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:
* Iraq-war veteran Tim Dunn (D) was poised to be a top congressional candidate this year, but he dropped out of his North Carolina race this week, due in large part to a lack of funds. Dunn, who was taking on Rep. Robin Hayes (R), entered 2006 with less than $50,000 in his campaign coffers, as opposed to Hayes, who had over $700,000. There are still two Dems in the race, however: Larry Kissell, a social studies teacher, and Mark Ortiz, an unsuccessful candidate in 2004.
* Kathleen Troia “K.T.” McFarland’s (R) Senate campaign in New York is still struggling to get on track. The latest embarrassing revelation comes by way of the NYT, which reported today that McFarland has exaggerated her record on her official biography, including falsely taking credit for having written Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” speech and claiming that she held the equivalent civilian rank of a three-star general while in the Pentagon.
* In Maine, Gov. John Baldacci (D) enjoys comfortable leads over his Republican rivals in the latest Strategic Marketing Services poll, but the poll also shows a large number of undecided voters. Baldacci leads former Rep. Dave Emery 37% to 23%, state Senator Peter Mills 33% to 20%, and state Sen. Chandler Woodcock 34% to 16%. (via Taegan Goddard)
* Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) has told reporters that she will “not own anything” after spending $10 million of her personal inheritance to fund her U.S. Senate campaign. She said, “I am willing to put everything on the line. I am willing to take this widow’s mite, this pearl of great price and put everything on the line.” It’s an accurate claim, just so long as you discount her husband’s multi-million dollar forture.
* And in Colorado, conventional wisdom said Dems would fight amongst themselves in advance of the state’s gubernatorial race, while Republicans would rally behind Rep. Bob Beauprez. Instead, we’ve seen the opposite. Among Dems, state leaders have thrown their support behind former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, after some initial hesitation. Among Republicans, former University of Denver President Marc Holtzman is going after Beauprez aggressively, particularly on immigration. One recent poll showed Ritter leading them both by a fairly comfortable margin.