The August Primaries

Next month there are 14 primaries and one primary run-off election. Let's start with the August 5 primaries. Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington will be holding primary elections that day.

Kansas has a closed primary. That means selection of candidates is limited to registered party members only. The state also has online voter registration. Currently, all four House of Representative seats are held by Republicans. One of the Senate seats is up for re-election this year. Pat Roberts (R) has held the seat since 1996. In the race for Governor, Sam Brownback has a serious contender in Democrat Paul Davis in the general election, assuming both make it through the primary election of their parties.

Michigan has an open primary system. This means that registered voters do not have to be a member of a party to vote in that party's primary. This year Michigan voters will fill an open Senate seat current held by Carl Levin (D) who is retiring. The Washington Post has named this race as one of the top ten Senate races of 2014. The Republican party currently holds 9 of the 14 congressional seats from Michigan. The 1st district is very competitive as the current representative won the 2012 election by only 0.5 percentage point. Rep. Dan Benishek (R) is one of the most vulnerable Republicans and here is a chance for Democrats to take back a seat in the House of Representatives. The Democratic candidate is Jerry Cannon. He is a former county sheriff and retired Army General. This is his website if you'd like more information: http://www.jerrycannon.com/ The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has a jumpstart campaign that is focusing on helping Jerry this year. Check out this link for information on all 35 red-to-blue campaigns:
http://dccc.org/blog/entry/dccc_chairman_israel_announces_first_35_districts_in_red_to_blue_program_hi/

If you are able, please consider a monetary donation to this cause. If you aren't able financially to support the effort, please consider signing up for the phone banks. There are many ways to help us take back the house: http://dccc.org/content/home

Please take a moment to view this video about the Democrats' efforts: http://www.dccc.org/media/jumpstart_round_1/ We can do this with your support!
Later, we will consider the other August primaries.

https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveDemocratsMovingForwardNotBack  @PDMFNB #PDMFNB