Senate races

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is not ruling out a run for Senate as an independent.

Trailing in the polls by wide margins to former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), Crist said Friday that he is not considering an independent bid right now, but added that it could be something he could consider in the future.

"I'm not thinking about that today,'' Crist told reporters according to the Miami Herald. "We'll look at that later on." 

Asked if he was considering a independent campaign, he said "No, not really."

His comments came after he vetoed an education bill that is popular among Republicans in the state, further stoking speculation that he will continue his campaign without the support of the GOP.

Crist denied that his veto was a signal of an independent campaign.

"My veto is a signal that I thought the bill was bad,'' he said.

The governor's campaign chairman and former close ally, former Sen. Connie Mack (R), resigned this week in the aftermath of the veto, but Crist seemed unfazed.

"There's always a price to pay for making decisions in life,'' Crist said. "In my business, in the political world, you take hits sometimes.''

Mitt Romney has picked a Republican candidate in Florida's Senate primary — and it's Marco Rubio.

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No wonder Attorney General Jack Conway (D) was keeping quiet about his fundraising numbers.

The Kentucky Senate candidate raised only $215,684 in the first three months of 2010, his campaign said Friday. That's less than half what the leading Republican, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, pulled down. It's also short of what his main primary rival raised.

Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (D) hauled in $312,000 in the first quarter.

The only bright spot for Conway is that he now has $1.3 million cash on hand -- roughly $200,000 more than Grayson.

The Kentucky primary is May 18.

Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-Calif.) Monday night fundraiser with President Barack Obama has sold out.

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Former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton (R) had a difficult week.

The Colorado Senate candidate announced Tuesday she was going to petition her way onto the August primary ballot, which prompted a swift rebuke from the Colorado GOP chairman. Now, she won't be allowed to speak or even have campaign signs at her party's state assembly May 22.



On Wednesday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) endorsed Norton's chief primary opponent, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R). "Based on the support Ken is getting around the state, I think he's in a very good position to get the votes he needs at the state convention to get on the August ballot," DeMint said in a statement. "This along with his performance in the precinct caucuses demonstrates real strength as a candidate. I believe that as the rest of the state meets Ken Buck, he will continue to surge in the polls and win this critical election."



DeMint's endorsement has in the past been coupled with a contribution from his PAC, Senate Conservatives Fund, and it's backers.

 Meanwhile, the aggressive, right-wing group Americans for Job Security is running an ad in Colorado in support of Buck.

All this spells trouble for Norton, who will be forced to spend money that could be used for the general to defeat Buck. She raised more than her rival last quarter, some $816,000 to $219,000, but she burned through much of it. Democratic sources say she's using paid canvassers, which can be costly, to gather the signatures she needs to get onto the primary ballot. Norton reported having $643,000 cash on hand at the end of the first quarter, according to the Denver Post. That's not much more than Buck, who had $416,000 banked.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) reelection effort continues to lag behind GOP competitors, a poll found Friday.

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There's more talk of an Independent run for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in that state's Senate race, the marching season is in full swing and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) has a bad first quarter for a couple of reasons.

How to lose friends and alienate people?

Crist's veto of an education bill Thursday cost him the support of his campaign chairman but he still has reason to be optimistic about his chances of becoming a senator. A Quinnipiac University poll showed Crist would win in a three-way race between him, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek. It wouldn't be a big victory, though. The survey had him getting 32 percent of the vote, compared to Rubio's 30 percent and Meek's 24 percent.

"Under state law, Crist could run as a no-party candidate for Senate and remain a registered Republican," according to the St. Petersburg Times. He has until noon April 30 to decide.

The marching season

The Tea Party held Tax Day rallies at state capitols around the country Thursday. Not to be outdone, labor unions are now planning their own demonstrations. Next Thursday the AFL-CIO will stage a 10,000-person march on Wall Street in New York. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will address the crowd, according to a release.

Rangel's money problem

Recently forced to give up his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship, Rangel subsequently posted some weak first quarter fundraising numbers. He raised only $108,327 from January through March, according to the New York Daily News. And he burned through $244,940, which leaves him with $600,000 cash on hand.

Rangel is being challenged in the primary by state Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell and community banker Vincent Morgan. [An earlier version of this post stated incorrectly that Democrat Kevin Powell was challenging Rangel. In fact, he's running against Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.).]

Other updates

A new poll shows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) can't count on vote splitting to defeat his likely GOP opponent. Reid trails Republican Sue Lowden 37-47 in the new Mason-Dixon poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, with the slate of third-party and nonpartisan candidates getting almost no backing.

Updated at 10:56 a.m.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's (R) decision to veto an education bill has cost him the support of his political mentor -- and that may just be the beginning.

Former Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) quit as chairman of Crist's Senate campaign Thursday, citing the governor's veto in a brief resignation letter.

"As you know, I strongly disagree with your veto," Mack wrote his fellow Republican, according to the Associated Press. "Your veto I believe undermines our education system in Florida and the principles for which I have always stood."

He added, "As you can understand, I can no longer serve as chairman for your campaign for the United States Senate."

Meanwhile, state House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon (R) is reconsidering his endorsement of Crist.
 "I like the governor as a person. (But) I think that the students lost out and the teachers lost out," he told the Orlando Sentinel.

Updated at 9:38 p.m.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) raised more than $500,000 for his challenge to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), his campaign announced Thursday. Melancon now has some $2.26 million banked, about half the amount of the Republican incumbent.

"Our campaign is in a strong position to spread Charlie's message of ending politics-as-usual in Washington and bringing a more common-sense, bipartisan approach to the Senate that focuses on putting Louisiana first," Bradley Beychok, Melancon's campaign manager, said in a statement.

Vitter announced last week he raised some $1 million in the first quarter to bring his cash on hand to $5 million. 

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) outraised Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) for the first time in their nearly 15-month-old Senate race in the first quarter.

Tiahrt raised $375,000, compared to Moran's $346,000. But Moran maintains a $3.5 million-to-$1.5 million edge in cash on hand.

It is the first quarter since the race began that Tiahrt has been able to bank a significant amount of money, going from $1.3 million cash on hand to $1.5 million. Moran, meanwhile, began running ads and spending more heavily on their Aug. 3 primary; his cash dropped from $3.7 million to $3.5 million.

The winner will be a heavy favorite in November for Sen. Sam Brownback's (R-Kan.) seat. Brownback is running for governor.