Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning.
Sign up here.
Leading Off:
• MA-Sen: On Friday, activist Bob Massie became the second Democrat to drop out of the Senate race, and like Newton Mayor Setti Warren before him, he too cited Elizabeth Warren's presence as his reason for quitting. Several other Democrats remain in the field, however: Alan Khazei, Thomas Conroy, Marisa DeFranco, and Herb Robinson.
3Q Fundraising:
• VA-Sen: George Allen (R): $900K raised; Jamie Radtke (R): $116K raised
• IN-Sen: Sen. Richard Lugar (R): $840K raised, $3.8 million cash-on-hand
• MA-Sen: Alan Khazei (D): $365K raised, $750K cash-on-hand
• MT-Gov: The AP has a roundup of fundraising reports for the entire Montana gubernatorial field. We already mentioned Democrat Steve Bullock's haul; unsurprisingly, it looks like ex-Rep. Rick Hill leads the way for Republicans with $95K raised and $260K cash-on-hand. The rest of the numbers are at the link.
• PA-12: Rep. Mark Critz (D): $303K raised, $422K cash-on-hand
Senate:
• NY-Sen: Republican Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks is being talked up as a possible challenger to Dem Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and she isn't ruling out the race. Then again, Brooks has been mentioned for higher office repeatedly over the years, and supposedly is (once again) also interested in running for the House.
House:
• AZ-09: Politico reports that Andrei Cherny, the chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and a former Clinton White House staffer, is considering a run for the new 9th District. Cherny ran for state Treasurer last year and lost 52-41, which Politico for some reason describes as a "narrow" loss. (I mean, it was 2010, so I don't hold it against Cherny. But 11 points is not narrow.)
• CT-04: Looks like a couple of (probably rich) Republican businessmen are thinking about taking on sophomore Dem Jim Himes. David Orner is a banking executive while Steve Obsitnik is CEO of a consulting firm; both happen to be Navy veterans. State GOP chair Jerry Labriola also says that state Sen. Dan Debicella, who lost by a 53-47 margin last year, has not ruled out a comeback.
Other Races:
• Secretaries of State: Louis Jacobson at Governing Magazine has a great rundown on the 13 elections for secretary of state that will take place in 2011 and 2012. Of the fifty SoSes (or their equivalents) in the country, Jacobson summarizes: "39 are popularly elected, eight are appointed by the governor and three are appointed by the legislature." Of the upcoming baker's dozen, Jacobson rates five races as "competitive" (KY, MT, ME, OR & WA), and two more as "potentially competitive" (MO & NC). Note that Maine is one of the states where the legislature appoints the SoS, so the "race" is really for overall control of the state House and Senate.
Redistricting Roundup:
• MD Redistricting: The Baltimore Sun reports that a couple of members of Maryland's delegation are grousing (my word) to Dem Gov. Martin O'Malley about his proposed new map: Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (as you'd expect, since his seat would become a lot bluer), and, unfortunately, Dem Rep. Chris Van Hollen (who presumably doesn't want his seat to become less blue, even though he could certainly afford it to). O'Malley won't submit his final proposal to the legislature until later this month, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it changed. My question, though, is how much attention the lege will pay to it, since they are free to come up with their own map.