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:
* The closest remaining undecided House race will be ridiculously close when it’s called today. In Connecticut’s 2nd congressional district, Rep. Rob Simmons (R) trailed Democratic challenger Joe Courtney by just 82 votes. A recount is scheduled to be completed tonight, at which point a winner will be declared.
* Speaking of undecided House races, Rep. Dave Reichert (R) apparently survived a fierce challenge from Darcy Burner (D), who led by about 4,000 votes as of last night. The AP declared victory for Reichert and Burner called Reichert last night to concede.
* Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was rumored to have a comeback plan, and yesterday, the former Senate Majority Leader formally declared his bid for minority whip. It is Lott’s first bid for a leadership post since the 2002 incident in which he praised former Sen. Strom Thurmond’s (R-S.C.) segregationist presidential campaign. Lott will face Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) for the post.
* Speaking of leadership races, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who supports John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) bid to be House Majority Leader, said Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi will do what she has to do to get Murtha the post. “She will ensure that they [the Murtha camp] win. This is hard-ball politics,” said Moran said. “We are entering an era where when the Speaker instructs you what to do, you do it.”
* And in Ohio, voters in the 2nd congressional district won’t know for sure who they elected to Congress until after this weekend. The unofficial final vote count showed incumbent Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) ahead by about 2,000 votes over Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin, but Wulsin has declined to concede the race until all absentee and provisional votes are counted.