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Senate:
• FL-Sen: How sad is this sack? PPP is out with a new poll showing retired Army Reserves Col. Mike McCalister leading his lamentable opponents in the Republican primary to take on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. McCalister is perhaps best known for being on the receiving end of allegations that he's been trumping up his military record, as well as his campaign's unique "sartorial issues". He leads ex-Sen. George LeMieux by a 17-13 spread, with ex-state Rep. Adam Hasner checking in at 9%. Former Ruth's Chris CEO Craig Miller lags behind with 3%.
• IN-Sen: It was just a matter of time, I suppose, but the incumbent scalp-collectors over at the Tea Party Express have finally endorsed Richard Mourdock in his primary bid against Dick Lugar.
• MD-Sen: State Senator C. Anthony Muse says that he's formed an exploratory committee for a primary challenge next year against incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin. Muse, who is African-American, told a local talk radio host that while he has nothing against Cardin, “there is something to be said about the fact that we don’t have an African American serving in the United States Senate.”
• WI-Sen: Former state Sen. Ted Kanavas announced on Thursday that he won't run for Senate, in large part due to ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson taking up too much of the oxygen in the GOP primary. This leaves Thompson and ex-Rep. Mark Neumann as the two biggest names in the race, with state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald reportedly set to join the field next month.
Gubernatorial:
• WV-Gov: The RGA is out with its final ad of the race, a typically dour spot encouraging voters to "stop Earl Tomblin from implementing Obamacare". Meanwhile, according to the latest tally, registered Democrats have cast 57% of the early and absentee votes collected so far, a slightly higher mark than the 53% statewide voter registration that Democrats currently enjoy. Election day is next Tuesday.
House:
• UT-02, UT-04, UT-Sen, UT-Gov: Dem Rep. Jim Matheson says he's keeping his options open... including swapping districts with the newly-drawn 4th CD, which has the most geographically-compact lines of the map. I'd need to know more about the political data of these new seats before I can say whether or not this might be a good idea, though. For good measure, Matheson is reiterating that possible runs for Senate or governor are still on the table.
Other Races:
• San Diego Mayor: In a new SUSA poll, Dem Rep. Bob Filner is tied with Republican councilman Carl DeMaio at 25% apiece in the Battle of San Diego. Filner is actually the only Democrat in the race, but the split is somewhat nuanced by the fact that openly gay San Diego County DA Bonnie Dumanis, currently in third place with 16% of the vote, is managing to poach a not-insignificant amount of Democratic and liberal support, even though she is also a Republican.
Redistricting Roundup:
• ME Redistricting: That was a quick turnaround... Republican Gov. Paul LePage signed a recently-passed redistricting compromise bill, which doesn't change the equation of the state's congressional map by much at all. Republicans had earlier been supporting a much more dramatic revision of the lines, but apparently caved to legal concerns as well as the threat of a "people's veto".