Tomorrow, July 3rd at 5:00 PM Central Donald Betts Jr. will be liveblogging on FutureMajority.com. Betts is running in Kansas' Fourth Congressional District against 7-term incumbent Todd Tiahrt.

This will be the second live-blog from Senator Betts. You can check out his earlier live blog here.

You can also RSVP for the live blog on the Facebook event.

Some background on Senator Betts below the fold.

When I was a child, my mother, brother and I were homeless several times until we moved to Las Vegas where my grandfather offered us a place to stay. While in junior high and high school, I lived in that city’s projects which were filled with violence, drugs and prostitution. I attended school and worked in casino arcades to support my family. I saw my school friends succumb to drugs and crime. My brother eventually spent time in prison. After I graduated from high school, I returned to Wichita where I worked my way through college at Friends University and was elected student body president. Upon graduation I became a counselor for at-risk juveniles working in both the juvenile justice and Wichita public school systems. I have served my state legislative districts in both the Kansas House and Senate and now am facing an uphill battle as a candidate for 4th District Congress.  

The netroots are beginning to notice Sen. Donald Betts and his race to retire seven-term incumbent Todd Tiahrt in the 4th District.

Recently, the House passed (with the support of Reps. Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda) an expansion of the GI Bill that would allow more veteran returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to get a college degree. You would think those patriotic, flag-waving, troop-hugging Republicans who sent them over there in the first damn place would be the ones supporting the bill and chastising Democrats for not supporting our troops.

NM-Sen: As mcjoan wrote earlier, Democrat Tom Udall is kicking all kinds of ass in the Senate race. He has a monster lead, 25+ points, over both his Republican opponents, Heather "Nipplegate" Wilson and Steve Pearce.

Udall started the race with a wide lead, and as the race has carried on, it has only expanded. Pearce, and especially Wilson, were considered formidable opponents before the race began, but it is currently looking like a potential blowout reminiscent of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar's crushing victory over Mark Kennedy in 2006.

Best of all, Pearce leads Wilson in the GOP primary. Pearce is the further-right candidate, so he cedes "moderate" ground to Udall. It's a bad break for Wilson, but look on the bright side; she'll have plenty of time to devote to keeping the airwaves safe from loose nipples.

ME-Sen: More splendid news; Democratic Rep. Tom Allen is slowly, but surely closing the gap in his Senate race against Susan Collins. The latest Rasmussen numbers:

Rasmussen. April numbers in parentheses.

Collins is one of the most popular Senators in the country, due to her "moderate" image. She represents the only hope for GOP candidates in the fall; to win by distancing themselves as much as possible from the national party. And even so, Allen is steadily gaining on her, and is within 10 points with plenty of race to go.

Say it with me; everything's coming up Democrat!

KS-Sen: And now for the most shocking poll of all, another Rasmussen poll: Incumbent Senator Pat Roberts leads Democratic challenger Jim Slattery by only 12 points. This is in a state where no Democrat has been elected to the Senate since (wait for it) 1932, and against a challenger who hasn't run for office since 1994.

Rasmussen. 5/13. MoE +/- 4%

There's a long way to go before November, and Slattery's already competitive. Having entered the race late, Slattery has yet to begin campaigning in earnest, though his fundraising is going very well. Roberts enjoys 60% approval according to the Rasmussen poll, and yet manages just 52% against Slattery.

These Rasmussen polls are just shocking.

WA-Gov: Rasmussen has one last piece of beautiful news: Washington's Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire, who won a narrow (and hotly contested) victory over Republican Dino Rossi in 2004, has opened up a double-digit lead in their rematch:

Rasmussen.5/12. MoE +/- 4%. 3/27 numbers in parentheses.

That lead has gone from one point to 11 points in less than two months. Obama also enjoys a double-digit lead over McCain in the state.

NJ-Sen: Rep. Rob Andrews stands alone among New Jersey's Democratic establishment in thinking he'd make a better senator than incumbent Frank R. Lautenberg.

Andrews' colleague Frank Pallone has some particularly harsh words for him:

Seven members of Congress and the mayor of Trenton spoke at the press conference at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) headquarters, reaffirming their support for Lautenberg and repeating charges that Andrews touts the GOP line and therefore, is wrong for New Jersey.

"On too many occasions he (Andrews) sided with Bush and the Republicans," Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of the 6th District said, later adding that he "often wondered" that if New Jersey didn’t lean Democratic, whether Andrews would change his party affiliation.

Meanwhile, Lautenberg's colleague Robert Menendez has the highest praise for him:

Menendez said Lautenberg has "taken on" special interests, opposed the war in Iraq, and voted in support of his own beliefs even when they weren’t politically popular.

"New Jersey needs a proven, effective progressive Democrat who consistently stands up to the Bush Republicans," Menendez said. "That Senator is Frank Lautenberg."

Here's a note to Andrews; it is pure folly to try and wage a primary challenge from the right, in a blue state, during a year which marks a Democratic ascendancy as this one does.

House Races

TN-09: Things look very bright for progressive Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen, as he has a 52-point lead over primary challenger Nikki Tinker.

Seems like there's something to be said for going to Washington and doing right by your district. Who knew?

KS-02: More primary polling here, as Republican Jim Ryun, legendary track star and former right-wing Representative, faces off against the moderate GOP candidate, former Kansas Treasurer Leeroy Lynn Jenkins.

Ryun not only has a huge 44-point lead, but his lead has actually expanded in the last year, despite Jenkins being fairly well-known in the district. I guess Jenkins is trying to keep her powder dry, but it may be time for her to start trying to take down Ryun.

Because incumbent Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda defeated Ryun once already, and because Ryun, as the far-right candidate, presents the starkest contrast between himself and Boyda, I think it's probably best for us that Ryun win this primary. This is a tough district and Boyda will have a fight on her hands either way, but I certainly won't cry if Ryun emerges as the candidate.

KS-04: Alex Parker of the MTV Street Team has put together a nifty video featuring 30-year-old State Senator Donald Betts, now running for the U.S. House against incumbent Todd Tiahrt. Check it out.

As a state senator, Betts already has a considerable base of political support in Wichita. It's a decidedly uphill race for Betts against Tiahrt in a strongly Republican district, but the race is not hopeless; both Governor Kathleen Sebelius and former Democratic Attorney General Paul Morrison won the district in 2006.

IN-02: Businessman Luke Puckett, though backed by the NRCC, had quite a bit of trouble winning his primary...against a man who spoke at a neo-Nazi meeting earlier this year.

'04/'06 candidate Tony Zirkle (R) said he's "willing to talk to any group that invites him," and that's why he spoke to a weekend gathering in Chicago of the Amer. National Socialist Workers Party. The "occasion was a celebration" of the 119th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler. Zirkle stood at a podium "in front of a larger-than-life portrait" of Hitler, "flanked" by an American flag and a Nazi flag.

During a 4/21 presser, Zirkle said he accepted the invitation to "spread his anti-pornography message." He said he's "misunderstood," and that his "real mission" is to "rid the country of pornography." To "punctuate his message," Zirkle "shredded an original copy" of a '69 Penthouse magazine.

But an "account of the gathering" says "Zirkle spoke on his history" as a state's atty in IN, "prosecuting Jewish and Zionist criminal gangs involved in trafficking prostitutes and pornography" from Russia.

Puckett lost to this Zirkle fellow in 5 of the district's 12 counties. Anyone want to take bets on how he performs against Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly?

Sen. Betts is a great guy and one of the most qualified candidates Tiahrt has faced since he rode the Republican Tidal wave into office in 1994.

A hilarious story came out in the Washington Post the other day highlightin Todd Tiahrt's leadership in the obstruction of important legislation to help Americans (including 23,000 Kansans) in danger of losing their homes.

Big Oil has been announcing staggering first-quarter oil profits this week:

   * Exxon Mobil: $10.9 billion
   * Shell: $9.1 billion
   * BP: $7.62 billion
   * ConocoPhillips: $4.12 billion
   * Chevron: announces tomorrow

One of the best indicators that this is shaping up to be a special election year for Democrats is the high number of relatively credible candidates running around the country...including in some districts we’ve abandoned for years, districts with entrenched Republican incumbents or districts which vote preposterously Republican at the federal level.

It seems as if everyone who has kicked around the idea of running for Congress has decided this is the year, that getting in now is their best chance at winning election for the foreseeable future.

Districts which most people never dreamed would be competitive this fall have drawn surprisingly credible Democratic candidates. Some of these, like Debbie Cook or Donald Betts, happen to be unusually high-profile. Others have shown shocking fundraising prowess, like Linda Ketner or Michael Skelly.

So here is a partial list of long-shot campaigns run by credible candidates. These are the kind of races that won't be listed as top-tier pickup opportunities, and most of them will be under the radar for the bulk of the election cycle, but may have some sleeper potential.

At the very least, it's certainly possible that the Republicans are going to have to defend their incumbents from dark-horse campaigns in these formerly safe, untouchable territories...which has the effect of drawing Republican money away from other, less solidly Republican districts where Democrats have an even better shot at winning.

It is not likely that many of these districts will wind up being competitive; in fact, a few of the candidates below will undoubtedly wind up losing by significant margins. Still, these candidates have done well enough so far that they're worthy of attention; in fact, some of them have already been added to the DCCC's race map, indicating that their strengths have not gone unnoticed by the powers that be.

So here are a few dark horses who are showing the ability to cause trouble for Republicans in some of the reddest of turf.

Special thanks to James L. at Swing State Project for putting together his fantastic table of fundraising numbers.

As we've said, this race will be anything but easy, but this is good news to show that Sen. Donald Betts is running a full-time campaign. Todd Tiahrt has won his previous races by default, and Sen. Betts has a great chance to make the race very competitive. He can be this year's Nancy Boyda.

Before we get there, though, let's just take a quick look where we've been.  Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Iowa, New Mexico and West Virginia.

And before we take the jump, I just wanted to remind you again that you can contribute to candidates on this project by hitting this ActBlue page

Up for grabs this year are:  Gov/Lt. Gov, Sec. of State, Insurance Commissioner, and four Congressional Districts, as well as all the State Rep races.  For primary results, and November match-ups, follow me below the fold.

First off, the overall target is 434. The only officially uncontested race is in the Midland/Odessa-based 11th District of Texas. And the DCCC site is wrong when they list a candidate there. The state of Texas' site is what i'm going with for a candidate list. I blame the DCCC listing on bad Fanta.

I'll go though some good news from Kentucky under the fold

Edit: I'll try this title for now.

Yet another dry diary from me.

First off, congratulations to the DCCC on the release of the first version of their Candidate Database.

Now, we'll move on to the unopposed districts. There's 98 by my count. A number which is due to decrease dramatically (36 Republicans were not opposed by Democrats in 2004, a year which was much worse for the Democrats)

Anyways, we'll go state by state, and if you have comments, contribute them, if you have rumors of candidates running, contribute them, if you're a guy who wants to run, search for candidate's information from your state.

And now, under the fold, the information!

Barry Welsh wrote this diary last night about this very subject. We have yet to field candidates in some 70 districts nationwide.