Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum offered no insight into his own political future in a Friday CNN interview, but did offer his thoughts as to why the Republican nominee lost to President Barack Obama on Tuesday. "What Mitt Romney, in my opinion, didn't do was go out and vigorously defend the beliefs that he said he espoused and didn't go on the offense," Santorum said in an interview to air Friday on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight." "And when you're playing defense, which is what I believe the campaign was doing and Republicans were doing generally throughout the course of this campaign, you're not going to win.

POL-Bush-Texas-Campaign

George P. Bush, the nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, this week filed paperwork required to run for office in the state of Texas. The 36-year-old attorney hand-delivered the document Wednesday to the Texas Ethics Commission, the agency that oversees campaigns for state offices, including state senators, state legislators and statewide positions. The next Texas legislature convenes in January, a session for which elections were already held. It's unclear which office Bush is seeking, but more may be known by January 15, when campaign finance reports are due to the commission.

POL-California-Bono-Mack-Concedes

The Democrats picked up another seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday after longtime Rep. Mary Bono Mack conceded defeat three days after the election. Bono Mack -- who in 1998 succeeded her late husband Sonny Bono, one half of the famous Sonny and Cher singing duo before he went into politics -- said Friday in a statement that she had called Democrat Raul Ruiz "and congratulated him on his impressive victory."

POL-Governor-Races

Democrats held onto the governorship in Washington on Friday, bringing an end to the only outstanding election from this week's governors' races. Republican candidate Rob McKenna conceded to Democratic candidate Jay Inslee in a video statement. Inslee, a former U.S. representative, will succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.

MONEY

MONEY-Geithner-staying

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is staying in his job until at least the Jan. 21 presidential inauguration to help leaders reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, a top White House aide said Friday.

MONEY-coal-layoffs-obama

A coal company headed by a prominent Mitt Romney donor has laid off more than 160 workers in response to President Obama's election victory.

MONEY-stocks-markets

U.S. stocks eked out minute gains Friday but closed out election week down more than 2%.

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American Airlines announced Friday that it had reached an "agreement-in-principle" with its pilots' union, potentially removing a hurdle to its emergence from bankruptcy. The agreement will now go to the roughly 8,000 pilots, who will vote on its approval. The two sides have been locked in a contract dispute following the bankruptcy filing last year of AMR, American's parent company.

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Defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced Friday that incoming CEO Chris Kubasik had been forced out after an ethics investigation uncovered his "close personal relationship with a subordinate employee."

MONEY-citi-pandit-pay

Vikram Pandit isn't getting a golden parachute, but he's still not doing too badly. Citigroup said Friday that the former CEO, who resigned last month in a management shakeup, will receive an "incentive award" of $6.7 million for his work at the bank this year. Former president and chief operating officer John Havens, who stepped down along with Pandit, is getting $6.8 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MONEY-red-cross-sandy-donations

The American Red Cross continues to see an outpouring of donations in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The relief agency has raised $117 million as of Friday morning, up from $103 million on Wednesday.

MONEY-google-china-blocked

Google and all of its major services were blocked in China on Friday, as the Communist Party meets to appoint new leaders for the first time in a decade.

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