North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall holds a small lead heading into the final week of her Democratic Senate primary with Cal Cunningham, but the two could be headed to a runoff.

A Public Policy Polling (D) survey and a SurveyUSA poll both show Marshall with a small lead in the primary, which will be held next Tuesday. But there remain plenty of undecided voters in the state, where neither candidate has had much in the way of a media presence.

Marshall leads Cunningham 23-19 in the SurveyUSA poll and 26-23 in the PPP poll. In both surveys, 34 percent of voters are undecided.

If enough of those voters go to other candidates, like attorney Kenneth Lewis, that could hold both Marshall and Cunningham below 40 percent, which would mean a two-candidate runoff on April 22. That's a long runoff, and it would all be time that the two won't be focusing their time and resources on Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and his $5 million war chest.

It's looking especially tough for Cunningham to win the primary outright next week. He would have to win at least half of those undecided voters and/or steal some support from his opponents.

Conversely, if it does go to a runoff, Cunningham will probably be the favorite. He has suffered from a lack of name recognition, but he has been raising money faster than Marshall. Presumably, he would be on TV more during the runoff, which would help him overcome Marshall's statewide profile.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will announce on Thursday whether he will run for Senate as an Independent.

State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) has three weeks to bring up his poll numbers or he risks becoming irrelevant in the three-way race for the California Republican Senate nomination, according to the Los Angeles Times.

DeVore has garnered the support of national conservative and Tea Party groups, as did Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) during his run, but that hasn't translated into a surge in campaign donations or support in the polls. He raised some $625,000 in the first quarter, but had only $411,000 banked at the end of March. In a recent Los Angeles Times/USC poll, he had the support of only 9 percent of likely GOP primary voters.

DeVore attributed his poor poll numbers to his title as state assemblyman.

"Ballot titles matter a lot in California," DeVore said at a Family Action PAC luncheon at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. "They called me a California state assemblyman. That's like saying Chuck DeVore's a thief. My actual title is assemblyman/military reservist. In our internal polling, that change alone doubled my support, when people found out I was not merely a scum-sucking politician."

The Times notes with absentee ballots set to go out in the second week in May, time is running out for DeVore.

"Before people totally discount someone like Chuck DeVore, you have to give it another three weeks," said Larry Gerston, a professor at San Jose State University. "At that point, if it hasn't kicked in yet, I think you can start issuing a post-mortem."

The primary vote is in June.

Another poll shows Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) may have trouble making the final ballot at the state party convention.

Arizona rekindles the national immigration debate, Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan (D) will finally appear with President Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has three days to decided his future.

Take 'em away boys

The passage of Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law has dragged the issue of immigration reform back into the national spotlight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) suggested last week that he'll prioritize an immigration bill before energy reform. A best case scenario for Democrats' chances in November may be to appear to be working on the issue, while refraining from passing actual legislation.

President Obama acknowledged in a web video Monday that Latino voters were a key party of the coalition "who powered our victory in 2008," so giving them something to vote for in the midterms could help his party.

The Arizona bill may also be a wedge issue to corner Republicans on. The Florida Democratic Party sent out a release Tuesday that asked, "What do Crist and Rubio think of the AZ immigration law?" Put another way the question is, do Republicans support racial profiling? GOP candidates better get familiar with Arizona's new statute.

No longer ships in the night

Carnahan, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Missouri, will appear with Obama Wednesday when he stops in Macon as part of his "Main Street Tour," according to the Kansas City Star. It may be a sign that the president's numbers are improving in the Midwest. Earlier this year, Carnahan opted to be in DC for a fundraiser instead of joining Obama at an event for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in St. Louis.

Fancy meeting you here

Crist showed up at the ribbon cutting for a road construction project near the Miami International Airport Monday. Asked why he was at an event for a project funded by the stimulus program, Crist said: "Because it creates jobs for the people of Florida that I work for and that is first and foremost in my mind."

He maintains he hasn't made up his mind about an Independent run for Senate, but he certainly appears to be positioning himself that way. One concern, though, is would he refund the donations he received from people who thought of him as a Republican?

Crist: "You know, I think that's a decision that you have to make if you made a decision to go independent. I haven't made that decision yet."

Florida's filing deadline is Friday.

Other updates

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) wishes he could make it a trilogy.

"I'm one of those governors that actually, you know, wouldn't mind staying in another term as governor," Schwarzenegger said Monday at a press conference in Beverly Hills with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) and Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle (R)

"I totally agree what you say, Gov. Doyle, that after two terms you should get out and you should have a new breed of people come in and all that," Schwarzenegger said, according to the Sacramento Bee. "But there is also, you must admit, there's things that you see that you have started and you see movement, and all of a sudden you feel like it needs the follow through. You know, to go all the way, just like in the golf stroke, follow through, or in the tennis stroke, follow through. And now all of a sudden you're not there to follow through."

House Democrats will likely have to confront a pair of ethics scandals before Election Day, despite early hopes.

His family’s bank failure could cost Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias support from the Democratic Party and the White House.

President Barack Obama shifted into campaign mode Monday.

Karl Rove urged South Carolina Republicans to reelect Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and "retire" his Democratic colleague, Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.).

"(Democrats) want Joe Wilson out, they know what a strong symbol he is," said Rove at the South Carolina GOP's annual Silver Elephant Dinner Saturday. "They want him out. They know what it would mean in red, red, South Carolina to get him out of here. They're trying to pull a surprise on us; let's pull one on them. Let's retire Spratt." 

Wilson gained notoriety for yelling "you lie" at President Obama during a speech to Congress in September. The 68-year-old Spratt filed in March to run for his 15th term. He won reelection in 2008 by a 25-point margin.

The Silver Elephant Dinner was a moneymaker for the South Carolina GOP. Admission to hear Rove ran at least $100, which bought a chicken dinner and "hours of speeches," according to The State. Those who paid some $1,500 got access to a private reception, a photo with Rove and an autographed copy of his book.