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Senate:
• AZ-Sen: Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Gabby Giffords, just announced he will retire from NASA this fall, and the proverbial "buzz" is that he might make a good Democratic candidate to seek the open Senate seat that his wife was interested in before the assassination attempt on her. The Hill notes that on his Facebook page, he said he wants to care for his wife as she recovers, but also added “that one day I will again serve our country.” I also wonder if he could seek Giffords' House seat if she is unable or unwilling to seek re-election.
• SD-Sen: On Fox News (sorry), Sen. John Thune said he'd been receiving some encouragement to reconsider his decision not to seek the presidency. To me, he sounds a little squirrely in the linked video, saying "I'm where I was when I announced I won't be running this time around," but refusing to flatly declare he won't change his mind. (It's not like the questioner was very astute, though.)
• UT-Sen: Former Gov. (and media-fabricated presidential wannabe) Jon Huntsman refused to endorse either Sen. Orrin Hatch or Rep. Jason Chaffetz in the expected battle royale for the GOP Senate nomination. It's kind of a dis to Chaffetz, who served as Hunstman's campaign manager and then chief-of-staff after he was first elected in 2004. But Huntsman is also missing a chance to burnish those "moderate" credentials by backing Hatch. Of course, those "credentials" are only useful among the press, but that's pretty much Huntsman's entire base right now!
House:
• CA-06: After noting that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom just relocated to Marin County and could seek to replace Rep. Lynn Woolsey in the House if she (as expected) retires, Joe Garofoli received a statement from the LG's office saying that Newsom "has no intention" of running for Congress. But Garofoli also notes that back in 2009, when speculation abounded that Newsom might drop down from the gov race to the LG contest, a top advisor said, "I would have Newsom kidnapped by one-eyed aliens from Pluto if I ever thought he would make that decision." I guess the kidnapping went awry, Fargo-style (or maybe Big Lebowski-style).
• CT-05: Dem state House Speaker Chris Donovan is postponing the official launch of his campaign (originally set for today), "pending ratification of the agreement between the state and its public employees." Donovan's people say he plans to reschedule, but no word yet on when.
• GA-12: Dem Rep. John Barrow said he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but expects to make a full recovery and plans to run again in 2012. It goes without saying that we wish him the best for a speedy recovery.
• NY-09: The special election to replace ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner will reportedly take place on Sept. 13, the date of New York's regularly-scheduled primaries. However, only relatively minor races are on the ballot — except, if it happens, this one, of course.
• IL-13: The Democrats' chances of picking up one of the redrawn-to-be-much-friendlier seats in Illinois just got notably harder, with GOP Rep. Tim Johnson confirming (as expected) that he'll seek re-election in the new 13th CD. A last-minute change to the new maps moved his house from the 15th to the 13th, which went for Obama by ten points but saw strong Republican performances in 2010.
• TX-33, TX-Sen: Confirming earlier talk that he might do so, former GOP Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams has indeed dropped down from the Senate race to run in the new 33rd CD, which covers Parker County and parts of Tarrant and Wise counties in central Texas.
• VA-10: General John Douglass (previously mentioned here) made his challenge to GOP Rep. Frank Wolf official earlier this week. There's also a welcome video at the link.
• WI-07: For quite some time, Sean Duffy has looked like one of those not-at-all-ready-for-daytime (let alone primetime) bits of flotsam swept in on 2010's red tide. The freshman GOPer has added yet again to his stable of blunders by screwing up a number of things on his financial disclosure form. (Remember, this is the guy who claimed he was struggling because of his tiny $174K/yr congressional salary.)
Grab Bag:
• Netroots: Some interesting results from a straw poll taken by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner at the Netroots Nation convention in Minneapolis last week. Of the 519 respondents, 80% said they approve of the job Barack Obama is doing, contrary to a lot of misinformed Beltway CW about online activists.
• Voter Suppression: Add Pennsylvania to the list: A voter ID bill is moving through the Keystone State, and with Republicans controlling the governor's mansion and the legislature, it looks like there's not much to stop it.
Redistricting Roundup:
• South Carolina: A new federal map is being circulated by a redistricting subcommittee in the state Senate (there's a small image at the link), but apparently it's being met with "skepticism" from other legislators. Could South Carolina be yet another state where parochial concerns are bollixing up what should otherwise be a smooth ride to a new map?