It's never a good sign when a candidate's campaign goes dark a week before the primary election.

In California, Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell has pulled all his TV ads and is relying on Web ads and phone calls to get out the vote, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Tuesday was his last day on the air and the decision could help give the nomination to former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina has lent her campaign several million dollars from her personal fortune, including an additional $3 million in the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, Campbell wrote on his campaign website's blog: "I don't have personal millions like Carly Fiorina to spend on my campaign – but I do have something my opponents can't offer. According to a just released LA Times/USC poll, I am defeating [Democratic Sen.] Barbara Boxer by 7 points – the first time a Republican has ever led her. The poll shows Carly Fiorina losing by 6 points, and Chuck DeVore losing by 10. I can defeat Barbara Boxer, my opponents can't. … While 30-second TV ads have had an impact in this race, the most powerful way to sway voters is through a personal contact from a friend or colleague – you."

The same Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll that Campbell referenced showed Fiorina leading Campbell, 38 percent to 23 percent, for the GOP nomination. Former state assemblyman Chuck DeVore came in third with 16 percent.

Campbell spokesman Jamie Fisfis told the Times that the campaign is making “day-to-day decisions on how to spend our money” and plans to target many likely Republican voters with automated calls Thursday.

“It’s a question of how we get our message out. TV isn’t always the most efficient,” Fisfis said.

The primary is June 8th. California has one of the most expensive media markets in the country.

Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) becomes the second switcher to drop in a primary, the National Republican Congressional Committee gets disappointed in Alabama's 2nd district and Colorado Republicans are voting for Senate with their feet.

No love for Griffith

Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks defeated former Democrat Griffith 51-33 in the Republican primary for Alabama's 5th district Tuesday. 

Griffith was a conservative Democrat who left the party after voting against the stimulus, cap-and-trade and the healthcare reform bill. Establishment Republicans such as Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) help Griffith raise money but it wasn't enough. Meanwhile, Brooks railed against the party establishment.

Still, the NRCC said it was prepared to work with him. “We look forward to working with Mo Brooks as we prepare to keep this seat in the Republican column in November,” the committee said in a memo.

Bright hopes for Dems

Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) is a top target for the GOP this cycle but their chances of retaking his seat weren't improved Tuesday when an upstart local businessman forced Montgomery Councilor Martha Roby, the national party's chosen candidate, into a runoff.

Republican Rick Barber, a former Marine, focused much of his energy on harnessing support from the Tea Party movement. He was able to capture 29 percent of the vote on Tuesday while Roby finished with 49 percent, below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

Barber likened his entry into the July 13 runoff as a miracle. "Throughout the campaign, we've been broke," Barber said in a statement.  "There were moments when we thought we couldn't continue for another week, but around every corner there's been a miracle. Tonight was just the latest and greatest miracle."

No to Norton

Lt. Gov. Jane Norton remains the frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination in Colorado but Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck is gaining momentum. On Tuesday, attorney Steve Barton, who garnered some 1 percent support at last month's state assembly, announced he was endorsing Buck. He joins a growing list that includes Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and others.

The primary vote is Aug. 10.

Both parties have aggressively exploited discrepancies in rival candidates’ military service records to gain political advantage.

State Sen. Alan Nunnelee won Mississippi's 1st district Republican primary Tuesday earning the nod to face Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) in November.

Nunnelee, a top recruit for the National Republican Congressional Committee, was able to avoid a run-off. He claimed 52 percent of the vote, while former Eupora mayor Henry Ross pulled in 33 percent and former Fox News commentator Angela McGlowan finished a distant third with 15 percent, according to unofficial results.

The NRCC issued a memo previewing its line of attack against the Democratic incumbent.

"Unlike Childers, who opposes repeal of a healthcare bill that mandated taxpayer-funded abortions, Nunnelee is a pro-life Republican with the record to back it up," the memo said.

Democrats, meanwhile, continued to tie Nunnelee to cuts in the state budget.

"Alan Nunnelee's a career politician whose legacy puts him out of touch with middle class families here in North Mississippi," Sam Hall, executive director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Also in Mississippi, state Rep. Steven Palazzo (R) won the nod to face Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.). The NRCC said Palazzo will give the 10-term incumbent the "most credible challenge of his congressional career."

Rep. Davis lost Alabama's Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday, ending his bid to become the first African-American governor.

Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez won the New Mexico Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday. She will face Democrat Diane Denish in November.

Martinez, who had been endorsed by Sarah Palin, finished with 51 percent of the vote. Her closest rival, former state GOP chairman Allen Weh, pulled in 28 percent of the vote. 

Pete Domenici Jr., the son of the well-known Republican senator, finished with only 7 percent of the vote.

Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Republican Governors Association, called Martinez win "historic."

"Susana Martinez is poised to bring a new era of responsibility to Santa Fe," Murtagh said in a statement.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) is term limited.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may have dodged a bullet in his independent campaign for the state's Senate seat.

The conservative Club for Growth (CFG) may not organize a refund effort for Crist's donors as it did last year for donors to Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).

Specter's switch to the Democratic Party came with an offer by him to return funds from GOP donors. CFG officials took him up on the offer and coordinated a refund effort that eventually netted around $1 million. Crist, however, has said he won't return funds from Republican donors.

CFG spokesman Michael Connolly said Tuesday the group is "still reassessing" whether it will organize any refund effort for Crist donors. "It's possible that we may not, ultimately," Connolly said. "If he's making it pretty plain that he intends on running with ill-gotten funds, he's made his position clear."

Mississippi House candidate Angela McGlowan (R) is one of 32 African American candidates running this cycle – the most since Reconstruction, according to Essence.com.

McGlowan said the recent surge of interest among black candidates could be traced directly to President Obama. 

"Barack Obama being elected President has paved the way for more Black people to say, 'Hey, we can do it,'" McGlowan recently told the magazine. "It takes hope to be able to run, and even though he may have given hope to people on the right side of the aisle, we're all Black people in this. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, the first Black President has made a difference in our lives."

McGlowan, a former Fox News commentator, is competing against Henry Ross and Alan Nunnelee for the GOP nod to take on Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.). She said it's been challenging to be an African-American woman running in the Magnolia State.

"I've had to meet with officials because we have gotten death threats. I'm the first Black female to run in this district in the history of Mississippi," she said. "There is a website where I've been called 'the Negress' and a 'filthy pig.' My two opponents are older White males. Some of their supporters took a picture of me and altered it to make my skin darker, turned up my nose, and kinked up my hair. They put it on a flier saying that I don't want White people to have guns. My staff and I have been threatened with calls. People in the street have come up to me being hostile. But it's a small, ignorant minority."

Primary voting in Mississippi wraps at 8 p.m. 

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) went on-air on Tuesday with his first TV ads in the state's Senate race, highlighting his constituent service records.

Blumenthal's campaign released a trio of ads featuring Connecticut residents raving about the work he has done fighting insurers or other work he's done on behalf of constituents since becoming the state's top law enforcement official in 1991.

The three ads -- "Sarah," "Laura & Skyler," and "Gary and Gayle" -- were posted Tuesday to Blumenthal's campaign website.

Democrats said the ads are meant to play up what they say are wide advantages in character measures over Blumenthal's Republican opponent, former WWE executive Linda McMahon, as evidenced in a Quinnipiac University poll last week.

That poll showed Blumenthal maintaining a 56-31 margin over McMahon, even after a report emerged suggesting Blumenthal had, at times, misrepresented his military service record.

The Q-Poll found 53 percent of Connecticut voters were satisfied with Blumenthal's explanation of the matter and that he was found to have more of the requisite experience needed to be the state's next senator.

A spokesman for Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon said Blumenthal's ads were an attempt to "reshape his image" after the recent controversy over his military service.

"Dick Blumenthal knows he's in trouble and that is why he is spending money to reshape his image," said Ed Patru, a McMahon spokesman. "People don't agree with his claim that lawsuits create jobs, and he has a major credibility problems as a result of his fabricated military record. His numbers have taken a serious hit, by every measure they are moving in the wrong direction, and he's trying to hold on."

View the three ads below, after the jump: