Elections, Republican | featured news

From the Appalachian trail to the campaign trail, former Governor Mark Sanford is back on the grid. After defeating Curtis Bostic in the GOP primary runoff on Tuesday, 57% to 43%, Sanford should be the favorite to win the vacated congressional seat in South Carolina first district. The district has become heavily Republican.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has filed papers to seek re-election next year, while enjoying a popularity surge due to his hands-on response to Superstorm Sandy, the worst natural disaster in state history....

Eleven governorships are on the table in Tuesday's election and Republicans hope a good chunk of them will go red, strengthening their already robust lead in state leadership. Republicans currently hold 29 governorships, and according to the Republican Governors Association, the GOP has a chance to take as many as four of the eight currently Democratically-held states up for grabs.

Republicans hopeful of taking over the Senate should be measuring the drapes. But a series of blown opportunities two years ago and again this year has cost Republicans dearly in their quest for a Senate majority....

Republicans are in position to extend their recent gains among governors as they compete for seats they haven't won in a quarter-century. Of the 11 states with gubernatorial elections in November, eight are now led by Democrats, and each of the most competitive races is a GOP pickup opportunity. The numbers suggests that Republicans soon will claim 30 to 33 governorships after holding just 22 a few years ago - an advantage not reflected in the divided Congress or competitive presidential race.

The FiveThirtyEight forecast model now gives Republicans just about a 16 percent chance of winning control of the Senate. This is a precipitous drop from just two months ago.

Under fire from his own party for controversial comments on rape, U.S. Republican Representative Todd Akin on Thursday won the support of social conservatives in his effort to stay in Missouri's US Senate race.

Senior Republicans scrambled to distance themselves on Monday from Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin's comments about rape, which put an unwelcome focus on divisive social issues a week before the party holds its election-year convention.

Mitt Romney's wife has confirmed a tidbit about the vice presidential search process her husband largely has been keeping secret: He's considering choosing a woman. "We've been looking at that, and I love that option as well," Ann Romney told CBS News in a joint interview with her husband that was broadcast Thursday. She added: "There's a lot of people that Mitt is considering right now."

House Republicans are reserving more than $18 million in ad time as they look to protect their majority... As with House Democrats, who announced $32 million in ad reservations earlier this year, the NRCC could shift its spending or increase it. But the ad reservations offer an early idea of where Republicans think they will play offense and defense.