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2002 elections.

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I am a registered Democrat...which doesn't always mean I agree 100% with the Democrats.
Here are some of the races I've been following. I'm putting links so that everyone can read about the candidates for themselves!

I used to live in NJ, and I support Frank Lautenberg for Senator. I'm pretty familiar with his Senate record (he was previously a NJ Senator) and I think he was very good. Also, I object to the Republicans taking this issue to the Supreme Court. They object to the late replacement of Lautenberg for Torricelli. I think this is an issue that was satisfactorily settled by the New Jersey Supreme Court. (latest News: U.S. Supreme Court declines to overturn NJ Supreme Court ruling, which means that Lautenberg is a legitimate candidate).
Florida governors race. The two candidates are Bill McBride and Jeb Bush. It's true that I really don't like Jeb Bush. I would really like to say that I support McBride, but actually I really don't know that much about him. So I will be neutral in this race.
Illinois governors race. Let's go with Rod Blagojevich over Jim Ryan. Jim seems like a pretty conservative Republican, and I don't think he's right for Illinois. Rod will be a fresh voice. I used to live in Illinois, so I do read about the issues there. I do not think that Ryan did a good job as Attorney General- it took the feds to find out what was really going on with the corruption there. Also I believe that Ryan did not take appropriate action with regard to several capital cases.
Actually it's been kind of an odd campaign in IL. Coincidentally, Jim Ryan (who is the Republican candidate for governor) is running to replace Governor Ryan. The two men are not related, and in fact hate one another, even though they are both Republicans. Governor Ryan has been plagued with ethics scandals in his administration.
So, candidate Jim Ryan has resorted to running ads with his name, "Jim," to avoid any confusion with the Governor. In response, Governor Ryan commented, "at least I'm not the Ryan who put people on Death Row and left them there." (source: Chicago Tribune).
California governor. Well this one is already in the bag. I'm going with Governor Davis over Bill Simon. I wrote an essay about it here.
North Carolina Senator. I'm 100% behind my man Erskine Bowles over Elizabeth Dole! I'm familiar with Bowles because he was prominent in the Clinton administration, and seemed quite smart and competent.
Here is a local issue that could have national implications. I had to give this issue serious thought...there are definitely pros and cons. I now intend to support Measure JJ, because I believe that workers deserve a living wage. The current minimum wage is a joke, there is no way a person can live on that. The issue is Measure JJ, which will raise the local minimum wage. Here is a website for JJ, and here are arguments against it.