The South Carolina State Election Commission will not investigate Democrat Alvin Greene’s controversial victory in last week’s Senate primary.

The South Carolina State Election Commission will not investigate Democrat Alvin Greene’s controversial victory in last week’s Senate primary.

"The state election commission sees no reason to initiate an investigation into our voting system," Chris Whitmire, a spokesman for the commission, told The Ballot Box. "We have full confidence in the reliability and accuracy of the state's voting system, and we have nothing to indicate there was any voting system failure on June 8th. The system has performed accurately and consistently."

Greene won the June 8 primary with 58 percent of the vote, defeating Vic Rawl, a Charleston County councilman, by more than 30,000 votes.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) has called Greene a "plant" and repeatedly called for an investigation into his win.

Despite making several TV appearances to talk about Greene's victory, Clyburn hasn't contacted the commission, according to Whitmire.

"We've had no contact from the candidates in the U.S. Senate race and no contact from Congressman Clyburn," he said.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked state Attorney General Henry McMaster to investigate whether Greene "accepted an inducement" to run. The group also complained to the Federal Election Commission, noting Greene hasn't filed the proper paperwork.

On Tuesday, Rawl said he also planned to file a "protest" against Greene's win.

Rawl will meet with the state Democratic Party's executive committee Thursday where he's expected to call for a new election based on supposed irregularities in the voting machines.

If the state party calls for a new election, the SEC would seek legal advice to help determine the manner in which any new primary would be conducted, Whitmire said. It's unclear when the vote would take place.

Regardless of the outcome of the meeting, South Carolina has another round of voting coming up on June 22, when the Republican gubernatorial primary and several others will go to a runoff.

--Updated at 5:59 p.m.

California Working Families has a new TV ad attacking Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman for her failure to vote for 28 years. It's the first ad in the group's independent expenditure effort supporting Democrat Jerry Brown. The initial buy totals $3 million on broadcast and cable over a three-week period. The ad will run until July 3.

The 30-second spot entitled, "Why" features a news conference exchange where a reporter repeatedly presses Whitman on her voting record.

The group bills itself as a coalition of public employees, firefighters and building trades organizations. Spokesman Roger Salazar told the Ballot Box the buy is just the start of what he expects will be a $30 million media campaign over the course of the summer. "This is really just the initial piece," said Salazar.

During the Republican primary, Whitman's opponent, State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, used a similar line of attack in a TV ad.

Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, has invested as much as $100 million of her own money into the race, according to reports.

Some senators can be hesitant about donating to the campaigns of challengers to the chamber's leaders.

Not so with GOP Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.). He's among a handful of senior Republicans who plan to donate to the campaign of Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle — the Republican challenger to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Kyl told The Hill he has no trepidation about going after Reid. He endorsed and campaigned for Angle's opponent Sue Lowden in Nevada's Republican Senate primary. 



Asked if he plans to donate to Angle's campaign, Kyl pointed to former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer's (N.Y.) financial support of former Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Jim Pederson during Kyl's re-election in 2006.



"I will support every Republican nominee financially in this coming election for the Senate," Kyl said. "I just ran for re-election in 2006, and my good friends on the Democratic side of the aisle had no trepidations about pouring a lot of money into my opponent's campaign."



Kyl said he got the last laugh, recalling a post-election conversation with Schumer.



"After the campaign, I was able to go to Sen. Schumer and say 'Why did you waste so much money?'"



In 2008, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) was a Democratic target and several Democratic senators and senatorial candidates contributed to his Democratic challenger, Bruce Lunsford.

Those donors included: Reid, Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Robert Casey (Pa.), Mark Warner (Va.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), John Kerry (Mass.), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), and Sherrod Brown (Ohio).

A new Public Policy Poll has businessman Tim D'Annunzio trailing former sports caster Harold Johnson with a week to go until the Republican runoff in North Carolina.

The two are fighting it out to face Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.) in November. Kissell, a first-term lawmaker, is a top GOP target this cycle.  

After coming in a close second in the May 4 primary — D'Annunzio bested Johnson 37 percent to 33 percent — Johnson has now surged to a 49 percent to 39 percent lead according to the latest poll.

The poll showed Johnson has picked up the lion's share of the support from the Republican also-rans in the primary and that his standing among the district's voters has taken a serious hit. Just 44 percent of respondents said they think D'Annunzio is "fit to hold public office." That's compared to Johnson's 55 percent. And 41 percent of respondents said their opinion of D'Annunzio has become "more negative" over the last month.

D'Annunzio had strong backing from Tea Party leaders, but after allegations of prior drug use and past arrests came to light, that support largely disappeared with several local Tea Party leaders switching their allegiance to Johnson. Johnson is the favored candidate of the Republican Party and a member of the Young Guns fundraising program.

A Public Policy Poll out Tuesday also showed Kissell holds a stronger lead over D'Annunzio than Johnson in hypothetical matchups. Kissell leads Johnson 41-35 but he leads D'Annunzio 48-26.

The Tea Party Express is backing attorney Joe Miller in his primary challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

The group also said it's committing significant financial resources to the race. 

"The total expenditures by the Tea Party Express in Alaska are expected to reach well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars," the group said in a statement. The Tea Party Express called Miller's campaign "its top priority between now and the August 24th Alaska primary," and said it plans to "launch a wave of TV and radio ads supporting Miller and opposing Murkowski in the coming weeks." 

The political undercurrent there is the bad blood between former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a favorite of the Tea Party Express, and the Murkowskis. Palin defeated former Gov. Frank Murkowski in a 2006 primary and has been highly critical of his daughter, Sen. Lisa Murkowski. There was speculation Palin might challenge Murkowski, but she endorsed Miller in early June. 

The Tea Party Express has made its presence known in several primaries this cycle. It spent more than half a million dollars backing Republican Sharron Angle in Nevada in her successful bid for the GOP nomination. The group also backed Republican Rand Paul in his race for the Kentucky Senate nomination over the party's favored candidate. And the group was influential in defeating Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) in the Utah nominating process. 

A top aide to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) left the governor's official office to start his own firm and manage an independent expenditure group in the state.

Brian McClung, the deputy chief of staff for Pawlenty in his governor's office, joined "MN Forward," a new group representing business groups in the state.

McClung had served in Pawlenty's office for six years as communications director and deputy chief of staff. He'll leave Pawlenty, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, and will start his own firm in the state as well, McClung Communications & Public Relations LLC.

“Brian is best known as the public voice of our office, but he has been much more,” the governor said in a statement. “He’s been one of my closest advisors during both terms and I greatly value his insights, loyalty and expertise. Brian is an integral part of our team and I know he will continue to have great success.”   

McClung's departure comes as Pawlenty has steadily worked to advance a potential run for the White House, assembling and configuring staff to run a campaign over the next two years. McClung is seen as someone who could continue to serve Pawlenty in the future, despite his departure from Pawlenty's official team Wednesday.

The PACs are just some of the latest signs the Minnesota Republican is building up his political infrastructure.

In an Ohio district that national Democrats are bullish on winning back this year, Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks (D) has won the backing of political action committee EMILY'S List. Brooks is taking on Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R). 

"Paula is a common sense, hardworking leader with a commitment to fiscal responsibility," the group's president, Stephanie Schriock, said in a release announcing the endorsement. "As President of the Franklin County Commission, Paula worked tirelessly for her constituents and she will do the same in the House." 

With the endorsement comes solid financial backing, giving Brooks the ability to tap into the group's national donor network. EMILY's List is poised to spend more than $40 million on races across the country in 2010.

Part of the optimism for Democrats in Tiberi's district is geography. Franklin County, where Brooks serves as commissioner, makes up a solid portion of the district. Brooks is also on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) "Red to Blue" candidate list, which the committee expanded this week by another 11 candidates.

Since his election in 2000, Tiberi hasn't had to endure a close reelection contest. His lowest reelection margin was two years ago when he defeated Democrat David Robinson with 55 percent of the vote. That was a race many local Ohio Democrats thought was winnable, had Robinson gotten some more attention from the national party.