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 Arizona’s Senate race, Sen. [tag]Jon Kyl[/tag] (R) leads businessman [tag]Jim Pederson[/tag] (D) in a new poll conducted by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, 46% to 36%. The bad news for Dems is that Pederson still trails by double digits after a fairly aggressive advertising campaign. The good news is Kyl is still below the 50% threshold with just two months to go.
* Speaking of Arizona, the same poll showed incumbent Gov. [tag]Janet Napolitano[/tag] (D) cruising to re-election, leading Republican candidates Don Goldwater (62% to 27%) and far-right activist Len Munsil (62% to 23%).
* In the bizarre race in Texas’ 22nd to replace Tom DeLay, Texas Gov. [tag]Rick Perry[/tag] (R) shook things up a bit yesterday by announcing a special election for the same day as the general election. The winner of the special election will represent the district in November and December. The winner of the general election will start a full term in January. It’s an apparent attempt to give Houston city councilwoman [tag]Shelley Sekula-Gibbs[/tag] (R) an edge in her write-in campaign, but there’s reason to believe the plan could backfire.
* Speaking of bizarre House races, the race to replace Rep. [tag]Joel Hefley[/tag] (R) in Colorado’s 5th congressional district took an odd turn yesterday when Hefley initially indicated he’d consider a write-in campaign for himself in opposition to [tag]Doug Lamborn[/tag], the Republican nominee. As it turns out, Hefley decided against the write-in effort, but said he will not support the GOP candidate based on Lamborn’s conduct and public statements. “I feel that he ran the most sleazy, dishonest campaign I’ve seen in a long, long time, and I can not support it,” Hefley said. (Thanks to reader J.M. for the tip)
* And in 2008 news, former Virginia Gov. [tag]Mark Warner[/tag] (D) shifted gears and told voters in Iowa this week that the U.S. should begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. “My sense is we’ve got to make clear that we’re getting out of Iraq. We’ve got to start a redeployment of our troops,” Warner said. Previously, Warner had withdrawal should be an option, but had not endorsed redeployment.