Before we get into the 16th installment of my weekly 2010 update: I will be traveling from today through Tuesday afternoon and I will not have Internet access until then. Florida Governor Charlie Crist is expected to announce his 2010 plans on Monday; if he does, you’ll have to wait a whole day before getting my take on his decision! But don’t worry, I have made sure you can get your Campaign Diaries fix while I’m gone: As I had promised, the detailed ratings of Dem-held House seats will auto-post tomorrow.
We were expecting Charlie Crist and Mark Kirk to have announced their 2010 plans by now, but the week’s most important development came from another moderate Republican the NRSC was hoping to recruit: former Governor Tom Ridge announced he would not challenge Arlen Specter, leaving the GOP to wonder whether Pat Toomey can be beaten in the primary. Another important development came from the Sunshine State: former state Speaker Marco Rubio did not wait for Crist to announce that he will run for Senate for sure, a move that significantly alters the shape of this open race.
There were plenty of lower-profile but consequential announcements. In Ohio, Rep. Zach Space had left the door open to running for Senate, but his decision to endorse Lieutenant Governor’s Lee Fisher candidacy this week means that he will be staying in the House - a relief for the DCCC as an open seat race in red-leaning OH-18 would have been tough to defend. In Iowa, the GOP is still looking for a challenger to potentially vulnerable Governor Culver, as two potential candidates (former Governor Terry Branstad and former Rep. Jim Nussle) have now ruled out a run.
Finally, Republican businessman Clive Tidwell and Democratic attorney Kenneth Lewis jumped in the Colorado Senate race and the North Carolina Senate race, respectively. Both have the potential to run decently funded campaigns, but they will have trouble breaking through in primaries that should feature higher-profile contenders.
As always, 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.
First, updates to Retirement Watch:
| Will retire | No one. |
| Will not retire | Rep. Zach Space (D, OH-18): will not run for Senate |
Second, updates to the Senate recruitment page:
| CO-Sen, GOP | businessman Clive Tidwell announced run |
| FL-Sen, GOP | state Rep. Marco Rubio announced run |
| KY-Sen, GOP | Cathy Bailey added to list Rand Paul added to list |
| NC-Sen, Dems | attorney Kenneth Lewis announced run |
| OH-Sen, Dems | Rep. Zach Space will not run |
| PA-Sen, GOP | former Governor Tom Ridge will not run |
Third, updates to gubernatorial recruitment:
| IA-Gov, GOP | former Governor Terry Branstad will not run former Rep. Jim Nussle will not run |
| IL-Gov, GOP | DuPage County Board chair Robert Schillerstrom forms exploratory committee |
| KS-Gov, Dems | former senate candidate Jill Docking added to list party chairman Larry Gates added to list state Sen. Chris Steineger added to list |
| ME-Gov, GOP | businessman Matt Jacobson announced run Waterville Mayor Tom LePage added to list state House Minority Leader John Tardy added to list |
| NM-Gov, GOP | state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones added to list former state GOP chair Allen Weh formed exploratory committee |
0 Responses to “Weekly 2010 update, 16th edition: Waiting for Charlie Crist”
Leave a Reply