FRIDAY’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.
* There were reports earlier in the week that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) raised quite a bit of money in the first quarter of his Senate campaign, but it was hard to predict he’d collect $4.3 million in just 50 days. In contrast, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, Crist’s primary opponent, took in $340,000 over the same period of time.
* Chris Christie, New Jersey’s Republican gubernatorial hopeful, will not invite Sarah Palin to campaign with him this year. He will, however, welcome Rudy Giuliani to the trail.
* The latest Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos shows Ohio’s Democratic Senate candidates, Lt. Gov Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, with modest leads over former Bush Budget Chief Rob Portman (R). In the Democratic primary, Fisher enjoys a narrow lead over Brunner, but the majority of Ohio’s Dems have not yet chosen a favorite.
* In a bit of a surprise, a University of Texas poll shows Gov. Rick Perry with a big lead over his primary challenger, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, in next year’s match-up. According to the poll, Perry currently leads by 12.
* Carly Fiorina continues to move closer to launching a Republican Senate campaign against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), but inconvenient details keep raising questions about her prospects.
* And in Minnesota, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty hopes to be the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2012, but at this point, he’d lose badly to President Obama in his own home state.
