Two Republicans fought for the national party chairmanship Friday after Mike Duncan, former President George W. Bush’s hand-picked GOP chief, abandoned his re-election bid in the face of dwindling support. “Obviously the winds of change are blowing,” Duncan said as he withdrew to a standing ovation midway through the afternoon voting.
His departure ensures a fresh presence at the beleaguered GOP’s helm as Republicans seek to rebound from back-to-back defeats in national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House.

Reporting from Springfield, Ill. — Brushing aside the governor’s pleas of innocence, the Illinois Senate unanimously voted Thursday to remove Rod R. Blagojevich and impose a “political death penalty” that bars him from ever holding public office in the state.
The action came after a four-day impeachment trial on allegations that the Democrat had abused his power — trying, among other things, to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.

The election season is upon us once again.
A little less than two months after the Nov. 4 general election, King County voters on Feb. 3 will decide for the first time who they want heading up the county’s elections department.
The King County executive had appointed the elections director position since the home rule charter was adopted in 1968. Two months ago, voters changed the county charter to make the post an elective one, with the first election to be held Feb. 3.
“Our concern was that the elections operation was so …

SAN SALVADOR — At least one person was killed, two police officers were wounded and seven young men were arrested in election-related violence in El Salvador, the National Civilian Police, or PNC, said Sunday.
Ulises Vladimir Perez was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants in San Martin, a city located 18 kilometers (11 miles) east of San Salvador, while putting up election posters for the Democratic Revolutionary Front, or FDR, party.
Salvadoran media reported that the 17-year-old boy was a target because he had witnessed an attack a month ago on a …

President-elect Barack Obama is riding a powerful wave of optimism into the White House, with Americans confident he can turn the economy around but prepared to give him years to deal with the crush of problems he faces starting Tuesday, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
While hopes for the new president are extraordinarily high, the poll found, expectations for what Mr. Obama will actually be able to accomplish appear to have been tempered by the scale of the nation’s problems at home and abroad.

San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi – the first female speaker of the House – was elected to her second term Tuesday, but that milestone was overshadowed by high drama in the Senate.
Members took their oaths for the 111th Congress, with Democrats controlling both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue for the first time since 1994. They have two weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in and the Obama era begins in earnest.

New members of the House and Senate were sworn in to open the 111th Congress today, but most of the drama revolved around seats left unfilled.
Roland Burris — who says he is the lawfully appointed replacement for President-elect Barack Obama — showed up at the Capitol but was turned away by Senate officials because his paperwork was incomplete.
The Illinois secretary of state had not signed the certificate of appointment for Burris, whom embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich named to the seat. The certificate is a Senate requirement for admittance.

It might be faster for the next United States senator from Minnesota to get to Washington on a treadmill at this point, considering the incremental progress/regress of the state’s general election.
As of noon Saturday, Minnesota was down to just one Senate seat when the term of the incumbent Norm Coleman, a Republican, officially expired with still no resolution in his race against Al Franken, the Democratic challenger.
But Saturday, at least the state took a small step closer to declaring a winner.

(CBS) Caroline Kennedy, who has placed her name in contention as a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, was slammed by New York Republicans who view her as a “celebrity” without the qualifications necessary to function in Congress.
At the same time, it was suggested that Republicans might want her to be chosen, preferring to run against her in two years’ time than against a more experienced politician.
Speaking on CBS’ Face The Nation, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. (who has said he wants to run for Senate) called Kennedy a “People Magazine celebrity” …

CHICAGO (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama is set to name a veteran of the Securities and Exchange Commission to lead the agency as it faces growing criticism for its failure to protect investors and detect trouble on Wall Street.
Mary Schapiro, who currently heads a nongovernment regulatory group for securities firms, is also a former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and former member of the SEC. She has been appointed to government posts by two Republican presidents and one Democratic chief executive.