| President
Arizona: A new Public Policy Polling survey in Arizona finds Mitt Romney with a small lead. Romney leads Santorum 36 to 33%. Newt Gingrich is third at 16% and Ron Paul fourth at 9%. Santorum is better liked by Arizona Republicans than Romney, Santorum's at +34 (61/27), while Romney's at +24 (58/34).
Michigan: A new Public Policy Polling survey in Michigan shows Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney by four points in the GOP presidential race, 37% to 33%, followed by Ron Paul at 15% and Newt Gingrich at 10%. A We Ask America poll in Michigan finds Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum tied at 29% each. They are followed by Ron Paul at 12% and Newt Gingrich at 10%.
Oklahoma: A new Tulsa World poll in Oklahoma finds Rick Santorum leading the GOP presidential race with 39%, followed by Mitt Romney at 23%, Newt Gingrich at 18% and Ron Paul at 13%. The Oklahoma primary is on March 6.
Paul: Ron Paul raised $4.5 million in January and a money bomb last week brought in another $1.7 million. His $13.3 million haul in the 4th quarter of 2011 was second behind only Mitt Romney.
Restore Our Future: The pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future spent $14 million in January. That's more than twice the nearly $7 million the super PAC raised in January, although Restore Our Future finished the month with more than $16 million in the bank.
Romney: Mitt Romney is enlisting the help of Donald Trump this week in Michigan. Trump is scheduled to do a series of radio interviews this week on local stations from Traverse City to Detroit touting Mitt Romney and attacking Rick Santorum.
Texas: A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Rick Santorum with a big lead in the Republican presidential race with 45%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 18%, Mitt Romney at 16% and Ron Paul at 14%. Texas still doesn't have all of its congressional and legislative maps in place so May 29 appears to be the earliest possible primary date.
Senate
Missouri: Sen. Claire McCaskill, preparing for a tough race this Fall, is responding to two ads by the state Republican Party and Crossroads GPS with spots of her own. One responds to a Crossroads ad attacking her for backing Obama's compromise on the rule requiring church related institutions to provide free contraception coverage. The other touts her Missouri roots and political independence. The Republican Party and its allies have already spent several million dollars on negative advertising against McCaskill.
South Carolina: Sen. Lindsey Graham, despite grumblings of a primary challenge from the right, looks like a strong favorite in 2014. All four freshman SC Republican congressman have disavowed any interest in challenging Graham. One possibility who has not ruled out a race, State Sen. Tom Davis from Beaufort.
Virginia: A new Christopher Newport University poll in Virginia shows George Allen edging Tim Kaine in the U.S. Senate race, 42% to 40%.
House
AZ-4: Sheriff Paul Babeu went on offense in an interview with CNN, saying the accusation he threatened his former boyfriend with deportation was false, and that he only requested the man stop using his political campaign's website and Twitter account to post private information. "One, he's legal. He has said that. I've said that. And then, in addition, this whole thing about deportation, we all know I don't have deportation authority," Babeu said.
CA-26: Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D) of Ventura County will run for the 26th Congressional District. The Democrats were left without a strong candidate here after Supervisor Steve Bennett dropped out last week. Republican Sen. Tony Strickland of Moorpark and Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks, who has said she may run as an independent, are also in the race.
CO-2: Businessman Eric Weissmann is preparing a campaign against Rep. Jared Polis. Weissmann said he primarily plans to self fund his campaign, but declined to say how much he'd be willing to spend. The 2nd District became more competitive after redistricting, but still remains Democratic leaning. New voter registration statistics show 34 percent of active voters registered listed as Democrats, 32 percent registered as Republicans, and 33 percent unaffiliated. Last year, Democrats had a four point advantage.
MA-9: Rep. Bill Keating has dodged a primary rematch with former State Sen. Robert O'Leary. Keating beat O'Leary by a little over a thousand votes in 2010. Local District Attorney Sam Sutter is also running for the seat in the Democratic primary. Keating's home of Quincy was drawn out of the new 9th District, causing him to change his primary residence to a summer house on Cape Cod.
NC-11: Tea Party aligned ophthalmologist Dan Eichenbaum said he would not file to run for Congress in North Carolina's 11th district. Eichenbaum won 34 percent of the vote in the 2010 Republican primary for the district. Real estate investor Mark Meadows, businessman Ethan Wingfield, and local district attorney Jeff Hunt are all competing for the Republican nomination.
NC-12: After suggesting he was unsure whether he would run for another term, Rep. Mel Watt has filed to run for reelection.
Redistricting
Minnesota: The Minnesota Special Redistricting panel intends to release its redistricting plan at 1 p.m. today by posting maps and the panel's orders online. |
