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New OMB Director Mick Mulvaneys old 5th District, which takes in populous suburbs of Charlotte and stretches south, is not prime territory for Democrats. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

The Republican primary for Mick Mulvaneys old House seat will go another two weeks after the candidates forced a special-election runoff Tuesday night, giving Democrat Archie Parnell a head start in his long-shot bid to make a conservative stretch of South Carolina competitive.

Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs tax expert, cruised through the Democratic primary with about three-quarters of the vote while state Rep. Tommy Pope and former state legislator Ralph Norman advanced to a runoff on the GOP side, since no one got a majority of the vote. Pope had 31 percent and Norman 30 percent in the crowded field when the Associated Press called the runoff Tuesday night.

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Pope and Normans runoff will be in two weeks, on May 16. The general election is June 20, the same day as a closely-watched special election to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in his old Georgia district.

Mulvaneys old 5th District, which takes in populous suburbs of Charlotte and stretches south through rural areas to the outskirts of Columbia, is not prime territory for Democrats: President Donald Trump carried it with 57 percent of the vote in 2016 as Mulvaney, now the director of the Office of Management and Budget, also won easily. The district does not have a big urban center or recent history of supporting Democrats down-ballot since Mulvaney knocked longtime Democratic Rep. John Spratt out of Congress in 2010.

But Democrats note that any gap in voter enthusiasm could impact a deep-red district as it did in Kansas in April, where a sleepy special election briefly troubled Republicans who worried their voters were not engaged. The swing that happened in Kansas, if that happens here, we win, Parnell said.

Parnell has a net worth in the millions, which he could use to pay for TV advertising in the special general election. In an interview before the election, Parnell didnt deny he could put more of his own money into the contest.

Yet outgoing South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore said that the party primary should engage Republicans in the district in a way they werent engaged in Kansas or Montanas upcoming special election, where party leaders picked the candidates. I will eat my shoes if a Democrat wins South Carolinas 5th District, Moore said.

Before someone can take on Parnell one-on-one, its possible that national Republican groups will turn their attention to the runoff between Pope a former prosecutor-turned-state legislative leader who earned national press attention for prosecuting a woman for drowning her two children and Norman, a real estate developer and legislative hardliner who became famous for being on the wrong side of 124-1 votes in the state House.

Norman has said he would gladly join the House Freedom Caucus, and could receive the backing of the conservative Club for Growth. Business-oriented groups are more likely to back Pope, who has already received a donation from the corporate PAC of Boeing, a major employer in South Carolina.

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Democrat gets head start in deep-red special election to replace Mulvaney - Politico

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Cassandra Burke has launched a bid for the Common Councils Eighth Ward seat.

Burke, of 117 Rondout Drive, says she will seek the Democratic line in the November election. The Eighth Ward seat currently is held by Steve Schabot, also a Democrat.

Burke, who has never held elected office, said in a press release that she has lived in Kingston for five years and is excited about running.

I have made this decision because, as a mother of three children and a longtime resident of the city, I see so much potential in Kingston for us and our future generations, and I want to help nurture that potential.

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Burke is a former member of the citys Human Rights Commission and a current member of the Community Development Advisory Board.

The Common Council seats in all nine city wards are up for election in November. Council members serve two-year terms.

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Democrat launches bid for Eighth Ward seat - The Daily Freeman

A markup of a Republican financial reform bill quickly ran off the rails Tuesday when a Democrat called the legislation a middle finger to the public.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York called the Republican bill a "591-page middle finger to consumers, investors, regulators and markets," upsetting the Republican members of the House Financial Services Commitee trying to approve the bill and send it to the House floor.

Maloney's remarks were just one example of the heated rhetoric that ensued after committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling kicked off the hearing, which he warned could last late into the night.

Maloney also called the measure in question, the Financial Choice Act, "immoral" and "disturbing." Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the panel, described it as "one of the worst bills I've seen." Another Democrat compared Republicans to Benedict Arnold.

The Choice Act would replace large parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law signed by former President Barack Obama to increase oversight of financial markets. The centerpiece of the sweeping legislative package would be to allow banks to opt out of many of the new rules if they maintained high levels of capital.

Many provisions of the bill, advertised as a measure to boost lending and growth, have support from the banking industry. Democrats have argued that it would undo the rules meant to prevent another financial crisis.

Responding to the Democrats' opening rhetoric, Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan turned directly to the cameras in the committee room to warn the public that they were witnessing hyperbole on "Barnum and Bailey kind of levels."

"What is the real middle finger to the American people is the lack of a recovery that we have had because of Dodd-Frank," Huizenga said.

In a sign of the contentious atmosphere at the markup, Democrats sought to have Huizenga reprimanded for addressing the public, rather than directing his remarks to the chairman of the committee. The chairman, however, said that his fellow Republican hadn't broken any rules.

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Democrat upsets GOP by calling banking bill a 'middle finger' - Washington Examiner

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November's race for Orangetown town supervisor. Video by Gabriel Rom/lohud. Wochit

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November for Orangetown supervisor.(Photo: Gabriel Rom/The Journal News)Buy Photo

ORANGETOWN - Thom Kleinerannounced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November's race for Orangetown town supervisor.

Kleinerserved in the position from 1996 to 2009.

"Town problems will not be solved by rigid political ideologies," Kleiner tolda crowd of over 100 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Blauvelt.

ORANGETOWN: Supervisor won't seek re-election in 2017

Republican Chris Day enters Orangetown supervisor race

Kleiner will face off againstChris Day, son of Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who announced his candidacy for supervisor in January.

Thom Kleiner announced Sunday that he will run as the Democratic candidate in November for Orangetown supervisor.(Photo: Gabriel Rom/The Journal News)

The current Democratic supervisor, Andy Stewart,leads aboard with a majority ofRepublicans: Councilmen Paul Valentine, Thomas Diviny and Denis Troy. Councilman Gerald "Gerry" Bottari is the only other Democrat on the board.

Kleiner pledged that he would continue the policies of Stewart, who announced in Augustthat he would not run for re-election.

"As we begin this journey,Orangetownis thriving and wehave Andy Stewart to thank for that," Kleiner said.

Kleiner said that keeping the town under the state property tax capand protecting the town from over-development would be two focal points of his administration. He also highlighted rapid developmentin neighboring communities as a challenge facing Orangetown.

"Just because there is no state of emergencyin Orangetown doesn't mean there aren't any threats," he said. "Those living outside the town of Ramapo can't have any security thatwhat is happening there will not spill over into other communities. This issue unites all of us, Democrats, Republicans and Independents."

A slew of local and state officials attended the announcement, including state AssemblywomanEllen Jaffee, D-Suffern; AssemblymanDavid Buchwald, D-White Plains;and AssemblymanKen Zebrowski, D-New City, among others.

Kleiner connected a rise of national grassroots activism after the election of President Donald Trump to his campaign and said he would fight to restore "common decency and common sense".

Before becoming supervisor, Kleiner worked inconsumer protection positions for New York City. In 2009 he unsuccessfully ran for Rockland County executive. Over the last eight years, he has served in senior roles at the state Department of Labor and the Mid-Hudson Regional Economical Development Council.

Twitter: @GabrielRom1

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Democrat Thom Kleiner enters Orangetown supervisor race - The Journal News | LoHud.com

This week, as the unbeloved American Health Care Act did its best impression of Jason Vorhees, Democrats were reminded of their dire need to win some elections. They won't send a Democrat (probably Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez) to Congress from California's safe 34th District until June 6; Jon Ossoff, who is still narrowly favored to win Georgia's 6th District, won't face a runoff until June 20.

That means the next state that will potentially change the majority in Congress is Montana's At-Large District, where Democrat Rob Quist is running an aggressive if creaky campaign to beat Republican businessman Greg Gianforte. For weeks and especially after a stronger-than-expected Democratic showing in Kansas's far more Republican 4th District local activists have raised money while hinting that Democrats might want to help out.

But as Politico's Elena Schneider points out, Democrats have made a fraction of the investment that Republicans have in Montana's race. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put $200,000 into Montana's operation; between them, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund have earmarked 10 times as much money to save the seat.

Here's the problem: Democrats, in defending their priorities, keep arguing that jumping in too early will nationalize the race. As one strategist put it to Schneider, "you dont want it to be a strict Democrat-versus-Republican because Trump did win."

Based on having covered most of this year's special elections on the ground, including Montana's, this is starting to sound like something you can only believe if you're addicted to the defensive crouch or if you never leave D.C. Three reasons:

Republicans nationalize every Trump state (or Trump district) race anyway. Here are the latest spots from the NRCC and CLF in Montana.

Here is the latest CLF ad in Georgia.

The eagle-eyed reader might notice a pattern. Neither Democrat has run as a Pelosi ally; Ossoff, somewhat famously, has rarely mentioned that he is a Democrat. But nothing stops Republicans, whose polling finds that Pelosi remains well-known and toxic in red districts, from making a Pelosi-shaped paddle and repeatedly whacking their opponents with it.

Voters don't really know who's funding the campaign attacks they see. One striking aspect of seeing elections on the ground is seeing how local news TV and newspapers cover campaign developments. If the president tweets about a race, an action that costs no money, it makes the lead of the TV news. If a surrogate comes in for a rally, it's got a fighting shot at the front page.

But you rarely if ever see local news write up a big partisan investment in a race. It's simply not interesting, unless you're a political junkie, or unless the ads are coming from a surprising source; think here of the super PACs that spring up because a multimillionaire wants them to. Party committees can also alter their identity by creating front groups, like the Republican Governors Association did when it (successfully) invested millions to flip Vermont's state house. Its ads for now-Gov. Phil Scott never mentioned that he was a Republican they ran under the banner of "A Stronger Vermont."

Democrats have a brand problem that dodging a fight will never fix.In 2008 not really so long ago Democrats won off-year special elections for Congress in Louisiana and Mississippi. One of the victors was Don Cazayoux, who took over a seat vacated by a Republican who saw the bright lights of a lobbying career. In a district where the national party regularly lost, Cazayoux ran as a pro-life, pro-education funding, tough-on-crime Democrat who favored expanding health-care coverage.

Democrats have not really competed for that seat since 2008. (Cazayoux lost a three-way November race when another Democrat ran as a spoiler.) But it was not so long ago that a populist message, which smoothed over cultural issues, could put together a coalition with enough white voters to win tough rural seats.

In 2017, Democrats are despondent about their chances of winning rural seats and the national party has moved left on issues such as abortion and immigration. But from many appearances, the party has triaged rural seats. The secretive autopsy report, prepared for the DCCC by Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.), argues that some extremely rural districts where New Deal and Great Society Democrats won for years are now unwinnable.

To progressives, it doesn't feel like Republicans share this despondence. They compete in the suburbs; they compete in the cities where they can (Omaha, Indianapolis, San Diego). They let the party's brand shift from race to race, and are nimble about it. But running through each race, they let it generally be known that a Republican is going to be easier on your wallet than a Democrat. There's an existential argument here that Democrats have not really engaged in for years.

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Democrats, stop pretending you'll 'nationalize' a race if you fight for it ... - Washington Post