That shady New York lawyer who claimed he was representing the winner of a 2010 $14 million Iowa Hot Lotto jackpot has now withdrawn his bid for the money. Crawford Shaw told the Des Moines Register he was out of the hunt and the paper reports, "Apparently even Shaw doesn't know the identity of the person or persons behind Hexham Investments Trust, the group that sought the prize. Shaw told Iowa Lottery officials that the trust was a corporation in Belize." more ›

On December 23, 2010, the winning ticket for Iowa's Hot Lotto was purchased at a QuikTrip in Des Moines. No winner emerged—until just before the December 23, 2011 deadline. A lawyer from Bedford, NY claims he holds the winning ticket, worth over $10 million in cash payout, but now Iowa officials are considering a criminal probe. more ›

Yesterday, Newt Gingrich inexplicably took his working class rage over his increasing irrelevance in the Republican primaries out on Mayor Bloomberg, marking a line in the sand between those people who "buy the mayorship of New York" and those with $1.5 million worth of credit at Tiffany's. But that's no big deal to Hizzoner, who brushed aside the comment when asked by reporters yesterday: “Did he say something?" One source put it even more bluntly to the Post: “I don’t think he gives a s---.” more ›

It was only a month ago that Newt Gingrich arrogantly declared, "I'm going to be the nominee." Now, his campaign is going the way of the Cain Train, and he's grasping at whatever straws he can to try to get some momentum back. Just how desperate is he? He's inexplicably taking pot shots at Mayor Bloomberg. more ›

Mitt Romney was on FOX News today to defend the negative ads the pro-Romney Restore Our Future PAC is running against Newt Gingrich. Presumably showing off some of the skills he displayed at an impromptu Comedy Cellar appearance he made in the city last week, Romney said, “If you can’t stand the heat in this little kitchen, wait until the Obama hell’s kitchen turns up the heat." Who knew the endless flow of corporate money reducing our electoral process to a shameless bidding war could be so funny? more ›

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, once considered "Media Poison," is enjoying a resurgence thanks to the spectacularly abysmal GOP presidential field a string of good debate performances and his well-organized team in Iowa. According to a recent poll [pdf], Dr. Paul now finds himself a single percentage point behind Newt Gingrich leading up to Iowa's primary race on January 3. This has spooked Gingrich enough to hire a political consultant and possibly change his holiday plans to stick around the state, but Ron Paul's comments to Jay Leno on Friday that Michele Bachmann "hates Muslims" may give him some breathing room. more ›

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie derisively mocked protesters who interrupted his speech endorsing presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Iowa last night, at the headquarters of Kum & Go, a regional gas station and convenience store chain. Minutes into his speech, demonstrators deployed the ever-annoying call-and-response "people's mic" to condemn Romney and Christie. Here's the video, courtesy NBC: more ›

Remember when soda was a nickel and you could just pray whenever you danged well felt like it? Most of the GOP 2012 presidential candidates do, and from the looks of last night's "debate" sponsored by the ultra-conservative Christian organization the Family Leader, they'd sure like to take us back to that magical time. Held in a church in Des Moines, the event was billed as a "Thanksgiving table forum," which makes sense if all your family talks about at Thanksgiving is same-sex marriage and abortion. more ›

Subliminal smoking advertiser and 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain went on Letterman last night to deny, for the 653th time, that he has ever sexually harassed anyone. When asked by the host (who admits he's "no stranger to sexual scandal" himself) if "These statements are all false? All of these women are lying? They're all lying?" Cain responds, "Yes. They are." Well, that settles it! more ›

Just in time for President Obama's lowest approval rating since taking office (39 percent according to Gallup) the Republican presidential race is beginning to heat up! And by "heat up" we mean "crowd the field with über-conservative candidates that think evolution has 'never been proven' and who believe states can just secede from the Union." more ›

Mama Grizzly, Mama of an upcoming Dancing with the Stars "star," and former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in Iowa yesterday, speaking at the Iowa Republican Party's Reagan dinner. And Iowa, as we all know, is the first caucus during the election season that helps candidates establish themselves. She made a joke about how she was told not to run outside, or else headlines would say, "Palin, in Iowa, decides to run." more ›

And the winner is. . .Despite having ancient looking graphics that can be seen from across the street, a set that looks like it is from a station in Iowa, and a love of sprinkling kicker stories throughout the newscast, WABC’s Eyewitness News and the station overall is yet again at the top of the ratings among the big three for February. more ›

In an echo of its 2006 article about her Senate re-election campaign spending, the NY Times finds Hillary Clinton donors are concerned over her campaign's spending. Some of the line items that emerged after her campaign finance report was published: $100,000 in party platters and shovels for Iowa caucus parties (where Clinton placed third - and where it did not snow), $25,000 in hotel rooms at Las Vegas' Bellagio, $275,000 to a South Carolina firm "that was supposed to turn out black voters for her" (Barack Obama won SC by almost 30%) and $267,000 for adviser Howard Wolfson's January fee. more ›

The above photo is a living replica of the Statue of Liberty, painstakingly recreated with 18,000 people at Camp Dodge in Des Moines, Iowa. The image is from 1918, and is one of many "living photographs" by Arthur Mole and John Thomas, who attempted to "recover the old image of national identity at the very moment when the United States entered the Great War in 1917." more ›

Barack Obama won yesterday's Maine caucus, with about 57-60% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's approximate 40-42%. This makes Obama's fourth win in a row, after sweeping the Democratic contests in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington yesterday. more ›

The specter of a Mormon multimillionaire as president has been lifted; Mitt Romney announced his withdrawal from the Republican primary race this afternoon. Romney used his speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee to declare: “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win.” Wonkette liveblogged the speech to great comic effect. more ›

Rudy Giuliani's poor showing in the presidential campaign has plenty of people giving their opinions on why it all went wrong. more ›

After early results put John McCain and Mitt Romney in a "too close to call" race, McCain won the Florida primary. Rudy Giuliani, who once led national polls, looks like he'll finish in third place (though Mike Huckabee is a close fourth as of 10PM), which is actually his best finish after the primaries and caucuses in New Hampshire, Iowa, Wyoming, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina. more ›

Today, the Republican presidential hopefuls are vying to win the Florida primary (the Democrats aren't allowing Florida delegates to count at the convention, because Florida moved its primary up). Polls close in two hours, and many believe that the state will be contested between John McCain and Mitt Romney. Our former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has spent much time in Florida, instead of campaigning in South Carolina, Iowa or New Hampshire (though he did spend a substantial amount of time in NH), seems like he may be in third place or even fourth, if Mike Huckabee does well. more ›

People have been wondering about former mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign for a long time (his presidential campaign plan notebook went missing last January! he pays more attention to his friends' advice versus that of election consultants). Now, with the Florida primary on the horizon, it seems his New York-based supporters are starting to worry. more ›

Top aides with the Giuliani for President campaign are declining January paychecks, while insisting that it's not because the former Mayor's organization is strapped for cash. Rudy Giuliani is currently stumping in Florida after very lackluster performances in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Iowa was not a surprise; Giuliani had written off the midwestern state as a poor use of time and resources. A very poor performance in New Hampshire had to have been a blow to his campaign though, as he campaigned extensively in the Granite State, although in fits and starts, which may have turned voters off. more ›

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is busy trying to rally support in Florida, one of many big states with primaries in the coming weeks. He didn't really focus on the Iowa caucus (where he placed fifth - after Ron Paul) or New Hampshire (so he claims; he managed to place 4th, ahead of Ron Paul) and flew out of the Granite State before the polls were closed. more ›

Senator John McCain won the Republican primary in New Hampshire, with the race being called for him early on. Senator Hillary Clinton beat Senator Barack Obama by a few thousand votes in a very close race. Comebacks all around! more ›

Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent yesterday in Oklahoma, discussing the state of politics today at a bipartisan political forum at the University of Oklahoma. Bloomberg lamented the way things are going these days:

Government is dysfunctional. There is no collaboration and congeniality. There is no working together. No 'let's do what's right for this country.' I think there is no accountability today. Nobody is holding themselves accountable and to the standards of what they promised when they ran for office. And I think lastly, there is no willingness to focus on big ideas."

At last night's ABC News/Facebook debate in New Hampshire, both parties' candidates held debates. After the Thursday's Iowa results presented Barack Obama as a winner and Hillary Clinton as a disappointing (to her campaign) third place, some interesting things transpired during the Democratic debate. Obama and Iowa runner-up John Edwards apppeared to team up against Clinton. The NY Times called it an "allegiance of convenience" and noted that the defining moment was when Clinton tried to call out Obama's leadership:

As Mrs. Clinton attacked Mr. Obama as waffling on the Patriot Act and Iraq war funding, she sought to make an ally out of Mr. Edwards. She suggested that Mr. Obama had hypocritically tried to paint Mr. Edwards as inconsistent on the issues. All eyes turned to Mr. Edwards, and he delivered a coup de grace — siding dramatically with Mr. Obama instead of Mrs. Clinton. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an abduction on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, a double shooting at West 151st St. and Walton Ave. in the Bronx, and a pursuit/crash/bailout on 95th St. and the West Side Highway in Manhattan.
• The disbarred lawyer accused of murdering his wife and blaming it on a random carjacking admitted to cops that he'd sent flowers to his girlfriend that day and had various small affairs and used escorts outside of his marriage.
• The girlfriend who turned in her boyfriend with his huge cache of weapons this week used to work for "The King of All Pimps" Jason Itzler out of his brothel. She was upset with Suwei Chuang because she wanted to get married and he wasn't sure.

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The most famous undeclared presidential candidate, our very own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has weighed in about the Iowa caucus results. Okay, so Mayor Bloomberg claims he's not running for president, but when you swipe at the actual candidates, have a staff that's investigating the possibility of running a campaign, and have a billion dollars to spare... more ›

As last night's Iowa caucuses heralded the beginning of the heated drive to presidential nominations and general election, news of Barack Obama's Democratic win and Mike Huckabee's Republican win is naturally front page material. The Daily News and Newsday both take "BAM" as their headlines, though the News focuses on Obama while Newsday offers a split Obama-Huckabee cover. more ›