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:
* It’s become something of a pattern with Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) — get people excited about a possible statewide run, but then back down. Unfortunately, it’s happened again, as Brown announced yesterday that he will not run for the Senate.
* In the same race, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said yesterday he’s “leaning against” running for the Senate. The irony is that Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) is now considered one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Republicans, but at this point, no top-tier Dems are anxious to take him on. The most likely Dem to run is now Paul Hackett, who, as we all know, barely lost a special election a couple of weeks ago.
* In Illinois, Rep. Ray LaHood (R) has been flirting with the idea of running for governor next year, but the six-term House member said yesterday that he has decided to forgo the race and run for re-election to Congress.
* MSNBC blowhard Joe Scarborough’s interest in the Florida Senate race is, apparently, rather serious. Scarborough acknowledged yesterday that he has already talked with Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and plans to meet with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and White House officials next week. Scarborough even took a subtle shot at Rep. Katherin Harris, the woman he’d be running against in the GOP primary, saying, “Everybody I’ve talked to in the party likes her personally, it’s just the numbers. You look at any public poll and the numbers are not positive for her simply because she’s identified with the dustup in 2000.”
* With Gov. George Pataki (R) not running for re-election, the Republican field for next year’s gubernatorial race remains wide open. John McCain has decided to step into the political positioning, urging upstate billionaire Tom Golisano, who has lost three races as an independent candidate for governor, to seek the Republican nomination.
* Ethically-challenged House Republican Bob Ney (R) will have a serious race on his hands next year, with Chillicothe Mayor Joe Sulzer (D) announcing yesterday that he will run for the House next year. With Ney’s close connections to Jack Abramoff in mind, Sulzer emphasized yesterday that ethical behavior in Congress will be a key issue in 2006.