Some political stuff on the plate, as those of us in beautiful southern California are in between conflagration and a potential brush with hurricanes next week. Apparently, the plague of locusts are arriving into LAX sometime on Thursday.....
MA-Sen: Special Election Dates Set; Interim Pick Still Possible
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today set the dates upon which the primary and general special elections will take place to replace the late Senator Edward Kennedy. The primary will be held on December 8th, with the party nominees squaring off on January 19, 2010. At the same time the schedule was released, Governor Patrick reiterated his desire to see an interim appointee put into position well before next January. The Massachusetts state legislature scheduled hearings on this critical rules change to take place next week. In other Senate news in Massachusetts, one rumor was cast aside today, as ABC News reported that Kennedy's widow, Vicki, was not interested in either the interim appointment or a prospective bid in the special election. The most oft-cited name in the picture is Kennedy's nephew, Joseph Kennedy II, who could in theory clear the Democratic side of the field.
VA-Gov: Deeds Capitalizing on McDonnell Manifesto?
We can expect new numbers in the Virginia Governor's race from the folks at PPP tomorrow. Last night, however, Tom Jensen posted an interesting nugget of information on his Twitter page: Deeds fared much better Sunday than he had on either Friday or Saturday. Jensen did point out, however, that Sunday was a day with only a small handful on interviews, therefore the final polling results will not likely show a dramatic change. It does show, however, that McDonnell could be in dire straits if he experiences further unwanted attention from his manifesto, including the rather disturbing segment of the document where he advocates deceiving voters, and then ignoring them.
NY-Sen: King Stands Down--Will Not Challenge Gillibrand
Yet another oft-rumored challenger to appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has backed away--and this time, it was someone in the other party. Peter King, the loquacious (some might say blowhard) Republican Congressman from Long Island, announced that he will not seek a seat in the U.S. Senate. His statement is worth reading--it comes off as awfully pitiful. A quick translation:
"Oh well...I would have been great, and I would have won. But because Kirsten Gillibrand does not have the surname of Kennedy, you damned people wouldn't give me the money I need. So I am not running. So there."
This leaves former Governor George Pataki as the lone GOP hope to derail Gillibrand.
SC-Sen: Dems Also Lose High-Profile Potential Senate Challenger
Peter King was not the only potentially high-profile Senate candidate to take a pass on a 2010 Senate race. In South Carolina, Democratic state legislator Brad Hutto, a frequent critic of archconservative Senator Jim DeMint, decided against a challenge to DeMint next year. Democrats are still scrambling for a challenger to DeMint, who is probably even to the right of his state, but benefits from a small Democratic bench.
LA-Sen: Speaking of Rumored Senate Bids Being Shot Down
Line of the day goes to Crisitunity over at Swing State, who suspects that "David Vitter seems like he has an endless supply of horse's heads to put in the beds of potential GOP primary opponents." Crisitunity makes that claim because Vitter appears to have avoided a third major primary challenge, this time from retired military officer (and major Katrina player) Russell Honore. The hot rumor late last week was that Honore was contemplating challenging Vitter in a primary, which would have almost certainly softened Vitter up for Democrat Charlie Melancon.
CA-10: Special Election Set For Tomorrow
Northern California will take the first step toward replacing Ellen Tauscher tomorrow, when the primary election takes place to replace her in California's 10th district. On the Republican side, David Harmer is virtually assured of being the GOP nominee. A new SurveyUSA poll out of the 10th district gives him a wide lead among Republicans. His competitiveness in the general remains to be seen: the Democratic candidates outscored the GOP candidates in the poll by a wide 62-30 margin. On the Democratic side, John Garamendi continues to pace the field, with DeSaulnier, Buchanan, and Woods trailing (in that order, though the gaps are relatively tight). Polls are a tough call here, Solano County's elections chief predicts a low turnout which could make the ground game a point of particular importance.