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.
* In the major parties’ first quarter fundraising totals, both the DCCC and the DSCC outraised their Republican counterparts. The Democratic committees also have more cash on hand than the NRCC and NRSC.
* Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) declared yesterday that making gains in this year’s midterms isn’t enough to constitute success. “Anything less” than a Republican majority, Sessions said, would mean he fell short of his “mission statement.”
* With the winds continuing to shift in Florida, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said this morning he won’t support Charlie Crist’s Senate campaign under any circumstances.
* Dave Weigel “got an early look at a survey of state GOP delegates conducted by a Utah firm” yesterday, and it appears that incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) is in very deep trouble this year. It’s conceivable that Bennett will lose so badly at the state Republican convention in two weeks, there won’t even be a primary.
* On a related note, however, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) hopes to try to rescue Bennett.
* With the special election in Hawaii’s first congressional district coming up next week, the DCCC has decided to go after Republican candidate Charles Djou. Dems fear a loss in this race is a real possibility, because it’s a three-way contest — two Democrats against one Republican.
* In New Hampshire, the latest survey from Public Policy Polling shows former state AG Kelly Ayotte (R) leading Rep. Paul Hodes (D) in this year’s open Senate race, 47% to 40%.
* Ben Quayle is running for Congress in Arizona, and it appears fundraising won’t be a problem — his former V.P. father is lining up establishment friends to cut big checks for the first-time candidate.
