The White House is fighting back against Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-Ill.) allegation that the administration leaked information about Kirk's military record.

Kirk made the accusation with "no evidence," the Chicago Sun-Times reports, and White House adviser David Axelrod said Thursday is not true.

"Obviously, Congressman Kirk has some problems that are of his creation, and he can't download them on us," Axelrod told the paper. "I assure you that everyone here has plenty to do. No one is trafficking in revelatory records about him."

Kirk, who's running for President Barack Obama's former Senate seat, has been damaged by a series of revelations about his military career.

The White House has come under fire for involvement in other Senate races, including allegations it made job offers to candidates in Pennsylvania and Colorado to encourage them not to run. Administration officials also got involved in the New York Senate race, helping to clear the primary field for Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

The Kirk campaign told the paper they will file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for all correspondence between "administration officials and Democratic campaigns or political operative regarding Mr. Kirk's personal military records."

The White House isn't covered by FOIA and neither are the campaign committees, the Sun-Times points out.

The latest poll on the race, released Wednesday, shows it's a close one. Kirk leads Democrat Alexi Giannoulias by three points, according to Rasmussen Reports.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) warned Friday that the GOP should encourage more candidates who aren't middle-aged men as candidates.

On the heels of primaries in which a number of women candidates, many of them Republicans, won their party's nomination, Pawlenty said he thought this year's elections would be, in part, "the year of the woman."

"Our party needs to have more faces and voices that aren't middle-aged men," Pawlenty said during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."
 
Mentioning the victories of GOP candidates Susana Martinez in New Mexico and Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California, Pawlenty said the GOP must "celebrate the success of our female candidates," which he says will help "the pendulum swing back our way" in the fall.

"This is going to be in part the year of women," the potential 2012 presidential candidate said.

Host George Stephanopoulos pointed out that Pawlenty did not mention the victory of Sharron Angle in Nevada and asked about his opinion on her strong calls to abolish Social Security and the EPA and make alcohol illegal.

Pawlenty said he thought Angle would be successful in the end despite her somewhat controversial positions, avoiding criticizing the Tea Party movement that heavily backed Angle's candidacy.

-- Cross-posted from the Blog Briefing Room.

Pawlenty also appeared on the Daily Show Thursday night. Video of his appearance can be seen here.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is confident voters will reelect him after learning of the "distinct difference" he has with Tea Party-backed challenger Sharron Angle (R).



"I think there's a distinct difference between her and me," Reid told The Ballot Box in one of his few comments about his reelection race since Angle won Tuesday's GOP primary in the Silver State. Asked to elaborate, Reid demurred.

But spokesman Jon Summers did not; he rattled off a list of "clear" policy differences. 



New Hampshire Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte has a new TV spot that hits on government spending. In the 30-second ad released Friday, Ayotte calls herself "a fiscal conservative who will cut spending."

Ayotte, a former attorney general, recently agreed to testify before a "legislative committee reviewing the state's securities and investments regulatory structure in the wake of the Financial Resources Mortgage scandal," according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Ayotte's expected Democratic opponent, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), is hoping her testimony next week becomes campaign fodder. Ayotte is the front-runner for the GOP Senate nod.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party is bringing in some artillery to blast Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.).

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will give the keynote address at the party's summer meeting Friday in Hershey, Pa.

Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been doggedly calling for investigations into alleged White House jobs offer to Democratic Senate candidates.

The issue has died somewhat in Pennsylvania since the White House released its memo on the subject, but the state's GOP hopes to keep it alive so as to help its Senate nominee, former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

In a preview of his remarks, Issa also mentions Colorado Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff. Romanoff is another Democratic challenger the White House is alleged to have tried to lure out of a primary using the bait of an administration job.

"After pledging to change the business-as-usual culture of Washington during his campaign, the Sestak-Romanoff controversies have lifted a veil on this presidency that has revealed a Chicago-style politicking that is the antithesis of what candidate Obama campaigned on," the Californian said in a statement.

"For all the talk — and that's what it is: talk — of transparency and accountability that this administration likes to engage in, we still have yet to see this president address the American people directly on if he supports what his White House is doing and if not, what will he do about it?"

Mitt Romney leads in Iowa, Jerry Brown accuses Meg Whitman of wanting to be president and of being a Nazi propagandist and Utah Senate candidate Tim Bridgewater picks up another endorsement.

Iowa's top three

There's still a long way to go before the next Iowa caucuses, but the field is already starting to take shape. Romney, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are Hawkeye State Republicans' top picks for the 2012 GOP White House nod, according to the Des Moines Register's latest Iowa Poll.

The survey out Friday has 62 percent of Republican primary voters "very or mostly favorable" toward Romney. Palin's next with 58 percent "very or mostly favorable" about her and Gingrich is in third at 56 percent. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 GOP caucuses, wasn't included in the survey because he said he doesn't plan to run again.

Meanwhile, conservative darling Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) is a relative unknown in Iowa — 80 percent said they don't know enough about him to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is also a wild card: 71 percent say they're not sure how they feel toward him. And 53 percent are unsure about Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R).

Where will it go from here?

California's gubernatorial races have become famous for their outlandishness, and this cycle won't disappoint.

Brown, the Democratic nominee, told KCBS radio reporter Doug Sovern this week that his Republican oppponent was "like Goebbels" — Hitler's propaganda mister.

Brown: "Goebbels invented this kind of propaganda. He took control of the whole world. She wants to be president. That's her ambition, the first woman president. That's what this is all about."

The Whitman camp called the remarks "deeply offensive."

Bridgewater builds momentum

Bridgewater picked up the endorsement of former Senate rival Cherilyn Eagar (R) this week, adding to the sense of momentum he got from Sen. Bob Bennett's (R-Utah) backing.

Meanwhile, Mike Lee, Bridgewater's rival in the June 22 primary, released some internal poll results that show him up by nine points. The poll shows Lee leading Bridgewater 39-30 percent with 30 percent still undecided.

Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) spent Thursday doing a round of conservative talk radio interviews.

She was heard on Rush Limbaugh's show and also spoke with conservative talkers Lars Larson and Heidi Harris.

But Angle has been dodging reporters from traditional news outlets since winning a resounding victory in Tuesday's primary.

Her lack of availability following her big win prompted Las Vegas TV reporters to stake out her campaign headquarters Wednesday.

A crew from KLAS-TV got a couple of questions in before Angle was whisked away by her staff.

Asked what she was doing to reorganize her campaign to prepare for "massive national attention," Angle smiled.

"You want me to tell you my strategy?" she said, bursting out laughing. "You're so interested in that, but these guys right here are so interested in my job and my home."

She left promptly afterward for Reno.

Angle was more accessible to a conservative talk radio host.

Colorado Senate candidate Jane Norton could become the latest Republican to lose a primary to an upstart, Tea Party-backed challenger.

Republican Dino Rossi officially filed Thursday to challenge Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in the fall. He says he jumped into the race because "our country is in trouble."

"The stakes are too high to sit on the sidelines and watch as our country heads towards a breaking point, and that is why I’m running for the U.S. Senate," he said.

Rossi is the first choice of many national Republicans, but he'll face a tough primary challenge from Clint Didier. Didier, a former Washington Redskins tight end, has the support of the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. Tea Party candidates recently won Republican Senate primaries in Kentucky and Nevada over party-backed favorites.

Rossi waited until May to say he was going to run, and the delay annoyed several Republicans, who worried a late start would hurt them in the general election. After Rossi announced, two GOP candidates, Sean Salazar and state Sen. Don Benton, dropped out of the primary and endorsed him.

He gained national attention in 2004 when he lost his campaign for governor by 133 votes after three recounts to Democrat Christine Gregoire. He ran against Gregoire again in 2008 and lost.

The Senate primary is August 17.