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:<\/p>\n
* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) may not be as popular as he once was, but he remains competitive looking ahead to his re-election campaign. A new Rasmussen poll<\/a> shows Schwarzenegger leading State Treasurer Phil Angelides (D), 41% to 39%, but trailing State Comptroller Steve Westly (D), 40% to 39%.<\/p>\n * Speaking of California, it looks like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) will not run unopposed after all. Retired State Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R) said yesterday that he’s throwing his hat into the ring<\/a>. A longtime leader of the state Republican Party’s conservative wing, Mountjoy said his decision was “definite.”<\/p>\n * Ken Canfield, author of several books and articles on fathering, announced yesterday<\/a> that he’s running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Kansas. Canfield, who has never before held public office, join State Sen. Jim Barnett and former Kansas House speaker Robin Jennison in a GOP primary. The winner will take on Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in November.<\/p>\n * The three-way GOP gubernatorial fight in Ohio is now just two-way. Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery (R) announced yesterday that she was withdrawing from the governor’s race<\/a> and would instead run for state attorney general. Her decision leaves Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Attorney General Jim Petro to slug it out for the Republican nomination.<\/p>\n * The conservative New York Sun is making hay<\/a> of a new poll that shows 51% of voters saying they would definitely not vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton if she chooses to run for president in 2008.<\/p>\n