Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist will announce his campaign for governor in the next couple of days, making him the first Republican to officially do so. Crist will likely face Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings in a GOP primary in advance of the 2006 race. This will be Crist’s third statewide race since 1998, when he lost badly to then-Sen. Bob Graham (D).
* Though Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) is usually seen as the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in next year’s cycle, a new poll shows Chafee with a lead over his Dem rivals — now that Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Jim Langevin have withdrawn from consideration. The poll showed Chafee with a 10-point lead over his closest Democratic competitor, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, 41% to 31%. Chafee’s camp emphasizes his double-digit lead; Dems note that an incumbent with 41% support is in big trouble.
* The efforts to recruit Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) into the state’s Senate race are growing more intense. North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) and her staff at the National Republican Senatorial Committee have met with Steele three times already. Perhaps more importantly, Karl Rove has also contacted Steele about the campaign.
* Former Sen. John Edwards’ interest in running for president in 2008 is no secret, but the former VP nominee is moving forward with his plans aggressively. He’ll host a retreat this week with his close advisers and big donors to discuss his UNC poverty center and to strategize on how best his One America PAC can help Dems in 2006. One Edwards confidant said, “If Elizabeth is well, he’s going to make a run for it.”
* The ongoing fight for positioning on the primary schedule will likely take another turn soon, with Alabama taking up a measure to move its primary up dramatically. Right now, the state hosts a primary in June — too late to matter — but legislation before state lawmakers would move it to the first Saturday after the New Hampshire primary, making Alabama third in the country and the first in the South. Predictably, South Carolina has threatened to retaliate in order to protect its status as first-in-the-South primary.