Attorney Ben Quayle (R) has raised more than $550,000 since announcing his bid for Arizona's 3rd district House seat. Quayle, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, brought in some $90,000 a week since he launched his campaign six weeks ago.

"I am grateful for the overwhelming support for my candidacy," Quayle said in a statement. "People agree that it is time to send the next generation to Washington."

Quayle is one of several Republicans running for the seat being vacated by Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), who is retiring at the end of his current term.

Paradise Valley Vernon Parker, another contender for the GOP nod, announced last week that he'd raised $230,000 in the first quarter.

Tennessee House candidate Stephen Fincher is leading the GOP primary field by 23 points, according to a poll released Wednesday by his campaign.

The survey by the Tarrance Group, which polled 401 likely Republican primary voters in the state's 8th district April 5-6, shows the farmer and gospel singer got 40 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, the poll has Ron Kirkland getting 17 percent of the vote, George Flinn with 7 percent and all other candidates within the margin of error. A third of the primary electorate is undecided.

Fincher is the National Republican Congressional Committee's favored candidate.

Tennessee's 8th district is an open seat race. Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) announced last December he wouldn't seek a 12th term. The district is considered a toss up.

Updated at 12:57 p.m.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R) Tuesday asked for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) endorsement, after the conservative icon praised him this weekend.

The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has not officially endorsed Rubio, but at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference this weekend, Palin said "I love Marco Rubio!" adding "Marco, keep up the good work. Call me. Can I help ya?"

In an interview on Fox News Tuesday night, Rubio said "Yes. Well, we need to do that. I'd love to have her support. She's an important voice in the conservative movement in America."

Rubio is a favorite of the conservative movement. The one-time insurgent candidate has opened up a big lead over Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in the state's Senate primary, which is August 24.

Pushing financial regulatory reform can help Democrats win over "angry" seniors and close the enthusiasm gap with the GOP, according to Celinda Lake, one of the party's leading pollsters.

"Seniors are a problem," Lake said at a Wednesday breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. "Seniors really dislike the healthcare plan. They're very Republican right now."

President Barack Obama lost seniors to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by 9 points in 2008 but the group now prefers the GOP over Democrats by double-digits, Lake noted.

"We can’t have seniors as angry as they are right now," she said. "A major task [for Democrats] is to sell the healthcare plan to seniors."

She said that winning seniors over to the benefits of healthcare reform should be the Obama administration's top priority. "I think they need to get [Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen] Sebelius and the whole cabinet on the road selling the healthcare reform package," she said.

Despite a report saying he won't run for Senate, former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-Wis.) says he hasn't made up his mind.

Businessman Bill Flores won the GOP primary runoff to face Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) Tuesday night, and Edwards came out swinging Wednesday morning, attacking his new opponent on his lack of a voting record.

“This race will focus on two key facts: First, I am a champion for our veterans and military families and have worked effectively on a bipartisan basis for jobs and economic development for our district," Edwards said in a video. "Second, Mr. Flores has been recruited by Washington, D.C. insiders to try to buy our district’s congressional seat with millions of dollars he has made as a Houston oil executive, even though he has never once voted in a general election in our district — not even once.”

Flores initially said that he voted for his runoff opponent, Rob Curnock, in 2008. Later, he admitted that he didn't actually vote in the race.

Flores spokesman Matt Mackowiak responds: "Career politician Chet Edwards didn't even wait 12 hours to begin desperately attacking, cynically suggesting that a person's vote can be bought. After over 20 years in politics, Chet chooses to attack Bill Flores rather than state his vision or defend his own record."

Updated at 4:16 p.m.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) gets a big pass when a top GOP contender declines to challenge her, the immigration debate continues to sizzle in Arizona and Democrats easily hold Rep. Robert Wexler's (D) Florida House seat.

Free pass

As it turns out, Gillibrand won't face a challenge by former Gov. George Pataki (R-N.Y.). Pataki passed on running against the freshman Democratic senator and will instead create a national organization dedicated to "building support to repeal the recently enacted health-care overhaul," he told the Wall Street Journal.

The environment gets tougher for McCain

The Arizona state House passed on a party-line vote Tuesday what's being called the toughest anti-illegal immigration measure in the country, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The bill passed the state Senate earlier this year and Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is expected to sign the measure into law. SB 1070, as it's known, makes it a misdemeanor -- as opposed to a violation of federal law -- to lack proper immigration paperwork in Arizona. It also mandates police officers determine a person's immigration status if they suspect he's in the country illegally. Police groups were divided on the bill.

The move comes as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was trying to shift the focus in the Senate GOP primary back to former Rep. J.D. Hayworth's (R-Ariz.) ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The McCain camp is pointing to the self-imposed April 15 deadline the Hayworth camp set to release the donor list from his legal trust.

Election day after

Florida state Sen. Ted Deutch (D) beat Republican contractor Ed Lynch by 25 points to hold former Rep. Robert Wexler's seat for the Democrats.

Meanwhile, businessman Bill Flores defeated 2008 nominee Rob Curnock in the Texas runoff for the GOP nod to face Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas). Democrats had been happily pointing to Flores's spotty voting record but it appears not to have made a difference to voters.

Other updates

Retiring Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) endorsed his former chief of staff, Rob Woodall, as the man to replace him in Congress, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Woodall faces state Rep. Clay Cox (R) and several others in the July GOP primary.

Bennet is working all avenues of his party’s complex, multi-tiered nominating process to best position himself for the general election.

National Republicans got their man in the race to face Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), with businessman Bill Flores winning a primary runoff over 2008 nominee Rob Curnock on Tuesday.

Flores led comfortably, 63-37 with 85 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Texas Secretary of State. The race has been called for Flores.

In the other race the GOP has its eyes on in the Lone Star State, attorney Quico Canseco defeated former CIA officer Will Hurd. Canseco, who lost the 2008 primary, led 56-44 with 76 percent of precincts reporting and will face Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas).

The Edwards seat represents the better pickup opportunity for the GOP, which has high hopes for Flores's candidacy and sees the heavily conservative district as a ripe pickup. Neither candidate in Rodriguez's district has put together big money for the GOP's effort to win back the seat, which it lost in 2006.

Updated at 10:03 p.m.