Inside Politics

SENATE

Alexander to resign No. 3 GOP post

Sen. Lamar Alexander said Tuesday that he will step down from the ranks of the Senate GOP leadership, leaving the No. 3 job in January. He also decided against seeking the No. 2 job of GOP whip.

In a speech to the Senate, the two-term congressman from Tennessee said quitting the leadership will allow him to focus more on helping a deeply divided Senate — where 60 votes out of 100 are needed to advance virtually any major legislation — become a more effective institution. He said he will concentrate on reining in health care spending and creating jobs.

“Stepping down from the Republican leadership will liberate me to spend more time trying to work toward results on the issues I care the most about,” he said.

Mr. Alexander, 71, was elected to a second term in 2008. He insisted he will seek re-election in 2014.

In talking about consensus-building, Mr. Alexander described himself as a “very Republican Republican,” but he said senators do their jobs with excessive civility.

PENNSYLVANIA

Judicial panel reviews Lewis eligibility case

PHILADELPHIA | A federal judicial panel is considering whether to reverse a ruling it made a week ago to declare nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis eligible to run for state Senate in New Jersey.

The three judges held a hearing Tuesday on the matter.

New Jersey election officials and Republicans say the Democrat does not meet a four-year residency requirement.

Last week, the judges declared him eligible. But they never released an opinion.

Instead, they held another hearing and posed new questions to attorneys.

Mr. Lewis grew up in New Jersey and settled in California. He bought homes in New Jersey in 2005 and 2007 but continued to vote in California until 2009.

If he remains on the ballot, he’ll face Republican incumbent Dawn Addiego.

 

WHITE HOUSE

Mayors urge passage of jobs, infrastructure bills

Six Democratic mayors were joined by a Republican mayor in urging President Obama and Congress to work together to create jobs and rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

The mayors spoke Tuesday after meeting with White House officials about Mr. Obama’s recently proposed $447 billion jobs plan.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, a Republican, joined Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, Anthony Foxx of Charlotte, N.C., Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore and Pedro Segarra of Hartford, Conn.

Mr. Villaraigosa, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said there is solid bipartisan support among mayors for parts of the president’s plan, particularly public works projects spending.

Mr. Cornett said there may be disagreement on how to pay for such spending, but the projects are urgently needed in many communities.

IRS

PAC files complaint over bowl donations

The Sugar Bowl acknowledged that it made several campaign donations to the governor of Louisiana in the mid-2000s — in violation of federal tax law — and a group has filed a complaint about the matter with the Internal Revenue Service.

Sugar Bowl spokesman John Sudsbury said Tuesday that bowl representatives mistakenly bought tickets totaling $3,000 for fundraising dinners for Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, in 2004 and 2006. He said the bowl found records of the donations after being questioned by HBO’s “Real Sports,” which aired a segment on the “bowl game money trail” Tuesday night.

Louisiana campaign records reviewed by the Associated Press list Sugar Bowl donations to Mrs. Blanco in 2004, 2005 and 2006, totaling $5,000. The bowl said that its auditors have concluded that the report of the 2005 donation is inaccurate.

Playoff PAC, which wants college football to switch to a playoff system to determine the national championship, said it had filed a complaint with the IRS late Monday.

 

NEW YORK

Ex-President Clinton: Green needs money

NEW YORK — Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that success of the alternative energy movement is hampered by a lack of financing. His comments came as world leaders attending the Clinton Global Initiative expressed fears about rising seas at his annual philanthropic conference.

The ex-president’s three-day summit for VIPs with deep pockets began Tuesday with a frank discussion about addressing global climate challenges. It was co-hosted by Mexican President Felipe Calderon and South African President Jacob Zuma.

There was a sense of frustration among the world leaders over the failure to create a legally binding world agreement on carbon emissions.

“We have seen much less progress than we hoped for,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Pointing to Germany’s successful creation of solar energy jobs as a model for other nations to emulate, Mr. Clinton said the main issue with green energy is a lack of proper funding.

“This has to work economically,” Mr. Clinton said. “You have to come up with the money on the front end.”

CONNECTICUT

Ex-wrestling exec launches 2nd bid for Senate seat

SOUTHINGTON — Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon announced Tuesday she is making a second run for a U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut, saying the nation’s economy has not improved since her 2010 campaign and she thinks Washington needs her business experience.

“I believe we need people with business experience,” she said. “We didn’t accomplish that the last time around.”

Mrs. McMahon, 62, spent about $50 million of her own fortune in 2010, but lost by more than 10 points to Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd.

The Republican said she plans to have “a robust fundraising component” this time as she seeks to fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent.

From wire dispatches and staff reports