MONDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP…. Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* Unless it’s yet another head-fake, disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will kick off his presidential campaign next week. He told National Journal over the weekend, “I’ll be in by the 10th or 11th.”
* Rep. Mike Pence (R) was scheduled to launch his gubernatorial campaign in Indiana this morning. He postponed, however, in light of the Osama bin Laden news.
* A year ahead of his re-election fight, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, apparently intends to fulfill his annual Guard training in Afghanistan. Details are a little sketchy, but Brown said yesterday, “I’m going to be going over at some point to do some missions.”
* The New Hampshire Democratic Party believes it’s found evidence of federal election law violations from GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is accused of funneling “soft money” through a state PAC and into his federal presidential campaign. Circumventing federal campaign contribution limits is illegal.
* With Rep. Dean Heller (R) being appointed to the Senate, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) has announced a special election in the 2nd congressional district be held on September 13, 2011. The protocol remains unclear, and the race may be a multi-candidate free-for-all, with multiple Democrats and Republicans on the ballot at the same time.
* On a related note, defeated Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) has already made clear she intends to compete in the special election, and told supporters late last week she intends to defeat the “left wing” of the Republican Party. (That’s not a typo.)
* On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) ruled out serving on the 2012 Republican ticket. Pressed on how firm his position is, Rubio said “under no circumstances” would he be a national candidate.
* And don’t forget, there’s a big election in Canada today.
