Senate races

A Boston College political scientist says it's "surprising" that the Massachusetts Democrat stayed under the radar this week.

Single-digit polling of the Massachusetts special election has some Democrats spooked and Republicans salivating.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $3.56 million in April and now has $7.08 million cash on hand for the coming cycle.

Recent advertising accuses Flake of breaking his promise to help pass expanded background checks. 

The professional wrestler, whose real name is Glenn Jacobs, has been active on libertarian issues. 

Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) announced Friday she will run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R), joining an increasingly crowded field of GOP contenders. 

Handel, who mounted a failed bid for Georgia governor in 2010, said in a statement she was running because the state needs a “conservative Senator with the courage to take on the status quo.”

Handel’s candidacy became likely when one of her close political allies, Rep. Tom Price, announced last week he would not run. 

Three members of Georgia’s congressional delegation — Reps. Jack Kingston, Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun — have already launched Senate campaigns. 

Republican Gabriel Gomez is going up with his first advertisement of the general election cycle on Friday, an introductory spot in which he speaks Spanish and touts his military service, a campaign source confirmed to The Hill.

And Rep. Edward Markey launched a new ad Thursday night, a negative spot that invokes the Newtown shootings to highlight Gomez's positions on gun control.

Ben Jones, a former Georgia Democratic congressman and "Dukes of Hazzard" star, penned an op-ed in The Boston Globe on Thursday hammering his friend and former colleague Rep. Edward Markey (D) for barring him from a fundraiser for his Massachusetts Senate bid.

The South Dakota Republican said she'll make a decision about running for Senate in the next several months. 

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) has expanded his lead over Republican Gabriel Gomez in the first few weeks of the Massachusetts special Senate election, according to a new poll sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters, which has endorsed Markey.