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:
* Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman may have been the first Dem to enter Ohio’s gubernatorial race, but he’s also the first to drop out. Yesterday, Coleman announced that the toll of the campaign is too much for his family at this time. His departure gives U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland (D), who expected to take on Coleman in a primary, a big boost, though other Dems may consider the race before the Feb. 16 candidate filing deadline.
* Republicans in Ohio seem to believe Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) is more than a little vulnerable in advance of next year’s election. State Rep. Tom Brinkman (R), whom Schmidt defeated in a primary earlier this year, called the incumbent “Mean Jean” and a “pathological liar,” before hinting that he’ll likely challenge Schmidt in a GOP primary in 2006. Bob McEwen, who also lost in the special election primary, may also run, but Brinkman emphasized he wanted to see only one challenger. “I think it’s important that she have one challenger to beat her. You don’t want two or three or four because it splits up the vote. I think she’s in serious political trouble.”
* Two weeks ago, California businessman Bill Mundell (R), who backed the failed effort to revamp California’s redistricting system, said he’s “seriously considering” a campaign against Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) next year. Yesterday, Mundell said he’s seriously not running. At this point, there is no GOP contender for the Senate campaign.
* Speaking of California, former basketball player Magic Johnson gave a boost to State Treasurer Phil Angelides’ (D) gubernatorial campaign with a high-profile endorsement, calling Angelides “the only qualified candidate to run the state of California.”
* In Florida, a new poll from Strategic Vision, a Republican pollster, shows Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) continuing her precipitous decline. The good news is she continues to lead the pack of potential GOP candidates in next year’s Senate race when Rep. Mark Foley and state House Speaker Allan Bense are added to the mix. The bad news is her margin has fallen considerably. As of now, Harris secured only 48 percent of the Republican vote, considered by many Republicans to be far below where she should be, given that she’s the only GOP contender in the race to oust Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).
* And after months of recruiting efforts in which GOP leaders practically begged Jeanine Pirro to run against Hillary Clinton, now at least one party leader wants her to drop out. Joseph Bruno, the majority leader of the State Senate and the legislature’s most powerful Republican, said Pirro should give up on the Senate race and run for state attorney general instead.