2010 West Virginia 3rd House District Race: Republican Spike Maynard Takes on Incumbent Democrat Nick Rahall (ContributorNetwork)

The race for West Virginia's 3rd House District seat is as contentious as the candidates are flawed. Democratic contender Nick Rahall allegedly used his position in Congress to affect a lenient court sentence for his 27-year-old son in the wake of a felony robbery charge. Elliot "Spike" Maynard used to be a judge and state Supreme Court justice. He came under immense criticism when it was discovered that he was vacationing with a defendant whose case he heard and whose multimillion-dollar verdict he dismissed.

Candidates for West Virginia's 3rd Congressional District (two-year term)

(The district spans the southern portion of the state. It includes Beckley, Princeton and Huntington. See a boundary map here.)

Candidate: Nick Rahall

Party: Democrat

Political experience: From 1977 to 1992, Rahall represented West Virginia's 4th District. From 1993 to now, he has represented the 3rd District. He currently chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources and holds basic membership in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Professional experience: Prior to his congressional tenure, Rahall worked as a sales representative, travel agent and business executive.

Key issues: Rahall voted in favor of the health care reform bill, the stimulus package and TARP. Gov Track identifies him as a rank-and-file Democrat, who has thus far sponsored 167 bills, of which only seven have been enacted. He has co-sponsored 2,690 bills.

Endorsements: Rahall received endorsements from the West Virginia AFL-CIO, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, Ocean Champions, the National Education Association, the National Right to Life Committee and the National Rifle Association.

Chances of maintaining his seat: Voting for a host of now-unpopular congressional legislation took its toll on Rahall's popularity. Even so, OpenSecrets.org shows he managed to raise $808,936 of which 39 percent came from grassroots donors. Another 57 percent stemmed from PAC contributions. In the May 11 primary election, he received 67 percent of the vote as compared to his Democratic opponent, who only received 33 percent. It is clear that Rahall has a lot of grassroots support.

Candidate: Elliott "Spike" Maynard

Party: Republican

Political experience: In 1976, Maynard was elected as Mingo County's prosecuting attorney. He was re-elected in 1980. After appointed as a trial judge, he was twice elected to continue his judgeship. In 1996 he was elected to a 12-year state Supreme Court term.

Professional experience: In addition to his extensive legal experience and practice, Maynard worked as managing director of the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce and also served in the United States Air Force.

Key issues: Maynard defines the same tenets as major issues that propelled the GOP to roll out the Pledge to America. He speaks out against cap and trade, the health care bill, the growing national deficit, stimulus spending bills and TARP.

Endorsements: Maynard stands firmly endorsed by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which has declared him to be a "Young Gun." He also received the endorsement of the West Virginians for Life Political Action Committee.

Chances of unseating Nick Rahall: Open Secrets shows that Maynard raised $186,026, of which 95 percent come from individual contributors and only five percent from PACs. The numbers outline a very strong grassroots appeal to the electorate. That said, during the primary elections, he managed to secure only 30 percent, which placed him precariously close to the runner-up (27 percent). It is unclear if Republican voters will follow the party line in an effort to see the congressional seat returned to the party.

Key Differences between Nick Rahall and Spike Maynard

Jobs: Maynard favors open competition and free enterprise. He opposes TARP and speaks out against overly burdensome regulations of West Virginia's coal industry. Rahall believes that employment comes from transportation infrastructure investments.

Seniors: Rahall opposes the use of Social Security funds for other programs and also strongly stands against Medicare cuts. Maynard agrees that Medicare cuts are unacceptable and further works to keep electrical rates inexpensive for residents of West Virginia.

Mining: Maynard says that he favors "common-sense environmental" rules but keeps out a wary eye for burdensome rules that cripple the coal mining industry. Rahall opposed the Bush Administration's efforts to increase the allowable levels of breathable dust in the coal-mining environment.

West Virginia's 3rd U.S. Congressional District

Location: West Virginia 3rd District is a southern locale that includes Huntington, Beckley, Bluefield and Princeton.

2008 results: Rahall fought off the Republican contender for the seat with 66.9 to 33.1 percent.

Demographics: According to the U.S. Census, 95.1 percent of the district is white, 4.4 percent is black and less than one percent accounts for other races. Less than 1 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race. Proximity One shows that 19.90 percent of residents live at the poverty level.

The Cook Partisan Index rates the West Virginia 3rd District as R+6, which gives it a slightly Republican edge.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111206/us_ac/6843968_2010_west_virginia_3rd_house_district_race_republican_spike_maynard_takes_on_incumbent_democrat_nick_rahall

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Gingrich wins NH backing as Romney plugs along (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich landed the endorsement of New Hampshire's largest newspaper on Sunday while rival Mitt Romney earned a dismissive wave, potentially resetting the race in the state with the first-in-the-nation primary.

For Gingrich, the former House speaker, the backing builds on his recent rise in the polls and quick work to build a campaign after a disastrous start in the summer. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has a vacation home in the state and has been called a "nearly native son of New Hampshire," absorbed the blow heading into the Jan. 10 vote that's vital to his campaign strategy.

"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers. We look for conservatives of courage and conviction who are independent-minded, grounded in their core beliefs about this nation and its people, and best equipped for the job," The New Hampshire Union Leader said in its front-page editorial, which was as much a promotion of Gingrich as a discreet rebuke of Romney.

The Union Leader's editorial telegraphed conservatives' concerns about Romney's shifts on crucial issues of abortion and gay rights were unlikely to fade. Those worries have led Romney to keep Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses ? where conservatives hold great sway ? at arm's length.

At the same time, the endorsement boosts Gingrich's conservative credentials. He spent the week defending his immigration policies against accusations that they are a form of amnesty. On Monday, Gingrich takes a campaign swing through South Carolina, the South's first primary state.

Romney, taking a few days' break for the Thanksgiving holiday, has kept focused on a long-term strategy that doesn't lurch from one development to another. Last week, he picked up the backing of Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota conservative, to add to his impressive roster of supporters.

The Union Leader's rejection of Romney wasn't surprising despite his efforts to woo state leaders. The newspaper rejected Romney four years ago in favor of Arizona Sen. John McCain, using front-page columns and editorials to promote McCain and criticize Romney.

"It helped McCain a lot because it buttressed the time he spent there. McCain camped out in New Hampshire and was able to make good with The Union Leader," said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for Romney's 2008 bid who is not working for a presidential candidate this time.

"Now, the speaker has to spend the time there, too," Stevens said.

Since his first run, Romney courted publisher Joseph W. McQuaid. Earlier this year Romney and his wife, Ann, had dinner with the McQuaids at the Bedford Village Inn near Manchester, hoping to reset the relationship. It didn't prove enough.

Romney's advisers were quick to point out that Gingrich went into October with more than $1 million in campaign debt. Romney, meanwhile, was sitting on a pile of cash and only last week began running television ads ? a luxury Gingrich can't yet afford.

The duo's rivals, meanwhile, tried to gain traction.

Herman Cain on Sunday criticized any immigration proposal that included residency or citizenship but struggled to explain how he would deal with the millions of people estimated to be currently living illegally in the United States.

Cain, who had enjoyed a polling surge, has seen his luster fade as his seemed to have trouble articulating the nuances of his policy positions. For instance, he was unable to explain the difference between "targeted identification," which he says would determine common characteristics of people who want to harm the United States, and racial profiling.

At the same time, Cain acknowledged that accusations that he sexually harassed several women during his days running the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s have pulled him from among the front-runners. He has flatly denied the allegations repeatedly.

While Romney enjoys solid support in national polls, many Republicans have shifted from candidate to candidate in search of an alternative. That led to the rise ? and fall ? of potential challengers such as Cain, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Romney enjoys solid leads in New Hampshire polls, too. A poll released last week showed him with 42 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in the state. Gingrich followed with 15 percent in the WMUR-University of New Hampshire Granite State poll.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas posted 12 percent support and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman found 8 percent support in that survey.

Those numbers could shift based on the backing of The Union Leader, a newspaper that proudly works to influence elections, from school boards to the White House, in the politically savvy state.

"With Newt, the endorsement alone won't get him closer to Romney. But if The Union Leader kicks the you-know-what out of Romney, that could help Gingrich," said Mike Dennehy, a Republican consultant and former McCain aide who is neutral in the presidential contest.

Huntsman, President Barack Obama's former ambassador to China, said the endorsement points to how competitive the New Hampshire contest is.

"A month ago for Newt Gingrich to have been in the running to capture The Union Leader endorsement would have been unthinkable," Huntsman said in an interview Sunday during a break in campaigning.

The endorsement, signed by McQuaid, suggested that New Hampshire's only statewide newspaper was ready to assert itself again as a player in the GOP primary ? even if the newspaper has reservations.

"We don't have to agree with them on every issue," McQuaid wrote. "We would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear."

With six weeks until the primary, The Union Leader's move could again shuffle the race, further boosting Gingrich and driving a steady stream of criticism against his rivals. In recent weeks, Gingrich has seen a surge in some polls as Republicans focus more closely on deciding which candidate they consider best positioned to take on Obama.

He has also started to put together a campaign organization in New Hampshire. He brought on respected tea party leader Andrew Hemingway and his team has been contacting almost 1,000 voters each day. Gingrich hasn't begun television advertising and has refused to go negative on his opponents.

The newspaper has a decidedly mixed record of picking candidates. It backed Steve Forbes in 2000 and Pat Buchanan's 1992 and 1996 bids. Neither candidate won the Republican nomination.

Gingrich, who left the House in 1999 after disastrous midterm elections for the GOP, has faced skepticism about his personal life. He is married to his third wife and acknowledged infidelity during his first two marriages.

Even so, voters are giving Gingrich a look ? and the timing appears to be ideal for him.

"Romney is a very play-it-safe candidate. He doesn't want to offend everybody or anybody," said Drew Cline, the op-ed editor of The Union Leader. "He wants to be liked. He wants to try to reach out and be very safe, reach out to everybody, bring everybody on board."

That isn't the brand of candidate The Union Leader was looking to back, he said.

___

Cain and Cline spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." Huntsman appeared on "Fox News Sunday."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign2012

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