Virginia: Gillespie gains on Warner. US Sen. Mark Warner (D) is still in good shape, with a nine-point lead over Ed Gillespie, his Republican challenger, but his lead has decreased significantly over the past weeks. In the latest Quinnipiac poll released Friday, Warner had 48% to 39% for Gillespie; Libertarian Robert Sarvis had 6%. However, Warner had a 22-point lead, in a survey released two weeks ago by Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. That poll showed Warner with 51%, Gillespie with 31% and Sarvis 3%.
Texas: Brady to challenge Ryan for committee post. US Rep. Kevin Brady (R), in an interview with the Washington Post, said that he will run against US Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for the chairmanship of the House Ways & Means Committee, the legendary center of power in the House of Representatives. Brady said, “I’m a proven leader on tax reform, trade, and health care.” He represents Texas’s 8th District (Cut and Shoot, etc.). The Brady challenge may prompt Ryan to move up his decision on a presidential race.
2016: Cruz, Paul address social conservatives. In what the Washington Post called “a fiery speech,” US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the Values Voter Summit in Washington Friday that we are living in “dangerous, extreme, radical times,” and called the Democrats “an extreme, radical party.” Touting a softer line, US Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), another likely presidential candidate, assured the audience of Christian conservatives that “Where there is liberty, there is always plenty of space for God,” and defended his opposition to arming foreign armies in the Middle East even though they may oppose groups who have attacked Christian communities there: “You and I must stand with our fellow Christians around the world, but that does not … mean arming both sides in every conflict.”