Feds Investigating NJ Democratic Senate Candidate

Some kind of a "rental deal" with a non-profit:

The action comes two weeks after The Star-Ledger reported that Menendez collected over $300,000 from the organization over a nine-year period while he represented Hudson County in the U.S. House of Representatives. During that period, he also helped the agency win millions of dollars in federal funding.

Sweet.

Meanwhile, Tom Kean Junior has already overtaken Menendez for the Senate seat in recent polling.

That would be a net pick-up, of course.

Rasmussen has it as 49-45 with six toss-ups.

Maria Cantwell, Too: Accused of "helping" lobbyists' clients.

Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell helped arrange more than $11 million in federal money in the past year for projects benefiting clients of a lobbyist who is advising her re-election campaign and still owes her money from a personal loan.

Cantwell, a Democrat who is in a tight re-election race, has reported for years that former campaign manager Ron Dotzauer owes her between $15,000 and $50,000 for a personal loan predating her first Senate election in 2000. Dotzauer now runs a lobbying firm.

The loan was still listed as outstanding on the financial disclosure report Cantwell filed in May. The senator's office said Dotzauer continues to advise informally Cantwell's campaign as an unpaid adviser.

Since last fall, Cantwell has helped persuade Senate appropriators to set aside $9.6 million - known as "earmarks" in congressional parlance - for a dam project benefiting two clients of Dotzauer's firm and $2 million more for the biotechnology company Inologic also represented by his firm.

Tight race. Democratic corruption. I likes it.

Update: John brings the snark. Except this is quite possible in New Jersey:

Look for Menendez to drop out a few weeks before the election, and a judge to allow Frank Lautenberg to hold BOTH NJ senate seats.

Thanks to someone.

posted by Ace at 03:16 PM

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