AZ-Sen: From the Good News for John McCain Dept.: Fresh off the news that he won’t face a primary challenge from fellow Dem Nan Stockholm Walden, Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman resigned his seat in order to officially launch his run against Johnny Mac… or J.D. Hayworth, if we’re lucky.
DE-Sen: Mike Castle has hit the un-sweet spot: His repeal-curious approach to healthcare reform has “irritated” some teabaggers (their word), but of course it also risks turning off some of the moderate voters he’ll need to win over in order to prevail. Of course, if Chris Coons has any chops, he should be able to work up the Dem base over Castle’s “no” vote on the bill itself.
WA-Sen: The DSCC launched some attack site against Dino Rossi last week – does anyone ever visit those? – and now Rossi is complaining about the site’s contents. The Hotline says it makes him “sound like a candidate.” To me, he sounds more like a whiner. Like I say, I doubt anyone actually reads those sites.
CA-Gov: Peter Schurman, a founder of MoveOn.org, says he plans to challenge Jerry Brown in the Democratic primary.
CT-04: Easton First Selectman and Republican congressional hopeful Tom Herrmann says he raised $383K in his first 23 days in the race, and also has $365K on hand. But here’s what I’m not getting: In his intro press release, he said he started the race with $300K in the bank. The only way that’s possible, it would seem, is with a self-donation or loan. So there may be less here than meets the eye, in terms of fundraising prowess.
FL-13: Air Force veteran and Dem Rick Eaton says he’ll challenge GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan. He joins James Golden in the primary field.
FL-22: Some creepy comments from GOPer Allen West about his opponent Rep. Ron Klein, telling a gang of teabaggers:
Make the fellow scared to come out of his house. That’s the only way that you’re going to win. That’s the only way you’re going to get these people’s attention. You’ve got to put pressure on them and make them understand that you’ve got to come back and live the laws that you establish. Don’t let them be a ruling class elite. You’ve got to let them know that the clock’s ticking.
GA-07: Winger talk radio host Jody Hice plans to join the GOP field to replace retiring Rep. John Linder.
HI-01: So the DCCC is in fact getting into the race… at least, with an ad hitting Republican Charles Djou. P’co says the buy is about $34,000 – just a toe-dip.
IL-10: Whoa mama joe: Dan Seals says he raised $663K in Q1 and has $460K on hand. (The low-ish CoH figures are undoubtedly due to the February primary election.) GOPer Bob Dold! did well, too, taking in $505K ($378K on hand), but Seals sure wins bragging rights for this quarter.
NY-15: Charlie Rangel is getting another primary challenger: Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, son of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the guy Charlie Rangel ousted in a primary in 1970. The younger Powell challenged Rangel once before, in 1994, losing 58-33.
VA-11: Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity is touting an internal poll from the Tarrance Group of 400 likely Republican voters showing him with a 42-21 primary lead over businessman Keith Fimian. There don’t appear to be any general election numbers showing matchups against Rep. Gerry Connolly.
RNC: So the RNC had a gangbusters fundraising month in March, raking in $11.4 mil. Bully for them. But what’s odd is that they’re released this information yesterday – a full two weeks before monthly FEC reports are due. This is not the normal practice of the RNC (or any party committee), which typically only puts out nums much closer to the 20th of each month. Undoubtedly, the embattled Michael Steele had his green eyeshade guys working around the clock in the hopes that a good financial press release would take some heat off of him. Not working.