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.
* Left with no real choice, the South Carolina Democratic Party’s executive committee voted overwhelmingly yesterday to reject calls for a new Senate primary. Though party officials called the election “flawed,” Alvin Greene is nevertheless the Democratic nominee.
* The Democratic Governors Association is going after John Kasich (R) pretty aggressively in Ohio this week, with a new ad slamming his Wall Street work for Lehman Brothers. “When Lehmann Brothers collapsed, Ohio seniors lost $480 million from their retirement funds,” says the narrator. “John Kasich got rich while Ohio seniors lost millions.”
* In Minnesota, the gubernatorial race appears very close in a new SurveyUSA poll. Former Sen. Mark Dayton (D) leads Tom Emmer (R) by three, 38% to 35%, though Emmer has narrow leads over the other Democratic candidates in hypothetical match-ups.
* Jeff Greene is still going after Rep. Kendrick Meek in Florida’s Senate Democratic primary, with Greene launching an attack ad accusing Meek of improprieties in a real estate deal. Oddly, Greene isn’t running the ad in Florida, but rather, in D.C. The goal, apparently, is to spark interest in an ethics investigation.
* Rep. Mary Fallin (R) continues to be the frontrunner in Oklahoma’s gubernatorial race, with a new Sooner Poll showing her with double-digit leads over the leading Democratic candidates.
* It’s Rasmussen, so take the results with a grain of salt, but the pollster find Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) lead over Dallas former Houston Mayor Bill White (D) slipping into single-digit territory, 48% to 40%.
* Chris Cillizza raised a good point yesterday: the wave of Democratic retirements that many expected never materialized.
