If it's around 7:45 PM on a Friday night, then that means that Mark Kirk is definitely IN the U.S. Senate race in Illinois.
Oh, wait...did I say 7:45 PM?
Oh. In that case, he is definitely OUT of the Senate race in Illinois.
Wait fifteen minutes, though. By the time you are done reading the wrap-up, we may have new developments.
MN-Pres: Pawlenty Not Getting Home State Love, Says PPP
Tim Pawlenty might have demurred from a bid for another term as Minnesota's governor in order to test the 2012 waters, but according to PPP, those waters are frigid, even in his home state. If the election were held today, Pawlenty would trail President Obama by eleven points (51-40). Pawlenty might be earning some home-field advantage, though, as Obama destroys another presumptive GOP hopeful, Sarah Palin, by twenty-one points (56-35). Pawlenty's job approval is woeful, as he has slid to a 44/48 spread on that question, down from a 46/40 spread earlier this year.
TX-Pres: Obama Leading Mitt Romney. In Texas. No, Really.
A big tip of the hat to Kossack Setrak, who caught an amazing University of Texas poll out of the Lone Star State. Pitted against GOP co-frontrunner Mitt Romney, Barack Obama actually enjoys a two-point advantage over the Republican (36-34). In a sign that Texans may not be in LOVE with their president, however, a third of the field was undecided. Obama's approval in the state is also middling at best--43% approval with 46% disapproval. Rick Perry's approval, by the by, is not much better: 42/32.
FL-Gov: Sink Outraised McCollum in Gubernatorial Money Showdown
While Republican frontrunner and state Attorney General Bill McCollum has enjoyed slight leads in most recent polling, he lost to presumptive Democratic nominee Alex Sink, the state CFO, in the 2nd quarter fundraising derby. Sink raised $1.28 million, which easily exceeded McCollum, who trailed with $1.03 million.
CO-Gov: Penry To Announce Plans Tomorrow; McInnis Needs Geography Lesson
GOP "rising star" state Senator Josh Penry will apparently announce his 2010 plans tomorrow at the Mesa County Courthouse. Local columnist Jim Spehar thinks that Penry will refuse a bid for Governor, despite the conventional wisdom saying that he is going to make the race. Speaking of Republicans running for the Governorship, former Congressman Scott McInnis made a pretty embarrassing gaffe recently: he adorned his website with a beautiful mountain scene. Living in Colorado, this makes sense. Except that the photo was not actually OF the mountains of Colorado. The shot was of a mountain range in Canada. In a state like Colorado, this is likely to be an impeachable offense.
IL-Sen: Burris Makes It Official, Declines Re-Election
This doesn't qualify for the "BREAKING!!" prefix that we often see in the diaries, but we thought you'd like to know that Illinois Senator Roland Burris made it official today that he will not seek re-election. We also thought you'd like to know the reason:
"Political races have become far too expensive in this country. And in making this decision, I was called to choose between spending my time raising funds or spending my time raising issues for my state."
Of course, reports are that Burris raised about $20,000 in his re-election bid. And it JUST occurred to him that this was going to be inadequate amount? Heck, I don't think that you could win with $20,000 in the days of Alben Barkley, for crying out loud.
NJ-Gov: Corzine's Internal Polling Also Claims Tightening Race
According to PolitickerNJ, the Corzine campaign released some internal polling numbers (all standard caveats apply, of course) that had GOP nominee Chris Christie's lead down to just four points (42-38, with 4% for an Independent candidate) in this year's governor's race. Normally, it is pretty easy to dismiss internal polls, for obvious reasons. But it must be said that this tracks with the tightening in Rasmussen's data, which we discussed in the wrap last night.
Department of Corrections: But Really...Can You Blame Me?
In yesterday's segment of the wrap-up, I wrote that Malcolm Smith was being reinstated as majority leader of the New York state Senate. As it turns out, that was only early speculation on the "deal" returning Pedro Espada to the fold. I should have known better--the way the Democrats were able to get Espada back into the fold? Making Espada the Majority Leader:
As they resumed the majority, the Democrats announced a new leadership arrangement under which Pedro Espada Jr., the Bronx Democrat who had joined with the Republicans last month, will be given the title of majority leader. Mr. Sampson will serve as leader of the Democratic caucus, and Malcolm A. Smith of Queens will be the Senate’s president for what several senators described as a transition period of an undetermined length.
The duties of the three leaders were still unclear Thursday evening.
So...well...that clears THAT up...