KAREN HANDEL (R) DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (D); CONGRATS

KAREN HANDEL DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (CONGRATS):

AMERICA IS TIRED OF POLITICS WHICH DIVIDES OUR GREAT NATION.

VOTERS ARE TIRED OF DEMOCRATS' POLITICAL INTIMIDATION & CORRUPTION.


Sources: CNN, Fox News, YouTube


****** Republican Handel wins Georgia special House election


Republican Karen Handel on Tuesday night defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s record-spending, special-election House race, according to the Associated Press.

With all precincts reporting, Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, led Ossoff 52 percent to 48 percent -- a margin of nearly 11,000 votes out of more than 250,000 ballots cast.

The race smashed fundraising records for a House contest -- with both campaigns and outside groups combining to spend a record $50 million.

Ossoff’s defeat was another setback for Democrats hoping to capitalize on President Trump’s low approval ratings to win a long-standing Republican seat.

It was the party’s fourth straight defeat this year in attempts to win a Republican seat and take the momentum into the 2018 midterms. They now must win 24 GOP House seats to retake control of the chamber next year.

“This race was going to require all hands on deck, and that’s what we had,” Handel said at her victory party. “Tonight’s victory is for you. It’s for every citizen in the 6th (Congressional) District.”

To be sure, the contest was close since Handel and Ossoff were the top finishers in April's first balloting, which sent them to Tuesday’s runoff.

Ossoff lead by nearly 5 percentage points as recently as June 12, before the race deadlocked in the final days, according to the RealClearPolitics.com polls average.

The 30-year-old Ossoff, whose campaign was hurt by revelations that he didn’t live in the suburban Atlanta district, thanked his campaign team and voters in a short concession speech.

“Thank you for the most extraordinary process that I have ever been a part of,” Ossoff said. “The fight goes on. Hope is still alive.”

The House seat has been occupied by Republicans since 1979. GOP Rep. Tom Price gave up the seat in February to become Health and Human Services secretary.

President Trump didn’t campaign in Georgia for Handel. But he attacked Ossoff on Twitter for living outside the district and warned voters that he would increase taxes and be soft on national security.

Handel supporters chanted “Trump, Trump, Trump” at her victory party. And the president tweeted his own message of congratulations.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also congratulated Handel, saying, “Karen is all business. I’ve campaigned with her, and I know how eager she is to get to work. I’m excited to have her as a partner in the House.”

Ossoff tried to thread the needle in the conservative-leaning Georgia district by vowing to cut taxes for small businesses, while championing equal rights for women and minorities, which earned him the support of civil rights icon and Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis.

Handel touted her experience as a state and local elected official and argued that outside forces were trying to buy a win.

Voters “are not interested in Hollywood and California coming in and buying this seat,” she said Tuesday morning on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed just 3.5 percent of Ossoff’s donations between the end of March and May came from Georgia.

Still, Handel also benefited from outside spending, though most didn’t go directly to her campaign.

Groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee backed by Ryan, have spent millions on her behalf.

Also on Tuesday, Republicans held onto the House seat in South Carolina that was vacated in February by Mick Mulvaney so he could become the White House budget director. Millionaire developer Ralph Norman, the Republican, defeated former Goldman Sachs tax adviser Archie Parnell, the Democrat, in a closer-than-expected contest.

The other two special-election races this year in which Democrats failed to win a GOP House seat were in Kansas and Montana.

In Kansas, Republicans held onto the seat of Mike Pompeo, now the CIA director, and they kept the Montana seat of Ryan Zinke, who became Trump’s secretary of Interior.

Democrats have one last outside chance to win a GOP House seat, Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s in a conservative Utah. The special election is on August 15. Democrats won one special House election this year, holding onto the California seat vacated by Xavier Becerra.

While Republicans have held the Georgia seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took it from Democrats nearly four decades ago, the district does not appear as conservative as in years past.

Trump won the district over Democrat Hillary Clinton last year by just 1.5 percent, compared to 2008 when Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain won by 18.9 percent.

The race attracted national attention and record money, but Georgia voters also took a big interest in the outcome.

More than 40,000 people voted early, including 36,000 who didn't vote in the April contest.

TRUMP & HILLARY WIN ARIZONA (VOTERS DON'T WANT BROKERED GOP NOMINATION)

TRUMP & HILLARY WIN ARIZONA PRIMARIES (DELEGATE COUNTDOWN):

TRUMP WILL BE THE GOP NOMINEE.

ARIZONA VOTERS DON'T WANT BROKERED CONVENTION.

Sources: AP, CNN, The Guardian, WSJ, Youtube

**** Arizona Primary

Last updated Mar 22, 2016 at 11:26 PM ET

REPUBLICAN

Mar 2258 delegates

1% reporting	Delegates	Votes
Trump (won)	58	46.5% 148,599
Cruz	0	21.0% 67,136
Kasich	0	10.2% 32,529

Brown Holds Slight Lead, 20% Early Reporting Indicates

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Brown Takes Early Lead In Mass. Senate Race


In a Massachusetts race with major national implications, Republican Scott Brown inched ahead of Democrat Martha Coakley on Tuesday in a down-to-the-wire U.S. Senate election that became a referendum on President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul and his first year in office.

A loss — or even a narrow victory — by the once-favored Coakley for the seat that the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy held for nearly half a century in this Democratic stronghold could signal big political problems for the president's party this fall when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.

More immediately at stake was a critical 60th vote for Democrats to save their health care legislation and the rest of Obama's agenda. A 41st Republican in the 100-member Senate could allow the GOP to block the president's priorities with filibusters.

With 20 percent of votes reported, Brown opened a slight lead over Coakley.

Turnout was expected to be twice as heavy as the light 20 percent of voters who participated in the December party primaries, despite a mix of snow and rain showers across the state virtually all day.

The election transformed reliably Democratic Massachusetts into a battleground state. One day shy of the first anniversary of Obama's swearing-in, it played out amid a backdrop of animosity and resentment from voters over persistently high unemployment, industry bailouts, exploding federal budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.

Referendum on Obama?

Though he wasn't on the ballot, the president was on many voters' minds.

"I voted for Obama because I wanted change. ... I thought he'd bring it to us, but I just don't like the direction that he's heading," said John Triolo, 38, a registered independent who voted in Fitchburg.

He said his frustrations, including what he considered the too-quick pace of health care legislation, led him to vote for Brown.

But Robert Hickman, 55, of New Bedford, said he backed Coakley "to stay on the same page with the president."

Even before the first results were announced, administration officials were privately accusing Coakley of a poorly run campaign and playing down the notion that Obama or a toxic political landscape had much to do with the outcome.

Coakley's supporters, in turn, blamed that very environment, saying her lead dropped significantly after the Senate passed health care reform shortly before Christmas and after the Christmas Day attempted airliner bombing that Obama himself said showed a failure of his administration.

Fingerpointing began more than a week ago as polls started showing a tight race. Obama flew to Boston for last-minute personal campaigning on Sunday.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president "was both surprised and frustrated ... not pleased" at how competitive the race had become in the final weeks.

Wall Street watched race

Wall Street watched the election closely. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 116 points, and analysts attributed the increase to hopes the election would make it harder for Obama to make his changes to health care. That eased investor concerns that profits at companies such as insurers and drug makers would suffer.

Across Massachusetts, voters who had been bombarded with phone calls and dizzied with nonstop campaign commercials for Coakley and Brown gave a fitting turnout despite intermittent snow and rain statewide.

Secretary of State William Galvin, who discounted sporadic reports of voter irregularities throughout the day, predicted turnout ranging from 1.6 million to 2.2 million, 40 percent to 55 percent of registered voters. The Dec. 8 primary had a scant turnout of about 20 percent.

National issues including health care and the federal budget deficits were on voters' minds.

"We don't want health care just for the rich and the middle class. We need it for everyone," said Democrat Neicei Degan, 82, who voted for Coakley in hopes of saving Obama's plan that would extend coverage to millions of uninsured.

Fears about spending drove Karla Bunch, 49, to vote for Brown. "It's time for the country, for the taxpayers, to take back their money," she said.

For others, feelings about the candidates themselves shaped their votes.

Recalling that Brown once posed nude for Cosmopolitan magazine, Kaitlin Addams, 50, said she reluctantly voted for Coakley "to make sure the pinup boy doesn't get into office. I don't like his stand on issues. He's an extreme conservative."

Conversely, Elizabeth Reddin, 65, voted for Brown because she said she was turned off by the Democrat's negative advertisements, saying: "The Coakley stuff was disgusting."

Workmanlike campaign

As polls opened, Brown drove up to his polling place in Wrentham in the green pickup truck that came to symbolize his upstart, workmanlike campaign that in the past week pulled him into a surprise dead heat in polls.

"It would make everybody the 41st senator, and it would bring fairness and discussion back to the equation," the state senator said of a potential victory. He spent the rest of the day out of public view, crafting evening rally remarks that had the potential to be an early State of the Union speech for the national Republican Party.

Coakley, stunned to see a double-digit lead evaporate in recent weeks, counted on labor unions and reawakened Democrats to turn out on her behalf and preserve a seat Kennedy and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, held for over 50 years. The senator died in August of brain cancer.

"We're paying attention to the ground game," Coakley, the state's attorney general, said casting her vote in suburban Medford. "Every game has its own dynamics."



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Sources: AP, MSNBC, TPM, Google Maps

High Voter Turnout In Mass. U.S. Senate Race; Braving Snow, Ice

Mass. Voters Stream To Polls In Special US Senate Election


Voters flooded the polls to cast ballots in the unexpectedly close election to succeed the late Edward M. Kennedy in the US Senate.

Light snow has not discouraged heavy traffic at polling places as more than 55,000 people cast ballots by noon in Boston, an early turnout more than double that of the primary last month. Other cities and towns experienced similar waves of voters. Lines formed at a polling place in Somerville, and traffic backed up at Bates Elementary School in Wellesley, with cars spilling onto Elmwood Road. In two Quincy precincts at the Lodge of Elks, nearly 1,000 people -- or about 25 percent of voters -- cast ballots by 1 p.m.

"I'm trying to save the nation today," said Robert Cappello, 69, a registered Republican and enthusiastic Scott Brown voter from South Boston who reveled in what he described as an "overwhelming sweep" of momentum for his candidate.

"This election is a lot about sending a message," Cappello said in an excited voice outside a polling place on H Street. "It's telling Washington to slow down."

In West Roxbury at St. George Orthodox Church, Phil DiCarlo cast his ballot for Democrat Martha Coakley but noted how quickly the Brown campaign gathered steam.

"It seems like people have short memories," DiCarlo said. "They forgot about the last eight years" under former president George Bush.

Brown, a Republican state senator from Wrentham, has surged more than 30 points in the polls in a special election for the US Senate seat Democrats have held for generations. Brown has vowed to be the crucial 41st Republican vote blocking President Obama’s health care legislation in the Senate.

Coakley, the state attorney general, was the early front runner after her decisive victory in the Democratic primary last month. She supports the health care overhaul and stood with Obama in Boston this weekend at a rally for her campaign.

An independent candidate, Joseph L. Kennedy of Dedham -- no relation to the late senator -- also appears on today’s ballot.

At the Lodge of Elks in Quincy, Ruth Faherty, a 25-year-old nurse, cast her ballot for Brown. "I think we need him in there to make more of a fight in the senate," said Faherty, who described herself as an unenrolled voter. "I think if there are too many on one side [of the aisle] it becomes lopsided."

In Stoughton at Gibbons Elementary School, a steady stream of voters slogged through the cold and snow. Many said they cast ballots for Brown, citing his common appeal and objections to President Obama's health care overhaul.

"They took everything for granted in this race," said unenrolled voter Richard Whittington, 48, of Democrats. "It's the same arrogance you see in Washington.''

In Natick, the persistent flow of voters included Rex Kidd, 48, the owner of a local masonry and paving company who voted for Brown because of his pro-business, conservative views.

"I respect Martha Coakley and what she's accomplished in her career. But I think she's going to preserve the status quo," Kidd said. "Scott Brown can take us to the next level … [Brown] is going to decrease my taxes and get rid of all the wasteful spending that Deval Patrick has done. Cutting taxes fuels the economy, not charging more taxes and spending it on social programs."





Outside Natick High School, Randy Divinski took a vacation day from his job at a non-profit to clutch a Coakley sign in 30-degree weather.

"I am bothered by stealth Republicans who run as moderate," said Divinski, 46. "Brown has a political record, but that is not what he's running on," said Divinski. "We've just had eight years of screwball economic policies, and he wants to go back to that? One Herbert Hoover is enough."

In Jamaica Plain at Kennedy Elementary school, more than 100 people -- or about 10 percent of voters -- had cast ballots by 11 a.m. That number equaled roughly the entire turnout for the primary last month. Like most of the others interviewed in this left-leaning precinct, Sasha Cantu, 21, said she voted for Martha Coakley.

“I don’t want Brown because he didn’t want to help rape victims,” Cantu said. “She’ll do everything Teddy Kennedy wanted to do.”

In South Boston, Patrick Shaughnessy, 33, cast his vote for Brown because of Coakley's "entitlement attitude."

"She didn't really campaign. She wouldn't debate him one-on-one," said Shaughnessy, an unenrolled voter who supported Republican Senator John McCain in 2008. "She just expected to win."

Another unenrolled voter, Jackie Crowell, 26, also voted for Brown. "I think my views align a lot better with his than Martha Coakley's," Crowell said.

Maureen Downs, 51, came to the opposite conclusion and cast her vote for Coakley.

"I don't agree with Scott Brown's positions on anything," said Downs, citing economic regulations, emergency contraception, and more.

Her husband, Eddie Downs, 50, added: "I just don't think he would be good for the working man and woman of the Commonwealth."

Democrats are hoping a coordinated get-out-the-vote effort for Coakley will hold off the surging Republican. Brown's campaign is hoping the raw energy among his supporters is enough to overpower the state’s Democratic machinery.

The cold, cloudy weather could be a challenge for the candidates. Intermittent light snow showers – and some rain – are expected throughout the day and into the early evening.
Polls remain open until 8 p.m.

To read profiles of the candidates and a rundown of where they stand on the issues, click here for Brown; here for Coakley; and here for Kennedy. To find out where to vote, click here.







Massachusetts Vote Could Affect Obama Agenda


Voters across Massachusetts braved winter cold and snow Tuesday to decide who will inherit the U.S. Senate seat controlled by the Kennedy family since 1953.

At stake was President Obama's domestic agenda, including the overhaul of health care.

If GOP state Sen. Scott Brown upsets Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley, Republicans would strip Democrats of their 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Republicans would have enough votes to block future Senate votes on a broad range of White House priorities.

Election turnout is expected to be "pretty good," said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the office of Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin.

Galvin predicted Monday as many 2.2 million of 4.5 million registered voters would vote -- at least double the turnout from December's primary.

"I don't think weather is going to impede too many people" from coming out to vote, McNiff said. "I think the interest in this election will trump any bad weather."

More than 100,000 absentee ballots have been requested, he added.

Coakley initially was expected to win the race easily to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy, known as the "liberal lion" of the Senate who made health care reform the centerpiece of his nearly 47-year Senate career. Kennedy, 77, died of brain cancer in August.

Former Kennedy aide and longtime friend Paul Kirk was appointed to the seat on an interim basis after the senator's death.

Until recently, Brown was underfunded and unknown statewide. No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972. Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the state Legislature and the entire congressional delegation.

The latest poll, however, shows Brown leading Coakley by 7 percentage points, 52 percent to 45 percent. The American Research Group survey, taken Friday through Sunday, had a sampling error of 4 percentage points.

No poll released in the past few days has shown Coakley ahead.

Obama and former President Clinton hit the campaign trail over the past three days in an attempt to save Coakley's campaign, which observers said has been hampered by complacency and missteps.

Obama crushed Sen. John McCain in Massachusetts in 2008, beating the GOP presidential nominee by 26 percentage points.

"If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this election," Obama urged a crowd Sunday at a Coakley campaign rally.

Vicki Kennedy, the late senator's widow, called on Democrats to turn out to save her husband's legacy.

"We need your help. We need your support. We need you to get out there and vote on Tuesday," Kennedy said. "We need you to bring your neighbors. We need you to bring your friends."

Brown, who has trumpeted his 30 years of service in the National Guard, hewed to traditional GOP themes at the end of the campaign. He promised at a rally Sunday that, if elected, he would back tax cuts and be tougher on terrorists than Coakley.

He also repeated a pledge to oppose Obama's health care overhaul effort.

"Massachusetts wants real reform and not this trillion-dollar Obama health care that is being forced on the American people," he said. "As the 41st [Republican] senator, I will make sure that we do it better."

Forty-four percent of Massachusetts voters cited the economy and jobs as their top concern in a recent 7 News/Suffolk University poll. Thirty-eight percent mentioned health care as their top concern.

Voters more concerned with the economy were split almost evenly between the two candidates; voters more worried about health care narrowly supported Coakley.

Democrats far outnumber Republicans in Massachusetts, but there are more independents than Democrats and Republicans combined.

Democratic sources said Obama advisers have told the party they believe Coakley is going to lose. The sources said they still hoped Obama's weekend visit to the state, coupled with a late push by party activists, could tip the balance in her favor.

Facing the possibility of Coakley's defeat, Democrats were trying to figure out if they could pass health care legislation without that crucial 60th Senate vote.

But top White House aides publicly insisted they are not engaging in any talk of contingency plans because they believe Coakley will come out on top Tuesday.

Galvin, a Democrat, said last week that certifying Tuesday's election results could take more than two weeks -- potentially enough time to allow congressional Democrats to pass a final health care bill before Brown would be seated should he win.

But Democratic sources said this is unlikely.

Two Democratic sources in close contact with the White House said Monday they've urged the Obama administration, in the event of a Brown victory, to push House Democrats to pass the Senate's health care bill as currently written. Doing so would prevent the Senate from having to take up the plan again.

"I think the Senate bill clearly is better than nothing," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said Tuesday.

A third option would be for Democrats to revisit the idea of trying to push health care through the Senate with 51 votes -- a simple majority.

But to do so, Democrats would have to use a process known as reconciliation, which presents technical and procedural issues that would delay the process for a long time. A number of Democrats are eager to put the health care debate behind them and move on to economic issues such as job creation as soon as possible this election year.

Senate Democrats also could try again to get moderate GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine to vote for a compromise health care plan. Multiple Democratic sources, however, have said they believe such a scenario is unlikely.



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Sources: AP, Boston Globe, CNN, Youtube, Google Maps

Brown, Coakley Cast Their Ballots On Special Election Day

G.O.P. candidate Scott Brown talks with reporters as he goes to cast his vote on Special Election day in Mass.




Democrat candidate Martha Coakley on Special Election day in Mass.





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Sources: CNN, WRKO, Google Maps