NPR has confirmed speculation that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court’s current term.

“Souter is expected to remain on the bench until a successor has been chosen and confirmed, which may or may not be accomplished before the court reconvenes in October.”

Eight justices are known to have hired the four law clerks who will work with them in the Supreme Court term that begins in October, but Justice David Souter appears to be the lone holdout.

“Why does this matter? Under the scenario that counts, Souter, 69, would not be hiring clerks because he isn’t planning to be in Washington in the fall. A retirement would give President Barack Obama his first chance to nominate a justice and the next few months would bring Senate confirmation hearings.”

IL Burris (D)

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Illinois finds that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has a good chance to make next year’s U.S. Senate race a competitive one.

Kirk is tied with Alexi Giannoulias (D), 35% to 35%, and leads Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), 37% to 33%. In addition, Kirk would crush Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), 53% to 19%.

However, if Lisa Madigan (D) made a surprise decision to run for this seat it would be no contest, as she leads Kirk 49% to 33%.

CO Bennet (D)

Read More →

Via NYTimes

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he would seek to recruit candidates who he thought could win in Democratic or swing states, even if it meant supporting candidates who might disagree with his own conservative views.

Mr. Cornyn said he was taking a page from SenatorCharles E. Schumer of New York, the last head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who led his party to big gains by embracing candidates who, for example, opposed abortion rights or gun control.

“If you think about it, Schumer has been very good at this; I complimented him this morning in the gym,” Mr. Cornyn said, adding, “Some conservatives would rather lose than be seen as compromising on what they regard as inviolable principles.”

Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said: “We are not losing blue states and shrinking as a party because we are not conservative enough. If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time, that is based on an ideological purity test rather than a coalition test, then we are going to keep losing.”

Mr. Graham scoffed at the notion that the party was suffering because it was not conservative enough.

“Do you really believe that we lost 18-to-34-year-olds by 19 percent, or we lost Hispanic voters, because we are not conservative enough?” he said. “No. This is a ridiculous line of thought. The truth is we lost young people because our Republican brand is tainted.”

Both US Senators have great points we must listen to them.

DE Open Senate Seat (D)

Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) said Thursday that he’s leaning more toward running for Senate rather than another term in the House, if he decides to run for Congress again in 2010

WI Doyle (D)

NY 20 Open Seat (D)

The official vote tally in the NY-20 special election now shows a 365 vote lead for Scott Murphy (D) over Jim Tedisco (R) as 250 ballots that were set aside were counted today, according to Politicker NY.

there are some 1,800 votes left uncounted.

AR Lincoln (D)

 An Arkansas state senator plans to make a run for Congress. Kim Hendren has announced plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The Republican has his eye on the seat currently held by Democrat Blanche Lincoln.

CA Open Governor Race (D)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom took to the Web Tuesday to announce his candidacy forgovernor of California.

SC Open Gov Seat (R)

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said that he is planning a run for governor, but has not made an official announcement regarding the state’s top office.

NC Burr (R)

Senator Richard Burr continues to get heat for telling his wife to take money out of the bank at the height of last year’s banking crisis.

So far no one has challenged the Republican senator, but in a recent poll of nearly a thousand voters across the state, Congressman Mike McIntyre is just five points behind Burr in a hypothetical senate race. He’s the closest Democrat in the polling other than Attorney General Roy Cooper, who leads Burr by four points.

CO Bennet (D)

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) has some work to do to get elected in his own right next year. 

Key findings: “41% of voters say they disapprove of Bennet’s performance so far, with just 34% saying they approve. He has more Democrats (16%) who disapprove than there are Republicans (11%) who express support for his work. He also has negative numbers (32/43) with independents.”

However, “the good news for Bennet is that none of his most likely opponents are particularly well known or well liked either.”

Run Bill Owens!!

NV Reid (D)

Nevada Rep. Dean Heller, ducked questions about possible bids for U.S. senator or governor in 2010, telling reporters on Friday a re-election bid is “my plan today” and being vague about any political tomorrow

Congressional Updates:

NH 01 Hodes Open (D) Fmr Congressman Bass appears ready to run again

NH 02 Porter (D) Manchester Mayor Guinta appears ready to run 

CA Bono (R) Steve Puougnet, Mayor of Palm Springs appears ready to challenge Bono in a trending Dem district

FL Young (R) State Senator Charlie Justice (D) is running against longtime Congressman Young in a district that voted for Obama with 58% vote.  There are hints he may retire.

PA Altmire (D) Mike Turzai (R) - State House Republican Whip & Attorney is ready to run in a district that voted for McCain with 54%.

CO Salazar (D) Martin Beeson (R) – District Attorney is close to entering in Republican leaning district.

According to CQ Politics, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

In return, the agent pledged to help lobby House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

NY 20 Update

It does not look good.  Murphy is ahead with 86 votes and they are now going through all the rejected ballots a judge ruled in favor of Murphy today.  All military and foreign ballots have been counted and it appears more foreign ballots made it in they military ones so it benefited Murphy.

GA Open Gov Seat (R)

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle announced Wednesday afternoon that he is no longer seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2010.

His decision, which he attributed to health problems, coincidentally came on the same day that a newly released poll showed Cagle as a leading contender for next year’s primary.

Cagle said, however, that he would seek a second term as lieutenant governor, after a 2006 victory that made him the first Republican to hold that office in state history.

IL 

Republican U.S. Representative Mark Kirk revealed on Wednesday that he is considering runningfor governor next year. Kirk, who is also weighing a run for U.S. Senate, told Fox Chicago News he will make a decision about which office he’ll seek by the end of April.

CO Bennet (D)

Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier announced Wednesday he has formed an exploratory campaign to look at running for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the general election in 2010.

Frazier, 31, and a father of three, says he’s running because he wants to leave the country in better shape for the next generation.

TX Perry (R)

His campaign for governor as an independent didn’t work out in 2006, so humorist Kinky Friedman said Tuesday he was considering another run for the state’s top political office, this time as a Democrat.

DE Castle (R)

Just days after Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) reported raising a paltry $74,000 last quarter — a weak showing for a candidate rumored to be considering a run for U.S. Senate — he now has a challenger for his U.S. House seat, according to The Hotline.

Former Lt. Gov. John Carney (D) entered what would be a very competitive race — especially considering that the district voted for John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.

Mo Open Seat (R)

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, one of the Democratic Party’s top candidates for a Republican-held Senate seat in the 2010 election cycle, raised more than $1 million in this year’s first quarter.

Carnahan’s likely Republican opponent is Rep. Roy Blunt, who reported raising $542,000 in the reporting period, of which 54 percent came from individual donors and 46 percent from political committees. The latter figure is a sign that GOP establishment figures and groups are behind his candidacy.

His campaign said that it raised more than two-thirds of its contributions in the final two weeks of the quarter. Blunt was allowed to tap the $336,000 he had in his House campaign account as 2008 ended.

NY 19 Hall (D)

Assemblyman Greg Ball, R- Patterson, will be launching his congressional exploratory committee’s listening tour tomorrow. Ball is currently exploring a run for the United States House of Representatives, a possible challenge to Rep. John Hall for the 19th Congressional District.

NY Gillibrand (D)

Rep. Steve Israel had a healthy fundraising quarter for a congressman but will need to rev up his efforts if he wants to run for Senate in 2010. Israel, a Democrat representing the 2nd District on Long Island, raised $280,000 in the first three months of 2009 and closed March with $1.7 million, a Congressional aide reported.

Gillibrand announced last week that she had raised $2.3 millionsince being named to the Senate at the end of January.

To that end, Israel has signed on a new finance consultant to help with his fundraising — Lisa Gioia of the Esler Group in New York City. Gioia’s previous clients include current New York Gov. David A. Paterson and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, as well as other prominent state Democrats.

MI 9 Peters (D)

Oakland County Republican Paul Welday is going to try to do something his former boss, ex-Rep. Joe Knollenberg couldn’t do: beat Democrat Gary Peters.

Welday announced Wednesday that he was mounting a campaign to unseat Peters in Michigan’s 9th District, which takes in suburban Detroit, including eastern Oakland County. Welday used to be the chief of staff for Knollenberg, an eight-term incumbent whom Peters upset in 2008.

AL 3 Rogers (R)

Democrat Josh Segall, who unsuccessfully challenged Republican Rep. Mike Rogers for the Alabama 3rd district congressional seat in 2008, will make a run for the seat again in 2010.

 Segall, a Montgomery lawyer, announced Tuesday that he will run for the Democratic nomination to the seat in next year’s primary. Segall pulled about 46 percent of the vote against Rogers in 2008.

NY 20 Open Seat (D)

Democrat Scott Murphy’s lead is slipping in the too-close-to-call special congressional election in eastern New York.

The state Board of Elections reports that unofficial counts show Murphy leads Republican Jim Tedisco by 25 votes. The lead has seesawed since the March 31 election and absentee ballots are expected to decide the winner.

VA Open Seat Gov (D)

Republican Bob McDonnell raised $2.2 million for his campaign for governor in the last three months, outpacing all but one of his three Democratic rivals. McDonnell, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, had $3.5 million in cash on hand through March 31, more than any of his Democratic opponents.

TN Open Seat (D)

Former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.(D) announced Monday he won’t run for Tennessee governor in 2010.

CA Open Seat (R)

AL Open Seat (R)

Alabama’s “Ten Commandments Judge” Roy Moore said he’s “very inclined” to make another race for governor.

Moore, a Republican, said he plans to announce a decision in June.

He ran for governor against Republican incumbent Bob Riley in 2006.

He received about 33 percent of the vote.

WI Doyle (D)

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann said Thursday it was highly likely he would run. A homebuilder with a business based in Pewaukee, Neumann said he’s not raising money yet, but he is speaking with potential supporters and plans to make an announcement by October.

OH Open Seat (R)

Fundraising Alert

Former Rep. Rob Portman’s Senate campaign announced the Ohio Republican raised $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2009.

Portman, who faces no major opponent in the GOP primary, also transferred $1.4 million left in his House campaign account, giving him more than $3 million cash on hand and a solid start in what is expected to be one of the top races in the country.

Lt.Gov. Lee Fisher (D) announced last week that he raised $1 million in the first quarter. Fisher faces a primary with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D), who hasn’t released her fundraising figures.

Update on NY 20

Tedisco is now trailing by 8 votes and is not doing as well in the absentee votes from several counties he won on election night ( military votes in every county will not be counted till 13th).  For example, in Renssalaer County — largest of the four counties that completed absentee counts Thursday — Tedisco was ahead by 474 votes on election night, but among absentee voters trailed by 19. Saratoga County, the district’s most populous, has not completed the count of its absentee ballots.

KY Bunning (R)

Attorney General Jack Conway announced he is running for US Senate Seat of Jim Bunning setting up a contested Democratic primary election next year with Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, who nearly defeated Bunning in 2004.

Conway’s Senate bid is his second attempt to serve in Congress. In 2002, he challenged Republican Rep. Anne M. Northup in the Louisville-based 3rd District and lost by 3 percentage points; that seat now is held by Democrat John Yarmuth. Conway was elected state Attorney General in 2007.

AR Lincoln (D)

Sen. Blanche Lincoln,an Arkansas Democrat, raised $1.7 million during the year’s first quarter for her 2010 re-election bid.

Lincoln now has 2.3 million COH

Wisconsin Doyle (D)

Wisconsin Democrats plan to run an ad Sunday on a Milwaukee TV station attacking Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a likely Republican candidate for governor next year.

MI Open Seat (D)

Saying he can’t justify leaving his job as Oakland County executive, L. Brooks Patterson said this morning that he won’t run for governor.

He was in a growing field of potential Republican candidates for governor in 2010, including Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary ofState Terri Lynn Land, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, state Sen. Tom George of Texas Township, Ann Arbor businessmen David Brandon and Rick Snyder and Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

Potential Democrats in the race include: Lt. Gov. John Cherry, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel, former MSU football coach George Perles and former Flint Mayor Don Williamson.

TN Open Seat (D)

Sen. Roy Herron says he will run for Tennessee governor in 2010.

The Dresden Democrat said Wednesday that he and his family have “carefully and prayerfully considered” his decision. Herron said he will make a formal announcement later but didn’t specify a date.

Herron becomes the third Democratic gubernatorial candidate. He joins Nashville businessman Ward Cammack and former state House Majority Leader Kim McMillan of Clarksville.

As for the Republican candidates, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga and Memphis prosecutor Bill Gibbons have declared so far. Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville has formed an exploratory committee.

 A congressional ethics board has launched a preliminary inquiry into Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), related to President Obama’s vacant Senate seat and the corruption investigation of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The committee launched the action Thursday — the same day Blagojevich wasindicted on corruption charges.

What a web this whole Illinois Senate Seat weaves

Florida Possibly Open Seat (R)

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Tuesday he plans to run for governor if Gov. Charlie Crist runs for the U.S. Senate.

While it’s widely speculated that Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum will also run for governor if Crist runs for Senate, Bronson is the first major politician to say he will seek the seat.

IA Culver (D)

Iowa congressman Steve King says he’s more likely to run forgovernor next year in light of the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling last week overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage.

NV Gibbons (R)

Republican Reno Mayor Bob Cashell says he has lined up significant financial commitments from several “well-connected” people in southern Nevada as he mulls a run for governor next year.

2 Republicans have already announced plans to challenge Gov. Jim Gibbons in a primary – North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon and former state Senator Joe Heck of Henderson. Possible Democratic candidates include Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid

Some Democrat US Senate Fundraising Numbers To Report

New York: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who will try to retain the Senate seat she was appointed to early this year, announced Monday that she raised $2.3 million in her first two months on the fundraising trail. Giannoulias’s report will offer a similar fundraising pace, and Gillibrand was one of the top fundraisers among congressional incumbents last cyc

GA Open Gov Seat (R)

Democrat Dubose Porter has announced he will run for Governor. 

The Georgia House Minority Leader announced in his hometown paper, the Dublin Courier Herald, that he will seek the governorship in 2010

State Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former LT. Gen David Poythress have entered, with former Governor Roy Barnes expected to announce soon.

AL Open Gov Seat (R)

Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks has announced plans to run for governor next year after weeks of speculation 

Congressman Artur Davis of Birmingham is the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, but Sen. Roger Bedford of Russellville says he’s considering running.

MI Open Gov Seat (D)

State Attorney General Mike Cox (R) says he will run to become the governor of Michigan in the 2010 race.

U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Holland kicked off his campaign to become Michigan’s next governor Monday.

Others expected to run include Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and state Senator Tom George of Texas Township.

RI Open Gov Seat (R)

Lincoln Chafee lost his Senate seat as a liberal Republican, but he returned Monday as an independent candidate preparing to run for Rhode Island governor as the state is battered by its worst recession in decades.

FL Open Senate Seat (R)

Congressman Mac took himself out of running for open seat and endorsed Gov Crist

SD Thune (R)

What would a rematch look like between South Dakota’s GOP Sen. John Thune and the man he beat in 2004, former Sen. Tom Daschle? Thune edged the former Senate Democratic leader by 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent last time, and a Research 2000 poll conducted March 30 – April says that Thune would win 53 percent to percent with 7 percent undecided if a 2010 vote were held today.

Research 2000 also matched Thune against Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and showed Thune beating her 51 percent to 39 percent with 10 percent undecided.

Thune has better favorable-to-unfavorable rations than either Democrat at 57 percent to 32 percent. Daschle’s is 50 percent to 43 percent, and Herseth Sandlin’s is 53 percent to 31 percent.

IA Culver (D)

A new Des Moines Register poll ”revealed some reservations” by Iowans about Gov. Chet Culver (D) as he looks toward mounting a 2010 campaign for a second term. 

Just 35% said they would definitely vote to re-elect Culver, while 28% said they would consider an alternative and 18% said they would definitely vote for someone else.

By comparison, in the 2010 U.S. Senate race, 47% said they would definitely vote for Sen. Charles Grassley next year, with 29% saying they would consider an alternative, and 8% definitely voting for someone else.

FL 

A new Mason-Dixon poll shows that Florida CFO Alex Sink (D) and Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) are essentially tied in a potential race for Florida Governor in 2010. Sinks gets 35% support and McCollum gets 36%. 

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate race, 67% percent of Florida voters would ‘consider’ or ‘definitely’ vote for Gov. Charlie Crist (R) if he decides to run.

Note: Congressman Mac took himself out of the running for Senate Seat this week and backed Crist

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) called on Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska ) Thursday to step down from his seat and run in a special election in the wake of the Justice Department’s decision to drop corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Begich narrowly defeated Stevens in 2008, a contest overshadowed by Stevens’ October conviction. 

Palin’s call came after a reporter at the Fairbanks News Miner emailed her a copy of a statement by Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich calling for Begich to step down.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) now trailing former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT), 50% to 34%, in the 2010 Senate race.

In two other match ups, Dodd trails both Sam Caligiuri (R), 41% to 37%, and loses to Tom Foley (R), 43% to 35%.

Key finding: Voters disapprove 58% to 33% of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, his lowest approval rating ever.

Said pollster Douglas Schwartz: “A 33% job approval is unheard of for a 30-year incumbent, especially a Democrat in a blue state… Dodd’s numbers among Democrats are especially devastating.”

AL Open Gov Seat (R)

Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. today said he would seek re-election as lieutenant governor in 2010 and will not run for the Democratic nomination for governor.

GA Open Seat (R)

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker (D) says he will make a run for the governor’s office next year.

OK Open Seat (D)

 Rep. Tom Cole announced Monday he will not run for governor next year. “It was a close call. I thought about it long and hard,” the Oklahoma Republican said. “Strangely enough at the end, I thought Oklahoma was doing awfully well.” 

Rep. Mary Fallin already has jumped into the race on the Republican side, and former Rep. J.C. Watts and state Sen. Randy Brogdon are considering a bid. 

CA Boxer (D)

Former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina said she is “seriously considering” running for public office in California next year, prompting a dig at her corporate record by her potential competitor, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

“She fired 20,000 from HP and she took a golden parachute of $20 million,” Boxer said, referring to the $21 million severance package Fiorina received when she was forced out of HP in 2005. “That says it all, I think.”

CT Dodd (D)

A two-term state senator from Waterbury who briefly ran that city after the arrest of its former mayor has became the second prominent Republican seeking to challenge U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn.

In an announcement made from his front lawn Tuesday, Sen. Sam S.F. Caligiuri, 42, a lawyer specializing in public finance issues, said he was running “to take us into the future and away from what Chris Dodd has come to represent: career politicians in power for so long and with so little accountability, that they feel they can do — or fail to do — anything they want and still get elected.”

Caligiuri’s announcement sets the stage for a showdown with fellow Republican Robert R. Simmons, the former 2nd District congressman, state business advocate, and CIA agent who confirmed last month that he would seek to challenge Dodd.

he Justice Department will seek to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens, whose conviction on corruption charges sparked complaints of prosecutorial misconduct, officials said Wednesday.

The 85-year-old Alaska Republican was convicted late last year on seven felony counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from a businessman.

Stevens has appealed his conviction. Problems with the prosecution angered the judge and made it more difficult for the Justice Department to defend the conviction.

Say what you will about Stevens but I wish he still were a Senator and if all of this stuff had not come about he still would have.

Its imperative we prevent Senate Dem’s from getting 60 Senators in next election cycle and with your help we need to convince some people to make the plunge and run for Senate.  Many need to start to run now so they can start raising the needed funds that will be necessary.  So please take a moment and lets get to it!

North Dakota 

Gov Hoeven

The people of ND are suffering right now but Gov Hoeven is showing great leadership in these trying times and we need to convince him to make run against Senator Dorgan. He has been serving as Governor since December 15, 2000, making him the longest-serving current Governor in the United States.  On November 4, 2008 Hoeven won re-election carrying 74% of the vote over the democratic opponent Tim Mathern with 24% of the vote. This is the first time in North Dakota’s history that any governor has won three, 4 year terms in office.

Email him http://governor.nd.gov/contact/

Hawaii

Gov Lingle

Gov Lingle has shown great skills in getting elected in the Dem stronghold of Hawaii and she can give new leadership to people of Hawaii with youth and vigor.  Governor Lingle also won re-election by the largest margin in state history, 63 percent to 35 percent.

Convince her to make the plunge: http://hawaii.gov/gov/contact

Deleware

Congressman Castle

Congressman Castle has served the people of Deleware for many years; including his stint as Governor its time he serve them in US Senate and a recent poll showed him defeating Joe Biden’s own son

Email him to make the race: http://www.castle.house.gov/Contact/

Arkansas

Governor Huckabee

Blanche Lincoln is in trouble according to a new Senate poll which shows she is not being viewed favorable by vast independents in the state.  Gov Huckabee should take a note from Thommy Thompson of Wisconsin and realize he can really help with his cause and our party if he runs and becomes a member of Senate.

We need to convince him: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?fa=Contact.Home

NY 20 has its special election and our candidate has been House Minority leader for over 25 years, Jim Tedisco, and his opponent is a new comer with no legislature experience, Murphy, and yet polls show a very close race with a slight edge to Murphy.  

NY 20 voted for Obama but has more then 80,000 registered Republicans so I have to ask why might we lose this seat?  Tedisco has come out against stimulus package while Murphy is for it and the media is attempting to portray this as a campaign over it.

3 weeks ago everyone was saying we had this in the bag and now what gives?  Why aren’t Republicans coming home to roost as they say and motivated?