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:
* California comptroller Steve Westly, a Dem who became a multimillionaire as an eBay official, has been a key ally of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yesterday, however, Westly broke with the governor and hinted at his own gubernatorial run next year. “Last year I think the governor did better than many people expected. He was bipartisan, above the fray and seemed to be focused on fixing things,” Westly said in an interview. “When he was doing that I was happy to support him. This year he is on a very different path and I think he is taking the state in the wrong direction and that’s why I am standing up now.”
* A new Fairleigh Dickinson/PublicMind poll in New Jersey tested name recognition among those running for governor this year. Among the seven Republicans, businessman Doug Forrester was clearly the most recognized, with some 80 percent of voters having heard of him. The bad news for the Republicans: Dem Sen. Jon Corzine enjoys 91% name ID.
* In Virginia’s gubernatorial race, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (R) had some good news and some bad news. The good news is he collected nearly twice as many petition signatures as his Dem opponent, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, to qualify for this year’s ballot. The bad news he wasn’t the only Republican collecting names — Warrenton Mayor George Fitch (R) turned in over 16,000 signatures Thursday, which is enough to put him on the ballot.
* The ever-growing GOP field to succeed Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who’s been nominated to be Bush’s top trade negotiator, reached seven yesterday, with state Rep. Tom Brinkman and former Rep. Bob McEwen both announcing their intentions to run.
* Worried about his political future, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) is considering creating his own ballot line in the fall — and may re-launch the defunct Liberal Party, which lost its ballot line in 2002 after falling short of the 50,000-vote minimum.
* Though Republicans have been hesitant to take on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D), Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro (R) has moved closer to launching a campaign. A GOP source told Crain’s Insider that Pirro has been “doing the county circuit” in advance of a campaign.
* In advance of next year’s gubernatorial race, a new poll shows Florida Republicans favor state Attorney General Charlie Crist or Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher as the leading candidates to succeed Jeb Bush, both with support of about 35%. Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings (R) was a distant third. Dems, meanwhile, aren’t nearly as sure — “Don’t Know” came in first with 35%, while Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa was second with 26%.
* Rumors had been swirling recently that Rep. Jim Matheson (D) might take on Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) in next year’s Senate race in Utah, so Matheson made himself quite clear — he went directly to Hatch to tell him he’s not running. Hatch responded that he was “pleased that he came to see me”