| President
Crossroads GPS: Crossroads GPS is out with a new 60 second spot that runs through a litany of Obama's "broken promises" on taxes, healthcare, and the deficit. The $8 million ad buy will be spread over 10 battleground states.
More Crossroads: Crossroads announced that the above $8 million ad buy was part of a larger $25 million TV ad campaign over the next month being run in 10 battleground states.
National Polls: A new Fox News poll finds President Obama 7 points ahead of Mitt Romney, 46% to 39%. Three weeks ago the candidates were tied at 46 percent each.
Nevada: In response to the recent takeover of the Nevada GOP by Ron Paul forces, the Republican National Committee and the Mitt Romney campaign have decided to erect a shadow state party. "They are still bogged down in the minutiae of whether Romney will be the presumptive nominee," said a GOP strategist familiar with the details of the restructuring. "We don't have time for that when the Obama campaign already is in full campaign mode. We have no use for them (the state GOP)."
North Carolina: President Obama leads Mitt Romney 48% to 47% in the latest PPP poll of North Carolina. The poll shows some improvements for Romney. Since clinching the Republican nomination, Romney's seen a 13 point improvement in his net favorability, from a 29 to 16 point deficit. Republicans have moved from supporting Romney by an 84-7 margin to a 90-5 one in the last month.
Obama: President Obama and the Democrats raised $43.6 million in April. The $43.6 million is a dip from March, when Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $53 million. It does not include several large fundraisers, including one in Hollywood that reportedly raised $15 million, that took place in early May.
Pennsylvania: Is Pennsylvania up for grabs in November? Stuart Rothenberg has some conflicting thoughts.
Senate
Florida: Rep. Connie Mack IV has received the endorsement of Mitt Romney in his race for US Senate. Mack, who strongly supported Romney in the Florida GOP presidential primary, faces former Sen. George LeMieux in the GOP Senate primary, which will take place Aug. 14.
Montana: Looking ahead to the 2014 Montana Senate race, PPP shows if Gov. Brian Schweitzer wanted to run for the Senate he would start out ahead in a hypothetical primary contest with Max Baucus, 48-37. Baucus has seen some improvement in his approval numbers over the last five months, 42%
of voters approve of him to 46% who disapprove.
Nebraska: A good article on the aftermath of the Nebraska Republican Senate primary. While Republicans have an unexpected and unknown nominee, they remain the heavy favorites to claim this seat in the Fall.
New Jersey: Sen. Bob Menendez leads his Republican challenger, state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, by ten points but remains under 50 percent, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Menendez leads Kyrillos 45 percent to 35 percent in the survey. A Quinnipiac poll conducted last month showed Menendez leading Kyrillos 44 percent to 35 percent.
House
Kucinich: Rep. Dennis Kucinich will not seek a House seat in Washington State or anywhere this year after losing a primary to Marcy Kaptur in March. In an email to his supporters, Kucinich thanked the "tens of thousands of concerned Citizens for Kucinich who in the past few months have written, emailed and called to discuss my running for Congress in Washington State." "After careful consideration and discussions with Elizabeth and my closest friends, I have decided that, at this time, I can best serve from outside the Congress."
NM-1: Former President Bill Clinton has recorded robocalls in an effort to boost the campaign of Marty Chávez. Chávez faces state Sen. Eric Griego and Bernalillo County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham in the June 5 primary.
NV-3: Rep. Joe Heck and his challenger, Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, have reserved more than $1.4 million combined in fall television airtime in Las Vegas. Heck campaign manager Dick Leggitt said they wanted to get their time reserved because of the expected clutter on the airwaves with multiple competitive races. Heck ended March with more than $1 million in cash on hand, more than twice as much as Oceguera.
RI-1: Rep. David Cicilline leads Democratic primary opponent Anthony Gemma 40% to 36%, with 20% undecided, according to a new WPRI 12 poll. Cicilline won a four way 2010 primary with 37% of the vote, ahead of Gemma with 23%, and David Segal and Bill Lynch with 20% each. If he makes it past the primary, Cicilline faces a competitive race against Republican Brendan Doherty, the Rhode Island State Police's former superintendent.
Governor
New Hampshire: According to a newly released PPP poll, the open New Hampshire Governor's race looks like a tossup. The two Democrats, Jackie Cilley and Maggie Hassan, are in a close race in the primary, and either one would start out tied with presumed GOP nominee Ovide Lamontagne. Hassan leads Cilley in the primary, 23-20, with 57% undecided. In the general, Cilley and Lamontagne are tied at 38% apiece, while Lamontagne edges Hassan, 40-39.
Wisconsin: A new Marquette Law School Poll shows Governor Scott Walker with a six percentage point lead over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 50-44 percent, among likely voters. This is a similar margin to yesterday's PPP poll of the race. Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch holds a 47% to 41% lead over Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin president Mahlon Mitchell in that recall election, with 10 percent undecided. President Obama is tied with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 46% to 46%, among likely voters.
Other
Michigan State House: State Representative Roy Schmidt made a last minute switch to the Republican Party at the filing deadline. Schmidt was known as a moderate to conservative Democrat who previously served as a non partisan Grand Rapids city commissioner before being elected to the state House. He faces an unknown Democratic challenger in November. |
