Nation Digest
Kerry's campaign joins call for Ohio recount

PAUL J. RICHARDS / AFP/GETTY IMAGES President Bush sings Christmas with several members of the West Tennessee Youth Chorus at President's Park on the Ellipse near the White House after lighting the National Christmas Tree yesterday.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

John Kerry's campaign has joined a lawsuit by third-party presidential candidates seeking a recount in Ohio. A lawyer for the campaign said yesterday it does not question the Democrat's loss but wants any counting to take place statewide.

Kerry's campaign joined the suit filed by Green and Libertarian party candidates seeking a recount of votes in Delaware County. A judge issued a restraining order blocking that request, but the order expired yesterday. A hearing on the request is set in federal court in Columbus today.

The minor parties also have asked for a statewide recount, but a judge ruled that can't begin until Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell certifies the vote, probably Monday.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing a group alleging fraud put off until at least today the filing of a challenge to the Ohio results. Cliff Arnebeck, who alleges that votes intended for Kerry were shifted to President Bush, said his legal team needed to collect and analyze evidence. He said the filing could be as late as Monday.

Washington

Democrats outraised GOP by $17 million

Capping a stunning year of record fund raising by both sides, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said yesterday it outraised the GOP this election cycle. Its rival wasn't disputing that, but noted the money didn't buy victory.

Figures to be filed with the Federal Election Commission showed the DNC took in about $17 million more than the Republican National Committee since Jan. 1, 2003.

The DNC said it raised $402 million through Nov. 22; the RNC reported $385 million and wasn't questioning the Democratic committee's edge.

"I think that you had an energized and engaged electorate this election cycle on both sides of the aisle, and that's reflected in the fund-raising totals that you're seeing," RNC spokesman Brian Jones said. "The bottom line at the end of the day is we won, we did what we needed to do."
 
Newark, N.J.

Millionaire senator to run for governor

Four years after spending more than $60 million of his money to get elected to the Senate, Democrat Jon Corzine announced yesterday that he is running for New Jersey governor in 2005.

The former investment banker, whose political intentions have been widely reported in recent days, becomes the first Democrat to officially enter the race. Polls have shown Corzine, 57, would be the early front-runner.

The winner would appoint someone to serve the final year of Corzine's Senate term.

Wichita, Kan.

Officials say no arrest in serial-killings case

Authorities were testing the DNA of a man taken into custody on minor charges, but police officials yesterday insisted there had been no arrest in the notorious BTK serial-killings case.

Police were seen taking evidence out of the man's home after the Wednesday night arrest, The Wichita Eagle reported.

The killer — known by the self-coined nickname BTK, which stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill" — is linked to eight unsolved homicides between 1974 and 1986. After years of silence, the killer surfaced in messages this year.

ALSO

Robert Blake's lawyer, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, said yesterday he hopes to go forward with his client's murder trial despite the theft Wednesday of a computer that contained what a court representative described as "the heart and soul of the defense case." Blake is charged with murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.

A twin-engine Cessna 421 carrying Seventh-day Adventist Church officials crashed yesterday soon after taking off from an airport in Collegedale, Tenn., killing all but one of six people.

The New Jersey Supreme Court called off the state's bear hunt yesterday, ruling unanimously that the state needs to establish a proper management program.