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
* California Gov. [tag]Arnold Schwarzenegger[\/tag]’s comeback drive is apparently falling a little short. A new Rasmussen poll<\/a> shows the actor-turned-politician losing his modest leads over both of his Dem rivals. Schwarzenegger now trials state Controller [tag]Steve Westly[\/tag], 46% to 44%, and is tied with state Treasurer [tag]Phil Angelides[\/tag] at 45% each.<\/p>\n * Florida’s gubernatorial race is looking more and more competitive all the time. A new Quinnipiac poll<\/a> shows Rep. [tag]Jim Davis[\/tag] (D) pulling ahead of state Attorney General [tag]Charlie Crist[\/tag], and ahead of state Chief Financial Officer [tag]Tom Gallagher[\/tag], each by a 40% to 37% margin. Davis also leads his Dem primary opponent, state Sen. [tag]Rod Smith[\/tag], 38% to 17%, while Crist leads Gallagher, 43% to 26%. In general election match-ups, Smith trails both GOP candidates.<\/p>\n * In Colorado, GOP gubernatorial candidate [tag]Marc Holtzman[\/tag] failed to qualify for the party’s primary ballot at the state’s Republican convention, but he vowed to fight on<\/a> and qualify for the ballot via ballot signatures. After Rep. [tag]Bob Beauprez[\/tag] easily received party support, the state GOP after the party chairman called on Holtzman to quit, prompting Holtzman to say, “I will not allow a small group of 3,000 insiders and benefits of patronage of the system to stand in the way.” He has to deliver 10,500 signatures by Thursday to qualify. The primary is Aug. 8.<\/p>\n * In Idaho’s primaries yesterday, Rep. [tag]Butch Otter[\/tag] (R) and newspaper owner [tag]Jerry Brady[\/tag] (D) easily won their party’s gubernatorial primaries<\/a> and will face off in November. In the six-way GOP House primary, state Rep. [tag]Bill Sali[\/tag] edged out<\/a> the crowd and will face [tag]Larry Grant[\/tag], a retired general counsel for Micron, in the general election.<\/p>\n * Sen. [tag]John Ensign[\/tag]’s (R-Nev.) lead over [tag]Jack Carter[\/tag] (D) in Nevada’s Senate race is narrowing a bit, but is still huge. A new Reno Gazette Journal\/KRNV-TV poll shows Ensign up<\/a>, 52% to 32%. The 20-point margin is considerably less than the 33-point margin Ensign enjoyed over Carter six weeks ago.<\/p>\n * In Massachusetts, [tag]Deval Patrick[\/tag]’s gubernatorial campaign got a boost yesterday with a high-profile endorsement from Rep. [tag]Barney Frank[\/tag] (D-Mass.). The Boston Globe also has a nice profile piece<\/a> on Patrick today.<\/p>\n