After a couple of days filled with news, Wednesday got kinda quiet. Follow me for the days news...
IA-Gov: GOP-Sponsored Poll Shows Culver Leading GOP Candidates
A slightly dusty (about a week old) survey by Voter/Consumer Research in Iowa shows that Chet Culver holds a modest lead over either of the leading Republicans in the gubernatorial field for 2010. Culver leads 2006 Lt. Gov nominee Bob VanderPlatts by nine points (48-39) and state legislator Christopher Rants by ten points (46-36). Bear in mind that this is a Republican pollster, so Culver's lead is even more of a relief in that context.
NJ-Gov: GOP Pollster Has Christie Up Double Digits
Speaking of Republican pollsters, Strategic Vision is out with new numbers in New Jersey, and they have Republican Chris Christie (for our Spanish speaking Kossacks: yes, he really is a Republican) leading incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine by fifteen points (53-38-5). This one has a few outlier-ish notes--including an approval rating for Barack Obama of 50%, which is considerably lower than other pollsters have seen in the Garden State.
GA-Gov: Strategic Vision Says Oxendine and Barnes In The Lead
Strategic Vision also polls Georgia, and in the Peach State they find the prohibitive frontrunners for Governor still running up front. On the Democratic side, the leader is former Governor Roy Barnes, although SV has state Attorney General Thurbert Baker far closer than other pollsters have shown: Barnes sits at 46%, with Baker at 31%. On the Republican side, John Oxendine has a wide lead over Congressman Nathan Deal and Secretary of State Karen Handel--Oxendine 38%, Deal 16%, Handel 9%. They had Obama's job approval in Georgia at just 40%, which would counter an argument made by Tom Jensen at PPP earlier this week. Jensen found that Obama's job approval usually ran ahead of his vote totals in Southern states, at least thus far in his presidency.
NY-23: GOP Nominates Moderate State Legislator For Special Election
This has to be viewed as something of a mild surprise: Republican county chairs in the upstate New York 23rd Congressional District have nominated socially liberal state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava as their candidate to run in the special election to replace Republican John McHugh, who is likely to be confirmed in the coming weeks as Secretary of the Army. Normally, the term "moderate Republican" is something of an oxymoron, but in Scozzafava's case, it is reasonably legit--it was only a few weeks ago that Democrats were considering trying to recruit her to run as a Democrat for the seat. Speaking of the Democrats, earlier this week the county chairs for the Democratic Party extended their deadline for selection until tomorrow evening, presumably because their leading candidate, state senator Darrel Aubertine, is still making up his mind. One has to wonder what role Scozzafava's nomination will play in his deliberations.
NJ-03: GOP May Favor State Senator For Bid Against Freshman Democrat
Democratic Congressman John Adler, who in 2008 took the seat once held by the retiring Republican Jim Saxton, may get a top-tier Republican opponent in 2010, if the Burlington County GOP gets their way. State Senator Diane Allen, who was purportedly considered for the position of Chris Christie's running mate (he chose Sheriff Kim Guadagno instead), also considered a bid in 2008. Ironically, it was the same Burlington County GOP leaders who smothered her bid in its infancy, instead recruiting corporate executive Chris Myers to run instead. Allen has run for federal office before: she lost to free-spending Republican Doug Forrester in a 2002 Senate primary to face Bob Torricelli.
CT-Gov: Current Woes Even Bring Down Teflon Governor, At Least Slightly
Normally, a 65% job approval rating for a governor would be something to tout far and wide. But when you normally sport approvals in the 70s and even 80s, it is a sign of the times. Jodi Rell, long one of the most popular governors in America, has seen her job approval ratings slide eight points in two months, dropping to their current position: 65%. That still, in these trying times for state executives, represents some pretty impressive popularity.