Arlen Spectator gets sunk by former Admiral Joe Sestak in PA, Blanche Lincoln heads to a run off in Arkansas, a Tea Party favorite edges out the Republican party candidate in Kentucky and Democrats easily keep John Murtha's seat.

So which party came out on top? Neither, the primaries signal a voter dissatisfaction with the establishment candidates. What do the primaries results say about the elections in November? Things aren't looking so certain for Republicans and Democrats still have a good chance to retain both houses.

In Washington D.C., the City Council has voted to approve same-sex marriages in the district. It'll have to go for another vote, then the city's Mayor, who has said he'll approve. After that, the United States Congress has 30 days to review and potentially deny the law, due to the pesky way the district is ruled.

Meanwhile, via Metafilter, comes news that New York state is set to make gay marriage legal within a week or so. Talk about under the radar.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford will have to face an ethics panel early next year to answer questions about his use of state funds. Sanford disappeared for five days in June, lied about where he was and then eventually admitted he was in Argentina visiting his mistress.

Remember the NY-23 congressional race between 3 candidates, a Democrat, a Republican and a conservative, and how up in the air the election was? You know how Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava eventually dropped out and endorsed the Democrat, Bill Owens, while the Republican party machine put its weight behind Doug Hoffman, the Conservative party candidate, yet the Democrats went on to win the seat? Well, maybe (maybe!) the Democrats didn't win.

Owens won by 5,335 votes, but a re-canvassing has dropped that to 3,026 votes and the 10,200 absentee votes have yet to be counted, which were mailed out before Scozzafava withdrew. So there's a possibility that Hoffman could still win, despite having conceded the race on election night.

The trial of Shelia Dixon, the mayor of Baltimore, beings today. At issue is whether gift cards designated for the poor and needy were instead used by Dixon and others for their personal use.

The Charleston County Republican Party voted to censure to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham for working with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry on the Cap and Trade bill. It's not the first time the state party has censured Graham. Back in 2007, the local GOP party rebuked him for supporting an immigration bill.

There's been ongoing friction between Graham and local Republicans for a while. Though he's solidly conservative, he's not above working with Democrats, which tends to infruiate the right ward pulling GOP, some of whom have branded him a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and (gasp!) a moderate, which if fine with Graham, who's determined not to have the Republicans be the party of angry, old, white guys or Ron Paul.

After Obama tapped Congressman John McHugh to be his Secretary of the Army, Democrats and Republicans turned the election to fill New York's 23rd district into a national referendum for their respective parties. Dierdre Scozzafava, a "a Pro-Choice, Pro-Union & Pro Gay Marriage Republican" became the GOP candidate, while Bill Owens ran for the Democrats.

Then Doug Hoffman decided to join the race and fight "for the heart and soul of the Republican Party" as an independent for the Conservative Party of New York (No official affiliation to the national party). Polls show the race as a dead heat, meaning if Hoffman wins, Republicans get to claim a victory and will definitely move further to the right (Sarah Palin endorsed Hoffman,that's how far right he is) in the 2010 elections.

However, considering that NY-23 is a solidly Republican seat anyway, it's hard to see this as anything but conflict within the Republican party.

Hello, my is Bob McDonnell. 20 years ago I wrote my master's thesis about "the harmful social impact of working women, feminists and nontraditional families; the flaws of public education; and (my) disagreement with a federal court decision allowing the use of contraceptives by unmarried couples"

Today, I'm running for Governor of Virginia. No need to worry, I've changed my views. Pay no attention to the changing numbers.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, he of the "hiking the Appalachian trail, er having an affair", is facing a new call to resign. This time it's from Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, who's arguing that Sanford's affair has made it “virtually impossible for our state to solve the critical problems we’re facing without a change in leadership." He's also hinting at impeachment proceedings in 2010. In order to remove the appearance of conflict of interest, Bauer has said he would not run for Sanford's seat, just fill out the remaining months in the term.

At a news conference, Sanford rejected Bauer's request, saying its just a political ploy:

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) officially kicked off her bid for Governor of Texas in the 2010. While not a surprise, her first attack on current governor Rick Perry was interesting:

“Now he's trying to stay too long — 14 years, maybe longer,” Hutchison said. She accused Perry of leaving the state with record-high property taxes, spiraling debt, excessive school tuition and dropout rates and the largest number of uninsured children in the nation. “Ten years is enough. We can do better."

“We need results, not politics. And that starts with term limits for Texas governor. For any governor, eight years is enough,” Hutchison said. “We can’t afford 14 years of one person appointing every state board, agency and commission. It invites patronage. It tempts cronyism. And it has to stop, now.”

If she's elected, would the 3 term Senator stick around for more than two terms as Governor, would she really push that hard for term limits?

Mark Sandford, South Carolina's occasionally disappearing governor, may face charges from his trips to foreign countries, trips where he sometimes met with an Argentinan lover.

South Carolina’s top prosecutor and legislative leaders called Thursday on the State Ethics Commission to investigate Gov. Mark Sanford’s use of state planes and other resources.
...
A review of travel expenses showed Sanford had flown in expensive business-class seating. State law forbids use of first-class tickets; regulations require “coach or tourist class” airfare. Additionally, The Associated Press reported Sanford used state planes for personal or political travel, a possible violation of state law.

One wrinkle is that the commission that would be investigating him is composed of people appointed by the Governor, some of whom donated to his campaign.

Ripples from Rod Blagojevich's shady appointment of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama's Senate seat: A proposed constitutional amendment that vacanies in the Senate be filled by elections, not Governatorial appointments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had this to say about the idea:

"I'm not in favor of our dictating to a state what it should do," Reid told reporters. "We have a system now where some states have special elections and some have governors appoint."

"In the state of Nevada the governor appoints. Even though we have a Republican governor now I think that's the way it should be so I don't support this legislation," Reid added.

Translated: No.

Former Democratic congressman William Jefferson was convicted yesterday on bribery and corruption charges stemming from his involvement with technology companies in Africa. He become famous in 2005 after an FBI raid found $90,000 dollars wrapped in aluminum foil in his freezer. The money was gotten from an FBI informant, and Jefferson was going to use it to bribe a Nigerian official.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is under investigation again for possible ethics violations. This time it's about whether she broke state ethics laws by using her government position to help solicit funds for a fund to help pay her legal bills.

"In light of the evidence that the governor expressly authorized the creation of the trust and the fact the trust website quite openly uses the governor's position to solicit donations, there is probable cause to believe that Governor Palin used, or attempted to use, her official position for personal gain in violation of Alaska statute," Anchorage attorney Tom Daniel wrote in his report.

After months of back and forth between state Democrats who wanted to raise taxes and Republicans who wanted drastic spending cuts, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's announced on Monday that California's Legislature has come to an agreement over the state's $26.3 billion dollar budget. There will be drastic spending cuts.    Continues...

Despite a large warchest and frequent visits from President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe was trounced yesterday in Virginia's Democratic primary by Creigh Deeds. This sets the stage for a rematch of sorts between Deeds and now Governor Bob McDonnell (R) in the fall. The two had originally faced off in 2005 for the Attorney General spot, with McDonnell winning by a razor slim 360 votes.

The New York State Senate, long a Republican stronghold, went Democratic in the 2008 elections. That all changed yesterday as two Senators, Pedro Espada Jr and Hiram Monserrate worked out a bi-partisan power sharing deal, and the chamber flipped back to the Republicans, in a chaotic and dramatic session.

Was the change due to the upcoming battle over same sex marriage? No, you just have to follow the money.    Continues...

Casey Edwards was just a high school student in South Carolina, trying to help other students. She had seen Corridor of Shame, a documentary about the deplorable conditions of South Carolina schools, and with her friends, helped raise money for one of the schools.

Then the recession hit, things got worse, but the federal government passed the stimulus bill, which would channel millions to South Carolina schools. That is, until Governor Mark Sanford (R) refused to take some of the money, despite threats by Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature to overrule him. Sanford vetoed the legislation and then when overruled, still refused to ask for $700 million the state was eligible for, unless cuts were made to offset that amount, citing concerns of debt to future South Carolina citizens.

So Casey Edwards took him to court, and the case made it to the state Supreme Court. Yesterday the ruling was issued and the Governor has been ordered to ask for the $700 million in stimulus funding, a portion of which will go to South Carolina school system. Sanford had previously agreed to abide by whatever the court decided, despite questioning the balance of state power .

As the Minnesota Supreme Court listens to the latest arguments in the Norm Coleman/ Al Franken fight over the junior Senate seat, the Republican Governor, Tom Palwenty has announced he will not run for a third term. Coleman, with the help of the Republican party, has been fighting tooth and nail to deny the Democrats another seat in the Senate, especially since Franken would be the 60th Democrat, theoretically giving the Democrats the power to pass legislation without a single Republican vote. Talking Points Memo says this announcement is bad news for Franken.    Continues...

Montana passed the Firearms Freedom Act, set to take effect on Oct 1, which says that any gun made and sold in Montana and stays in the state does not fall under Federal gun laws, such as federal gun registration, background check and dealer-licensing rules. What's the point of all of this? To provoke a legal fight with the Federal government:

Plans call for the association to find a pristine individual who will manufacture and sell 20 rifles without applying for a mandatory federal dealer's license. The right to do so would be asserted in a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Once a BATF response likely rejecting that claim is received, the association would seek standing in a Federal District Court to litigate its claim, experts say.

   Continues...

As the Republican party continues to power, other conservative groups are focusing on bringing the party back into power.

Say hello to GOPAC, "the premier training organization for Republican candidates in elected office on the state and local levels." Free of Michael Steele's "thrifty ways," the organization is concentrating on helping Bob McDondell in this year's Virginia Governor's race and working outside the main party to put Republicans in state and local offices.

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison "will propose a bill today that would let Texas opt out of the federal highway system and keep every penny of fuel tax collected at the pump."

It's not as crazy as it may sound. Texas, and other "donor states", pay more in federal fuel taxes (the Federal Highway Trust Fund) than they receive. What Hutchinson is proposing will keep that tax (currently 18.4 cents for every dollar) on fuel bought in Texas within the state, as opposed to going into the trust fund and dispersed among all states. Doubtful it'll pass, but it looks good if you're going to run for Governor of Texas in 2010.

If a person is arrested and put in jail, where is their residency, at the original home address or at the prison? There's a fight going about this across America as smaller, rural communities that have prisons argue the obvious:

"States and counties rely on population numbers from the census to draw their legislative districts. In New York and some other states, Republicans continue to have clout in legislatures because they are elected from safely conservative, rural districts even as those areas lose people. The exception to that population decline: inmates, whose numbers have grown because of tough mandatory sentencing laws."

Congresscritters hard at work: Texas has passed a non-binding resolution "to protect and defend state authority under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers," i.e. state's rights. Governor Rick Perry is all about it.

Want to keep on the political news in a particular state? The Fixx has a list of the best political blogs for all 50 states.