A campaign embezzlement scandal has now cost a Maine state Representative not one, but two jobs on the public payroll.

Two weeks ago, GOP state Rep. David Burns resigned his position on the town of Alfred’s Board of Selectmen, after the Maine Ethics Commission found Burns guilty of, quote, “mind-boggling” ethics violations and referred the matter for criminal prosecution:

Ethics commission chairman Walter McKee, during the November hearing, called Burns’ actions “mind-boggling.”

“I certainly have never seen anything at this level in terms of severity,” said McKee at the hearing.

As well as finding Burns guilty of violating campaign finance laws, the ethics commission referred the matter to the attorney general’s office for possible prosecution.

This week, the second shoe fell for Rep. Burns, who elected to resign his seat in the Maine House once it became apparent that criminal prosecution was unavoidable. House Minority Leader Emily Cain stressed the seriousness of the charges and the real damage they could do to Maine’s unique system of clean elections:

“The Clean Elections system is not an ATM for lawmakers and it shouldn’t be treated that way,” Cain said. “The system has been effective in keeping special interests out of elections and any abuse of it must be addressed swiftly.”

She added, “If Burns was a member of my caucus, I would have asked him to resign immediately once the ethics commission found him in violation of ethics law and the matter was referred to the attorney general for a criminal investigation.”

Rep. Burns’ alleged misdeeds might have gone unnoticed had his campaign finance reports not been randomly selected for post-election auditing. Once they were, certain discrepancies immediately caught ethics watchdogs’ attention.

His reports listed mileage reimbursements (paid to himself) for driving 4,289 miles – which is the rough equivalent of driving from Burns’ Alfred, Maine home to Moscow. That distance also “significantly exceeds the claim of any other House candidate,” according to the Ethics Commission, including candidates with districts far larger than Burns’ 20-mile-across 138th District.

Ethics Commission investigators dug deeper, and they quickly “determined that Rep. Burns spent at least $2,500 of public funds for personal purposes and that expenditures totaling at least $1,295 were falsely reported in his campaign finance reports.” As a Clean Elections candidate, those funds originally came from the taxpayers, as part of the Maine Clean Elections Act, which makes Burns’ alleged actions even more egregious.

Burns’ 138th district – which he won by fewer than 200 votes in 2010 – will likely be filled by a special election.

[h/t Dirigo Blue]

It’s a new year, but the story is the same when it comes to Democratic performance in special elections across the country: since March 1st, 2011, our candidates are running an average of 6% ahead of where Democrats finished in the exact same districts in 2010.

The usual exclusions apply: We exclude districts where one major party failed to field a candidate this year or in 2010; districts where Independent candidates won enough votes to skew the comparison; districts which weren’t up in 2010; and districts where deceased candidates remained on the ballot.

That leaves 23 districts we can legitimately describe as offering an apples-to-apples comparison. This is too many to list individually, but they can be grouped in three basic categories: Strongly Democratic, Strongly Republican, and Swing Seats:

Most ominously for the GOP, Democrats are making their biggest gains in swing districts (those where Democrats won at least 40% but no more than 60% of the vote in 2010). Democrats, in fact, are now not only winning the average swing district in blowout fashion, but they swept all eight of the swing seat special elections that were included in the analysis above, picking up four previously Republican-held seats in the process.

Democrats are also showing remarkable progress in strongly Republican areas that gave Democrats less than 40% of the vote in 2010. Democrats actually came within 2.5% of winning two such districts, where the previous Democratic nominees had lost by more than 30 points. If that trend holds, there are a lot of GOP state legislators in supposedly safe seats who could be in for a nasty surprise this November.

But while this apples-to-apples comparison is what we consider the most useful, there’s one more significant data point we became aware of this week: Democrats are now winning the average special election everywhere, a stunning turnaround compared to races prior to March 1st.

The numbers below represent every contested special election, regardless of how useful each individual data point is, relying instead on the Law of Large Numbers to give us a snapshot of Democratic performance. If there was a Democratic and Republican candidate in any one special election since November 2010 (or an Independent who had a respectable showing), the race is included in the analysis below:

These raw numbers reveal a significant gain by Democrats since March 1st but an even more dramatic flight from the GOP. Democrats have pulled marginally ahead, completing almost a 20-point net turnaround from last spring, when the average race resulted in a blowout GOP win.

Most importantly, though, it’s now the Democrats who are gaining seats – we've picked up six since March 1st, and we've only lost two to the Republicans in that same time period. Which means we have every reason to look forward to the elections this fall.

Democrats’ Election Night 2011 just keeps getting better.

You’ve already heard about Democrats’ epic wins tonight in Ohio, Maine, and Iowa.

Victory in a Wisconsin Assembly special keeps Democratic momentum in that state going.

Despite aggressive GOP spending, Democrats expanded our majority in the New Jersey Assembly.

Arizona voters responded to Gov. Brewer’s recent redistricting power-grab by recalling tea party leader and GOP state Sen. Russell Pearce.

Michigan voters recalled a notoriously anti-teacher Republican state Representative.

And despite spending millions and millions of dollars on the effort, the GOP failed to take the majority in the Virginia state Senate.

Democrats even kept the Governor’s mansion in Kentucky.

Well, we’re not done yet.

Today we learned we can add a Washington special election to the Democratic win column.

Democratic state Rep. Sharon Wylie won the seat to which she was appointed earlier this year, soundly defeating her well-known GOP opponent.

This big night for Democrats is more than a sign that the GOP wave of 2010 has receded.

Voters are rebuking GOP candidates and policies all over the country. Republicans exploited their opportunities to legislate by forcing extreme policies through their statehouses, and voters aren’t standing for it. Even millions of dollars in GOP spending can’t obscure the truth:

In 2011 and 2012, Republicans just aren’t a sound investment. 

You’ve already heard about Democrats’ epic wins tonight in Ohio, Maine, and Iowa. Well, we’re not done yet. 

In Wisconsin, Democrats have dominated yet another special election there. Democrat Jill Billings has won the 95^th Assembly District with a whopping 72 percent of the vote. 

Arizonans have responded to Gov. Jan Brewer’s recent redistricting power-grab by recalling one of her GOP accomplices in that partisan coup. Republican Sen. Russell Pearce, author of the notorious and virulently anti-immigrant SB 1070, has fallen in a recall election. 

Despite Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s best efforts, Democrats have successfully retained majorities in both legislative chambers in New Jersey. 

In Michigan, anti-teacher GOP Rep. Paul Scott became the first legislator in the state to be recalled. An election to replace him will be scheduled for next year. 

And finally, despite the millions of dollars state and national Republican and outside interest groups poured into taking the majority in the Virginia Senate, the GOP came up short. Republicans might be excited about the prospect of a tied chamber, but the one outstanding seat, SD 17, remains too close to call. Wednesday morning canvasses have yet to be held, and provisional ballots throughout the district have yet to be counted.  Also, some reported incidents during Tuesday night’s tabulation deserve further attention during the canvassing and certification process. We look forward to monitoring this situation throughout to ensure that every vote is fairly and accurately counted. We expect that Senator Edd Houck will ultimately prevail in the final outcome and that Democrats will continue to hold a majority in the Virginia Senate.

Democrat Victorious in Iowa Special Election

DLCC Congratulates Liz Mathis on Her Win

Washington, DC - Democrat Liz Mathis has been declared the winner of the Iowa Senate special election in SD 18 with 56 percent of the vote, and Democrats have successfully maintained the majority in the Iowa state Senate. Michael Sargeant, Executive Director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, issued the following statement regarding Mathis’ important victory.

“Liz Mathis’ win tonight is a huge triumph for not only for the residents of the 18th Senate District, but also for Democrats across Iowa and across the country,” said Sargeant. “Senator-elect Mathis will stand up to Governor Terry Branstad and his GOP cronies and continue the fight for working families, kids, and middle-class values.

“This was also a huge defeat for all of the special-interest, anti-equality groups who sought to introduce a polarizing narrative to this race,” Sargeant added. “Voters care about jobs, the economy, their kids’ schools, and their families’ futures, and Democrats win elections on these issues. Tonight’s win will prevent a Republican stranglehold on Iowa state government that could have resulted in extreme policies like those we’ve seen in Ohio and Wisconsin. Tonight’s Democratic victory is part of a broad rebuke of statehouse Republicans’ out-of-touch, anti-middle class agenda.”

Last night, Democrats added to a growing tally of special election wins. Voters gave Democrats three commanding victories in two states. 

First, in Minnesota, Chris Eaton and state Rep. Jeff Hayden scored huge victories in two open Senate seats, one of which had a habit of going Republican in three previous special elections. 

Eaton won her race with 61 percent of the vote. The Republican candidate, Cory Jensen, finished second with 32 percent. Hayden garnered 68 percent of the vote, placing far ahead of Green Party candidate Farheen Hakeem's 21 percent. 

Eaton said that "a lot of people worked very hard" to pick up the seat, which encompasses Brooklyn Center and part of Brooklyn Park. She was surprised with her strong margin, since Republicans have won many special elections in that area. 

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Tricia Farley-Bouvier emerged victorious in a four-way race for a state House seat. Just a day later, she’s already engaged in her new role in the state legislature. 

Following her election Tuesday night, the state representative-elect was on hand this morning for the unveiling of the Education Center at Conte, a educational collaboration between Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, at the Conte Federal Building in Pittsfield. 

There, Farley-Bouvier said she wants to "concentrate on the district." 

These victories bring the total number of Democratic special election wins just since Labor Day to eleven. As this trend continues, Republican state legislators across the country should consider themselves on notice: voters are repeatedly and thoroughly rejecting the brand of right-wing extremism the GOP is pushing in statehouses.

Republican presidential candidates are campaigning for more than just themselves these days.

After Democrats’ most recent special election victory in New Hampshire, the GOP candidate posted public thank-yous to the campaigns of Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, and Buddy Roemer. Their involvement was more than symbolic. 

Perry campaign consultant Paul Young said, “Nothing is insignificant in New Hampshire when you’re running for President, and the campaigns would do well to cover all the bases.” …His camp had several staffers volunteer to work phone banks and go door-to-door.

Ryan Williams of the Romney campaign said he also had people working phones, election places and door-knocking. 

Too bad this turned out to be the biggest special election loss of the year for the New Hampshire GOP. 

Iowa is home to another statehouse contest receiving high-level Republican attention. In November, a state Senate special election will either maintain the chamber’s Democratic majority or leave it divided. Currently, the Democrats' state Senate majority is the only thing protecting Iowans from the GOP’s extreme right-wing agenda items regarding reproductive health and marriage equality, among others. 

The Republican candidate in this district (SD 18) is receiving all sorts of attention as presidential contenders woo the Party establishment. When Rep. Michele Bachmann was in the area on September 26, Golding declined the presidential candidate’s offer of campaigning and fundraising assistance. 

“Personally I like her but we have to figure out what is best for our district at this point,” Golding said prior to Bachmann’s campaign visit. “You know, Michele is a great national candidate, but I have to make sure nothing in the national politics interferes with Senate District 18.” 

But now Golding seems not to mind such “national” interference with the Senate District she seeks to represent. Last week, Mitt Romney’s wife appeared at a fundraising event on her behalf. 

This is only the beginning. With four weeks to go, we expect other candidates to offer favors in this critical contest during their own visits to Iowa. 

And we expect this presidential hopeful meddling to be of no more benefit in this election than it was in New Hampshire.

Democrats have won yet another special election. 

The most recent victory came last night in New Hampshire, as Democrats picked up their third House seat from the GOP in that chamber this year. 

Democratic Representative-elect Peter Leishman won the previously Republican seat in a “moderate Republican bastion that is home to [US] Rep. Charles Bass,” according to the Union Leader. His Republican opponent was endorsed by the state Senate President (whose home district overlaps this House district) and the House Speaker, who reportedly was heavily involved in this race. And despite the fact that registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in the district, Leishman defeated his GOP opponent by the largest margin of any New Hampshire special election so far this year. 

One special election pickup is an example, two could be coincidence, but three is certainly a trend—a trend of rejecting the GOP’s attacks on public employees, voter ID measures, attempts to deny some workers even the minimum wage… the list goes on. 

This trend isn’t confined to New Hampshire. Yesterday’s win comes on the heels of a Democratic sweep of six New York Assembly special elections last week, which capped off a summer that saw a considerable list of Democratic victories. In Wisconsin, Democrats not only held all of their Senate seats targeted by the GOP for recalls, but also added two new Democrats to their caucus. Democrats picked up an additional seat in the Wisconsin Assembly. Democrats also won special elections in Maine’s Senate and House. 

This trend of Democratic successes in statehouses has emerged as conservative overreach by GOP leadership in these states reached a crescendo. After a winter and spring of GOP lawmakers attacking middle-class values and pushing right-wing agendas, Democrats began picking up Republican legislative seats. 

As recent statehouse shenanigans in Pennsylvania help demonstrate, Republicans seem unlikely to pull back on their extreme policy pushes any time soon. But this clear trend of Democratic successes should put GOP lawmakers on notice: voters are repeatedly and thoroughly rejecting their brand of right-wing extremism.

While the special election in New York’s 9^th congressional district was the star of the show last night, Democrats enjoyed great news in down-ballot races.

Democrats claimed victory in all six of the New York Assembly special elections held yesterday. Two of those victories came in districts overlapping the 9^th CD. Four of the six districts won are in New York City; the remaining two are upstate. 

• New York Assembly District 23: Phillip Goldfeder (D) defeated Jane Deacy (R).

• New York Assembly District 27: Michael Simanowitz (D) defeated Marco Desena (R).

• New York Assembly District 54: Rafael Espinal (D) defeated Jesus Gonzalez (WFP) and Deidra Towns (CFP).
• New York Assembly District 73: Dan Quart (D) defeated Paul Niehaus (R).

• New York Assembly District 116: Anthony Brindisi (D) defeated Gregory Johnson (R).

• New York Assembly District 144: Sean Ryan (D) defeated Sean Kipp (R) and Gregory Horn (G). 

These wins are only the latest in a series of state legislative special elections in which Democrats have won or overperformed. As this trend continues, Republican state legislators across the country should consider themselves on notice: voters are repeatedly and thoroughly rejecting the brand of right-wing extremism the GOP is pushing in statehouses.

The Wisconsin recalls are over, Congress is back in session, and some may think that state legislative politics is SO yesterday. 

But you and I know better. So here’s a rundown of what’s popping. 

In this week’s edition of The Nation, John Nichols explains why things are looking pretty good for Democrats in statehouses. 

There’s a confidence level on display in the states that goes far beyond what is being heard in Washington these days. It is rooted in the fact that state-based Democrats have found winning issues in their fights to defend labor rights, public services and public education against a GOP austerity agenda that cuts taxes for billionaires and corporations while placing greater burdens on working families in a period of high unemployment and economic uncertainty. 

In New Hampshire, where Republicans scored unprecedented victories in 2010, the GOP is losing House seats in special elections that have turned on the question of whether legislators will override Democratic Governor John Lynch’s veto of an antilabor “right to work” law. 

In Maine, where Governor Paul LePage may well be the most extreme of the new Republican leaders, Democrats are not just winning special elections. They are seeing spikes of nearly 20 percent over the party’s 2010 vote totals for candidates who bluntly declare that they are determined to fight the LePage agenda, which
has extended so far as to attack child-labor protections. The national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee notes that Democrats are running on average nine points better than they did in the same districts in 2010. And the DLCC says they are “performing as well now as they were in [the 2008] election—and in fact winning additional seats lost in that election,” as was the case with the defeat of the two Wisconsin Republican senators who survived the Obama landslide. 

Read the full piece here. Check out our data on Democratic performance in special elections here. 

Meanwhile, the GOP war on voting has some fresh developments. Just today, the Maine Secretary of State certified a “People’s Veto” of the new law prohibiting the long-standing practice of Election Day voter registration. Until the GOP-controlled legislature decided to halt the practice this year, Mainers had been able to register to vote and cast ballots on the same day since 1973. Now citizens will have the opportunity to continue that practice by electing to overturn this restrictive voting law this
November. 

In New Hampshire, where the state Senate upheld the Democratic Governor’s veto of that state’s voter ID legislation on Wednesday, GOP state Rep. Kyle Tasker posted some (unrelated) reprehensible comments on the House Republicans’ Facebook page. 

On Tuesday night, Tasker wrote on the House Republican Caucus Facebook page that “When a police officer points his firearm that’s not gonna make me feel threatened? If I’ve been trained to respond to that with force am I justified in blowing a cop away because I’m quicker on the draw, and he already pointed his firearm at me? Police are just citizens with badges and all laws should apply equally.” 

The comment has since been removed, but a copy of the posting was given to WMUR. 

Rep. Tasker defended these comments as part of an “intellectual discussion” of a piece of legislation. Former law enforcement officers and current Democratic state Reps. Steve Shurtleff and Ray Gagnon blasted the comments as “appalling,” “insulting and disgusting.” 

Oklahoma GOP state Rep. Sally Kern (whose antics we’ve highlighted previously) is promoting her new book, The Stoning of Sally Kern, and doubling down on her claim that homosexuality is “more dangerous” than terrorist attacks – just in time for the 10^th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history. 

In an August 31 interview, she said: 

You know if you just look at it in practical terms, which has destroyed and ended the life of more people? Terrorism attack here in America or HIV/AIDS? In the last twenty years, fifteen to twenty years, we’ve had maybe three terrorist attacks on our soil with a little over 5,000 people regrettably losing their lives. In the same time frame, there have been hundreds of thousands who have died because of having AIDS. So which one’s the biggest threat? And you know, every day our young people, adults too, but especially our young people, are bombarded at school, in movies, in music, on TV, in the mall, in magazines, they’re bombarded with ‘homosexuality is normal and natural.’ It’s something they have to deal with every day. Fortunately we don’t have to deal with a terrorist attack every day, and that’s what I mean. 

So there you have the good, the bad, and the ugly in statehouse politics this week. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!