Elections Directory USA

The Upshot - Did Sarah Palin's endorsement help Joe Miller in Alaska's GOP Senate primary? Not really, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey of GOP primary voters in the state. According to the poll, just 15 percent of those who voted for Miller say Palin's endorsement influenced their vote. Twenty-six percent said it was "somewhat important," [...]

AP - Sen. Lisa Murkowski gained ground Tuesday on Republican challenger Joe Miller in their razor-thin GOP primary as Alaska began counting thousands of outstanding ballots.

AFP - In a fresh blow to President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies, a new opinion poll shows his Republican critics have an unprecedented 10-point edge just over two months before key elections.

The Upshot - Two new Pennsylvania polls show Republican Pat Toomey maintaining a comfortable lead over Democrat Joe Sestak nine weeks out from Election Day. Toomey, a former congressman and onetime head of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, holds a 10-point lead over Rep. Sestak among likely voters surveyed by Reuters-Ipsos. Toomey led 47 to 37 percent [...]

Reuters - Temporarily extending tax cuts for the rich opens the door to permanent tax cuts and that is something the United States cannot afford, an economic advisor to President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

AP - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he and President Barack Obama lost a bet while playing golf last week, costing them both a bit of money.

AP - The man who runs Washington is in danger of losing his job in a hotly contested election, but the post that's up for grabs isn't president. It's mayor.

AP - In an election year of the angry electorate, former governors in five states are hoping that a deja vu appeal sells better than the anti-establishment pitch.

The Upshot - No matter what President Obama says about his religion, the debate over whether he is secretly Muslim continues to rage within the GOP. And a new poll finds that Republicans are now taking that rumor one step further. A Newsweek survey released Monday found that a majority of Republicans believe that Obama "sympathizes with the [...]

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday condemned the killings of an Afghan parliamentary candidate and five members of the campaign team for another candidate.

AP - As he prepares to herald the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, President Barack Obama has spoken by phone to former President George W. Bush.

The Upshot - The 2010 campaign is already ugly, and it's likely to get much worse ahead of the November midterms. A report from the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political ad buys, finds that candidates for state and federal offices have already spent nearly $400 million on TV ads this election cycle. Political parties and outside [...]

The Upshot - If the qualities you look for in a congressional representative include prison time for corruption and outlandish hairdos  — and if you live in Ohio's 17th congressional district — you're in luck. Former Democratic Rep. James Traficant is poised to qualify as an Independent candidate for the Ohio House seat he held prior to his [...]

AP - Americans with the strongest opinions about the country's most divisive issues are largely unhappy with how President Barack Obama is handling them, an ominous sign for Democrats hoping to retain control of Congress in the fall elections.

The Upshot - Republicans hold a 10-point lead over Democrats in Gallup's most recent generic congressional survey, the Republicans' largest margin over Democrats in six decades of this particular Gallup poll. Registered voters expressed a preference for a generic Republican over a generic Democrat for Congress 51 percent to 41 percent. This is the fifth week in a [...]

AP - The Associated Press-GfK Poll on election issues was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from Aug. 11-16, 2010. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,007 adults. Interviews were conducted with 706 respondents on landline telephones and 301 on cellular phones.

AP - One week after helping engineer a surprise in Alaska, the Tea Party Express announced a six-figure commitment Monday to back Christine O'Donnell and her challenge to Delaware Rep. Mike Castle for the state's Republican senatorial nomination.

AP - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday her Republican rival Joe Miller may be creating doubt in the minds of Alaskans about the integrity of the voting process by ratcheting up the hyperbole about possible election fraud.

AP - An elections board in Ohio says a former congressman who served time in federal prison has enough valid signatures to run again for a U.S. House seat.

AP - Democrats' House campaign committee is starting its first advertising blitz of the fall election cycle Tuesday with a TV spot hammering Wisconsin GOP candidate Sean Duffy, one of several Republicans who are threatening to wrest an open Democratic seat.