooting incident.

Both Democrats and Republicans are already planning for August primaries in advance of a November election to fill a seat for a two-year term beginning in 2013 in a newly drawn district, Arizona's 2nd Congressional District. For the August Republican primary, Kelly will again face state Sen. Frank Antenori, businessman Dave Sitton and Gulf War veteran Martha McSally, whom he defeated in an April primary for the special election.

On the Democratic side, Barber will compete against state Rep. Matt Heinz in the August primary. Barber won the special election primary uncontested, after Heinz and other Democrats conceded the special election's nomination to him. After Barber entered the race for the full-term position, several Democratic candidates dropped out, but Heinz remained.

In New Jersey, two of the four Democratic candidates vying to succeed Payne in the 10th Congressional District announced endorsements on Monday.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's group, Democracy for America, is backing Newark Councilman Ron Rice in the race, according to PolitickerNJ.

Newark City Council President Don Payne, the late congressman's son, has been endorsed by Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop (D), the Jersey City Independent reported. (For his part, Payne is supporting Fulop in the 2013 Jersey City mayoral race.)

Meanwhile, a third congressional candidate, state Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair), has been backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization and state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City).

Gill's campaign manager, Pat Polistano, told PolitickerNJ that he believed that the Fulop-Payne alliance was a way to hinder the campaigns of two African-American women: Gill and Cunningham, a potential Jersey City mayoral candidate. "This is an astonishingly sleazy quid pro quo between Essex County and Downtown Jersey City to try to stop African American women from having a voice," Polistano told PolitickerNJ.

The other three candidates that Gill faces in the congressional race are African-American men. Fulop is white.

Comments

[JoeBoy254]

08:49 AM on 05/02/2012

Push the Republicans out before they do anymore damage to our country!

[rgilley]

08:31 AM on 05/02/2012

Oh "Surpize , surprize , surprize" negative politics in the the most negative red state in the country. It seems quite reasonable to assume the right wingnuts will find a way to put Arpio's new "evidence" that Obama is not an American in this race before its over. Arizona is the new home of the birther brigade led by the Fascist Joe Arpio.

[StephenBP]

07:51 AM on 05/02/2012

I think its time for a new Republican mascot. I'm thinking instead of an elephant, how about a flip-flopping weasel...

[rgilley]

08:32 AM on 05/02/2012

That would be more descriptive of the majority of Republican politicians. And btw descritive of more than a few Democratic politicians as well.

[archstantoneyes]

06:12 AM on 05/02/2012

These last four years will be remembered as Carter's term was remembered ........the sooner it is over the better.

[StephenBP]

07:48 AM on 05/02/2012

Sounds like you are taking the same meds that Jared Lee Loughner wss on....

[rgilley]

08:34 AM on 05/02/2012

So you are one of the Republican geniuses who really beleives that the voters of the United States are going to fall for the Republican "logic" that says :
"Obama is not fixing the depression WE created fast enough so put us back in power."

"Stupd is as stupid does".

[sfkjeld]

05:27 AM on 05/02/2012

Going to be a very sad day if Gifford's seat goes red. Kinda like anger, greed, ignorance and violence wins.

[rgilley]

08:35 AM on 05/02/2012

"Kinda like anger, greed, ignorance and violence wins. "

Unfortunately in red state America that's exactly what wins.

[sfkjeld]

04:24 PM on 05/02/2012

True enough. But but my point is that they didn't win that district last time. If they do this time, particularly after this horrific tragedy, it will be.... sad for the lack of a better word.

[cay12]

06:18 PM on 05/07/2012

Gifford was Democrat, so there is no reason to believe that a Democrat can't win her seat. You are confusing Pima County (Tucson) with Maricopa County (Phoenix).

[oldpreacherman]

03:19 AM on 05/02/2012

There is no plan from any Democrat in the country, including Obama, to save Social Security and Medicare. Wonder why.

[rgilley]

08:39 AM on 05/02/2012

Maybey because they are Both not in serious jepordy for the next 23 years eh? Republicans have been trying to kill social security and medicare since they fought tooth and nail against both programs when they were debated in Congress. The right wing social theory is very easy to sum up....."Social Darwinism" , survival of the fittest and the rest die off.
THAT is the Republican ideology and That is what they have worked towars since the day Reagan took office. And Now they beleive Americans are going to swallow their conjob again even after they trashed the economy and walked away with thier 1% backers with 90% of America's wealth. Really?

[oldpreacherman]

06:33 PM on 05/02/2012

rgill. You may to get informed and get out of the "kick the can down the road club".
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/long-term-medicare-ss-deficit-tops-63-trillion/497066

[SolarPowerGuy]

03:10 AM on 05/02/2012

"Race To Fill Giffords' Seat Goes Negative"

That may be so... but when the Republican contestant is on-record as supporting eliminating Social Security, and reducing the already-low taxes on the super-rich... bringing that out into the open is the kind of "negativity" that voters actually NEED to hear.

Democrats have been pulling their punches for about two decades now.

[rgilley]

08:41 AM on 05/02/2012

Democrats have been pulling their punches for about two decades now. "

Maybey it's time to stand up eh? If we don't Republicans Will institute the Fascist Oligarchy they have worked towards for over 30 years now.

[tiredofpc]

02:15 AM on 05/02/2012

Jesse Kelley's flip flopping makes Mitt look like an amateur. Mr. Kelley ran a very nasty campaign against Gabby Giffords, and he moved back to Tucson (from Texas) about 20 minutes after Ms. Giffords announced that she was resigning her seat. Ron Barber ran Gabby Giffords office, and, while he was healing from being shot last January, he remained active with her office and her office continued to support Southern Arizona citizens. Mr. Barber's positions have been consistent, he knows how things work in Washington and he will continue to be the same kind of Representative that Ms. Giffords was. We didn't elect Jesse Kelley two years ago, and we don't need to elect him now.

[hrpmap]

02:14 AM on 05/02/2012

They (the AZ dems) might not want to go there (SS and Medicare) due to the fact that in the so called HC bill htere is a 500B cut out of madicare. When their adds air and this part of the biil is made public by the opposition it will backfire. Look it up before you deny it, it is definitly there.

[morbius]

09:46 AM on 05/02/2012

OK... lets hear your details and links.

[blueinannarbor]

08:35 PM on 05/01/2012

Maybe negative is the new positive.

[JohnnyKay]

08:24 PM on 05/01/2012

Pardon me.

"Kelly and HIS cohorts".

[JohnnyKay]

08:22 PM on 05/01/2012

I'd like to see Jesse Kelly with no Social Security or Medicare to look forward to, either.

But, just Kelly and her cohorts.

[DocSyracuse]

08:17 PM on 05/01/2012

I imagine Giffords's endorsement would have serious weight. Has she spoken about the candidates?

[Bowlingkev]

07:54 PM on 05/01/2012

Is that all the Dems have got in their attack ads against Jesse Kelly - trotting out some old, worn out commercials about how the evil Republicans are going to take away their social security? Really? Totally pathetic.

[JohnnyKay]

08:23 PM on 05/01/2012

Hey.

You were the one who exposed "the evil Republicans".

Thank you.

[blueinannarbor]

08:36 PM on 05/01/2012

Almost as bad as Kelly and the GOP's economic myths of illusory "free markets".

[PerryWhite]

08:36 AM on 05/02/2012

Sorry, free markets does not mean that you get everything for free.

[earthinretrograde]

07:52 PM on 05/01/2012

Stupid is good for the puppeteers. They like stupid. That's the point.