Kerry-Edwards working for senior vote
HENDERSON, Nev., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Democratic presidential ticket Wednesday opened a drive to pull in the senior vote, which makes up an estimated 25 percent of the voting population.
"Seniors are cutting their pills in half, and we're told the best we can do for them is a Medicare bill that's riddled with waste and handouts to drug companies. We can do better," presidential hopeful John Kerry said in a statement issued in advance of a series of campaign stops focusing on healthcare and prescription-drug costs.
"With rising healthcare costs and a dragging economy, our seniors and families are squeezed like never before."
A conference call connecting participants in the national Seniors for Kerry-Edwards movement with the group's leaders -- Ed Coyle, executive director of the liberal Alliance for Retired Americans and Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle -- kicked off the effort. Coyle's organization, which has more than 3 million members, endorsed Kerry Wednesday.
In Illinois, GOP Senate hopeful finds downscale digs
CALUMET CITY, Ill., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- New neighbors of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes are shocked he has moved into an apartment on the "poorest block in town" of their Chicago suburb.
Described by the Chicago Daily Southtown Wednesday as a "shabby brick two-flat" in Calumet City, the apartment where Keyes has taken up residency is in a working-class neighborhood.
Keyes was required to establish a residence in Illinois to compete in the November election against Democrat Barack Obama. Illinois law requires candidates to be in residence by Election Day.
The location, Keyes's aides said, will provide him with a firsthand view of a racially diverse area "facing unique challenges," though not everyone in the suburban city of 39,000 quite believes it.
"I'd think someone like him could get a better neighborhood than this," said Shalonda Lawrence, who will be Keyes' downstairs neighbor.
And the technician sent to hook up the gas service, Jerry Brown, said it seemed too far-fetched.
"He could afford something better," Brown said from his truck. "He's not that crazy."
Meanwhile, Keyes hasn't abandoned his real home back in Maryland's wealthiest county, Montgomery, where his 4,066-square-foot, two-story home has an appraised value of $543,860, the newspaper said.
Coors, Salazar square off in Senate race
DENVER, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Colorado voters have selected Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar and Republican brewery executive Pete Coors to run for the U.S. Senate.
Each man won his party's nomination in landslide victories in Tuesday's primary, the Denver Post reported.
The Senate race in Colorado is closely watched nationally because the outcome may play a role in determining which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Coors, a political novice, defeated former Rep. Bob Schaffer. Salazar, the victor in two previous statewide races, bested Mike Miles, a Colorado Springs educator.
John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University, told the Post the race for the Colorado Senate seat would be very high profile and expensive.
The race was set up by the unexpected announcement of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., last March that he would not seek re-election.
Indiana Congressman convicted on weapons charge
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ky., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., was convicted of carrying a concealed lethal weapon into the Louisville International Airport in April.
Hostettler, 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the misdemeanor charge, accepting a 60-day jail sentence that was suspended on the condition he surrender his pistol and avoid legal troubles for the next two years, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. He will undergo formal sentencing Aug. 23.
If his case had gone to trial, Hostettler could have faced up to a year in jail.
Hostettler had a permit to carry his Glock 9mm pistol in Indiana, but he said he forgot it was in his briefcase when he tried to board a flight to Washington April 20.
First black woman nominated for U.S. Senate in Georgia
ATLANTA, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Rep. Denise Majette, D-Ga., became the first woman and the first black in Georgia to be nominated for U.S. Senate after winning a runoff election Tuesday.
Majette, a first-term congresswoman from the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain, defeated Cliff Oxford by 20 percentage points, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday.
Majette will face veteran Rep. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the general election Nov. 2 and is considered a long shot.
Isakson has a well-financed campaign and has momentum from a victory without a runoff in a three-way Republican contest earlier this summer.
At stake this year is the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat who frequently voted with the GOP.
In another runoff Tuesday, Republican state Sen. Tom Price won a seat in the House by defeating state Sen. Robert Lamutt. Price does not have a Democratic opponent in November.
Poll: Obama leads statewide in Illinois
CHICAGO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican Alan Keyes in the first poll of their Illinois U.S. Senate race, WBBM-TV, Chicago reported.
The CBS2/SurveyUSA Poll conducted Friday and Saturday, before Keyes formally accepted the Republican nomination, showed Keyes trailing Obama, 67 percent to 28 percent. He was behind in all areas of the state -- even in the heavily Republican counties surrounding Chicago.
Obama led Keyes 62 percent to 34 percent in the GOP strongholds and was preferred downstate 56 percent to 38 percent. Keyes led among Republicans 67 percent to 27 percent.
In Chicago, the poll found 79 percent support for Obama to 16 percent for Keyes, who signed a lease for an apartment in suburban Calumet City to establish Illinois residency.
Black voters favored Obama 89 percent to 10 percent and white voters favored the Democrat 62 percent to 32 percent.
Among women, it was 74 percent for Obama, 21 percent for Keyes.
FTC Commissioner Thompson to resign
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Mozelle Thompson will step down on Aug. 31.
An FTC official said Thompson was a recess appointment and his term officially ended Sept. 26, 2003, but he remained on the job pending President George W. Bush's appointment of a replacement.
The FTC spokesman said Thompson's resignation came after Bush declared his intention to name a new commissioner.
In a news release, Thompson issued a brief statement reflecting on his six and a half years in the job, characterizing it as "a period of great challenge and accomplishment."
According to the FTC, Thompson was sworn in as a commissioner Dec. 17, 1997. He was previously principal deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury Department, where he was responsible for supervising domestic spending and credit policies.
The FTC is headed by five commissioners, each nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for a seven-year term.
Florida education commissioner resigns
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- School-voucher advocate Jim Horne has resigned as Florida's education commissioner, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.
The resignation from the $232,000-a-year post came as a surprise to state officials including Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed him in 2001, the Palm Beach Post reported Wednesday.
Under Horne's stewardship, elementary-school reading levels have improved consistently.
He has come under fire for school-voucher abuses resulting in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars and has been accused of a lack of accountability for students using the vouchers.
A spokesman said he plans to write children's books after his resignation becomes effective at the end of the month. Horne has four children and has been commuting between his home in Jacksonville, Fla., and his job in Tallahassee.
