Secretary of State races in 2007
The Secretary of State Project is currently researching candidates in the three states where chief elections officers are up for a vote in 2007: Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
In Kentucky, Bruce Hendrickson won the May 22nd Democratic primary. Hendrickson's campaign was a mixed bag. On the upside he argued for a voter verified paper trail. On the very considerable downside, he also advocated for voter IDs which have been proven to disenfranchise minority voters.
In Louisiana, no democratic candidate has emerged to take on Repbulican Jay Dardenne. In fact, when Dardenne was elected to fill the SoS position which was vacated by the death of republican Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen. Dardenne's democratic opponent in the fall 2006 election, Frances Heitmeier, withdrew two weeks into the special runoff. The democrat said that it was impossible to win because the New Orleans base had been destroyed by Katrina. He threw in the towell and Dardenne was elected without opposition.
Given the national significance of the Katrina vote the 2006, the performance of democrats in the 2006 special election and the lack of a declared candidate for the 2007 general election does not bode well for voting rights in Louisiana. The flling deadline to run is September 6, 2007. If anyone knows a good potential candidate, email secstateproject at gmail dot com.
In Mississippi, the SoS seat will be an open race as the current Democratic Secretary of State is retiring. There had been talk of a progressive candidate entering the race. However she declined to do so.
Here's how the fundraising is shaping up in that race, as reported by Laura Hipp in the Mississippi state government blog at the Clarion Ledger.
Secretary of State candidate - May donations and total raised.
D- Rob Smith of Richland $2,758 $2,600
D-Jabari Toins of Jackson $163 $163
D-John Windsor of Corinth $9,425 $135,521
R-Delbert Hosemann of Flowood $44,674 $340,132
R- Mike Lott of Petal $20,700 $40,609
R-Jeffrey Rupp of Starkville $9,800 $101,225
R- Gene Sills of Crystal Springs NA NA
Clearly John Windsor is winning the money race, though he has just more than half the cash of the leading Republican fundraiser.
Currently, we're watching the races in all three of these 2007 contests. If you have local knowledge or other strategic information about any of these candidates or races, email secstateproject at gmail dot com.
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