Betsy’s Best Idaho Political Reporter

Put your hands together for my Spokesman-Review colleague Betsy Russell, who has been picked as the best political reporter in Idaho by the Washington Post. Writes the post: “As we have said before, political reporters out in the states are doing great work on a daily basis and, by aggregating the best of the best here, you have a chance to follow their work. We will put our list in a permanent spot on the blog — exact spot still to be determined — so that it can be used as a reference in advance of the 2010 midterm elections.” In Arkansas, Michael Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette was named as a top political reporter. He’s a former Coeur d’Alene Press/Lewiston Tribune political writer. You can see full list below.

Alabama : New York Times’ Dana Beyerle < http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/dana_beyerle/index.html > , Montgomery Advertiser’s Sebastien Kitchen < http:// southunionstreet.blogspot.com/ > , Associated Press’ Phillip Rawls

Alaska : Anchorage Daily News’ Richard Mauer < http:// www.adn.com/contact/rmauer/ > , Associated Press’ Rachel D’Oro, Anchorage Daily News’ Sean Cockerham and Kyle Hopkins < http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/blog/24417 > , KTVA’s Matt Felling < http://www.ktva.com/anchors/ci_11024441 >

Arizona : Arizona Republic’s Dan Nowicki < http://twitter.com/dannowicki > , Capitol Media Services’ Howie Fischer, Arizona Republic’s Casey Newton

Arkansas : Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Michael Wickline < http://www2.arkansasonline.com/staff/michael-wickline/ > , Arkansas Times’ John Brummett < http:// www.nwaonline.net/columns/john_brummett/ > , Arkansas Times’ Max Brantley < http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/Category.aspx?CategoryID=fb8bd551-03da-4d9e-96a2-21dab7e04f53 >

California : San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci < http://twitter.com/cmarinucci > , Los Angeles Times’ Michael Finnegan < http://articles.latimes.com/writers/michael-finnegan > , Los Angeles Times’ Mark Z. Barabak, Sacramento Bee’s Dan Walters < http:// www.sacbee.com/walters/ > , Los Angeles Times’ Shane Goldmacher < http://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher > , Calbuzz’s Phil Trounstine < http:// www.calbuzz.com/ >

Colorado : Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels < http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13383366 > , 9News’ Adam Schrager < http://www.adamschrager.tv/Adam_Schrager.html >

Connecticut : Hartford Courant’s Chris Keating < http:// blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/ > , Hartford Courant’s Jon Lender < http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-lender,0,3223779.columnist >

Delaware : Delaware Grapevine’s Celia Cohen < http://www.delawaregrapevine.com > , Wilmington News-Journal’s Harry Themal < http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090928/OPINION03/909280338/1111/Jesus-and-Communism-have-much-in-common/Honesty-is-a-reporter-s-best-friend >

Florida : St. Petersburg Times’ Adam Smith < http://www.tampabay.com/writers/article380298.ece > , Associated Press’ Brendan Farrington < http://twitter.com/bsfarrington > , Miami Herald’s Beth Reinhard < http:// www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/beth-reinhard/ > , St. Petersburg Times Marc Caputo < http://www.tampabay.com/writers/marc-caputo >

Georgia : Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Aaron Gould Sheinin < http://twitter.com/asheinin >

Hawaii : Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s B.J. Reyes < http://twitter.com/hsbpolitics > , Honolulu Advertiser’s Derrick DePledge < http:// thenotebook.honadvblogs.com/ >

Idaho : Spokesman Review’s Betsy Russell < http:// www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/ >

Indiana : Indianapolis Star’s Mary Beth Schneider < http://blogs.indystar.com/politics/mary_beth_schneider.html > , Louisville Courier-Journal’s Lesley Stedman Weidenbener < http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=COLUMNISTS07 > , Howey Political Report’s Brian Howey < http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/fix-notes/www.howeypolitics.com >

Illinois : Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson < http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-pearson-bio,0,3180384.story > . Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet < http:// blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/ > , Crain’s Greg Hinz < http://twitter.com/greghinz > , Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller < http:// thecapitolfaxblog.com/ > , Chicago Sun-Times’ Carol Marin < http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/index.html > , Associated Press’ Deanna Bellandi, Chicago Sun-Times’ Abdon Pallasch

Iowa : Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson < http:// www.okayhenderson.com/ > , Des Moines Register’s Tom Beaumont < http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/author/tom-beaumont/?GID=uckNmHggUhlVNp01C3At4PLxVvY1VWwkonaK6J6w/Fg%3D > , Associated Press’ Mike Glover < http://www.iptv.org/iowapress/glover.cfm > , WHO TV’s Dave Price < http://www.whotv.com/about/station/newsteam/who-anchor-dave-price-033109,0,6538836.story > , Lee Enterprise’s Ed Tibbets < http:// campaigntrail.qctimes.com/ > and Charlotte Eby < http://twitter.com/charlotte_eby >

Kansas : Associated Press’ John Hanna, Kansas City Star’s Steve Kraske < http:// www.kansascity.com/news/columnists/steve_kraske/ > , Topeka Capitol-Journal’s Tim Carpenter < http://cjonline.com/authors/tim_carpenter >

Kentucky : Rural Blog’s Al Cross < http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/IRJCI/blog.htm > , Paducah Sun’s Bill Bartleman < http://twitter.com/kybaRT > , Louisville Courier-Journal’s Tom Loftus

Louisiana : Louisiana Politics’ John Maginnis < http:// www.lapolitics.com/ > , Gambit’s Clancy DuBos < http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Section?category=oid%3A26160 >

Maine : Maine Public Broadcasting’s A.J. Higgins < http://www.mpbn.net/About/OnAirStaff/AJHiggins/tabid/612/Default.aspx > .

Maryland : Washington Post’s John Wagner < http:// projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/john+wagner/ > , WBAL’s Jayne Miller < http://www.wbaltv.com/station/566748/detail.html >

Massachusetts : Associated Press’ Glen Johnson, Boston Herald’s Hillary Chabot < http://www.bostonherald.com/search/?topic=Hillary%20Chabot&type=byline&searchSite=recent&x=10&y=10 > , Statehouse News Services’ Jim O’Sullivan, Boston Globe’s Brian Mooney < http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/resources/bio.aspx?id=4120 > and Scott Helman < http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/resources/bio.aspx?id=4118 > , Associated Press’ Steve LeBlanc

Michigan : WKAR’s Tim Skubick < http://wkar.org/inside/staff/staffdisplay.php?WkarID=skubick > , Detroit Free-Press’ Chris Christoff Associated Press’ Kathy Barks Hoffman < http://twitter.com/kathybhoffman > , Gongwer News Service’s Stephanie Cepak, Michigan Radio’s Jack Lessenberry < http:// jackshow.blogs.com/ > , Mlive.com’s Peter Luke < http://connect.mlive.com/user/pluke/index.html >

Minnesota : Associated Press’ Brian Bakst, St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Bill Salisbury, WCCO’s Erik Eskola < http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/07/erice.html > , Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Scheck < http://minnesota.publicradio.org/about/people/mpr_people_display.php?aut_id=62 > , Strib’s Rachel Stassen-Berger < http://www.startribune.com/bios/54555207.html > , WCCO’s Pat Kessler < http://wcco.com/bios/pat.kessler.reporter.9.314092.html >

Mississippi : Jackson Clarion-Ledger’s Sid Salter < http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=COL0412&tcl_ID=ssalter > , Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal’s Bobby Harrison < http://nems360.com/ > , Associated Press’ Emily Wagster Pettus

Missouri : St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger < http://twitter.com/TonyMess > , Springfield News-Leader’s Chad Livengood < http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS09 > , KY3’s David Catanese < http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/fix-notes/www.ky3.blogspot.com > , St. Louis Beacon’s Jo Mannies < http:// www.stlbeacon.org/beacon_backroom/ >

Montana : Lee Newspaper’s Charles Johnson

Nebraska : Lincoln Journal-Star’s Don Walton < http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/article_8880f9ae-abbd-11de-b7a7-001cc4c002e0.html > , Omaha World-Herald’s Robin Tysver < http://www.omaha.com/article/20090909/NEWS01/709099972 >

Nevada : Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston < http:// www.ralstonflash.com/ > , Reno Gazett Journal’s Anjeanette Damon < http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs01 >

New Hampshire : Nashua Telegraph’s Kevin Landrigan < http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=COLUMNISTS12 > , Manchester Union Leader’s John DiStaso < http://www.unionleader.com/columns.aspx/Opinion?channel=139832ce-97eb-4460-bf99-b71df3b7f0cc > , Valley News’ John Gregg, NH Political Report’s James Pindell < http://www.nhpoliticalreport.com/index.php?start=455 >

New Jersey : Newark Star Ledger’s Josh Margolin, Associated Press’ Angela Delli Santi

New Mexico : NMPolitics.net’s Heath Haussamen < http:// www.nmpolitics.net/index/ >

New York : New York Post’s Fred Dicker < http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/dead_meat_dave_will_quit_early_dem_zBUYHADc72wZXY1fwDJ7LI > , New York Daily News’ Liz Benjamin < http:// www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/ > , New York Post’s Maggie Haberman, New York Times’ Danny Hakim < http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/h/danny_hakim/index.html >

North Carolina : Raleigh News & Observer’s Rob Christensen < http:// www.newsobserver.com/politics/columnists_blogs/ > , WUNC’s Laura Leslie < http://wunc.org/portal_reporters_tool/laura-leslie >

North Dakota : Associated Press’ Dale Wetzel

Ohio : Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Steve Koff < http://connect.cleveland.com/user/skoff/index.html > , Columbus Dispatch’s Joe Hallett < http://www.thecolumbusdispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2009/09/27/halcol27.ART_ART_09-27-09_G5_U1F6JF5.html?sid=101 > , Cincinnati Enquirer’s Howard Wilkinson < http://twitter.com/howardwilkinson > , Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Mark Naymik < http:// www.cleveland.com/news/naymik/ > , Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Tom Suddes < http:// www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/thomas_suddes/ >

Oklahoma : KOSU’s Michael Cross < http://twitter.com/KOSUMIchaelC >

Oregon : Oregonian’s Jeff Mapes < http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/index.html > , Register Guard’s David Steves < http:// blogs.registerguard.com/cms/index.php/capitol-notebook/ > , Associated Press’ Brad Cain

Pennsylvania : Philadelphia Inquirer’s Thomas Fitzgerald, Allentown Morning-Call’s John Micek < http:// blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas/ >

Rhode Island : WRNI’s Ian Donnis < https://twitter.com/IanDon > and Scott MacKay

South Carolina : The State’s John O’Connor < http://twitter.com/JohnrOConnor > , Associated Press’ Jim Davenport

South Dakota : Rapid City-Journal’s Kevin Woster < http:// blogs.rapidcityjournal.com/politicalblog/ > , Sioux Falls Argus-Leader’s Dave Kranz < http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=columnists0102 >

Tennessee : Knoxville News’ Tom Humphrey < http:// blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey/ > , Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Richard Locker < http:// www.commercialappeal.com/staff/richard-locker/ >

Texas : Dallas Morning News’ Wayne Slater < http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/columnists/wslater/vitindex.html > , Houston Chronicle’s R.J. Ratcliffe < http:// blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/ > , Austin American-Statesman’s Jason Embry < http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/firstreading/index.html > , Texas Tribune’s Emily Ramshaw < http://twitter.com/eramshaw > , Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka < http:// www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/ > , Associated Press’ Jay Root < http://twitter.com/ByJayRoot > , Austin American Statesman’s Gardner Selby < http://twitter.com/GardnerSelby > , Texas Monthly’s Patricia Kilday Hart, Dallas Morning News’ Christy Hoppe < http://www.klru.org/specialsession/episodes/217.html >

Utah : Deseret News’ Bob Bernick Jr < http://www.deseretnews.com/site/staff/9/Bob-Bernick-Jr.html > , Salt Lake Tribune’s Robert Gehrke < http:// blogs.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ >

Vermont : Burlington Free-Press’ Samuel Hemingway < http://twitter.com/samuelhemingway >

Virginia : Associated Press’ Bob Lewis, Washington Post’s Amy Gardner < http:// projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/amy+gardner/ > , Ryan Nobles < http://nbc12.wordpress.com/ > of NBC12, Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Tyler Whitley and Jeff Shapiro, Roanoke Times’ Michael Sluss

Washington : Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Joel Connelly < http:// www.seattlepi.com/connelly/ > , Seattle Times’ Jim Brunner < http://twitter.com/Jim_Brunner > , Associated Press’ Curt Woodward and Rachel La Corte < https://twitter.com/RachelAPOly > , Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Chris Grygiel < http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/author.asp?author=5009&x=10&y=1 >

Wisconsin : The Wheeler Report’s Dick Wheeler < http:// www.thewheelerreport.com/ >

West Virginia : West Virginia Watchdog’s Steve Allen Adams < http:// westvirginia.watchdog.org/ >

Wyoming : Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck < https://twitter.com/butterbob >