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:
* New York’s Republican gubernatorial primary got a little thinner over the weekend when long-shot candidate, Randy Daniels, New York’s former Secretary of State, announced that he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing former state assemblyman John Faso. The decision was not entirely unexpected; Daniels trailed badly in most statewide primary polls.
* Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D) is struggling badly in his re-election effort this year, according to the latest Rasmussen poll. The poll shows Baldacci leading state Sen. Chandler Woodcock (R), 43% to 36%, but trailing state Senator Peter Mills (R) and former Rep. Dave Emery (R) by narrow margins. Overall, Baldacci’s approval rating stands at 51%, while his unfavorably is 47%.
* Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), who became something of a national joke last year, is barely hanging on in her primary fight against former Rep. Bob McEwen (R), according to a new Zogby poll. According to the survey, Schmidt is ahead, but just barely, leading 35% to 33%. McEwen is perhaps best known for leaving Congress in 1993 in the wake of the House banking controversy. (via Taegan Goddard)
* Fundraising controversies seem to have undercut Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown’s (D) Senate campaign. A poll released last week from Anzalone-Liszt Research shows former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse regaining his lead over Brown, 49% to 31%, after Brown was embarrassed by a series of controversial donations he received from three state Democratic parties outside the state. The winner of this race will take on the winner of the GOP primary between incumbent Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey.
* And don’t forget, tomorrow is a key House race, as California’s 50th congressional district holds a special election to replace disgraced Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R). Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate, leads the pack of 18 candidates in the polls, though with such a large field of candidates, few expect any candidate to break the 50% threshold. Considering the fact that Republicans outnumber Dems in the conservative district by a three-to-two margin, Busby’s promising prospects are encouraging for Dems nationwide. “If Busby wins, that would be the political equivalent of a tectonic shift,” said Amy Walter, senior editor at the Washington-based Cook Political Report. “The next story you would hear is this is the first rumblings in what would be a major earthquake in November.”