Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) decided not to run for the Senate this fall because he may have a higher goal in mind — the presidency, according to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Cornyn said he had been trying to recruit Pataki to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) for a year and a half, but Pataki announced this week he's not interested in the Senate.

"I talked to him yesterday, and he told me he wasn't going to do it," Cornyn told The Hill. "I've been talking to him for a year and a half, and I've been reading the polls. I think there's real opportunity there. But he's decided he's not running for it. My thought is, of course, he's rumored to be a potential candidate for president, and I think he's got his sights set on other offices, maybe including running for president. That'd be my guess."

Pataki told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday that he wasn't interesting in running. His decision was seen as a blow to the GOP, who has had trouble recruiting a candidate to face Gillibrand.

Gillibrand has strong support from fellow N.Y. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and top White House officials -- both of whom helped clear the field of potential Democratic primary challengers.

Linda McMahon is well on her way to spending $30-50 million on the Connecticut Senate race.

The Republican former WWE CEO's campaign announced Thursday that she self-funded another $8 million in the first quarter, bringing her total out-of-pocket expenses to $14 million. She raised $37,000 and had $4.3 million cash on hand for her GOP primary bid in the race to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).

McMahon has previously said she could spend $30 or $50 million on the race.

The likely Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, previously announced that he raised $1.9 million and banked $1.6 million in his first quarter as a candidate. Blumenthal took over for Dodd when Dodd announce he would not seek reelection earlier this year.

McMahon's GOP primary opponents, former Rep. Rob Simmons and investment banker Peter Schiff, have yet to announce their first-quarter totals.

UPDATE 2:15 p.m.: Simmons's campaign says (buried in a memo) that it raised $550,000 and has $1.4 million in the bank. It's Simmons's worst full quarter of the cycle, and his campaign blames the lower profile the race has taken on since Dodd's retirement.

In what some see as a prelude to an independent campaign for Senate, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Thursday vetoed an education bill favored by his current party.

According to the St. Petersburg Times:

After weeks of protest and a deluge of messages, Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed a bill that would link teacher pay to student test scores and wipe out tenure for new teachers.

His decision, announced in a noon news conference at the Capitol, came as little surprise. Although Crist initially voiced support for Senate Bill 6, he had distanced himself over the past week as protests mounted.

"We must start over," Crist said.

Crist explained that the content of the bill and "manner of its adoption" was "significantly flawed."

"To make such changes, we must have the patience and the wisdom to communicate effectively with the people," he said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has endorsed Crist, but as signs of a potential independent candidacy have emerged, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) publicly urged Crist to sign the bill.

A Quinnipiac poll out today shows Crist leading Marco Rubio 32-30 if he runs as an independent, while he trails Rubio 56-33 in a GOP primary.

Denver Post's Susan Greene got an interesting response from former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff's (D) campaign about the ongoing Photoshop controversy.

"Those minority folks were absolutely at the rally," said Roy Teicher, the Romanoff campaign's spokesman. "We were just simply moving around random people for aesthetic reasons."

Porn star Stormy Daniels announced Thursday that she will not challenge Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) in a primary.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) kicked her fundraising operation into high gear in the first quarter, raising $1.5 million for her Senate campaign.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), meanwhile, announced via Facebook that he raised $1.3 million. It is the first time since the first quarter of 2009 in which Carnahan has outraised Blunt over a three-month period.

Carnahan announced the total, which is her best since launching her campaign, in an e-mail to supporters. Her campaign separately told The Hill that it raised its cash on hand from $2.1 million to $2.8 million.

"I'm so pleased to let you know that we're filing our quarterly fundraising report today and we finished strong -- in fact, we raised nearly $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2010!" The most we have ever raised in a single quarter to date," she wrote. "What a terrific grassroots team effort. I can't tell you how humbled and honored I am to have your support and support from all across Missouri, in every county."

Blunt maintains a $3.5 million to $2.8 million advantage in cash on hand. Blunt outraised Carnahan handily last quarter, pulling in $1.3 million compared to $877,000 for the secretary of state.

Carnahan is likely to face Blunt in the general election to replace retiring Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.).

Updated at 1:18 p.m.: The initial totals for last quarter failed to include money raised for a joint fundraising committee.

Former NFL star Jon Runyan (R) didn't put up the kind of first quarter numbers that are expected of a top-tier challenger. Runyan, a long-time Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman, raised $150,720 since he launched his campaign last month. But $100,000 of the haul was his own money.

Runyan now has $137,559 cash on hand, according to PolitickerNJ.com.

His campaign attributed the poor showing to Runyan's late entry into the race to unseat Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.).

"We've raised nearly another $30,000 in the last two weeks since the deadline for the first quarter, with a slew of events coming up," said Runyan spokesman Chris Russell. "We feel good."

North Carolina Senate candidate Cal Cunningham seemed to be channeling Jimmy Buffett at a Democratic forum in Raleigh Wednesday night.

When the topic of offshore oil drilling came up, Cunningham said: "If you go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, you come out covered in oil."

One of Buffett's most famous lines is, "Nibblin' on sponge cake, watchin' the sun bake, all of those tourists covered with oil."

Attorney Ken Lewis (D), one of Cunningham's main rivals for the nomination, was quick to pounce. His campaign promptly called for Cunningham to "apologize" to the governors of Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas for his "'covered in oil' slur."

"I think Cal has been listening to too many Jimmy Buffet [sic] songs: That's not what he meant by 'all of those tourists covered in oil,'" said Bruce Clark, Lewis's campaign manager. 

A Cunningham spokeswoman said later that he was referring to the swimming near Galveston, Texas.

Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) primary challenger has been caught Photoshopping an African-American woman into his website banner.