IOWA: SENATE
Rep. Bruce Braley has a chicken problem, and by chickens, I mean actual chickens.
The Washington Post writes:
This spring, Pauline Hampton’s chickens roamed onto Bruce and Carolyn Braley’s vacation property on tranquil Holiday Lake. Hampton said she did not know this until she walked over one day to offer Carolyn a dozen fresh eggs. To which she said her neighbor replied, "We aren’t going to accept your eggs — and we have filed a formal complaint against you."
Carolyn took her complaint to their neighborhood homeowners’ association board meeting in May. Her husband, Bruce, then called the association’s lawyer, Thomas Lacina, to say that he believed "chickens are not pets and should not be permitted at Holiday Lake," and that he wanted to "avoid a litigious situation," according to an e-mail Lacina wrote. Braley denied that he threatened a lawsuit.
Bruce Braley seems to have a campaign filled with gaffes, from the farmer comment, to the "chick" ad, and now this. What makes them damaging is that they're gaffes that mock or seem to show him as disconnected from the state he hopes to represent.
When you add that to his poor attendance of committees meetings, Braley looks more and more like a stereotypical, self-absorbed political.
The mistakes are reportedly worrying Democrats, and rightfully so. This race is very much a toss-up, and the latest poll showed Republican Joni Ernst with a slight edge.
MONTANA: SENATE
Earlier this week, Sen. John Walsh (D., Mont.) dropped out of the state’s Senate race.
The Wall Street Journal writes:
U.S. Sen. John Walsh will withdraw from the Senate race in Montana amid allegations of plagiarism, leaving Democrats there scrambling to find a new candidate before an election deadline later this month.
State party officials confirmed Thursday that Mr. Walsh will exit the race. His campaign didn't return calls seeking comment. In a statement to supporters quoted by Missoulian newspaper, Mr. Walsh said he is ending his campaign to "focus on fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me as your U.S. senator."
Not shocking after Walsh was badly damaged by plagiarism allegations and there seemed to be no way for him to overcome what was very compelling evidence of academic dishonesty.
That wasn’t good news for Democrats; Walsh dropping out is not great news either.
The Republican candidate, Rep. Steve Daines, already had a strong lead and it will be difficult for a Democrat to come in and pick up that momentum, no matter who they choose.
OREGON: SENATE
A business executive working with Monica Wehby’s campaign resigned following revelations that he served time in prison for domestic violence.
According to a report in Buzzfeed:
Two weeks ago, Oregon Republican Senate candidate Monica Wehby announced a "small business coalition" led by a CEO of a waste-to-energy company.
The co-chair of the committee was Tim Moles, CEO of Joules Power Inc.
Moles was convicted on domestic violence charges, for which he was sentenced to 17 months in prison in 2002. Moles also pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and one of felony harassment. Court records detail various acts of domestic violence including Moles choking his wife, threatening to kill her, punching her in the face, and dragging her out of a car.
Following BuzzFeed’s inquiry Wednesday about Moles’ role in the campaign, the Wehby campaign told BuzzFeed he had resigned.
"The campaign was unaware of Mr. Moles’ past," a spokesperson for the campaign said. "He has offered his resignation from his voluntary position, and the campaign has accepted."
It’s safe to say this man sounds like an awful person. In addition to serving time for domestic violence, he was also accused of attempting to hire a hit man to kill wife.
There’s no reason to think Wehby knew about this, no campaign would want to hire this guy, but it’s a bit awkward because you’ll remember Wehby came under attack just before the primary when police reports surfaced showing that Wehby was accused of stalking and harassing her ex-husband and an ex-boyfriend.
A significant percentage of votes had already been cast by mail, and Wehby won the primary, but critics said this was evidence of, at the very least, poor judgement and supporters contended it was a sexist attack.
Oregon is considered to be likely Democrat, and this news might be too early to impact Wehby’s numbers, but it adds to questions about her judgment and that isn’t good for an already struggling campaign.