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.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), trailing in the polls, isn’t backing away from the Affordable Care Act — he has three new campaign ads in Nevada touting the law’s benefits.
* On a related note, two new polls in Nevada show very different results for Reid’s re-election prospects. The latest numbers from Research 2000 show him trailing chicken-aficionado Sue Lowden (R) by just four points, 45% to 41%. Reid trails the other GOP contenders by similar margins. Rasmussen, however, shows Lowden beating Reid by 13, 52% to 39%.
* Florida Sen. George LeMieux (R) may have received his job from his long-time ally, Gov. Charlie Crist, but the appointed senator will not support his friend’s independent Senate campaign.
* The latest Research 2000 poll in Arkansas has Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s lead over her Democratic primary challenger, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, shrinking. Last month, Lincoln led by 13. Now, the margin is eight, 43% to 35%.
* Dems have considered New Hampshire a key Senate pick-up opportunity, but a new WMUR/Granite State Poll shows former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) leading Rep. Paul Hodes (D), 47% to 32%.
* In Illinois, Rasmussen has Rep. Mark Kirk (R) building on his earlier leads, and he now has an eight-point edge over Alexi Giannoulias (D), 46% to 38%.
* Georgia state Rep. Austin Scott (R) has scrapped his gubernatorial campaign, and will instead challenge Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.).
* And in an odd way of playing the expectations game, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested this morning that House Republicans may gain 100 seats in this year’s midterms. The GOP needs a net gain of 40 to take the majority.
