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Senate:
• HI-Sen: This seems like a pretty major shot across Rep. Colleen Hanabusa's bow: EMILY's List says they're endorsing Rep. Mazie Hirono, who is already in the race. It's hard not to view this as a signal to Hanabusa, who just the other day said she was still thinking about getting in.
• MO-Sen: In a radio interview over the weekend, GOP Rep. Todd Akin declared: "The heart of liberalism really is a hatred of God." He's gotten a lot of grief since then, so what has his reaction been? To refuse to apologize, and to "clarify" that liberals have "a hatred for public references for God."
Meanwhile, a Democratic super PAC called the Majority PAC is launching a radio ad generically attacking "Republicans" over the Ryan plan and touting Claire McCaskill's strengths (audio here). It's in response to an American Crossroads ad, and Majority PAC says their buy is "proportional" to the Rove group's.
Gubernatorial:
• LA-Gov: It's almost July and Democrats are still coming up empty in terms of a candidate who wants to take on Gov. Bobby Jindal. Dem party chair Buddy Leach recently rattled off a long list of possible names (too long for me to reproduce here — you'll have to click the link), but it's getting extremely late and Jindal has insane amounts of money on hand.
• WA-Gov: During that long period when everyone was expecting Rep. Jay Inslee to announce a run… and then waited… and waited… one alternate Dem name that came up was Dow Constantine, the King County (Seattle) Executive. But after Inslee finally pulled the trigger, Constantine all but endorsed Inslee on Facebook, which strongly suggests that Constantine is out of the running.
House:
• CA-23: The NRCC is running a new ad against Rep. Lois Capps, attacking her in Rovian fashion for wanting to "decimate Medicare." (Watch the spot here.) No word on the size of the buy, but Capps' very blue district got made a good bit redder in the redistricting commission's first-draft maps — it's known as "San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara" — so Republicans presumably sense an opportunity here.
• CA-36: NARAL endorsed Democrat Janice Hahn in the special election.
• IL-08: Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi says he's already raised $300K in the last five weeks and expects his final total to be higher — a big haul for such a short timeframe. Gotta wonder if gaudy numbers will discourage Tammy Duckworth from getting in.
• IN-09: This looks like it could be a good get for Team Blue: Dem state Rep. Peggy Welch says she's thinking about running against GOP freshman Todd Young. The 9th got reconfigured and made several points more Republican thanks to redistricting, but Welch thinks the race is "definitely doable."
• MN-06: Politico points out that no Republicans are actively looking to replace Michele Bachmann, even though she officially declared her presidential run earlier this week. It sounds like people are afraid of pissing off her — and her supporters — if they launch a run before Bachmann's congressional plans become clear.
• TX-06, TX-33, TX-Sen: GOP Rep. Joe Barton says he'll run for re-election in the redrawn 6th CD, rather than the new 33rd district, even though his entire hometown of Arlington has been placed into the latter. Meanwhile, another candidate with the surname of "Williams" is dropping out of the Senate race and into the TX-33 Republican primary: former SoS Roger Williams joins former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams in fight for this brand-new seat.
Other Races:
• NY-St. Sen.: Democrat-turned-Republican Mark Grisanti is taking some serious heat for his vote in favor of same-sex marriage — a vote he cast despite previously saying he would oppose such legislation. The Conservative Party has already disowned him, the local GOP is pissed at him, and now Grisanti is refusing to rule out seeking re-election as a Democrat. The time to switch is now!
• WA-SoS: Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed announced he will not seek a fourth term, giving Democrats a good chance at a pickup here.
• WI Recall: In case you missed it, Daily Kos published the results of three new polls taken on our behalf by PPP yesterday in the Wisconsin recall elections. In the 32nd state Senate district, Democrat Jennifer Shilling leads Sen. Dan Kapanke by a wide margin; in the 18th, Dem Jessica King has a small edge over Sen. Randy Hopper; and in the 10th, Dem Shelly Moore narrowly trails Sen. Sheila Harsdorf. Click the link for the full results!
Grab Bag:
• Voter suppression: Three good voter suppression stories in a row — it's hard to believe. But that's just what we have, thanks to Democratic New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch's veto of a voter ID bill, the third in recent weeks. (MO Gov. Jay Nixon and NC Gov. Bev Perdue have also done the same.) The bill passed the absolutely insane state House by a veto-proof margin but didn't do the same in the state Senate, so there's hope that this veto will stand.
Redistricting Roundup:
• Florida: A court hearing in the federal lawsuit against Florida's "Fair Districts" amendments is set for July 29.
• Louisiana: As it did with the state House map, the DoJ granted preclearance to Louisiana's Senate map. Given black lawmakers' unhappiness with both plans, I would be surprised if we didn't see some lawsuits filed in federal court over these maps.