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
* Colorado’s gubernatorial race got a lot clearer yesterday when the Secretary of State’s office said that that Republican [tag]Marc Holtzman[\/tag] did not collect<\/a> the necessary petition signatures to get on the August primary ballot. Holtzman reportedly fell 743 signatures short. His would-be primary opponent, Rep. [tag]Bob Beauprez[\/tag] (R), will now be able to focus exclusively on former Denver District Attorney [tag]Bill Ritter[\/tag] (D).<\/p>\n * Dems in California will choose their gubernatorial nominee on Tuesday, but they don’t seem sure who they’ll vote for. According to a new Field Poll<\/a>, [tag]Steve Westly[\/tag] enjoys a very narrow lead over [tag]Phil Angelides[\/tag], 35% to 34%. With less than five days to go, more than one-in-four Dems (26%) are still undecided.<\/p>\n * In Massachusetts, Dems in the gubernatorial race are matching one high-profile endorsement with another. Yesterday, state House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi<\/a> (D) leaked word that he will endorse state Attorney General [tag]Thomas Reilly[\/tag], while Sen. [tag]Barack Obama[\/tag]<\/a> campaigned for [tag]Deval Patrick[\/tag] at a pre-state-convention rally.<\/p>\n * The Dems’ Senate primary in Montana got a little thinner this week when [tag]Paul Richards[\/tag], a low-budget candidate, dropped out<\/a> of the race and threw his support behind state Senate President [tag]Jon Tester[\/tag] (D). Tester will face state Auditor [tag]John Morrison[\/tag] in a Dem primary next week, the winner of which will take on Abramoff-plagued Sen. [tag]Conrad Burns[\/tag] (R).<\/p>\n