continuation

2008
January 1: NY Assemblyman Greg Ball declines to run against Dem Rep. John Hall (NY-19), leaving the GOP with third-tier candidate Kieran Lalor.
January 11: State Rep. Bill Konopnicki, one of the GOP's top choices to run for the seat of retiring Rep. Rick Renzi (AZ-01), drops out of the race, leaving Republicans without a top tier candidate in this competitive district.
January 15: GOP Rep. Richard Baker (LA-06) announces that he'll hang up his spurs and take a plum lobbying job instead, opening up his R+6.5 district for a takeover by Democratic state Rep. Don Cazayoux.
January 21: The NRCC's preferred candidate to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-0, ex-Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, announces that he'll run for the State House instead. Within a month, Fitzpatrick bails on that campaign, too.
January 22: Missouri Republican Gov. Matt Blunt announces that he won't seek a second term, leaving Democratic state AG Jay Nixon as the frontrunner to succeed him.
January 23: GOP Rep. Jim Walsh (NY-25) announces that he will retire from Congress, giving Democrats a prime pick-up opportunity for his D+3.2 open seat.
January 29: GOP Rep. Kenny Hulshof (MO-09) announces that he will leave Congress to run for Governor, leaving his R+6.5 district up for grabs.
January 29: GOP Rep. Ron Lewis (KY-02) announces his retirement, putting his conservative but historically Democratic R+12.9 district on the table.
January 30: GOP Rep. Tom Davis (VA-11) announces his retirement from Congress, opening up his Dem-trending R+0.6 district for a takeover.

February 12: When asked if he will challenge Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) for his re-election, Mike Huckabee replies: "There's a greater chance that I would dye my hair green, cover my body with tattoos and go on a rock tour with Amy Winehouse."
February 12: Pro-war state Sen. Andy Harris successfully defeats moderate incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01) in the GOP primary. Gilchrest's defeat gives Democrat Frank Kratovil a fighting chance of picking up the R+9.8 seat in November.
February 12: GOP Rep. John Shaddeg (AZ-03) announces his retirement.
February 21: Desperate GOPers beg John Shadegg to unretire. In an embarrassing about-face which serves as an admission that the Republicans had no ability to recruit a strong replacement in this district, Shadegg changes his mind and decides to stick it out for another term.
February 22: GOP Rep. Rick Renzi is indicted on 35 criminal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and official extortion.
February 23: The GOP's candidate to run for retiring Rep. Jerry Weller's (IL-11) open seat, New Lennox Mayor Tim Baldermann, drops out of the race.
February 25: Outgoing GOP Rep. Renzi (AZ-01) bucks the orders of John Boehner and refuses to resign immediately from Congress.
February 27: GOP Sen. Ted Stevens loses his free pass when Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announces his candidacy against him.

March 4: The NRCC's preferred candidate to take on Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23), wealthy self-funding attorney Franciso "Quico" Canseco, loses his primary to Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson, despite spending over $1 million on the race. Larson has only raised a fraction of that amount, causing many observers to downgrade this race's competitiveness.
March 4: The GOP nominates Fred Dailey, a former state Agriculture Director, to take on freshman Rep. Zack Space (OH-1. Dailey's fundraising is incredibly anemic, having only raised $75,000 through the primary, despite being in the race for over nine months.
March 5: Republican real estate developer Anne Estabrook drops out of the Senate race against Frank Lautenberg due to illness.
March 7: GOP Rep. Steve King (IA-05) announces that he won't challenge Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, leaving the NRSC without a top-tier candidate once again.
March 8: South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds once again refuses to run against Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, despite President Bush begging him to change his mind.
March 8: Democrat Bill Foster wins the special election in IL-14 for the seat of retiring Rep. Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House. The pick-up of the R+4.8 open seat inspires SSP Publisher DavidNYC to start the blog's wildly popular Tom Cole Deathwatch series, later a hot topic of discussion on Capitol Hill.
March 10: Former Lt. Governor and Republican businessman and flesh-eating zombie Steve Kirby also declines to run against Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), dashing GOP hopes of finding a wealthy challenger to make this a race.
March 13: NRCC Chair Tom Cole reveals that the NRCC overstated its cash on hand by $740,000 due to fraud by an ex-employee.
March 13: NRSC Chair John Ensign admits that the committee's goal of capturing "two seats" to take back the Senate is a "very long stretch".
March 13: Retiring GOP Rep. Tom Davis (VA-11), a former chair of the NRCC, famously says: "The House Republican brand is so bad right now that if it were a dog food, they'd take it off the shelf."
March 19: GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds (NY-26) -- who only one cycle before helmed the NRCC -- retires, opening up his R+3.5 seat for a takeover.
March 23: Andy Unanue, a former seller of luscious Goya nectars, announces his candidacy for the U.S. Senate against Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) while vacationing in the posh resort community of Vail, Colorado.
March 24: The GOP finally finds a candidate for the open seat of retiring Illinois Rep. Jerry Weller (IL-11) -- their twentieth choice, shady concrete mogul Martin Ozinga.
March 24: The GOP's preferred choice to run for the open seat of retiring Rep. Tom Reynolds (NY-26), state Sen. George Maziarz, won't run. Their second choice, Assemblyman Jim Hayes, also declines to run.
March 25: The GOP's lone candidate to take on Democrat Dan Maffei in the open seat of NY-25, former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli, pulls the plug on his candidacy, leaving the GOP without a candidate here for some time.
March 27: State Rep. Donna Stone declines to run for the Delaware Governor's office, leaving Delaware GOP officials to lament that they "have no strong candidates" to offer for the open seat race in 2008.
March 31: The GOP's top choice to run for the open seat left behind by retiring Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer in Alabama, DINO state Sen. Tom Butler, declines to run.

April 6: The GOP's top choice to take on Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, biotech millionaire John Crowley, pulls out of the race for the second time in two weeks, leaving the GOP to temporarily fall back on disgraced Goya foods frat boy Andy Unanue.
April 7: Colorado Senate candidate Bob Schaffer's ties to Jack Abramoff begin to receive wider exposure in local media.
April 21: The GOP's top choice to run for the open seat of retiring Rep. Rick Renzi (AZ-01), former state Sen. President Ken Bennett, again declines to run, leaving the GOP with the far-right loon Sydney Hay as their last resort.
April 22: In the MS-01 special primary, Democrat Travis Childers very nearly wins the R+10 open seat left behind by Roger Wicker outright. GOP panic ensues as the race goes to a runoff.


to be continued

__________________
Biting the hand that feeds my mojo

continuation

May 1: GOP Rep. Vito Fossella (NY-13) is arrested on DWI charges in Virginia.
May 3: Democrat Don Cazayoux wins the LA-06 special election against Republican Woody Jenkins in an R+6.5 district. This is the Democrats' second house pick-up of the year.
May 6: Rumors rage that GOP Rep. Vito Fossella is involved in an extramarital affair and has an out-of-wedlock child after details of his DWI arrest are made public.
May 7: Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, the GOP candidate against freshman Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11) tells the NRCC that he has no interest in accepting their campaign money, saying that the national party has "abandoned their principles".
May 8: Rep. Vito Fossella (NY-13) admits to fathering a child in an extramarital affair.
May 9: Several local NY papers call on Rep. Vito Fossella to resign.
May 9: Vice President Dick Cheney makes an embarrassing gaffe on a Mississippi radio show about visiting "South Memphis" in order to campaign for GOP candidate Greg Davis in an upcoming special election. The locals are not amused.
May 13: In a back-breaking blow to Republican morale, Democrat Travis Childers beats Republican Greg Davis by eight points for the R+10 open seat left behind by appointed Sen. Roger Wicker in Mississippi. SSP Publisher DavidNYC writes that the result is the "final piece of straw set atop the shambling camel of the GOP, the one which clove its dessicated humps in two."
May 14: GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer kicks off his campaign in Colorado with an embarrassing TV spot that features an image of Alaska's Mt. McKinley in the place of Colorado's Pikes Peak.
May 19: GOP Rep. Vito Fossella (NY-13) announces his retirement, creating another vulnerable open seat for Republicans to defend.
May 20: Businessman Mike Erickson wins the GOP nomination in OR-05 for the open swing seat left behind by retiring Democratic Rep. Darlene Hooley. However, Erickson spends the last week of his primary campaign deflecting accusations that he used to lead a party-heavy lifestyle of cocaine use and that he paid for a girlfriend's abortion procedure several years earlier. The allegations heavily blunt the GOP's hopes of making this race into a rare pick-up opportunity.
May 20: The filing deadline passes in Arkansas, and Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, considered one of the GOP's top targets early in the cycle, goes unchallenged by any major party opposition.
May 21: OR-05 primary loser Kevin Mannix refuses to endorse GOP candidate Mike Erickson.
May 21: In the wake of the GOP's loss of MS-01, word leaks out that Minority Leader John Boehner is forcing some major changes upon Tom Cole and the NRCC.
May 22: In a major disappointment for the NRCC, the GOP's top choice to replace Vito Fossella (NY-13) in the House, Richmond County DA Dan Donovan, declines to run.
May 22: GOP delegates vote to endorse wingnut Kieran Lalor over Westchester Legislator George Oros. Days later, Oros drops out of the race, setting up freshman Democratic Rep. John Hall (NY-19) for an easy re-election bid.
May 27: GOP Rep. Bill "Brain Fade" Sali (ID-01) turns back a poorly-funded primary challenge by only capturing 60% of the vote.
May 29: State Sen. Andrew Lanza, the GOP's second choice to succeed Vito Fossella (NY-13), officially declines to run.
May 29: Failing to convince a top-tier (or second-tier) candidate to run for Fossella's seat, the Staten Island GOP nominates some dude named Frank Powers, a retired Wall Street executive and MTA member.
May 29: Nevada Republicans are sent into a tailspin as details of GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons' divorce proceedings are made public. GOP consultant Chuck Muth laments: "This absolutely could depress Republicans who are already depressed. This could hurt McCain's ability to hold on to Nevada. It could also affect the chances of (Rep.) Jon Porter to get re-elected."
May 31: In a sign of grassroots disgust, Jim Gilmore very nearly loses the GOP nomination to succeed retiring Sen. John Warner to state Del. Bob Marshall.

June 3: In a major embarrassment for NRSC Chair John Ensign and Massachusetts Republicans, dark horse candidate Jim Ogonowski fails to file enough signatures to make the ballot against John Kerry.
June 3: Carpet-bagging blockhead and conservative firebrand Tom McClintock beats the more moderate (and perhaps more electable) Doug Ose for the GOP nod to succeed John Doolittle.
June 3: In Iowa, Montana and New Mexico, party-favored candidates for Senate lose their primary bids to no-money candidates. In Montana, the upset is particularly glaring; the winning candidate, Bob Kelleher, is a former Democrat and Green Party member who has lost numerous bids for statewide office in the past. In New Mexico, hand-picked "moderate" successor to Pete Domenici, Rep. Heather Wilson, loses to the Club For Growth-backed conservative Rep. Steve Pearce.
June 3: Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, the GOP's candidate against Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11) calls for the impeachment of President Bush over his "failure to protect America's sovereignty".
June 4: Francis M. Powers, the son of NY-13 GOP candidate Francis H. Powers, seeks to run on the Libertarian Party line against his father in the hopes of denying him the seat. While Powers' bid is ultimately unsuccessful, the event badly embarrasses Staten Island Republicans.
June 5: Staten Island Conservatives buck the state party and press to give their endorsement to Democrat Mike McMahon.
June 7: NRSC John Ensign moves the goalposts out of the stadium by suggesting that the GOP's "minimum goal" is to retain control of 41 Senate seats.
June 9: OH-16 GOP candidate Kirk Schuring makes an embarrassing gaffe about gun violence in his hometown of Canton.
June 12: An audit reveals that former NRCC treasurer Christopher Ward embezzled $725,000 from the committee over a period of six years, up from previous NRCC estimates of $500-$600K. In addition, it is revealed that Ward stole $27,000 from the NRSC via joint fundraising activities and $47,000 from other GOP leadership PACs, for a total of almost $800,000.
June 12: When asked to list the competitive Senate races of 2008, NRSC Chair John Ensign leaves off New Mexico and Virginia. When asked if the NRSC is writing off Steve Pearce and Jim Gilmore, Ensign replies: "You don't waste money on races that don't need it or you can't win."
June 16: In a move that leaves both supporters and detractors speechless, "Big John" Cornyn releases this campaign video at the Texas GOP convention.
June 18: GOP wunderkind Jon Elrod drops out of the race against Rep. Andre Carson (IN-07), saying that he wouldn't stand much of a chance in November.
June 20: The Alaska AFL-CIO, which has usually backed Sen. Ted Stevens, votes to give its endorsement to his Democratic challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.
June 20: Republican nominee Joel Dykstra is forced to address claims that he's GOP's "sacrificial lamb" against Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson in South Dakota.
June 22: NY-13 GOP candidate Francis Powers dies at age 67.
June 23: OR-05 GOP candidate Mike Erickson endures more bad press when the woman whom he allegedly gave money to pay for her abortion steps forward and gives her account to the press.
June 23: Seeing the writing on the NY GOP's wall, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announces his retirement.
June 25: Former Assemblyman Matthew Mirones pulls his name from consideration after briefly mulling the open seat race to replace retiring Rep. Vito Fossella (NY-13). NY1 broadcaster Lisa Giovinazzo also declines to run, leaving former Rep. Guy Molinari, the dean of Staten Island Republicans, exasperated.
June 25: GOP Rep. Chris Cannon (UT-03), recently ousted in a primary, speaks candidly on the shape of the Republican Party in Utah and elsewhere: "It doesn't take a genius to see that Republicans (in office) have lost the credibility of people in America and in the 3rd District."
June 26: NRCC Communications Director Karen Hanretty admits that "there are no safe Republican seats in this election."
June 30: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admits that it is "impossible" for the GOP to reclaim control of the Senate in the 2008 elections.
June 30: GOP Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart is busted for touting labor endorsements from unions that not only did not endorse him, but are actually supporting his Democratic challenger, former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez.

July 1: Former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R-MD), while on the campaign trail for MD-01 candidate Andy Harris, admits that "the Republican brand quite frankly sucks".

Is there anything that we missed?
http://www.swingstateproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2...

__________________
Biting the hand that feeds my mojo