IL-Sen: Giannoulias Nosedives

Public Policy Polling (4/1-5, Illinois voters, 1/22-25 in parens):

Alexi Giannoulias (D): 33 (42)

Mark Kirk (R): 37 (34)

Undecided: 30 (24)

(MoE: ±4%)

It remains to be seen whether or not this mark represents something of a low ebb for Giannoulias in the wake of a recent flare-up of the cloud of bad press related to his family’s bank that continues to dog him — or whether we can take this as a warning sign of an extremely difficult campaign to come. At the very least, the biggest chunk of undecideds are Democrats:

The main reason Giannoulias is behind is that he’s getting only 54% of the Democratic vote while Kirk is winning 77% of the Republican vote. It’s not that a lot of Democrats are planning to cross over and vote for Kirk, but 36% of them are undecided right now compared to just 16% of Republicans. That suggests Democratic voters don’t really know what to make of Giannoulias’ problems right now so they’re just taking a wait and see approach to the race.

However, Jensen also adds: “There may not be a state in the country where Democrats have a weaker top of the ticket at this point than Quinn and Giannoulas.”

That doesn’t bode well for the gubernatorial portion of this poll, which will be released later this week.

SSP Daily Digest: 4/5 (Afternoon Edition)

AZ-Sen: Looks like the Maverick has finally been broken (as he’s decided that it’s preferable to spend six years chewing his cud while fenced in the GOP pasture, instead of getting sent prematurely to the glue factory). In the face of a potentially serious primary from the right from J.D. Hayworth, John McCain says not only is he no longer a maverick, but he “never considered himself a maverick.” (Except for in all those campaign ads from two years ago?) In response, Hayworth said McCain is trying to “encourage amnesia.”

CA-Sen, CA-Gov: There’s a new LA Times/USC poll of the two major races in California, with a mixed bag of results for Democrats. Like most pollsters, they find that Republican Meg Whitman has pulled into a small lead over Jerry Brown in the governor’s race, thanks to her nonstop deluge of self-funded advertising; she leads Brown 44-41, while she leads Steve Poizner in the GOP primary 60-20. On the Senate side, Barbara Boxer leads a Generic Republican by a surprisingly wide 48-34. Polling Generic R seems pretty weird, though, considering that there are only two likely opponents for her: Tom Campbell leads Carly Fiorina in the GOP primary 29-25, with Chuck DeVore lagging at 9. One other bit of good news for Dems: by a 46-29 margin, voters prefer to back a candidate who backed health care reform.

CO-Sen: Michael Bennet is playing it safe, making plans for a petition drive to make sure his name is on the ballot in November. He needs at least 30% at the Democratic state convention to qualify, but his Plan B seems to be an acknowledgment that he may be facing a rough time at the convention too. Remember that he lost at the caucus level to former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff (whose main source of strength seems to be insiders and activists, rather than the broader population).

IN-Sen: CQ takes a look at the NRSC’s private teeth-gnashing over the possibility that kooky ex-Rep. John Hostettler might beat ex-Sen. Dan Coats in the primary, something that can’t be ruled out in an anti-establishment year like this one. They’d then have to decide whether they want to financially prop up Hostettler, a legendarily poor fundraiser who’s relied on shoestring campaigns and religious right ground troops. Still, a reasonably competent Hostettler ought to be able to make short work of Coats in the GOP primary, given the amount of material he has to work with: for instance, it turns out that Coats, when lobbying for King & Spaulding, lobbied Congress in favor of cap and trade, the same legislation he claims he now opposes.

NV-Sen: If there’s one reason not to quite count out Harry Reid yet, it’s his ability to bring in the campaign cash. He brought in more than $1.5 million for the quarter, giving him more than $10 million in receipts so far this cycle. Sue Lowden, ostensibly the GOP’s top contender, says she raised about $500K and will match that dollar-for-dollar from her own personal stash. Danny Tarkanian raised $445K last quarter.

NY-Sen-B (pdf): These numbers are a little stale, but we found there were some more useful numbers buried in that Marist poll from last week where the topline was just the usual rigamarole about the Kirsten Gillibrand vs. George Pataki matchup that’s very unlikely to happen (especially not if Al D’Amato has anything to say about it). They also tested some head-to-heads with the lesser GOPers who are actually in the race: Gillibrand beats Bruce Blakeman 54-25, Joe DioGuardi 54-27, and David Malpass 54-25. They also looked at the GOP primary, finding DioGuardi winning it with 18, followed by Blakeman at 10, Malpass at 9, and non-candidate Dan Senor at 4. A permutation including Pataki finds Pataki at 62, with DioGuardi at 7, Blakeman at 4, and Malpass and Senor at 2. In other news, Gillibrand picked up an endorsement today from one of her biggest skeptics, Assemblyman and Kings Co. Dem chair Vito Lopez. Lopez had been considering backing Harold Ford Jr., way back in those heady days of February.

WA-Sen: Dino Rossi is still saying he’s “completely undecided” about running for Senate, but will do it if he thinks he has a “50% chance” of winning. Here’s one more bit that might help move his decision along, though: financially, he’d be starting from scratch against Patty Murray, who raked in another $1 million last quarter, bringing her total war chest to $5.9 million.

AL-Gov: I gather from the comments that SSP is full of mustache aficionados, and this news might prove heartbreaking to them: Ron Sparks shaved off his legendary ‘stache. He says this was a spur-of-the-moment decision at the barber shop (and hopefully not the result of thorough focus grouping?). I just hope Travis Childers doesn’t decide to follow suit.

NY-Gov: Wealthy businessman Carl Paladino has decided to go ahead with his teabaggish-sounding campaign for Governor, kicking off his bid today in Buffalo. He’ll be running in the GOP primary, although he’d previously made noises about a possible independent run. Unfortunately, his rollout might be overshadowed by other news today… that he had a daughter with his mistress 10 years ago, and kept the child secret from his wife until last year.

OH-Gov: In response to pressure to release his financials, John Kasich released his 2008 tax returns. Kasich earned $615K from now-kaput Lehman Brothers in 2008, including $183K base and a $432K bonus (but no “golden parachute” as Lehman Brothers collapsed). Oh, by the way, he also earned $265K as a Fox News commentator, $166K in speaking fees, $62K as an associate for Schottenstein Property Group, $45K as an Ohio State Univ. lecturer, $77K for being on the board of directors of two companies, and $122K in interest and dividends. Just your average teabagging Joe Lunchpail.

HI-01: Charles Djou is trying to get some mileage out of the fact that neither Ed Case nor Colleen Hanabusa lives in HI-01. This kind of thing usually doesn’t matter much even in most other states, and seems to matter even less in Hawaii, though, where the island of Oahu gets split between the two districts and no one seems to care that Mazie Hirono lives in the 1st instead of HI-02.

CO-04: Rep. Betsy Markey is near the top of most people’s vulnerable Dems lists, especially after her pro-HCR vote, but her cash haul may go along way toward allaying fears. She pulled in $505K, with $355K of that coming between Mar. 21 (the HCR vote) and Mar. 31. Her vote (plus being in Sarah Palin’s sorta-metaphorical crosshairs) seems to have helped, not hurt. Likely GOP opponent Cory Gardner raised only $75K last quarter after the HCR vote.

ND-AL: One GOPer who is doing well on the fundraising front is state Rep. Rick Berg, who pulled in $483K in the first quarter. $330K of that came in the last 10 days of the quarter, although that seems to have more to do with his winning the state party’s endorsement rather than the HCR vote. Most of the rest of that took the form of $100K from his own pocket. Between this and the downdraft from John Hoeven at the top of the ballot, looks like Rep. Earl Pomeroy’s in for a real race this year.

PA-06: Doug Pike picked up another labor endorsement, and it’s a big one: the AFL-CIO. They also backed Paul Kanjorski in the 11th, who’s being challenged by Corey O’Brien in the primary.

RI-01: Here’s one more huge House Democratic fundraising haul, although this isn’t a race that the DCCC has been sweating too hard. Providence mayor David Cicilline pulled in a huge $725K (although some of that was checks re-written away from his mayoral fund to his newly-established House fund). His main Democratic rival, former state party chair William Lynch, raised $230K (including $100K of his own money).

TX-17: Bill Flores pulled in an endorsement that will help in his GOP primary runoff against Rob Curnock, from perhaps the most unlikable man in the entirety of American politics, ex-Sen. Phil Gramm. In fact, that district may be conservative enough that it might still be a positive in the general.

LA-LG: Republican SoS Jay Dardenne’s plan for an easy upgrade to the position of Lt. Governor (left vacant by Mitch Landrieu’s move to mayor of New Orleans) ran into a bit of a snag. He’s facing GOP primary opposition now from the state GOP chair, Roger Villere.

CA-Init: Proposition 15 looks to be the only interesting initiative on the June primary ballot in California, and it lays some important groundwork for countering the flood of corporate money into elections. The Fair Elections Act, as it’s called, is a pilot program for public financing of state races; if passed, it’ll publicly fund the 2014 and 2018 Secretary of State races, which, if successful, could lead to a broader system.

Fundraising: There are a number of other fundraising roundups today, courtesy of National Journal’s Reid Wilson and also the crew at TPM. Other highlights include Tom Campbell, Pat Toomey, Bob Dold!, Colleen Hanabusa, Bruce O’Donoghue, and various OR-Gov contestants.

Teabaggers: Ed Kilgore continues his hot streak of dismantling the myth of the teabaggers, pointing to today’s Gallup/USA Today poll as more evidence that they’re nothing more than louder, angrier Republicans (who’d like access to a time machine). Only 7% say they’re Democrats, and while many say they’re independents, all evidence suggests they’re not from the center but those indies who think the GOP is too establishment, too liberal, or just too unsalvageable.

RNC: You might remember several weeks ago the RNC lost a case in the D.C. District Court, squelching their desires for unlimited “soft money” contributions, which they felt they should be able to do in the wake of Citizens United. The RNC has decided to go ahead and appeal the case to the Supreme Court, although it doesn’t seem likely it’ll be decided in time for this year’s general election. (If you’re wondering why the case is bypassing the DC Circuit, McCain-Feingold allows challenges to it to leapfrog directly from the trial level to SCOTUS.)

Census: Here’s an interesting tidbit: despite her early anti-Census fearmongering, Michele Bachmann’s district is actually well outpacing much of the nation on Census form return rates. Counties in her district have had an especially high return rate, ranging from 68-71% (compared with the current national average of 50%). Perhaps Republicans have decided it’s better in the long-term to, y’know, get conservative parts of the country to get accurately represented, rather than to try to appeal to the black-helicopters fringes, if Karl Rove cutting an ad urging Census participation is any indication.

O2B: Finally, over at the Great Orange Satan, there’s an open call for nominations for the Orange to Blue program. Stop by and suggest some names of candidates who should get the netroots’ financial help this year.

AZ-Sen: McCain With Comfortable Lead Over Hayworth

Research 2000 for Daily Kos (3/29-31, likely voters):

John McCain (R-inc): 52

J.D. Hayworth (R): 37

Undecided: 11

(MoE: ±5%)

Bruce Babbitt (D): 42

John McCain (R-inc): 48

Undecided: 10

Gabrielle Giffords (D): 34

John McCain (R-inc): 53

Undecided: 13

Rodney Glassman (D): 33

John McCain (R-inc): 52

Undecided: 15

Nan Stockholm Walden (D): 21

John McCain (R-inc): 57

Undecided: 22

Bruce Babbitt (D): 42

J.D. Hayworth (R): 43

Undecided: 15

Gabrielle Giffords (D): 36

J.D. Hayworth (R): 49

Undecided: 15

Rodney Glassman (D): 37

J.D. Hayworth (R): 48

Undecided: 15

Nan Stockholm Walden (D): 22

J.D. Hayworth (R): 53

Undecided: 25

(MoE: ±4%)

Steve Singiser already got there first with the “good news! for John McCain!” joke, so I suppose I’ll just play it straight. McMaverick is not only leading all Democratic opposition in the general election, but also defeating right-wing insurgent ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth in the primary by a 15-point margin (some other pollsters have shown it a closer race, in the 10-point ballpark).

Democrats have been increasingly intrigued by this race, out of the possibility that they might have a shot here if the odious Hayworth somehow wins the primary. This poll shows that Hayworth still wins the general (even against ex-Gov. and ex-Interior Sec. Bruce Babbitt, probably the state’s most prominent Dem and not one who’s expressed any interest in returning to electoral politics), but Dems do poll much better against him. Most notably, their likeliest nominee, young Tucson city councilor Rodney Glassman, loses to McCain by 19 to McCain but 11 to Hayworth. Glassman also fares slightly better than Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, so this should hopefully disabuse everyone of the idea that she should run (and thus open up her competitive seat in AZ-08).

Glassman still faces a possible primary against businesswoman and Democratic party insider Nan Stockholm Walden, who’s scoping out the race; Walden doesn’t fare well, but that’s because she’s virtually unknown, even compared with the little-known Glassman (her favorables are 11/3, while Glassman’s at 23/15… compare that with John McCain, at 47/46, with only 7% with no opinion).

RaceTracker Wiki: AZ-Sen

SSP Daily Digest: 4/5 (Morning Edition)

Welcome to the workin’ week!

  • FL-Sen: Rudy & Rubio, together at last. Giuliani will become the latest johnny-come-lately to endorse Marco.
  • GA-Sen: Johnny Isakson, who had been hospitalized twice in one week, is now back home.
  • KY-Sen: Weirdo Rand Paul is launching a 1,000-point ad buy (that’s big) attacking Trey Grayson as a pro-bailout insider too cozy with DC. The primary is about six weeks away. On the Dem side, The Lexington Herald-Leader reviewed state records and found that Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo has spent four times as much taxpayer money on travel, hotels and meals as AG Jack Conway. Mongiardo has also racked up expenses for the security detail that travels with him (Conway doesn’t have security).
  • NV-Sen: Jon Ralston says that federal investigators are looking to nail John Ensign for “structuring,” which is “a broad term that refers to the crime of creating financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.” Ensign, you’ll recall, had his parents give a $96,000 “gift” to his mistress instead of reporting it as a severance payment. The DoJ is moving very methodically, though, ever-mindful of the wretchedly botched prosecution of ex-Sen. Ted Stevens (which was thrown out on appeal due to prosecutorial misconduct.)
  • SD-Sen: Ugh. Not only did no Democrats file to run against John Thune, but he’s become the first senator in South Dakota history to run without major-party opposition. My advice to John Thune: Save your $6 million warchest for a 2012 presidential run.
  • UT-Sen: Sen. Bob Bennett and his Republican challengers faced off in a debate last Friday, which saw Bennett defend earmarks and get attacked for supporting an individual mandate to buy health insurance. The GOP state convention, which will choose a nominee, is May 8th.
  • AL-Gov: Hah – Artur Davis, fresh off his vote against healthcare reform, is now pushing a petition on his website attacking Alabama state legislators who voted to “obstruct” the new bill.
  • IA-Gov: Republican pollster Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies has a survey of the Iowa gubernatorial race, showing Terry Branstand crushing incumbent Dem Chet Culver 50 to 34. Culver leads Bob Vander Plaats 40-39 and Rod Roberts 38-32. It’s unclear to me whether Magellan was polling for fun or if this was on behalf of a client.
  • MA-Gov: Politico has a piece describing the extraordinary efforts Obama’s political team is making to help Gov. Deval Patrick win re-election. Patrick has visited the White House half a dozen times over the past year, and he’s the only office-seeker so far (other than Harry Reid) to have a fundraiser headlined by the president himself.
  • PA-Gov: The Philadelphia Daily News obtained an interesting strategy memo penned by the campaign of Dem Dan Onorato. Apparently, Onorato was prepared to challenge the signatures of opponents Joe Hoeffel and Anthony Williams. However, since Hoeffel didn’t move to challenge Williams’ signatures, Onorato’s campaign apparently decided it was better to leave both of them alone, figuring it would be better to have two candidates from the Philly region in the race rather than one. (Onorato hails from Western PA.)
  • UT-Gov: Salt Lake County Mayor and Dem gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon says he raised more than $360,000 since the start of the year. No word yet on GOP Gov. Gary Herbert’s haul.
  • AL-03: Dems found someone to replace Josh Segall on the ballot at the last minute: Montgomery native Steve Segrest, who lost to GOPer Kay Ivey in the Treasurer’s race in 2006. Segrest comes from a political family: His father served in the Alabama House and his grandfather, Napoleon Broward, was elected governor… of Florida… in 1905. In some other Alabama news, state Sen. Jim Preuitt, who had long been on the outs with the Democrats, switched parties to the GOP.
  • FL-08: GOP Bruce O’Donoghue says he raised $300K since joining the race, and has a similar amount on hand. O’Donoghue’s camp says that this sum does not include any self-donations.
  • NH-01, NH-02: Dem Ann McLane Kuster, seeking Paul Hodes’ open seat in NH-02, says she raised $285K in Q1, and apparently has made a record haul from New Hampshire residents. Supposedly Katrina Swett will announce a bigger haul, but no numbers yet. Meanwhile, GOPer Frank Guinta, running in NH-01, supposedly raised $250K, including $100K of his own money. (Guinta’s fundraising had been pretty sucky prior to this.)
  • NY-19: The Republican field to take on Dem Rep. John Hall still seems very unsettled. Ophthalmologist Nan Hayworth has gotten a lot of love from the NRCC, but a broad swath of the GOP establishment in the 19th CD doesn’t seem to feel similarly, and she faces several strong opponents. One of them, former Pentagon analyst Kristia Cavere, says she raised $200K in Q1 & will soon convert her exploratory committee into the real thing. Meanwhile, ex-Tuxedo Mayor David McFadden says he’s raised about $100K. He also says that if he doesn’t win the party’s nomination at the May convention, he’ll drop out.
  • PA-07: Dem Bryan Lentz is challenging the validity of GOP opponent Pat Meehan’s signatures. As we noted previously, Lentz is also questioning the impartiality of the investigator, which happens to be Republican AG Tom Corbett’s office. Lentz now has a new arrow in his quiver: Some of the same people who circulated petitions for Meehan also did so for Corbett. Even better, it looks like some local GOP leaders may have signed false affidavits saying they personally gathered signatures, even though others may have actually carried the petitions.
  • SD-AL: Physician Kevin Weiland had planned to challenge Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in the Democratic primary after she voted “no” on healthcare. But Weiland pulled out at the last minute, after receiving calls from Steny Hoyer, and Chris Van Hollen. He also spoke with Herseth Sandlin herself, and reportedly “negotiated an assurance from Herseth Sandlin that she would reconnect with her Democratic base in South Dakota and never vote for a repeal of the health care plan.” Doesn’t sound like much. He also apparently cheesed off one-time Obama strategist Steve Hildebrand, who declined to run himself but worked overtime to help Weiland gather signatures (he only had a week in which to do it) to qualify for the ballot.
  • TN-06: Another veteran is entering this open-seat race on the Democratic side. Brett Carter, an attorney and TN National Guardsman who served in Iraq, joins Marine Capt. Ben Leming in the Dem field.
  • TN-08: Things are really starting to get hot in the GOP primary in Tennessee’s 8th CD. The Republican establishment isn’t just stumping for agribusiness magnate Steve Fincher – they’re actively attacking his opposition. Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, whose trip to Fincher’s district we noted in an earlier digest, slammed physician Ron Kirkland for allegedly being wobbly on the healthcare reform bill and for his past support of Democrats. (Kirkland previously said he liked most of what was in the bill, except for the public option – and when he was chair of the American Medical Group Association when they made donations to Max Baucus.) Kirkland is no random teabagger pushover, which is why he’s drawing fire. This could be an unusually interesting primary.
  • TX-17: The Texas Tribune takes a look at the two Republicans in a run-off for the privilege of facing Dem Chet Edwards in the fall: 2008 nominee Rob Curnock and oil exec Bill Flores. Here’s an interesting detail: Flores voted in the Democratic presidential primary in 2008, supposedly “casting his ballot against Barack Obama.” That’s some cute spin, but if he voted for Hillary Clinton (he won’t say), I don’t really see how that helps him. But in any event, Flores outraised Curnock by a huge margin, $214K to $16K, in newly-filed pre-runoff FEC reports.
  • WA-03: Ex-state Rep. Denny Heck (D) says he raised $350K in the first quarter (including $150K of his own money), leaving him with $530K on hand.
  • Census: There’s a bill pending in both houses of the NY state legislature that would require counting prison inmates as part of their home communities, rather than upstate, where most prisons are located. Given how dysfunctional the lege is, though, there’s no telling if this badly-needed reform will actually see the light of day.
  • Fundraising: GOP bigs are hitting the trail on behalf of their brethren during the congressional recess. John Boehner is helping Californians Mary Bono Mack and Ken Calvert, Pete Sessions is helping Illinoisans Randy Hultgren and Adam Kinzinger, and a bunch of other top Republicans are also putting their backs into things.
  • Redistricting: Former DCCC nat’l field director Casey O’Shea will replace Brian Smoot as head of the National Democratic Redistricting Trust. Smoot is leaving to head up the DSCC’s independent expenditure arm. (And O’Shea and Smoot are consulting partners.)
  • WATN: Dede Scozzafava says she’s working on a memoir about last year’s special election race. Can’t wait to read it! She also says she’s unsure about whether she’ll seek reelection to her seat in the Assembly this year.
  • Site News: Thanks for helping us reach 1,500 followers on Twitter and 400 fans on Facebook!
  • Rasmussen Reports, You Decide, Vol. 13

    Ever take the week off, and come back to find your inbox full of spam?

    AL-Gov (3/29, likely voters):

    Artur Davis (D): 33

    Bradley Byrne (R): 50

    Some other: 9

    Not sure: 9

    Artur Davis (D): 36

    Kay Ivey (R): 43

    Some other: 12

    Not sure: 8

    Artur Davis (D): 35

    Tim James (R): 49

    Some other: 10

    Not sure: 7

    Artur Davis (D): 44

    Roy Moore (R): 40

    Some other: 11

    Not sure: 6

    Ron Sparks (D): 33

    Bradley Byrne (R): 43

    Some other: 11

    Not sure: 13

    Ron Sparks (D): 33

    Kay Ivey (R): 39

    Some other: 15

    Not sure: 13

    Ron Sparks (D): 34

    Tim James (R): 38

    Some other: 13

    Not sure: 14

    Ron Sparks (D): 40

    Roy Moore (R): 35

    Some other: 15

    Not sure: 10

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    AL-Sen (3/29, likely voters):

    William Barnes (D): 32

    Richard Shelby (R): 59

    Some other: 3

    Not sure: 6

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    AR-Sen (3/30, likely voters, 3/1 in parentheses):

    Blanche Lincoln (D): 36 (39)

    John Boozman (R): 51 (48)

    Some other: 6 (6)

    Not sure: 7 (7)

    Blanche Lincoln (D): 36 (40)

    Gilbert Baker (R): 51 (45)

    Some other: 6 (6)

    Not sure: 7 (8)

    Blanche Lincoln (D): 35 (38)

    Kim Hendren (R): 51 (43)

    Some other: 5 (7)

    Not sure: 8 (12)

    Blanche Lincoln (D): 36 (41)

    Curtis Coleman (R): 48 (43)

    Some other: 7 (7)

    Not sure: 8 (10)

    Blanche Lincoln (D): 35 (38)

    Jim Holt (R): 51 (45)

    Some other: 7 (6)

    Not sure: 7 (10)

    Bill Halter (D): 34 (33)

    John Boozman (R): 48 (55)

    Some other: 8 (6)

    Not sure: 11 (9)

    Bill Halter (D): 36 (37)

    Gilbert Baker (R): 44 (43)

    Some other: 7 (5)

    Not sure: 12 (13)

    Bill Halter (D): 34 (35)

    Kim Hendren (R): 42 (42)

    Some other: 10 (7)

    Not sure: 13 (15)

    Bill Halter (D): 37 (35)

    Curtis Coleman (R): 40 (38)

    Some other: 10 (9)

    Not sure: 13 (18)

    Bill Halter (D): 34 (38)

    Jim Holt (R): 43 (42)

    Some other: 9 (8)

    Not sure: 14 (12)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    FL-Gov (3/18, likely voters, 2/18 in parentheses):

    Alex Sink (D): 36 (35)

    Bill McCollum (R): 47 (48)

    Some other: 5 (4)

    Not sure: 12 (12)

    (MoE: ±3%)

    FL-Sen (3/18, likely voters, 2/18 in parentheses):

    Kendrick Meek (D): 34 (32)

    Charlie Crist (R): 45 (48)

    Some other: 11 (11)

    Not sure: 10 (9)

    Kendrick Meek (D): 34 (31)

    Marco Rubio (R): 48 (51)

    Some other: 6 (7)

    Not sure: 11 (11)

    (MoE: ±3%)

    HI-Gov (3/24, likely voters):

    Neil Abercrombie (D): 54

    Duke Aiona (R): 31

    Some other: 6

    Not sure: 9

    Mufi Hannemann (D): 50

    Duke Aiona (R): 29

    Some other: 14

    Not sure: 7

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    HI-Sen (3/24, likely voters):

    Dan Inouye (D): 65

    Linda Lingle (R): 25

    Some other: 3

    Not sure: 6

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    IA-Gov (3/17, likely voters, 2/18 in parentheses):

    Chet Culver (D): 36 (37)

    Terry Branstad (R): 52 (53)

    Some other: 6 (6)

    Not sure: 6 (4)

    Chet Culver (D): 40 (40)

    Bob Vander Plaats (R): 42 (46)

    Some other: 8 (7)

    Not sure: 11 (7)

    Chet Culver (D): 40

    Rod Roberts (R): 38

    Some other: 10

    Not sure: 13

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    ID-Gov (3/23, likely voters):

    Keith Allred (D): 28

    Butch Otter (R): 60

    Some other: 3

    Not sure: 9

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    ID-Sen (3/23, likely voters):

    Generic Democrat (D): 28

    Mike Crapo (R): 60

    Some other: 3

    Not sure: 9

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    MI-Gov (D) (3/24, likely voters):

    Andy Dillon (D): 12

    Alma Wheeler Smith (D): 10

    Virg Bernero (D): 8

    Some other: 17

    Not sure: 53

    (MoE: ±4%)

    MI-Gov (R) (3/24, likely voters):

    Peter Hoekstra (R): 27

    Rick Snyder (R): 18

    Mike Cox (R): 13

    Mike Bouchard (R): 6

    Some other: 5

    Not sure: 32

    (MoE: ±4%)

    NC-Sen (3/22, likely voters, 2/23 in parentheses):

    Elaine Marshall (D): 35 (34)

    Richard Burr (R): 51 (50)

    Some other: 6 (4)

    Not sure: 8 (12)

    Cal Cunningham (D): 32 (29)

    Richard Burr (R): 51 (51)

    Some other: 7 (6)

    Not sure: 11 (14)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    ND-AL (3/23-24, likely voters, 2/9-10 in parentheses):

    Earl Pomeroy (D): 44 (40)

    Rick Berg (R): 51 (46)

    Some other: 1 (3)

    Not sure: 4 (11)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    ND-Sen (3/23-24, likely voters, 2/9-10 in parentheses):

    Tracy Potter (D): 25 (17)

    John Hoeven (R): 68 (71)

    Some other: 2 (4)

    Not sure: 5 (8)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    NM-Gov (3/24, likely voters):

    Diane Denish (D): 51

    Susana Martinez (R): 32

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 10

    Diane Denish (D): 52

    Pete Domenici Jr. (R): 35

    Some other: 6

    Not sure: 6

    Diane Denish (D): 45

    Allen Weh (R): 35

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 13

    Diane Denish (D): 52

    Janice Arnold-Jones (R): 30

    Some other: 6

    Not sure: 12

    Diane Denish (D): 43

    Doug Turner (R): 34

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 16

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    NY-Gov (3/29, likely voters, 3/1 in parentheses):

    Andrew Cuomo (D): 52 (55)

    Rick Lazio (R): 29 (30)

    Some other: 6 (5)

    Not sure: 13 (10)

    Andrew Cuomo (D): 51 (56)

    Carl Paladino (R): 28 (27)

    Some other: 6 (6)

    Not sure: 15 (11)

    Andrew Cuomo (D): 50

    Steve Levy (R): 26

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 17

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    OH-Gov (3/30, likely voters, 3/4 in parentheses):

    Ted Strickland (D): 45 (38)

    John Kasich (R): 46 (49)

    Some other: 2 (6)

    Not sure: 7 (7)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    OH-Sen (3/30, likely voters, 3/4 in parentheses):

    Lee Fisher (D): 38 (39)

    Rob Portman (R): 43 (44)

    Some other: 4 (5)

    Not sure: 14 (12)

    Jennifer Brunner (D): 38 (37)

    Rob Portman (R): 45 (43)

    Some other: 4 (6)

    Not sure: 13 (15)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    RI-Gov (3/25, likely voters, 2/25 in parentheses):

    Frank Caprio (D): 28 (27)

    John Robitaille (R): 22 (19)

    Lincoln Chafee (I): 39 (37)

    Not sure: 11 (17)

    Patrick Lynch (D): 22 (24)

    John Robitaille (R): 26 (22)

    Lincoln Chafee (I): 37 (38)

    Not sure: 15 (16)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    SD-AL (3/25, likely voters, 2/23 in parentheses):

    Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D): 44 (45)

    Chris Nelson (R): 42 (38)

    Some other: 6 (6)

    Not sure: 9 (11)

    Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D): 46 (49)

    Kristi Noem (R): 35 (34)

    Some other: 8 (4)

    Not sure: 10 (13)

    Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D): 45 (51)

    Blake Curd (R): 33 (33)

    Some other: 8 (5)

    Not sure: 14 (12)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    SD-Gov (3/25, likely voters, 2/23 in parentheses):

    Scott Heidepriem (D): 32 (32)

    Dennis Daugaard (R): 49 (41)

    Some other: 6 (7)

    Not sure: 13 (19)

    Scott Heidepriem (D): 37 (34)

    Dave Knudson (R): 32 (31)

    Some other: 13 (13)

    Not sure: 19 (22)

    Scott Heidepriem (D): 39 (37)

    Gordon Howie (R): 34 (29)

    Some other: 9 (12)

    Not sure: 17 (22)

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    TN-Gov (3/22, likely voters):

    Mike McWherter (D): 27

    Bill Haslam (R): 45

    Some other: 5

    Not sure: 23

    Mike McWherter (D): 29

    Ron Ramsey (R): 43

    Some other: 5

    Not sure: 23

    Mike McWherter (D): 31

    Zach Wamp (R): 41

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 22

    Kim McMillan (D): 26

    Bill Haslam (R): 46

    Some other: 5

    Not sure: 23

    Kim McMillan (D): 25

    Ron Ramsey (R): 43

    Some other: 8

    Not sure: 24

    Kim McMillan (D): 29

    Zach Wamp (R): 42

    Some other: 5

    Not sure: 25

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    WY-Gov (3/25, likely voters):

    Mike Massie (D): 25

    Matt Mead (R): 43

    Some other: 8

    Not sure: 24

    Mike Massie (D): 23

    Ron Micheli (R): 45

    Some other: 8

    Not sure: 25

    Mike Massie (D): 26

    Rita Meyer (R): 43

    Some other: 7

    Not sure: 25

    Mike Massie (D): 26

    Colin Simpson (R): 41

    Some other: 8

    Not sure: 25

    (MoE: ±4.5%)

    AL-Gov: All Republicans Lead Davis and Sparks

    Public Policy Polling (3/27-29, Alabama voters, no trend lines):

    Artur Davis (D): 32

    Bradley Byrne (R): 48

    Ron Sparks (D): 30

    Bradley Byrne (R): 43

    Artur Davis (D): 33

    Tim James (R): 42

    Ron Sparks (D): 33

    Tim James (R): 38

    Artur Davis (D): 37

    Roy Moore (R): 43

    Ron Sparks (D): 37

    Roy Moore (R): 42

    (MoE: ±2.5%)

    Also included in the poll was state Treasurer Kay Ivey, who announced today that she’ll be switching races to the less-crowded Lt. Governor’s race. Ivey leads Davis by 44-33 and Sparks by 39-33.

    In every permutation of this race tested by PPP, a greater share of Democrats are undecided compared to Republicans — especially in the match-ups against Byrne, where twice as many Democrats are undecided. Even if most of those voters come home, Democrats will need some lucky breaks in order to win here… breaks such as a Roy Moore primary win, for instance.

    OH-Sen, OH-Gov: Fisher & Brunner Take the Lead in Latest Q-Poll, Strickland Leads by 5

    Quinnipiac (3/23-29, registered voters, 2/16-21 in parens):

    Lee Fisher (D): 41 (37)

    Rob Portman (R): 37 (40)

    Undecided: 21 (21)

    Jennifer Brunner (D): 38 (35)

    Rob Portman (R): 37 (40)

    Undecided: 23 (23)

    (MoE: ±2.5%)

    Ted Strickland (D-inc): 43 (44)

    John Kasich (R): 38 (39)

    Undecided: 15 (15)

    (MoE: ±2.5%)

    Compared to many of the other offerings we’ve seen out of Ohio lately, this poll contains some pretty welcome news. Still, it’s worth keeping in mind that Quinnipiac has had one of the friendlier records for Democrats in the gubernatorial race, probably due to the fact that Quinnipiac does not screen for likely voters.

    Still, there’s good news to be found here for sure: Obama’s job approval has improved from 44-52 in February to 47-48 today, and the favorability of healthcare reform has shot up to 43-50 from 36-55. Those are the kinds of numbers that Democrats will need to see stabilized in order to have a shot in the Senate race.

    AL-Gov: Davis and Byrne Lead Their Primaries

    Public Policy Polling (3/27-29, primary voters):

    Artur Davis (D): 38

    Ron Sparks (D): 28

    Sam Franklin Thomas (D): 9

    Undecided: 25

    (MoE: ±4.9%)

    Bradley Byrne (R): 27

    Roy Moore (R): 23

    Robert Bently (R): 10

    Kay Ivey (R): 10

    Tim James (R): 9

    Bill Johnson (R): 1

    James Potts (R): 0

    Charles Taylor (R): 0

    Undecided: 20

    (MoE: ±4.7%)

    Interestingly, not all is rosy for ArturD2 in the Democratic primary: among primary voters, Davis’ favorable rating is 28-34 compared to 27-17 for Sparks. If Sparks can exploit it, Davis may have opened up a big vulnerability with his vote against healthcare reform: 80% of primary voters surveyed by PPP support the recent bill passed by Congress (compared to 14% opposed). Davis may have gambled that Sparks was incapable of riding the issue to a primary win in favor of keeping a more conservative profile for the general election, but the opportunity certainly is there for Sparks to exploit.

    Meanwhile, Roy “The Ten Commandments” Moore may be the most well-known and well-liked among Republican primary voters, but he’s not attracting the most support:

    The fact that Moore is the most well known and liked of the GOP candidates but still trails is a sign that many voters like him but don’t necessarily think Governor is the position he’s best suited for.

    In a field sliced and diced as widely as this one, though, you never know what may happen.

    UPDATE: Hah! Check out PPP’s hilarious response to accusations from the Tim James campaign that PPP was cooking their books:

    James put out a press release attacking our Alabama primary poll today because it showed Barack Obama with an 84% approval rating when he only got 40% of the vote in the state in 2008. That would be a valid criticism…except for the fact that the 84% approval rating for Obama was with Democratic primary voters! Reading comprehension is evidently not one of the stronger suits of the James campaign. Nor is making sure it has its facts straight before putting out a press release.

    OH-Sen: Fisher Leads Brunner by 7, But Undecideds Rule

    Quinnipiac (3/25-28, likely voters, 2/16-21 in parens):

    Lee Fisher (D): 33 (29)

    Jennifer Brunner (D): 26 (20)

    Undecided: 40 (48)

    (MoE: ±3.1%)

    The votes in this race won’t be counted until primary day on May 4th, but early voting begins today, meaning this primary should be in high gear right about now. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has had a small but consistent lead in all of the primary polling we’ve seen of this race (done almost entirely by Quinnipiac, it should be mentioned), but with 40% of voters undecided and 65% of those who are backing a candidate saying they might change their mind, plenty of votes are still up for grabs.

    The question, though, is how can Brunner, whose fundraising woes are by this point well-documented, swoop up those undecided and soft Fisher voters? A well-funded campaign might have had the ability to make a real impression right now, which is exactly why Brunner is paying for her months of weak fundraising efforts so dearly today. As it is, she can rely on activist shoe leather to keep Fisher on guard, but snatching the primary win may turn out to be an opportunity that Brunner blew when she couldn’t persuade donors to invest in her campaign.

    WI-Sen: Feingold Edges Thompson, R2K Says

    Tommy, can you hear me?

    Research 2000 for the Daily Kos (3/22-24, likely voters):

    Russ Feingold (D-inc): 48

    Tommy Thompson (R): 44

    Undecided: 8

    Russ Feingold (D-inc): 52

    Terrence Wall (R): 37

    Undecided: 11

    Russ Feingold (D-inc): 54

    Dave Westlake (R): 36

    Undecided: 10

    (MoE: ±4%)

    These results line up very well with the latest offering from PPP giving Feingold a 3-point edge on Thompson, pushing back a bit further against the recent WPRI and Rasmussen polls that have given T-Squared a slight lead.

    Interestingly, in terms of their favorability ratings, R2K is kinder to both Feingold and Thompson; both men have nearly identical favorable scores (53-41 for Feingold and 53-42 for Thompson), whereas PPP had Thompson starting off this hypothetical race struggling to keep his head above water at 40-44 to Feingold’s 45-41.

    RaceTracker Wiki: WI-Sen