WEDNESDAY’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.
* Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley won the Democratic Senate primary yesterday, in the race to fill the vacancy left by Ted Kennedy. With nearly all of the precincts reporting, Coakley led the multi-candidate field with 47% support, followed by Rep. Michael Capuana with 28%.
* On a related note, Massachusetts state Senator Scott Brown easily won the Republican Senate primary, defeating a lesser-known businessman by 77%. Brown will face Coakley in a Jan. 19 special election, and Coakley will be the heavy favorite.
* In Connecticut, the latest Rasmussen poll shows Sen. Chris Dodd (D) continuing to struggle the year before his re-election bid. He now trails former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) by 13 points, 48% to 35%. Dodd also trails wrestling executive Linda McMahon (R) by six, 44% to 38%.
* Speaking of Dodd, there have been some rumors that the senator and former presidential candidate may retire, facing long odds. People close to Dodd say those rumors aren’t true.
* The AFL-CIO has thrown its support to Alexi Giannoulias’ (D) Senate campaign in Illinois. His primary is in February.
* Not quite one year into her first term, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue’s (D) polling numbers are suffering badly. A new statewide poll says only 20% of North Carolinians would like to see her get a second term. She has three years to change some minds.
* Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) was expected to run for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s (R-Texas) Senate seat, but announced yesterday that he will instead seek re-election to his current job.
* Now that Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing — he faced felony charges on alleged corruption — will he renew plans to run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)? Apparently not.
* And following up on an item from yesterday, Florida state Sen. Al Lawson (D) apparently intends to stay in the race against U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), despite his lack of funds for the primary.
