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:
* In New Jersey’s closely-watched Senate race, which has gotten pretty ugly of late, Sen. [tag]Bob Menendez[/tag] (D) has built on his earlier leads, and enjoys one of his biggest margins yet over state Sen. [tag]Tom Kean[/tag] Jr. (R). In a new Rasmussen poll, Menendez now leads 46% to 40%. As Rasmussen noted, “[S]upport for Menendez has jumped to its highest level thus far, gaining nine points over the past month. These gains have come despite the brevity of his incumbency and GOP charges of corruption.”
* Rep. [tag]Ted Strickland[/tag] (D) continues to look very strong in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, leading Republican Secretary of State [tag]Ken Blackwell[/tag] consistently for months. According to a new Rasmussen poll, Strickland is now ahead of Blackwell 50% to 37%. As the polling report explained, “Strickland has improved his support throughout the year; he’s been at 50% or above in every survey since March. Blackwell has attracted as many as 40% in individual polls, but the gauge has fluttered around 37%-38% in each of our three-poll rolling averages.”
* Speaking of Ohio, Dems have reason for confidence in the gubernatorial race, but incumbent Sen. [tag]Mike DeWine[/tag] (R) is hanging tough in the Senate race. A new Rasmussen poll shows DeWine leading Rep. [tag]Sherrod Brown[/tag] (D) 46% to 39%. DeWine’s support still appears thin — he’s below 50% and only 47% view Brown favorably — but at 46%, DeWine has now matched his highest level in 2006.
* In Texas, a new SurveyUSA poll shows the four-way gubernatorial race still wide open, with the incumbent in the lead but below the 40% threshold, and three candidates bunched together in second. Gov. [tag]Rick Perry[/tag] (R) is still leading with 35% support, followed by entertainer [tag]Kinky Friedman[/tag] (I) in second with 21%, former Rep. [tag]Chris Bell[/tag] (D) at 20%, and state Comptroller [tag]Carole Keeton Strayhorn[/tag] (I) right behind them with 19%.
* Speaking of Texas, former Rep. [tag]Nick Lampson[/tag] (D) still doesn’t know who his GOP opponent will be now that [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] (R) has skipped town, but he does know that he’ll have one less independent rival. Former Rep. [tag]Steve Stockman[/tag], a Republican running as an independent, hoped to make the 22nd district’s ballot, but didn’t submit enough valid signatures to qualify.
* In 2008 news, [tag]Rudy Giuliani[/tag]’s (R) name may pop up more and more while you use Google because the former NYC mayor’s political action committee, Solutions America, has bought a lot of ads on the search engine. As Roll Call noted today, type in “GOP candidates,” “Republican National Committee,” or even “2006 elections” into Google and you’ll find Giuliani’s name along with a link to the PAC’s site prominently listed in the “Sponsored Links” section. John Avlon, Solution America’s communications director and senior policy adviser, said, “We are trying to get the word out about the site so we are using all means necessary.”