Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-Calif.) campaign reached out to Republican rival Carly Fiorina for help this week -- accidentally.

Three new polls out Wednesday show how close the Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania has become.

One poll has incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the lead, one poll has challenger Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) in the lead and the other has the race tied.

Specter leads 44 percent to 42 percent in a Quinnipiac poll; Sestak leads 38-36 in a Franklin and Marshall poll, and a Muhlenberg survey has the two men tied at 45 percent.

The primary is May 18th.

It's a big fall for Specter. Polls at the end of March had him leading Sestak by 20 points. Sestak, however, had no where to go but up, particularly as he built his name recognition around the state, but the recent primary defeats of incumbents Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.V.) has to have Specter worried. 

"Sen. Arlen Specter has a history of winning close elections and he'll need that to continue because his once commanding lead is gone. His margin over Sestak is too close to call," wrote Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in his analysis of the race.

There may still be voters to win over. The Franklin and Marshall poll show that 15 percent remain undecided.

The Carter family has returned to Georgia politics.

Jason Carter, the 34-year-old grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, won Tuesday's special election for an open state Senate seat.

He is the first member of his family to win elected his office since his grandfather was in the White House. His father, Jack Carter, was the Democratic Senate nominee in Nevada in 2006 but lost to Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.).

Jason Carter won with 65 percent of the vote and celebrated at a restaurant Tuesday night with his grandparents and other family members, according to the Associated Press.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter did campaign for their grandson in the heavily Democratic district within Atlanta.

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) blows off Sarah Palin, the GOP's chances look so good former Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) is considering a comeback and things are going from bad to worse for Florida's GOP contender for governor.

Like ships in the night

Palin is in suburban Chicago Wednesday for a conservative radio talk show event at the Rosemont Theatre and a $500-a-plate fundraiser at the Westin O'Hare for the Illinois Republican Party. The fundraiser isn't open press, but that still didn't entice the state's top GOP contenders to attend.

Kirk, who's running for Senate, "says he will have to be in Washington, D.C., tonight to make some planned House votes," according to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald. And House candidates Randy Hultgren and Robert Dold "have other plans tonight."

That left just gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady to attend, and he "originally" didn't plan on it.

Don't call it a comeback

Fossella is considering trying to get his old job back. The former Long Island congressman was forced into retirement last cycle after a 2008 drunken-driving arrest revealed he had a second family in the DC suburbs. But he is now taking a second-look at running again.

"I have no doubt that he is looking at it," Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told the New York Daily News. "But I also know that he has not made up his mind."

'How much did we pay him?'

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum was expected to have a smooth ride to the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Instead, he's facing a wealthy self-funder in the primary and now he's connected to a scandal involving the website Rentboy.com, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

The paper reports McCollum, "personally requested that the state's Department of Children and Families hire antigay psychologist George Rekers at $300 an hour as an expert witness to defend Florida's ban on gay people adopting."

Rekers's reputation is in tatters after reports he vacationed for two weeks in Europe with a gay male escort from Miami he hired through Rentboy.com. The 20-year-old escort told reporters he gave Rekers nude "sexual" massages every day during their European vacation.

The potential campaign isssue: Florida paid Rekers more than $100,000 over two years for his expert testimony involving a gay foster parent who was trying to adopt two brothers.

A wealthy Republican candidate’s investments in Jamaica have emerged as an issue in the race for Delaware’s open House seat.

Anti-incumbent sentiment is roiling both parties as another long-serving member was defeated in a primary Tuesday.

The race for Rep. Nathan Deal's (R-Ga.) House seat will go to a June 8 runoff after none of the eight candidates in Tuesday's special election were able to capture a majority of the vote.

Deal resigned in March to focus on his run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

Tuesday's result could be considered a major show of electoral strength by the Tea Party movement.

Atlanta tea-party groups and the Club for Growth backed former state Rep. Tom Graves (R), who led with 34.1 percent of the vote with 89 percent of precincts reporting. His closest competitor, ex-state Sen. Lee Hawkins, will join him in he runoff. Hawkins pulled in 23.7 percent of the vote. Both men were also the fundraising leaders in the short race.

Businessman Steve Tarvin (R) was third with 16.1 percent of the vote.

The winner of the June runoff will serve out Deal's existing term, but still have to secure the nomination in the July 20 primary. The district is solidly Republican and isn't considered a pick up opportunity for Democrats. The lone Dem in the special election, Mike Freeman, pulled in some 6 percent of the vote.

President Obama's job approval rating hit 50 percent for the first time since October in a new Public Policy Polling national survey conducted May 7-9.

While 46 percent of registered voters disapprove of the president, he remains popular within his own party. Obama has an 83 percent approval rating among Democrats.

Republicans remain steadfastly opposed to his agenda -- only 14 percent approve of his handling of the job. Meanwhile, Independents are almost evenly divided on his presidency.

PPP's Tom Jensen writes: "If Obama's numbers stay in this range he probably won't give Democratic candidates a big assist this fall, but he won't be a huge liability either."

In the meantime though, candidates in Democratic primaries are trying to embrace the president as closely as possible.

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) is not ruling out an independent run for his Senate seat.

Bennett was defeated on Saturday at the Utah Republican Convention, finishing third to rivals Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater, who will fight for the Republican nomination in a June 22nd runoff.

Bennett has the option to run as a write-in candidate, and suggested Tuesday he wasn't closing the door on any of his choices.

"We've made the firm decision not to make any decisions as to what I do from now on until we have a little time to think about it," he told reporters.

But he can't count on the Republican Party to help him.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said the NRSC won't support a write-in effort by Bennett.

Cornyn said the NRSC would support instead whichever nominee is selected by Utah's Republican voters.

Cornyn said as a rule, the NRSC doesn't support independent bids.

"We'll support the Republican nominee," Cornyn said. "That's what we do. We're not going to support any independent candidates."

When asked about Bennett, Cornyn slowly shook his head no.

"He's got a very stellar record, one he should be very proud of," Cornyn said. "These are not lifetime jobs or entitlements. They're subject to the revocation of the voters, and the voters are upset with what's happening in Washington and they've spoken. We'd all do well to take heed."

The NRSC criticized Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) when he decided to make an independent bid for the Senate.