Self-proclaimed "tough guy" Orrin Hatch isn't worried about losing a primary challenge, despite what happened over the weekend in Salt Lake City.
On Saturday Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) was denied his party's nomination for a fourth term at the GOP state party convention. Hatch, Utah's senior senator, said he won't suffer a similar fate when he runs for reelection in 2012.
"I am not Senator Bennett, by the way, I am a tough guy and people know it," Hatch told Fox News Channel's "Happening Now" on Thursday. "No, I'm not concerned about it."
Hatch's "tough" talk comes after Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) hinted he was planning to primary the six-term GOP incumbent.
"Maybe," a grinning Chaffetz said on MSNBC Wednesday when asked if he might wage a bid to unseat the veteran Hatch. "I'm not here to make a campaign announcement, but, yeah, I serve at the will of the people. I'll serve where they want me to serve," he said. --Michael O'Brien contributed to this report.
New numbers in the Kentucky Senate race find the Republican primary widening while the Democratic primary is in a dead heat.
Rand Paul, the ophthalmologist son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), is leading by 16 points in the Republican primary.
A WHAS11/Courier-Journal Bluegrass poll found Paul had 49 percent of the vote while his opponent, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, had 33 percent. And 11 percent remained undecided.
Paul has the backing of the Tea Party movement while Grayson is backed by the Republican establishment, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
On the Democratic side of the race, Daniel Mongiardo and Jack Conway are in a virtual dead heat, with Lt. Gov. Mongiardo leading by one point.
Two months ago, Mongirado led by 18 points but Conway had made up the ground. And with the primary rapidly approaching, only 12 percent of the voters are undecided.
Voters go to the polls May 18th. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) is retiring.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) took credit for getting President Obama up to Buffalo, N.Y., for a rally but she won't be there when he takes the stage Thursday.
The Senate is debating its financial industry reform legislation, among other bills, and Gillibrand's office said she stayed in Washington to participate.
The House is also in session but that didn't stop New York Reps. Louise Slaughter (D) and Brian Higgins (D) from attending. Republican Rep. Chris Lee (N.Y.) was listed as a "tentative" participant by the White House.
Obama is set to tour a manufacturing firm, deliver some remarks on the economy and then hold a Q&A with an audience of some 230.
Earlier this year the White House moved to dissuade possible primary challengers not to run against Gillibrand, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson (D) after Hillary Clinton became secretary of state. She now has a clear path to the Democratic nomination and hasn't drawn a top-tier Republican challenger despite not having high name identification in New York.
(A spokesman for Rep. Lee said he "is at Industrial Support Inc. in Buffalo and waiting for the president to begin his remarks.)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) continues to make the case he's the only true Democrat in the primary race with Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
He's up with a new 30-second TV ad, titled "Scorecard," that compares their ratings from various Democratic-leaning advocacy organizations. Needless to say, Sestak scores consistently higher. Announcer: "The best Democrat for Pennsylvania's future: Joe Sestak." The ad also notes that recent polls show the candidates as neck and neck.
Perhaps with that in mind, Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey's camp has shifted its fire toward the congressman. It's started pushing the narrative that Sestak is a liberal extremist.
"Joe is one of the most far-left members of the Pennsylvania Delegation, voting 100 percent with Nancy Pelosi. Pennsylvanians don't want a San Francisco liberal in the U.S. Senate," Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said in a recent statement.
Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) couldn't contain himself Thursday when he saw footage of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) latest campaign ad.
The 2008 GOP presidential nominee is facing a tough primary challenge this cycle from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) and has come out tough on border security.
But some say the position is a flip-flop for McCain, who during the Bush administration worked with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a path to citizenship for illegals.
In the ad, the Arizona senator says that the state has to "complete the danged fence" along the Arizona-Mexico border. A sheriff walking with him responds, "senator, you're one of us."
In an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Shadegg, who is retiring, could be seen laughing along with hosts Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, and Mika Brzezinski.
After he composed himself, the congressman said, "It seems like some politicians have kind of changed ground on this issue. I guess maybe the president thinks it's funny. Senator McCain now doesn't think it's funny. And he's saying we've got to get tough on the border."
Campaign spokeswoman Michelle Todd said there will be no refunds. Asked if that amounts to a flip-flop, she said, "We have never made an official statement before. It is now the official statement. They donated to the Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate Campaign and it's still the Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate Campaign."
Crist also is scheduled to change his voter registration on Wednesday -- switching from Republican to Indpendent.
The SEIU won't back Sen. Blanche
Lincoln (D-Ark.) if she wins her primary next week.
The Service Employees International Union and other labor groups are supporting Lincoln's primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.
Our colleague Kevin Bogardus interviewed Mary Kay Henry, the new president of the SEIU. When asked if the group would back Lincoln in the general election if she defeats Halter on May 18, Henry simply said, “No.”
“Our
belief is Blanche Lincoln has been on the side of Wall Street and
insurance companies and that she does not stand to protect and defend
working people,” Henry said.
Bogardus notes "Her response is reflective of a new, more aggressive tack by SEIU that
has left an increasing number of Democratic candidates targets of the
politically powerful union."
Three new polls out Wednesday show how close the Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania has become.
One poll has incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the lead, one poll has challenger Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) in the lead and the other has the race tied.
Specter leads 44 percent to 42 percent in a Quinnipiac poll; Sestak leads 38-36 in a Franklin and Marshall poll, and a Muhlenberg survey has the two men tied at 45 percent.
The primary is May 18th.
It's a big fall for Specter. Polls at the end of March had him leading Sestak by 20 points. Sestak, however, had no where to go but up, particularly as he built his name recognition around the state, but the recent primary defeats of incumbents Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.V.) has to have Specter worried.
"Sen. Arlen Specter has a history of winning close elections and he'll need that to continue
because his once commanding lead is gone. His margin over Sestak is too close to call," wrote Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in his analysis of the race.
There may still be voters to win over. The Franklin and Marshall poll show that 15 percent remain undecided.
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