Mediaboss Marketing

Republican Dan Sullivan has won Alaska's U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Begich, officials said.

Sullivan led Begich by about 8,100 votes on election night last week, and when state officials counted absentee and questioned ballots Tuesday, the results indicated that Begich could not overcome Sullivan's lead.

The Alaska seat was initially considered key to Republicans' hopes of taking control of the U.S. Senate, but that was accomplished election night with GOP victories in other states.

Sullivan, a first-time candidate, ran a confident campaign, ignoring the debate schedule Begich released during the primary and setting his own agenda. He also attracted some star power to the state, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite, and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney rallying support for Sullivan in the waning days of the hotly contested race.

Sullivan pledged to fight federal overreach, talked about the need for an energy renaissance in the U.S. and, at seemingly every opportunity, sought to tie Begich to President Obama and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who are unpopular in Alaska.

Begich complained that Sullivan offered little in the way of proposals for what he would do as senator. Begich also tried to paint sharp contrasts between himself and Sullivan in areas such as women's health, education and Alaska issues.

Begich, for example, was born and raised in Alaska. He cast Sullivan, who grew up in Ohio, as an outsider, and many of the early attacks by pro-Begich groups keyed in to that theme. That perception of Sullivan made for an at-times uncomfortable debate on fisheries issues, in which questioners grilled Sullivan about his knowledge of one of Alaska's most important industries.

On several occasions, Sullivan's wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, an Alaska native and frequent companion on the campaign trail, appeared in ads defending her husband's ties to the state and his positions on women's issues.

Sullivan has roots in Alaska dating to the 1990s but was gone for nearly seven years for military service and work in Washington that included working as an assistant secretary of State. He returned to Alaska in 2009, when he was appointed attorney general by then-Gov. Sarah Palin.

He most recently served as Alaska's natural resources commissioner, a post he left in September 2013, to make his first run for public office.

Go here to read the rest:
Republican Dan Sullivan wins Senate race in Alaska

By Matt Schudel November 12 at 7:11 PM

Marge Roukema, who served 22 years in the House of Representatives as a moderate Republican from New Jersey and who co-sponsored the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, died Nov.12 at a nursing home in Wyckoff, N.J. She was 85.

She had Alzheimers disease, said her daughter, Margaret Meg Kuhn.

Mrs. Roukema, a onetime teacher and school board member in Ridgewood, N.J., ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1978 before winning election in 1980 from an affluent district in northernmost New Jersey. She defeated the Democratic incumbent, Andrew Maguire, calling him a liberal out of touch with his constituents a tactic that would later be used against her.

During her 11 terms in office, Mrs. Roukema was known as a fiscally conservative back-bencher who held relatively moderate views on a range of social issues. She was a pro-choice Republican who opposed soft money in political campaigns and resisted conservative attempts to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1994, she was one of 11 Republicans to vote for a bill to ban assault weapons.

Over time, Mrs. Roukema found herself increasingly out of step with the growing conservatism that came to dominate the Republican Party.

She was drawn to her signature issue of family leave from personal experience, after caring for her son Todd, who died of leukemia at 17 in 1976. Mrs. Roukema joined forces with Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) in the House to sponsor a bill that called for employers to provide their workers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family leave for the birth of child, an urgent medical need and other conditions.

Families are thrown into crisis when serious illness strikes. I know, Mrs. Roukema said in a speech on the House floor in 1993. When my son Todd was stricken with leukemia and needed home care, I was free to remain at home. But what about the millions of mothers who work?

The bill was twice vetoed by President George H.W. Bush before President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act into law in 1993.

After her reelection in 2000, Mrs. Roukema was the longest-serving woman in the House and the senior member of the New Jersey congressional delegation. She was the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, but the GOP leadership rejected her bid to chair the panel.

The rest is here:
Marge Roukema, moderate Republican congresswoman from New Jersey, dies at 85

Washington Chalk up another Senate race for the Republicans. Former state Attorney General Dan Sullivan is the winner in a tight race against incumbent Mark Begich (D), bringing the Republican Party's net gains in last week's election to eight Senate seats.

That total looks likely to reach nine come December, when a runoff election in Louisiana will decide whether incumbent Mary Landrieu (D) loses her seat to Bill Cassidy (R).

Senator Begichs campaign effort succumbed to the same Republican tide that swept aside Democratic incumbents in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Colorado all a sign of high voter disapproval of President Obama.

The Alaska result puts Republicans in a stronger majority in the US Senate when a new session starts in January (they needed just six new seats to take control), and gives them a little cushion against whats expected to be a tough Senate rematch in 2016. The party also padded its commanding majority in the House.

The Associated Press reported that although Begich did not concede the race, initial counting of absentee ballots showed that the incumbent would not be able to overcome Mr. Sullivans 8,100-vote election night lead.

Sullivan cast his victory as one with implications for the nation as well as the Last Frontier.

While we have challenges to address, the opportunities in Alaska and our country are limitless, he said in a victory statement. Today, we are going to begin the process of turning our country around.

The Alaska race was among many that looked close in opinion polls leading up to Election Day but where voters broke against Mr. Obamas party.

Begich and the other ousted incumbents were facing tough odds all along. Back in 2008, they had won election in states that now lean strongly Republican (Arkansas as well as Alaska) or are swing states in presidential elections (North Carolina and Colorado). Back then, a deep recession and financial crisis propelled Democrats into both the Oval Office and strong congressional majorities.

This time around, the political winds were blowing the other way. There was no presidential election to boost Democratic turnout. And a historical pattern of the presidents party losing ground in midterm elections was amplified by Obamas low approval ratings and public discontent with the economy.

Read more from the original source:
Alaska Senate results: Incumbent Begich swept out by Republican tide (+video)

ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 Obama vows to bypass Republican Congress on immigration reform
ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 In the headlines... Prime Minister Chung Hong-won calls on civil servants to cooperate with the governments drive to reform the pension p...

By: ARIRANG

More:
ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 Obama vows to bypass Republican Congress on immigration reform - Video

President, Congressional Leaders Meet After Republican Election Victory
After Republicans #39; sweeping election wins, President Barack Obama met Friday with congressional leaders at the White House, saying the American people want their leaders to find common ground...

By: VOAvideo

See the original post:
President, Congressional Leaders Meet After Republican Election Victory - Video