Republicans maintain hold on AZ-08

Rep. Lamborn's re-election bid blocked by court; Lamborn set to challenge ruling + results from last night's special elections AZ-08 special election results Former state Sen. Debbie Lesko (R) defeated physician Hiral Tipirneni (D) in the special election for Arizona's 8th Congressional District Tuesday night. With more than 150,000 early ballots in, Lesko led Tipirneni by six points. After Democrat Conor Lamb's victory in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District special election in March, national Republican groups spent more than $900,000 on media and voter outreach campaigns to back Lesko and keep the seat in Republican control. National Democratic groups declined to spend on the race, but Tipirneni outraised Lesko in the two months prior to the election, bringing in $434,000 to Lesko's $367,000. The district is Republican-leaning, having backed the Republican presidential nominee by 20 points or more in the past three election cycles, and race raters viewed the contest as a Solid or Likely Republican bet. Lesko will serve out the term of incumbent Rep. Trent Franks (R), who resigned from office following reports that he had discussed possible surrogacy arrangements with female staffers [Learn more]( [Forward This](mailto:?&cc=info@Ballotpedia.org&subject=Check out this info I found from Ballotpedia&body= [blank][Tweet This]( [blank][blank][Send to Facebook]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [blank] Democrats win New York Senate special elections, but Republicans will hold chamber Shelley Mayer (D) beat Julie Killian (R) in the special election for New York State Senate District 37 Tuesday night. However, state Sen. Simcha Felder (D) will continue caucusing with Republicans, dashing Democratic hopes of reclaiming control of the state Senate and gaining a trifecta in New York ahead of the 2018 elections. Felder previously signaled that he might join the Democratic caucus if Mayer won in District 37 and Luis Sepulveda (D) held the more-safely Democratic District 32 (which he did). Earlier this month, eight members of the Independent Democratic Conference who caucused with Republicans rejoined the Democratic caucus, giving them a 32-31 numerical majority once Mayer and Sepulveda are sworn in. Felder’s continued alliance with Republicans will give the GOP effective control, though. Other results from New York’s state legislative special elections last night included a Democratic pick-up in Assembly District 10 and a Republican pick-up in Assembly District 142. [Learn more→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Rep. Lamborn's re-election bid blocked by court; Lamborn set to challenge ruling The Colorado state Supreme Court ruling has resulted in preventing incumbent Rep. Doug Lamborn's (R) from running for re-election on April 23. The decision followed a lawsuit filed by district voters in early April disputing the validity of Lamborn's gathered petition signatures. Lamborn's attorney said he intends to dispute the decision, taking his case to the federal court. “We believe, quite frankly, denying a sitting congressman the right to participate in a primary election where the residency of the circulator denies the otherwise valid petition signatures is unconstitutional,” Lamborn's attorney Ryan Call said. “We intend to file an action in federal district court, and there are a number of cases that find that the residency requirement for circulators as unconstitutional.” [Learn more→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Committee approves Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state The Senate Foreign Relations Committee initially voted 11-10 to favorably recommend CIA Director Mike Pompeo's nomination as secretary of state to the Senate. After the initial vote Monday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the committee chairman, said that in order to comply with Senate rules, a majority of those present had to favorably approve the nomination. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who cast his "yes" vote by proxy so he could deliver the eulogy at his friend's funeral, was absent. The vote by those present was 10-10. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) agreed to vote "present" on a second vote, which made the final committee vote 11-9. All Republicans voted for Pompeo, and all Democrats except Coons voted against Pompeo's nomination. Coon's decision to vote "present" saved the committee and Isakson from having to hold a final vote after Isakson returned from the funeral. Corker said that Coons displayed a "statesmanship that I'm not accustomed to seeing in the Senate." Coons told reporters that voting "present" was the "appropriate thing to do." He added, "The only question was would it happen now or would we force my dear friend Johnny Isakson, who gave the eulogy at his best friend's funeral today, to come here tonight at 11. ...It did not change the outcome in any way." Pompeo's nomination now heads to the full Senate for approval. After earning the support of three Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who initially opposed his nomination, Pompeo seems to have secured enough votes to become the next secretary of state. Pompeo needs 50 votes for confirmation. All Republicans, with the exception of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been absent from the Senate due to cancer treatments, are expected to vote for Pompeo. With Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and Joe Donnelly's (D-Ind.) votes and the remaining 50 Republican votes, Pompeo would receive more than the simple majority needed to be confirmed. [Learn more→]( Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. 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