TUESDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP…. Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* Though it’s generally been assumed that senators will always support the re-election of colleagues from their party, especially from their home state, Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah has announced he will not endorse Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah.
* In related news, Sen. Pat Toomey (R) of Pennsylvania has announced he won’t endorse Sen. Olympia Snowe’s (R) re-election campaign in Maine. Asked if his GOP colleague can expect his support, Toomey said, “Look, I think this is a very dynamic environment and probably almost every Republican senator’s going to face a primary challenge.” He added that he’s “not going to be opposing” Snowe, but would go no further.
* Most Floridians have no idea who he is, but former appointed Sen. George LeMieux (R) formally announced this morning that he wants to go back to the Senate. He’s challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.
* In New Hampshire, a new survey from Public Policy Polling shows Mitt Romney is the clear favorite in the state’s 2012 GOP presidential primary — unless Donald Trump runs. Without Trump, Romney leads the field by double digits. With Trump, Romney’s lead drops to just six points.
* In Missouri, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R), expected to be a leading gubernatorial candidate, is under fire for having taxpayers finance his stays in luxury hotels.
* In Kentucky, state Senate President David Williams (R), expected to be a leading gubernatorial candidate, needs to explain $36,000 in previously unreported gambling losses.
* With Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) running for the Senate in New Mexico, potential successors are scrambling in his Albuquerque-area House district.
* And in California’s upcoming congressional special election, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s (D) campaign got a bit of a boost over the weekend, winning a majority of the delegates in the state party, though not quite enough to secure an official party endorsement. Hahn will face California Secretary of State Debra Bowen in a Democratic primary.
