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 an extremely encouraging poll out of Montana, a new Rasmussen poll shows state Senate President [tag]Jon Tester[/tag] (D) with a sizable lead over incumbent Sen. [tag]Conrad Burns[/tag] (R), 50% to 43%. In a Rasmussen poll in May, Tester led by four. Said the pollster, “It is stunning for any long-term incumbent to be trailing in a re-election bid. It is even for a Republican to be trailing this badly in a state that President Bush carried by twenty points in Election 2004. But, even though most Americans think the Abramoff lobbying scandal was little more than business as usual, Burns close ties to the convicted lobbyists has clearly hurt Burns in Montana.”
* Both of Texas’ competitive independent gubernatorial candidates — state Comptroller [tag]Carole Keeton Strayhorn[/tag] and entertainer [tag]Kinky Friedman[/tag] — asked state elections officials to allow them to use nicknames on the November ballot. Yesterday, the latter got his wish. Secretary of State Roger Williams announced that Strayhorn could not be called “Grandma,” as she had requested, but Friedman can appear on the ballot as “Richard ‘Kinky’ Friedman.”
* In Massachusetts, [tag]Deval Patrick[/tag] (D) continues to look strong in his gubernatorial bid. In a new State House poll, Patrick leads the primary fight with 35% support, followed by state Attorney General [tag]Tom Reilly[/tag] with 22%, and businessman [tag]Chris Gabrieli[/tag] right behind him with 19% (via Taegan Goddard).
* In New York, the race against Rep. [tag]Jim Walsh[/tag] (R) just got a little easier for [tag]Dan Maffei[/tag] (D); his primary opponent, [tag]Paloma Capanna[/tag], dropped out of the race and endorsed Maffei. “The 2006 elections are about changing the direction of the country,” Capanna said in a statement. “The way to do that is to avoid a primary and to stand together in our efforts to defeat Mr. Walsh.” As Roll Call noted, Capanna said she actively would help Maffei and planned to attend the opening of his new campaign headquarters in North Syracuse today.
* And in Nebraska, supporters of Rep. [tag]Tom Osborne[/tag] (R) were planning to launch a write-in gubernatorial campaign, but over the weekend, Osborne said he wasn’t interested in the idea. [tag]Dave Heineman[/tag] won the GOP nomination in May and Osborne said “the people of Nebraska have spoken.” (Osborne apparently hasn’t been talking to Joe Lieberman…)