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 Colorado, [tag]Marc Holtzman[/tag]’s (R) on-again, off-again gubernatorial campaign is back on after Colorado’s secretary of state put the former university president back on the Republican primary ballot. Two weeks ago, Holtzman was removed from the ballot for not collecting enough ballot signatures; and last week, Holtzman filed a lawsuit he had been improperly disqualified. At this point, whether Holtzman has enough valid signatures to legally stay on the Aug. 8 ballot will not be decided for at least 10 days. If he doesn’t, his name will still appear on the ballot but votes cast for him won’t be counted.
* Speaking of candidates with ballot signature problems, Michigan Senate candidate [tag]Jerry Zandstra[/tag] (R) has announced that he will not fight a state election board’s decision to leave his name off the August primary ballot. The announcement leaves two GOP candidates — Oakland County Sheriff [tag]Mike Bouchard[/tag] and minister [tag]Keith Butler[/tag] — hoping to take on Sen. [tag]Debbie Stabenow[/tag] (D) in November.
* In Washington state, Sen. [tag]Maria Cantwell[/tag] (D) may end up benefiting from recent tirades against her from Sen. [tag]Ted Stevens[/tag] (R) of Alaska. The two have fought repeatedly over issues pertaining to the environment, and when Stevens sponsored a measure that would have allowed more oil tankers into Puget Sound, his criticism of Cantwell only boosted her popularity.
* In 2008 news, Former House speaker [tag]Newt Gingrich[/tag] (R-Ga.) recently told a DC audience that he expects to run for president is there’s no consensus candidate late next year. “If at that point there’s still a vacuum . . . then we’ll probably do something,” Gingrich said, adding that his policy pronouncements have more weight if he is seen as a potential presidential candidate. “If you’re interested in defining the idea context and the political context for the next generation of Americans, which I am, the most effective way to do that is to be seen as potentially available.”
* Also in 2008 news, former South Dakota Sen. [tag]Tom Daschle[/tag] told the AP he has no regrets about his tenure in the Senate, cut short by his defeat to John Thune in ’04, but he has some regrets about not running for president. After a weekend trip to New Hampshire, Daschle appears to be “going for it.”