MONDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP….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.
* Two House Democrats, Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania and Carolyn Maloney of New York, are very likely to challenge incumbents in Democratic Senate primaries, no matter what the White House asks of them.
* Late last week, in an announcement that surprised no one, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) of Texas told supporters she’s running for governor next year, taking on incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in a Republican primary.
* Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), for now, is the only Republican in the field for next year’s Senate race in Pennsylvania, and as a result, he’s starting to raise money at a pretty quick clip.
* On a related note, the GOP establishment on the Hill hoped to find a primary challenger for Toomey, but now seems to be resigned to supporting him. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) political action committee, for example, sent Toomey a check last week for $5,000.
* Far-right bloggers have hoped to pressure Republican leaders to, at a minimum, stay out of the Republican primary in Florida’s Senate race. It’s not working — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) has extended his enthusiastic support to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
* In related news, Democrats continue to rally behind Reps. Kendrick Meek’s (D) Senate campaign in Florida. Reps. Ron Klein and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have both thrown their support to the Miami congressman.
* And actor Chuck Norris continues to give his backing to the most right-wing Republican candidates he can find. In his new endorsements, Norris now supports Bob Vander Plaats’ (R) gubernatorial campaign in Iowa, and Roy Moore’s gubernatorial campaign in Alabama.
