Via Senate 2008 Guru, here is a list of Democrats thinking of running for election or re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. Notice the lack of female recruits.
* Alabama:
Agriculture and Industry Commissioner Ron Sparks (considering)
State Senator Vivian Figures (considering)
* Alaska: unknown
* Arkansas:
Senator Mark Pryor
* Colorado:
Congressman Mark Udall
* Delaware:
Senator Joe Biden
* Georgia: unknown
* Idaho:
Former Congressman Larry LaRocco
* Illinois:
Senator Richard Durbin
* Iowa:
Senator Tom Harkin
* Kansas: unknown
* Kentucky:
2003 Lt. Gov. nominee Charlie Owen (considering)
* Louisiana:
Senator Mary Landrieu
* Maine:
Congressman Tom Allen
* Massachusetts:
Senator John Kerry
* Michigan:
Senator Carl Levin
* Minnesota:
Commentator Al Franken
Attorney Mike Ciresi
State Representative John Lesch (considering)
* Mississippi: unknown
* Montana:
Senator Max Baucus
* Nebraska:
Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey (considering)
Former Senator Bob Kerrey (considering)
* New Hampshire:
Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand
Activist Katrina Swett
Professor/former astronaut Jay Buckey (considering)
* New Jersey:
Senator Frank Lautenberg
* New Mexico: unknown
* North Carolina:
Congressman Brad Miller (considering)
* Oklahoma: unknown
* Oregon:
Activist Steve Novick
Businessman Ty Pettit
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (considering)
* Rhode Island:
Senator Jack Reed
* South Carolina: unknown
* South Dakota:
Senator Tim Johnson
* Tennessee: unknown
* Texas: unknown
* Virginia:
Former Governor Mark Warner (considering)
* West Virginia:
Senator Jay Rockefeller
* Wyoming: unknown
The only women listed are Vivian Figures in Alabama, who is probably much less electable than Ron Sparks, and Katrina Swett, who was in charge of Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign in New Hampshire.
We have twenty-one Republican seats to target and this is the best we can do?
I’d welcome any suggestions, especially in states that are still looking for strong challengers. One intriguing possibility is in Tennessee, where Tipper Gore could pose a stiff challenge to one-term incumbent and wannabe lumberjack, Lamar Alexander. Tipper’s public profile is most strongly associated with censorship.
“Yeah, I tell them to change the channel if they see some guy in a brown suit with a telephone number at the bottom of the screen asking for money.”
— Frank Zappa, Senate Hearing on “Porn Rock”, 1985, after being asked by Tipper Gore if there was anything on TV he didn’t allow his kids to watch.
Somehow I don’t see this being a big liability in Tennessee. I’d feel a whole lot better about a Tipper Gore candidacy than I did about Harold Ford Jr.’s.
What do you think about a possible Tipper Gore run? Any women you can bring to Chuck Schumer’s attention for any of these races?
