Mediaboss Marketing

A 1st Congressional District candidate who planned to run as an independent is now running as a Democrat.

Johnny Akzam, of Rochester, initially filed to run as an independent. But the website developer said he has decided to seek the DFL endorsement.

I had a lot of support from DFLers asking me to run as a DFLer, he said.

Akzam, who supported 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, initially decided against running as a Democrat because he was concerned about how Sanders was treated by the Democratic National Committee. But he said it appears to be a much fairer process at the congressional level.

Theres been no shortage of interest in the seat since 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz announced in March he wouldnt seek re-election. He is running for governor in 2018.

Akzam is one of three Democrats seeking the partys endorsement for the seat. Others who have announced are former Sen. Vicki Jensen of Owatonna and electronic pull-tabs salesman Colin Minehart of Albert Lea. Byron High School teacher John Austinson is expected to announce his bid for the seat on Wednesday. Two other Democrats, Dan Feehan and Joe Sullivan, both of Mankato, are also considering running for the seat.

So far only one Republican has officially entered the race Blue Earth Republican Jim Hagedorn. He narrowly lost to Walz in November. Plenty of other Republicans are mulling bids, including state Olmsted County Republican Party Chairman Aaron Miller, Rochester Sen. Carla Nelson, Rochester Rep. Nels Pierson and Luverne Rep. Joe Schomacker.

Asked if he plans to abide by the DFLs endorsement process, Akzam said, If I feel like the process is fair, then I will respect the endorsement.

Reach Regional Managing Editor Suzanne Rook at 507-333-3134. Follow her on Twitter @rooksuzy

Link:
Congressional candidate switches from independent to Democrat - Southernminn.com

Speaker Paul Ryan is claiming that it's "easier" having a Republican in the White House rather than a Democrat, despite some of the legislative challenges his party has faced so far this year.

In a new interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends," the Wisconsin Republican was asked if it's not necessarily easier having President Trump in the White House.

"Oh, I think it's easier," Ryan said. "It's easier but also it's exciting and it gives you optimism because you have a chance of doing things."

Ryan said that Republicans, on the other hand, disagreed with President Obama "on so many things."

"With President Trump, the sky's the limit," he said. "I mean, the Senate is a razor thin majority. That is a very tight majority. But we have this opportunity and we just cannot blow it."

But it hasn't exactly been easy for the Republican majority. The GOP's two major accomplishments during the Trump administration so far are confirming Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court justice and reversing a series of Obama-era regulations through the Congressional Review Act.

Aside from those successes, Republicans have been struggling. The House narrowly passed a GOP health care bill to repeal and replace Obamacare in early May after failing to secure enough support for the original measure in March. The Senate, meanwhile, was expected to vote on a different version of the bill this week before the July 4 recess, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, suddenly decided Tuesday to delay the vote until they return. Leadership was struggling to secure enough support to advance the bill to a final vote.

Other items the GOP majority hasn't completed:

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

See the article here:
Paul Ryan says it's "easier" having Trump in the White House than a Democrat - CBS News

The Senate intelligence committee will receive former FBI Director James Comey's memos of his conversations with President Trump as part of its investigation into Russian actions during the 2016 election, the committee's top Democrat told reporters Wednesday.

"We have a commitment to get appropriate access to the Comey memos," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. "I'm pleased, I think it's critical information we have to have as part of our review process."

Warner said the committee would receive the memos "soon," but would not specify a date. He also did not say with whom the committee made the deal to receive the memos.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., right, and committee Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. confer during a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Comey, who was fired by Trump as FBI Director May 9, told lawmakers earlier this month that he prepared multiple memos documenting conversations with the president that Comey said made him uneasy. One of the memos detailed a Feb. 14 conversation in which Trump requested that the FBI end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

During his testimony before the Senate intelligence committee, Comey admitted to having a friend leak that memo to the media.

Warner said he's anxious to see Comey's contemporaneous reflections on his meetings with the president, particularly the Oval Office discussion on Flynn.

Warner wouldn't say if he knew if there were multiple copies of the memos.

Earlier Wednesday, a source close to Trump's legal team told Fox News that they had indefinitely postponed filing ethics complaints against Comey with the Department of Justice inspector general and the Senate Judiciary Committee in relation to the leaked Feb. 14 memo.

The source said the postponement was in deference to the ongoing FBI investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Fox News' John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Original post:
Senate intelligence panel to get Comey memos, top Democrat says - Fox News

The Sept. 12 Republican special election primary for state Senate District 37 suddenly became very crowded on Wednesday.

Five GOP candidates turned in their paperwork to the state Election Board on the last day of filing for the soon-to-be vacated seat, bringing to seven the total number entered in the no-runoff primary.

Only one Democrat, Allison Ickley-Freeman of Tulsa, filed.

Filing Wednesday were Brian Jackson, 34, Sand Springs; Rick Hardesty, 56, Tulsa; Nicole Nixon, 31, Tulsa; R. Jay McAtee, Sand Springs; and Phil Nollan, 56, Sand Springs.

They joined Brian OHara, 56, and Grady Grant, 62, both of Jenks, who filed on Monday.

OHara, a field representative for First District Congressman Jim Bridenstine, is a former Jenks city councilor.

Grant operates a locksmith company in Tulsa.

Jackson, a Sand Springs city councilor, lost in last years GOP SD 37 primary to incumbent Dan Newberry. Newberry is resigning the seat no later than Jan. 31.

Nollan is also a Sand Springs city councilor. His wife, Jadine Nollan, is a state representative.

Nixon works for a Tulsa metal supplier and fabricator, and last spring was an outspoken critic of Tulsa Public Schools decision to close Remington Elementary School.

McAtee is an insurance and workers compensation defense lawyer.

The winner of the GOP primary will face Ickley-Freeman, a 26-year-old social worker, in the Nov. 14 general election.

Here is the original post:
Seven Republicans, one Democrat file for Senate District 37 special election - Tulsa World

Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, speaks with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

In the Senate, a Republican and a Democrat are working on a bipartisan deal to change the housing finance industry.

Tennessee Republican Bob Corker and Virginia Democrat Mark Warner are considering a plan that would split up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Bloomberg. The government took control of the two companies in 2008 when the housing market collapsed and has since pumped $187.5 billion into them.

The lawmakers are debating splitting Fannie and Freddie's single-family businesses and multi-family businesses, which finances apartment rentals, sources told Bloomberg. From there, they could continue to divide the single-family business into smaller companies.

Fannie and Freddie back more than $4 trillion in housing securities, according to Bloomberg. Lawmakers have worried that the size of the two companies encourages taxpayer-funded bailouts if they run into trouble.

The two Senate Banking committee members started working on the plan earlier this year, according to Bloomberg. The committee held a housing finance hearing last month and plans to hold another on June 29.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

See the original post here:
A Republican and a Democrat team up to split Fannie Mae and ... - CNBC