THURSDAY’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:
* With the deadline for filing signatures in Wisconsin nearly here, it looks like we’ll see a whopping eight recall elections for sitting state senators this year. Five Republicans will face challenges, and as of this morning, the GOP believes it has enough signatures to force recall elections against three Democrats.
* Speaking of Wisconsin, JoAnne Kloppenburg, trailing by 7,316 votes, is calling for a recount in the state Supreme Court race. Incumbent Judge David Prosser has, not surprisingly, denounced the move, though he was moving forward with recount efforts of his own when it looked like he had lost.
* This morning, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson launched a Republican presidential campaign at an event in New Hampshire. The former two-term governor is known for his quirky libertarian views, which include opposition to child-labor laws and criminalization of marijuana.
* Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) announced he’s running to be state attorney general next year. The significance of that is, the party hoped he’d seek a rematch in the 8th congressional district.
* The DSCC narrowly outraised the NRSC in the first quarter, $11.6 million to $11.2 million.
* The DNC raised $20.6 million for the quarter, about $3 million more than the RNC’s total.
* Not that he would have been a contender anyway, but former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) announced last night he will not run for president in 2012. He instead intends to run a deficit -reduction organization.
* And in Alaska, a year after an upset victory in a Republican Senate primary, right-wing lawyer Joe Miller finds himself deeply unpopular in his adopted home state. New survey data shows 73% of Alaskans view Miller unfavorably, which may make a race against Sen. Mark Begich (D) an uphill climb.
