Here’s the seventh installment of my weekly 2010 update, in which I list all the changes I have logged in during the week to the “retirement watch” and recruitment pages. Written in red are those politicians who announced their definite plans rather than simply expressed interest or stroke speculation.
The week’s political news was dominated by Pat Toomey’s decision to challenge Senator Arlen Specter; not only does this dramatically alter the shape of Pennsylvania’s Senate race, but it also shuffles the White House’s governance calculations on how to pass legislation through Congress. And we talked about potential primaries in many other races: David Vitter dodged one bullet when John Cooksey announced he would not run for Senate, though new potential Democratic challengers are emerging for Senators Gillibrand and Bennet. In Oklahoma, Mary Fallin was expected to cruise to the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination but former Rep. J.C. Watts is now talking about a potential run of his own.
Besides Toomey’s decision, the week’s two major developments were Rep. Neil Abercrombie’s and Rep. Gresham Barrett’s jumping in their states’ gubernatorial races; their moves brought the number of open House seats to 12.
First, updates to Retirement Watch:
| Will retire | Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI-01): running for Governor Rep. Gresham Barrett (SC-03): running for Governor |
| Other | Rep. Ron Klein (FL-22) hinted he will run for re-election Same with Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03) |
Second, updates to the Senate recruitment page:
| CO, Dems | state Speaker Andrew Romanoff added to list |
| CO, GOP | Weld County DA Ken Buck added to list (expressed interest) |
| CT, GOP | CNBC host Larry Kudlow added to the list |
| LA, Dems | former Rep. Chris John added to list |
| LA, GOP | former Rep. John Cooksey ruled out run |
| NH, GOP | former Rep. Jeb Bradley will not run |
| NY, Dems | Rep. Steve Israel added to list |
| PA, GOP | businessman Glen Meakem ruled out run U.S. Air Force retiree Larry Murphy announced run former Rep. Pat Toomey is running |
| UT, Dems | Ken Jennings ruled out run |
Third, updates to gubernatorial recruitment:
| CO, GOP | state Senate leader Josh Penry added to list |
| IL, GOP | DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett added to list state Senator Bill Brady announced run former IL Chamber of Commerce CEO Doug Whitley added to list |
| HI, Dems | Rep. Neil Abercrombie announced run |
| KS, GOP | soon-to-be Governor Mark Parkinson will not run |
| OK, GOP | state Senator Randy Brogdon added to list former Rep. J.C. Watts added to list |
| PA, GOP | Pat Toomey is out (running for Senate) |
| SC, Dems | attorney Mullins McLeod added to list state Senator Robert Ford is running |
| SC, GOP | Rep. Gresham Barrett announced run |
How seriously is Andrew Romanoff considering challenging Michael Bennet in Colorado? Anyone?