A daily dose of online news from beyond the Beltway.

By Ryan Thornburg
Washingtonpost.com Staff
Wednesday, March 24, 1999

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke may be able to take advantage of a wide field of Louisiana Republicans running to fill the seat vacated by Bob Livingston, Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) said. Tauzin is trying to get a national network of Republicans to back a consensus candidate against Duke, rather than divide their support among Duke's four opponents in the GOP primary.

"Government can never write enough rules to replace personal responsibility." – Elizabeth Dole, in San Antonio, Tex. (The Dallas Morning News March 24)

• Tauzin Plan Against Duke Worries GOP (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, March 24)

Conn. Has Its Own Statehouse Flag Debate
Former Republican South Carolina governor David Beasley lost his job last year in part because he once suggested removing the Confederate battle flag from flying over the statehouse. In Connecticut, four Republican lawmakers are upset that a "gay pride" flag is flying over the state capitol, but have been unable to get it taken down.
• Lawmakers Want Gay Pride Flag at Capitol Removed (The Hartford Courant, March 24)

N.H. Senate Rejects Income Tax for Schools
With one week to go before a court-imposed deadline to find a new way to pay for New Hampshire's schools, the state Senate on Tuesday rejected a 4 percent income tax plan to raise money for education.
• Senate rejects income tax bill (The Union Leader, Manchester, N.H., March 24)

Senators Want to Keep Texas Organs in State
Organ transplant patients who depend on the heart of Texans may be out of luck. A state Senate committee approved a bill Tuesday that would give Texans who need transplants priority over non-residents in receiving organs donated in the state.
• Panel Approves Bill to Keep Texans' Organs in State (Austin American-Statesman, March 24)

Campaign 2000: Washington, Florida and California
Key Senate races in Washington and Florida got their first Democratic candidates in the last few days. Washington state insurance commissioner Deborah Senn said she would seek the party's nomination to run against Republican Sen. Salde Gorton. Florida's insurance commissioner, Bill Nelson, is the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Connie Mack.
• Senn Files to Run for U.S. Senate (The Seattle Times, March 23)
• Nelson First Democrat to Post for Senate Race (The Miami Herald, March 19)

In California, where former impeachment manager James Rogan is weighing a Senate bid despite a new poll showing that Californians hold an increasingly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, Democratic state Sen. Adam Schiff may run for Rogan's House seat.
• Schiff Weighs Run for Rogan's Seat (Los Angeles Times, March 23)
• Support Eroding For Calif. GOP Reps. - Poll (Los Angeles Times, March 21)

Ryan Thornburg can be reached at ryan.thornburg@washingtonpost.com