Conservation Insider Bulletin, May 9

Conservation Insider Bulletin

Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, cib@conservationcouncilnc.org

May 9, 2008

We examine the results of the NC primary in races of environmental interest, and take a look at the status of national environmental endorsements, this week in CIB:

--Campaign Watch, NC: CCNC Endorsements Fare Well in Primary
--Campaign Watch, Washington: FOE Endorses Obama; LCV's Endorsements List

Campaign Watch, NC: CCNC Endorsements Fare Well in Primary

CCNC's endorsed candidates fared well in the primary voting this week, with 10 of 11 of those endorsed winning their races. CCNC Political Director Brownie Newman reports:

Lt. Governor-- In spite of a strong campaign, we were sorry to see Dan Besse lose his bid for Lt. Gov. The race was won by Sen. Walter Dalton. He will face Robert Pittenger in November.

Now the good news. We won all these contests:
State Treasurer--Janet Cowell defeated a well-financed opponent, Buncombe County Commissioner David Young.
Cowell, 47%, 596,000
Young, 36%, 456,000
Weisel, 17%, 219,000
Senate District 5-- Donald Davis came in first place among the five candidates. He will face a run-off against Kathy Taft as no one garnered more than 40% of the vote. The strong showing by Davis indicates he will be the front-runner in the run-off..
Donald Davis, 36%, 10,180
Kathy Taft, 24%, 6846
Ed Wilson, 14%, 3866
Tony Moore, 12%, 3504
Charles Johnson, 6%, 1564
Senate District 16-- Josh Stein won the race to fill Janet Cowell's vacant seat. His opponent, Jack Nichols was endorsed by the NC Homebuilders in the final days of the race.
Stein: 49%, 19,063
Nichols, 40%, 15692
Senate District 25-- Sen. Ellie Kinnaird defeated challenger Moses Carey by 27,084 to 14,982
Senate District 28-- Sen. Katie Dorsett defeated challenger Bruce Davis by 20,509 to 11,063.
House 7-- Rep. Angela Bryant defeated challenger Jean Reaves by 10,686 to 3360.
House 100-- Rep. Tricia Cotham defeated challenger Lloyd Scher by 7679 to 2074
House 119 -- Rep. Phil Haire defeated Avram Friedman by 8659 to 3283.
Our two pro-conservation Republican Senators who faced primary races were also re-elected. In Senate District 36, Sen. Fletcher Hartsell defeated Thomas Hill by 7115 to 3313. In Senate District 42, Sen. Austin Allran defeated challenger Kitty Barnes, who is Chair of the Catawba County Commission, by 1

Campaign Watch, Washington: FOE Endorses Obama; LCV's Endorsements List

FOE Endorses Obama: Friends of the Earth (FOE) this week announced its endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president. The national environmental organization especially cited Obama's energy positions as a strong factor in its decision. In a news release, FOE president Brent Blackwelder said, " The 'gas tax holiday' debate is a defining moment in the presidential race. The two other candidates responded with sham solutions that won't ease pain at the pump, but Senator Obama refused to play that typical Washington game. Instead, Obama called for real solutions that would make transportation more affordable and curb global warming. He showed the courage and candor we expect from a president." FOE also cited Obama's broad pro-environment record, including a 96 per cent voting score from the League of Conservation Voters. FOE had previously endorsed John Edwards in the presidential contest. More info on FOE's endorsement can be found at http://www.foeaction.org/Obama.

LCV's Endorsements List: The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has made three Senate and 18 House endorsements so far this year. The following are LCV's 2008 endorsements to date:

Senate:
Mark Udall (D) CO; Jeanne Shaheen (D) NH; Tom Udall (D) NM
House:
Jerry McNerney (D) CA-11; Joe Courtney (D) CT-02; Mike Castle (R) DE-AL; Bill Foster (D) IL-14; Chellie Pingree (D) ME-01; Wayne Gilchrest** (R) MD-01; Donna Edwards** (D) MD-04; Vern Ehlers (R) MI-03; Mark Schauer (D) MI-07; Gary Peters (D) MI-09; Kay Barnes (D) MO-06; Larry Kissell (D) NC-08; Frank Lobiondo (R) NJ-02; Martin Heinrich (D) NM-01; Ben Ray Lujan** (D) NM-03; Stephen Black** (D) OH-02; Victoria Wulsin** (D) OH-02; Tom Brinkman** (R) OH-02.

[KEY: ** = Primary Endorsement; Italics = Special Election Endorsement]

Ongoing endorsement announcements by LCV may be monitored at its website, http://lcv.org/campaigns/endorsements/.