50 State Blog Roundup, 02.29.08

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California
Karen Bass will become the new Speaker of the Assembly. She will team with Senator Darrell Steinberg to lead the California legislature for the next two years. She is the first female Democrat to lead the Assembly.

New York
Daily Gotham reports on endorsements in a Congressional race beginning to heat up in New York's 13th District. This one is all that stands between us and a free-of-republican-Congressmen New York City.

Iowa
noneed4thneed reports that corporate groups are already funding television and radio ads attacking some Democrats in the Iowa House.

North Dakota
What if one of the people spreading the crazy lies about Barack Obama is a senior Republican member of the North Dakota House of Representatives?

Kentucky
In the wake of the KY debacle two weeks ago with the state party in the Senate primary, BlueGrassRoots made a Wiki project to give Kentuckians the informational tools to "infiltrate" and take over their party at the local/county level.

Washington
Nicole Brummitt is mother of a son whose father is incarcerated in Washington and transferred to a private prison in Arizona. In her story, $3.3 billion company profits of the pain of incarcerated Washingtonians and their families, she sheds some light on Corrections Corp of America. Washington Department of Corrections currently contracts with CCA. In a time where we are seeing crime decrease in Washington there is also a strange epidemic of the prison population increasing. More prisons and more prisoners means more profit for CCA.

Virginia
The Virginia GOP says it won't stoop to smearing Obama, allowing the media to talk about smearing Obama. Every Virginia GOP representative voted against energy efficiency last week.

Texas
Sen. John Cornyn tried to swiftboat Democrat Rick Noriega by calling on him to release his military records. Looks like that backfired as Noriega released them and his records are stellar.

New Mexico
Outgoing Senator Pete Domenici is a shill for Big Oil and an opponent to alternative energy proposals.

Oregon
Vicarious Thrill Dept: It was endorsement week in Oregon, and everybody went Obama. Senate candidate Steve Novick offered his highly-developed support for Obama, with primary competitor Jeff Merkley following up with his own version, as well as a dig at Novick for not endorsing him HARD enough. But maybe the most important blessing came from a new Oregonian who may actually be more popular than Obama in the state: Greg Oden got a call from Barack and tells us in his blog diary he will cast his first vote for Prez this fall for Obama.

Illinois
A bill to correct some of the state's over-reliance on local property taxes for education by "swapping" out a portion with the state income tax is making its way through the Illinois Senate

Iowa
Shows of support for an Iowa House bill that would make it easier for moms to breastfeed will include a "nurse in" at the State Capitol next week

Indiana
Another nutty complaint was lodged against the Andre Carson campaign this week

New Jersey
Paid family leave is one step closer to being a reality in New Jersey.

North Carolina
Greg Flynn at BlueNC covers the drought that extends to every area of North Carolina. Not one area of the state is spared.

New York
The Albany Project deconstructs the GOP spin the day after an historic state Senate win of an upstate seat in republican hands for 128 years.

Arizona
Rick Renzi "Staying the Course" in Arizona while facing a 35 count indictment and many years in prison if found guilty.

Alabama
Thirty-one counties in Alabama lack a hospital offering maternity care, yet midwife assisted home birth is not legal in the state. The Alabama Birth Coalition organized a march on the State House last week advocating for legislation to allow licensed midwives to practice in Alabama.

Wisconsin
Rabid wingers in Wisconsin tur "mistakes" molehill into "voter fraud" mountain.

Ohio
An eloquent self-produced video reflects the excitment building for Obama in all across Ohio, in Testimonial and Field Report From Morrow County, Ohio

West Virginia
At West Virginia Blue they're going after Shelley Moore Capito. The woman doesn't stand a chance.

Pennsylvania
Democrats in Pennsylvania want Ralph Nader to pay his legal bills from his last failed run for President before gaining access to the ballot in the state this year.

Missouri
Show Me Progress outlines the qualifications of Andria Simckes who is running to be state treasurer.

Minnesota
Barack Obama picked up two more superdelegates in Minnesota this week

Nevada
Freshman Rep. Dean Heller (NV-2) is among the worst in Congress on Children's issues according to the Children's Defense Fund. The Clark County Democratic Convention in Las Vegas to allocate delegates for Obama and Clinton for the state convention ended up in a big mess with a do-over necessary. Here's an eye-witness account.