By Neil the Ethical Werewolf

With the 2006 elections approaching, I thought I’d lay out theDemocratic House campaigns I’ve been giving money to. So far this yearI’ve only given money in House races, partly because Million Buck Chuck
has won us a huge fundraising advantage in the Senate. Winning one chamber will be great, just for subpoena power, and we’re closest in the House. By the way, if you’d like to
donate through my humorously named ActBlue page, I’ll be quite pleased!

Thecandidate I’ve given the most money to is Gary Trauner, who’s runningfor the at-large seat in Wyoming against Barbara Cubin. Now I can seeyou’re thinking — Wyoming? The second-reddest state in the country?Yeah, but the thing is that Cubin is actually quite vulnerable. In2004, she won the state with 55% of the vote while Bush got 69%. Andthat was against a candidate she outspent 945K to 373K. She only got 60% of the vote in the GOP primary this year against a dude whom she outraised 25 to 1. Gary’s close
in the money race — at last check, he was only down 233K to 206K in
cash on hand. Very popular governor Dave Freudenthal (D), who is up for
re-election this year, may also have coattails. CQ has recently changed
their rating on the race to “Leans Republican”, two notches from their
previous “Safe Republican” rating. In May polling, Cubin led only 47-43, with a 47% disapproval rating.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.