Contributions to California congressional candidates disclosed

Campaign contributions are flowing briskly to candidates in some of California's hottest congressional races, including two of the most vocal proponents of getting money out of politics.

Incumbents in races in the Sacramento area, Central Valley, Bay Area and Riverside and Ventura counties each have raised more than $1 million to fend off vigorous challengers.

And in San Diego County, freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Peters and his main opponent, Republican Carl DeMaio, were nearly neck and neck, with Peters taking in nearly $1.8 million to DeMaio's almost $1.5 million.

Candidates and their operatives were busy scrutinizing their rivals' financial disclosures Wednesday, hours after the midnight Tuesday filing deadline at the Federal Election Commission.

Peters' campaign pounced on a $2,500 contribution to DeMaio from a Koch Industries Inc. political action committee, saying in a fundraising email that it upends DeMaio's claim of being a moderate.

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch — conservatives who were early backers of the small-government tea party movement in the GOP — have become a favorite target of Democrats in this year's campaign.

"Scott Peters has embraced the hypocrisy and double standards of Washington politics," Dave McCulloch, spokesman for the DeMaio campaign, responded in an email to The Times. "Scott Peters is just desperate to distract voters from the millions in big business and special interest money he has taken."

Peters' campaign spokeswoman MaryAnne Pintar retorted: "The Kochs bankroll the tea party, and they're bankrolling Carl DeMaio because he shares their extremist values."

The race is emerging as one of the nation's most expensive House contests this year. Another sure-to-be-costly race is the one to succeed Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills). His Jan. 30 retirement announcement unleashed a crush of candidates for his coastal-Westside 33rd Congressional District seat.

Former Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, a contestant in that race, reported raising $672,214 — less than the $964,385 collected by no-party-preference candidate Marianne Williamson. The spiritual teacher and bestselling author began raising money when she jumped into the race last fall.

Defense attorney and first-time candidate David Kanuth, a Democrat, also outraised Greuel, reporting $798,453 in contributions by the March 31 end of the accounting period.

But Greuel collected more than other prominent Democrats in the race: state Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance, who raised $566,762, and author and radio talk show host Matt Miller, who took in $517,822. Businessman James Graf, also a Democrat, reported lending his campaign $1 million but spent little and does not appear to have done much campaigning.

Greuel's strategists picked apart the reports and issued their own detailed spin on the fundraising race, parsing debts and expenditures and calculating how much of each main candidate's take could be spent in the primary.

Because of limits on how much donors can contribute toward a given election, excess funds are set aside for possible use in the fall by any candidate who finishes first or second in the June 3 primary.

Greuel's campaign calculated that her main rivals all had significant amounts that they could not use in the primary, while she had the smallest amount ($10,400) of contributions that must be saved for a fall campaign.

Williamson and Miller both have made overhauling the nation's campaign finance system a central theme of their congressional bids. But both have acknowledged needing to raise money to be viable candidates. Once elected, they say, they can change the laws governing money and politics.

All of Williamson's listed contributions came from individuals, including entertainer Nancy Sinatra, who gave $1,100, and Leslie Sword of Naples, Fla., who gave $2,600 — the maximum allowed. Sword gave her occupation as "joy seeker."

Williamson's contributions ranged from $10 and $50 to the limit, and some donors also gave money that could be used only for a fall campaign.

The vast majority of Miller's contributions also are from individuals. And the day before Tuesday's filing deadline, he released a proposal for revising campaign finance rules. His proposals include barring lawmakers from taking contributions from industries they regulate and strengthening disclosure rules.

Significant campaign finance overhaul has proved to be a tough sell in Congress.

Prodigious fundraising was reported in other races as well. Among the candidates who have collected the most are Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove), with just over $2 million, and Rep. Michael M. Honda (D-San Jose). Honda has raised $1.9 million but faces a challenger from his own party, former Obama administration official Ro Khanna, who took in much more: $3.67 million.

Khanna reported $1.9 million in cash on hand, compared with Honda's slightly more than $1 million.

In an Inland Empire race to succeed Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar and Colton attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes, both Democrats, led in fundraising among the four Democrats and three Republicans who are running.

Aguilar raised $910,730 and had $683,236 in the bank. Reyes collected $710,503 and reported $534,824 in the bank.

Others in hot races who have raised at least $1 million are incumbent Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village).

jean.merl@latimes.com

richard.simon@latimes.com

Merl reported from Los Angeles and Simon from Washington.

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Top-two primary might be bad for small-party candidates

Peace and Freedom Party candidate Cindy Sheehan, pictured in 2007, says the top-two system "seems designed to kill" smaller political parties. (Jerry Larson / Associated Press)

When California voters decided to change the way the state's primary elections work, the move was cast as an effort to moderate a state Capitol gripped by polarization.

If the top two vote-getters in a primary faced off against one another in November regardless of their party affiliation, the reasoning went, hard-nosed politicians who typically put party purity above all else would be forced to court less partisan voters. That could mean more centrists elected to office, more political compromise and better governance.

But with the approach of only the second election since the enactment of the "jungle" primary — the first featuring candidates for statewide office — some argue that the change has had a decidedly undemocratic effect, muzzling the voices of small-party candidates.

The Green Party, the American Independent Party and other minor groups will now rarely — if ever — appear on the general election ballot, even though they represent 1.2 million people. And they could eventually find themselves out of existence in California, the critics fear.

"It's just a violation of voting rights," said Richard Winger, a Libertarian and publisher of the San Francisco-based Ballot Access News. "Because the right to vote includes the right of the choice."

Antiwar and social justice activist Cindy Sheehan, running for governor as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party, paints a more dire picture. "It seems designed to kill our parties," Sheehan said.

Membership outside the Democratic and Republican parties and among those who state no party preference is admittedly a sliver of California's electorate. And every party has equal footing — at least theoretically — in the current primary system, which voters approved in 2010 for all races except presidential contests.

But already, far fewer third-party candidates have been able to qualify for the general election ballot.

In June 2012, with more than 150 races taking place under rules being applied for the first time, only three minor-party candidates made it to November. This year, no third-party candidate is likely to appear on the fall ballot for governor, attorney general or other high office.

It is more costly now for small parties to place a candidate on the ballot. Previously, Democratic or Republican candidates for statewide office had to pay a filing fee of $2,610 to $3,480 or gather the signatures of 10,000 registered voters to make the cut. But members of smaller parties were allotted a sharp discount and needed only as many as 150 signatures to avoid the fee.

This resulted in a plethora of candidates qualifying for the ballot. In 2010, 33 candidates representing smaller parties ran for statewide office, from the Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and American Independent parties. Because of closed party nominations, each party was guaranteed a spot on the November ballot.

This year, the filing fees are the same but there are no discounts for small parties. Now, there are only 10 candidates for statewide office from seven minor parties. And barring a major upheaval, none will proceed past the June primary because most Californians still vote for Democrats or Republicans.

"There's no question that the minor parties are disadvantaged by the top-two rule," said Richard Hasen, a law professor at UC Irvine who specializes in elections.

By contrast, candidates who do not register with a political party have benefited from the change. In the 2010 California primary, all candidates for statewide office had a party affiliation; this year, there are eight who state no party preference.

The occasional third-option candidate has won in California. The Green Party's Audie Bock won a state Assembly seat in a special election in 1999. Another Green Party member, Gayle McLaughlin, was elected mayor of Richmond in 2006.

In other states, Angus King won a U.S. Senate seat in Maine in 2012, and Lincoln Chafee won the Rhode Island gubernatorial contest in 2010, without party affiliations. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura won the Minnesota governorship in 1998.

Such candidates can shape campaigns even if they don't win, Hasen said, citing the effect of an unaffiliated Ross Perot on the 1992 presidential contest.

"His mantra was deficit reduction, and it became a major factor in the campaign," Hasen said. "In fact, it became something Bill Clinton adopted as one of his priorities. It never would have happened if not for Perot…. Losing minor parties does make the debate less rich."

Efforts are underway to offer relief to those groups.

The Green, Libertarian, and Peace and Freedom parties are pressing a lawsuit on appeal in state court alleging disenfranchisement and other harms, with a new argument filed April 3. And an Assembly bill that would reduce the level of support required for a minority-party candidate to be recognized by the state will be the subject of an upcoming hearing.

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Ethics a focus for 7 remaining California secretary of state candidates

State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) quit the race for California secretary of state after his arrest last month. Above, Yee faces reporters after a court appearance. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / March 31, 2014)

SACRAMENTO — The arrest of a front-runner in the race for California secretary of state on corruption charges has made ethics a key issue for the seven candidates still in the contest.

State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) quit the race after his arrest last month on charges of taking payments in exchange for official favors and conspiring to illegally traffic in firearms. He has pleaded not guilty.

As the remaining candidates focus on the best way to clean up Sacramento, Yee's stumble has thrown the June primary competition wide open.

AT A GLANCE: Candidates for secretary of state

Yee, whose name will remain on the ballot, was the second-best-financed candidate for the state's top elections job. The contestant with the most money, state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), is favored to grab at least one of the two runoff slots for November.

"With Yee out of the picture, it definitely opens up the race more to the other candidates," said Tony Quinn, an editor of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which handicaps political races.

A recent Field Poll showed Padilla running second to Republican public policy specialist Pete Peterson, whose last quarterly disclosure report showed less than $2,000 in his campaign fund.

The secretary of state, with nearly 500 employees, oversees federal and state elections in California, maintains the public databases that disclose campaign contributions and lobbyist spending, and processes and maintains records related to corporations and other business entities.

Incumbent Debra Bowen, a Democrat, is prevented by term limits from running for reelection.

Besides Padilla, the other Democrats in the race are Derek Cressman, former vice president of the watchdog group Common Cause, and Jeffrey H. Drobman, a computer scientist and engineer.

There are two Republican candidates: Roy Allmond, a program technician in the secretary of state's office, and Peterson, executive director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, a think tank at Pepperdine University.

David Curtis, a designer in an architectural studio, is a Green Party candidate. Dan Schnur, on leave as director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, is a "no party preference" candidate.

Padilla has a large advantage in campaign fundraising, having brought in $1.6 million, according to his required filings with the state. Cressman is a distant second in campaign cash, having raised $390,000 and lent himself $100,000.

All of the candidates say the state must upgrade the computer systems that register businesses and tell the public who contributes money to which politicians.

But they have clashed over what to do about the apparent prevalence of corruption in the Capitol as well as over how to handle Yee and Democratic Sens. Ronald S. Calderon and Roderick Wright, who are facing their own criminal charges.

Cressman and Schnur have criticized Padilla for voting last month to impose paid suspensions on the three. Schnur and Cressman said they should have been permanently expelled.

In voting for suspensions, Padilla noted that Yee and Calderon have not yet had their day in court. But he has called on all three lawmakers to resign.

As he has campaigned for secretary of state, Padilla has proposed a blackout on political fundraising for more than three months during the end of each legislative session. That's when special interests seeking favorable votes on bills also flood legislators with campaign cash. The Legislature has not yet voted on his proposal.

Like most lawmakers, Padilla, 41, said fundraising has nothing to do with how he votes on bills.

"But the public perception has gotten to the point where it needs to be addressed," he said. "The perception is that fundraising activity has an undue influence on how decisions are made in the Capitol."

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Presidential candidates seek votes from bloc of new American citizens

SAN FRANCISCO — SAN FRANCISCO From Florida to Virginia, Massachusetts to California, candidates and political parties seeking to squeeze every vote from a divided electorate are targeting America's newest citizens. It's a relatively small bloc but one that can be substantial enough to make a difference in razor-close races.

In Florida, which President Barack Obama won by less than 5 percentage points four years ago, a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows people who naturalized as Americans since 2000 make up 6 percent of the population of voting-age citizens. For months, the Obama campaign has been sending volunteers to citizenship ceremonies to register people and canvassing Miami-area neighborhoods where immigrant families live.

In California, where new citizens comprise nearly 9 percent of potential voters, Republicans hope House candidates Ricky Gill and Abel Maldonado can reach that group by highlighting their families' journeys from India and Mexico.

Georgina Castaneda, who grew up in Veracruz, Mexico, and now lives in Los Angeles, is the type of person the campaigns are targeting. After years of waiting for her citizenship application to go through, she passed the U.S. civics test and swore her allegiance to the flag along with thousands of others at a ceremony in March at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

Castaneda said Democratic Party workers walked down the aisles handing out brochures to the crowd. She filled one out while still seated.

"My idea was that one more vote could do something, so I registered at the ceremony," she said.

Political parties have tried to engage new arrivals since at least the 1790s, when New York City's fabled Tammany Hall political machine organized immigrants.

"The trick with politics is to get to people early, so what you want to do is make sure that your party gets in on the ground floor of any new citizen's thinking," said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.

First-generation citizens historically have leaned Democratic and registered at lower rates than U.S.-born voters. But during the past decade, the registration gap has narrowed, partly because the newest Americans have been motivated by the immigration debate, said Manuel Pastor, director of the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University of Southern California.

Nationwide, there are 7.8 million people of voting age who naturalized since 2000, or 3.6 percent of all potential voters. Two swing states -- Florida, at 6 percent, and Nevada, at 5.1 percent -- have higher concentrations than the national average.

States like California, Massachusetts and Illinois that are considered likely to go for Obama have significant populations of new citizens who could decide congressional races.

In Massachusetts, where the newest Americans make up 5 percent of all potential voters, GOP Sen. Scott Brown often emphasizes his support for legal immigrants who have "played by the rules" as he competes with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren for the swath of undecided voters.

In downtown Oakland, Calif., the Alameda County Republican Party has been erecting folding tables with voter registration forms in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and English outside naturalization ceremonies.

The success rate for Republicans in this traditionally Democratic stronghold is unclear -- local GOP Chairwoman Sue Caro noted sometimes new citizens pose with the party's cardboard cutouts of Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan, then walk down the sidewalk to the Democratic Party's table and take family photos with likenesses of Michelle and Barack Obama.

In Florida, the Obama campaign for months has sent volunteers to the conference halls where the federal government holds its citizenship ceremonies.

"Our campaign is about inclusiveness, and to that end we encourage all citizens, including our newest citizens, to get involved in the democratic process," Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Campaign Videos Turn to Mocking Candidates

If you’re a talented video producer with a tendency toward scathing, sarcastic attacks, this appears to be your year.

The 2012 presidential campaign has become a battlefield of mocking, rhetorical missiles, many of them delivered in the form of cheap, quickly produced videos posted to the Internet and publicized by the campaigns on Twitter and Facebook.

But do they go too far, risking a backlash even as they go viral?

President Obama’s campaign and his Democratic allies are testing that thesis with a series of videos and TV ads that have made fun of Mitt Romney’s off-key singing, his awkward lapses into corporate-speak and even his wife’s beloved dancing Olympic horse.

That last one has already blown up in their faces.

In two videos produced by the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Romney’s words were juxtaposed with images of Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, performing the Olympic sport of dressage, or horse ballet, with a top-hatted man in the saddle.

“Do we really want a president who dances around the issues?” asks the video — which has been viewed 61,440 times.

Mr. Obama’s supporters clearly thought the video was funny. Mrs. Romney apparently thought otherwise. And it turns out that mocking the very serious hobby of a candidate’s wife — especially one who is extremely popular — is not a particularly good strategy.

The Democratic National Committee quickly apologized, saying that the “use of the Romneys’ dressage horse was not meant to offend Mrs. Romney in any way, and we regret it if it did.”

Perhaps the committee should have listened to Mr. Obama’s own advice, delivered earlier this year after a Democratic strategist criticized Mrs. Romney as never having worked a day in her life. In a television interview soon after, Mr. Obama suggested staying away from spouses.

“I haven’t met Mrs. Romney, but she seems like a very nice woman who is supportive of her family and supportive of her husband. I don’t know if she necessarily volunteered for this job so, you know, we don’t need to be directing comments at them,” he said.

But if Democrats are backing away from the horse images, they are by no means abandoning the posting of biting videos to drive home their message.

In a video released by Mr. Obama this week, a handful of people can be seen reading a transcript of Mr. Romney’s answer to questions about when he left Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded two decades ago. The voters trip over his awkward phrasing, making the video seem more like a segment on “The Daily Show” than a campaign ad.

“He says ‘entity’ a lot,” one person says, looking a bit confused.

Mr. Obama’s campaign also produced a television ad shown in nine battleground states that shows Mr. Romney singing “America the Beautiful” — badly. The idea was to contrast the song with images of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, where Mr. Romney reportedly kept money in offshore accounts.

Senior advisers to Mr. Obama said they believed the ad did not go too far. They said they were confident that voters would see it as a lighthearted way to make a point about Mr. Romney’s finances.

The Romney campaign disagreed, and quickly issued a statement accusing Mr. Obama of making fun of a great American song. “It is sad and shameful that President Obama would mock ‘America The Beautiful,’” the statement said.

The use of sarcastic videos is not limited to Mr. Obama’s campaign. Mr. Romney and his Republican allies have produced their fair share of attacks intended to become sensations on the Internet.

One recent video by the Republican National Committee shows Jay Carney, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, saying that the president has “a lot on his plate.” The video then goes on to show that Mr. Obama has golfed 10 times and held 106 fund-raisers in the last six months, while his jobs council has not met once.

The video then shows a fancy-looking dinner plate with $100 bills and golf balls on it.

In another golf-themed video (lest people forget that Mr. Obama plays a lot of golf), the Republican National Committee shows a golfer repeatedly missing the final put, while showing headlines about Mr. Obama’s economic policies.

This is not the first election to feature snarky videos. In 1988, video of Michael Dukakis wearing a helmet as he rode in a tank came to epitomize his awkwardness. And in 2004, an ad of John Kerry windsurfing was used by Republicans as a metaphor for his flip-flopping.

But it does seem as if a cadre of Democratic and Republican video producers have been busy for months creating a mountain of these attack videos, just waiting for the moment to unload them on the voters.

That moment seems to be now.

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Democratic Race in Queens Proffers Candidates but No Obvious Front-Runner

Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman acknowledges that he can strike some as arrogant, even irritating. But he notes that none of his financial-reform legislation could have passed in Albany without bipartisan support.

And City Councilwoman Elizabeth S. Crowley knows that politicos whisper that she lacks the intellectual horsepower to keep pace in Congress. But she brushes off such talk as elitist, and proudly promotes her working-class support from police officers, firefighters and construction workers.

In some ways, the major candidates vying in the Democratic primary next Tuesday in the Sixth Congressional District, which covers a diverse swath of central and eastern Queens, are all trying to prove that they are not what their reputations suggest.

After all, the candidates concede there are not major differences in their views on core issues like the economy, transportation and immigration. And they also know they cannot match the three decades of incumbency or the high name recognition of the retiring legislator they hope to replace, Representative Gary L. Ackerman.

So in a newly configured district, and anticipating a low-turnout election, the candidates are desperate to define who they are — and who they are not.

Bruce N. Gyory, who teaches political science at the State University at Albany, said he was riveted by the contest, because he could not think of a Congressional primary for an open seat that was as wide open, or as perplexing, since Herman Badillo eked out a win over Peter F. Vallone Sr. in 1970.

“I don’t think polling will be particularly helpful here,” he said. “I don’t think speculation is helpful here. I don’t see any reasonable prognostication about who will win. This is one that will be fascinating until you see the machines opened up Tuesday night.”

Turnout, everyone agrees, will be crucial, with perhaps 32,000 out of 186,000 registered Democrats expected to vote.

Ms. Meng, a fluent Mandarin speaker who has garnered much attention from the Asian-American media, needs a strong showing from Chinese, Korean and South Asian voters. Mr. Lancman, whose campaign believes he has the strongest field operation, is counting on support from Jewish and union voters, while Ms. Crowley, whose mailers have been praised as top-notch even by rival campaigns, is expected to run particularly well among white voters.

The winner of the primary election will most likely face Daniel J. Halloran III, a Republican member of the City Council, in the November general election.

The primary battle began in March, when Mr. Ackerman unexpectedly announced that he would not seek re-election. The Queens Democratic Party, led by its powerful chairman, Representative Joseph Crowley, tapped Ms. Meng, 36, to run; the reconfigured district is about 40 percent Asian-American, and if elected, she would be the first Asian-American member of Congress from New York.

But after Mr. Lancman, 43, announced that he would also seek the nomination, he picked up early momentum, collecting crucial endorsements from the Working Families Party, many unions and former Mayor Edward I. Koch. He also performed strongly in candidate debates.

Then came Ms. Crowley, 34, a cousin of Mr. Crowley. Despite speculation that she was a stalking-horse, urged by her cousin to siphon votes from Mr. Lancman, she insisted that she had contemplated running for higher office even before Mr. Ackerman announced his retirement.

There is also a fourth Democrat on the ballot, Dr. Robert Mittman, a libertarian-leaning family doctor, who has not attracted prominent endorsements or financial support.

In an interview, the low-key Ms. Meng vowed that she would be an independent force in Washington who would focus primarily on transportation, infrastructure and economic issues.

“When I’m drafting or supporting legislation, no one is whispering in my ear except constituents,” she said. “I’ve never had political rabbis.”

Mr. Lancman has vowed to focus on foreign policy and Wall Street reform in Washington, and has highlighted his legislative accomplishments, like helping homeowners recover legal fees in foreclosure cases. The most aggressive of the candidates, he sent out a mailer this week criticizing Ms. Meng and Ms. Crowley as being weak on counterterrorism.

“We all know there are Type A personalities, and maybe I’m a Type AA personality,” he said. “I will always be a very aggressive and prepared counterbalance to any of the crazy right-wing stuff that Republicans want to put forward.”

Ms. Crowley said she wanted to be a voice on women’s health issues in Washington, and dreamed of extending the No. 7 train to La Guardia Airport. She scoffed at the notion that she was a “spoiler” candidate, saying that “I guarantee I’m known better in my own district” than her opponents are in theirs.

“If somebody tries to poke fun at me, I don’t get distracted,” she said. “I always try to stay on message.”

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Democrats may have too many candidates for their own good - Las Vegas Sun

By David McGrath Schwartz (contact)

Sunday, July 10, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid’s Democratic Party has done a remarkable job preventing contentious primaries over the past few elections. The reasoning: Infighting requires campaign spending on something other than defeating Republicans and leaves internal rifts.

So the congressional campaign outlook for 2012 presents an interesting math problem: For the three seats in Southern Nevada, there are five current or former elected Democrats expressing strong interest in running.

Noting that in 2012 the president will be up for re-election and there will be a U.S. Senate race to worry about, that scenario causes some party observers to worry.

Dina Titus

Steven Horsford

John Oceguera

“This is a critical state for the president’s re-election,” said Terry Murphy, a Nevada political consultant. “It would benefit everybody if Democrats selected their candidates rather than fought it out in the primary.”

Another Democratic source imagined two popular Democrats such as former Rep. Dina Titus and state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford duking it out for a congressional seat. He called it “a nightmare scenario” because of the drain on resources it would cause.

(The latest example of the Democratic machine’s distaste for primaries: a targeted effort to weaken Byron Georgiou, who’s running against Reid-supported Rep. Shelley Berkley for the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate.)

This year, the Democratic-controlled Legislature drew congressional boundaries with the help of consultants hired by the state party. Although not mentioned publicly, the three names most often mentioned for those seats were Horsford, Titus and Assembly Speaker John Oceguera.

That worked out cleanly because after the 2010 census, Nevada had four congressional seats — one for the north, where Democrat Treasurer Kate Marshall is running against former Republican state Sen. Mark Amodei, and three in the south.

Oceguera signaled he was willing to take on Rep. Joe Heck; and the two maps passed by the Legislature had him living in Heck’s district.

But politics is rarely simple.

First, Democrats couldn’t strike an agreement with GOP lawmakers or Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval on the boundaries, leaving redistricting, for now, in the hands of the courts.

Second, any sense of anointment that Oceguera, Horsford and even Titus had evaporated once the Legislature adjourned.

Sen. Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, has been the recent subject of buzz, pushed by local and national groups trying to recruit a Hispanic candidate in Nevada.

Kihuen said he appreciates that supporters have started a Facebook page to draft him to run for Congress, but said it’s too early to commit.

Would he consider running in a primary against a Democrat?

“I’m going to base my decision on what I feel is best for the people of Nevada, and what my constituents are saying,” he said.

Titus said she can’t comment on electoral politics because she is a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Also interested is Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, a business-friendly Democrat who openly sparred with Oceguera during the session and took swipes at the control Horsford tried to exert over his caucus.

He called his possible opponents “good people. But it will be easier for me to make a decision because I’m not a political opportunist.”

The glut of options is a shift from early last decade, when the Democrats struggled to find viable candidates to run in the competitive congressional district. Now they have more serious candidates than available seats.

Andres Ramirez, a political consultant, warned against anointing anyone.

“In many instances, the perceived front-runners in the beginning don’t even run,” he said. “It’s way too early.”

Publicly, anyway. Privately, all the potential candidates are preparing.

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DNC video lambasts Republican candidates at New Hampshire debate (Daily Caller)

The Democratic National Committee’s “rapid response” team lived up to its name today, with a morning-after video of the Republican debate in New Hampshire.

And nothing makes Republican politicians look dumber than splicing together 30 seconds of footage from a two-hour debate, unless some of footage is taken completely out of context that is.

(No Mitt Romney feeding frenzy; Pawlenty refuses to attack)

“The Republicans met to talk about the most pressing issues facing our country …” begins the video. What follows is quick footage of Herman Cain saying “I do not believe in Sharia law in American courts.” Cain was trying to clarify his previous statements on Muslims and Sharia law. Cain doesn’t help himself by continuing with the fringe claim that Muslims may be trying to hijack entire states.

WATCH:

Next on the hit list is former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty who said, “I support a constitutional amendment to define marriage between a man and woman.” It’s a Republican primary so this answer shouldn’t be too surprising. But it comes after the accusation that the phrase “middle class” was never used. But it would seem Republicans don’t believe in class-ism the way Democrats do. Rick Santorum prefers the phrase “middle of America,” which he used three times. And the issue of lower-middle-class jobs did in fact come up a lot; odd, since there haven’t really been any in a few years.

Pawlenty got hit again with footage of him calling Sarah Palin a “remarkable leader.” Taken in context, however, — she was being compared to Geronimo Joe Biden — that’s not an incredible statement.

Mitt Romney got called out for saying he would repeal “ObamaCare,” though he was defending himself against Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who not only had an amazing performance but more surprisingly wasn’t featured in the video, despite being a favorite target of Democrats.

The cruelest — and least honest — swipe came at the expense of Newt Gingrich and his campaign of one.

“But at least one candidate had a vision of the future …” flashed on the screen before Gingrich appeared to be caught giving away the plot of James Bond’s Moonraker.

” … we would today probably have a permanent station on the moon, three or four permanent stations in space, a new generation of lift vehicles.”

What’s lost is the context of the sentence’s previous clause: “If you take all the money we’ve spent at NASA since we landed on the moon and you had applied that money for incentives to the private sector …”

The massive money black hole that is NASA has been well documented for years, while modern-day Howard Hughes are ready to rock and roll with commercial space flights have been grounded thanks to bureaucratic regulations and general lethargy.

Meanwhile, Gary Johnson was spared any ridicule as he was not even allowed at the debate.

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