California

Democrat Jackie Speier now has a clear path to succeed the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D).

Speier’s would-be opponent, Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig (D), announced this week that he won’t challenge her in the April 8 special election to replace Lantos, who passed away three weeks ago. Bloggers had been urging Lessig, a campaign finance advocate, to run, but he demurred after his pollster said he would have little chance against Speier, a former state senator and assemblywoman.

Speier is best known for surviving a 1978 ambush by members of the Jonestown cult while on a fact-finding mission with her former boss Rep. Leo Ryan (D-Calif.). The congressman and four others were killed in the attack.

Three Republicans, another Democrat and a Green Party candidate will also appear on the April ballot. Speier is the favorite to win the San Francisco-area seat, having received the endorsements of most major Golden State Democrats, including Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Lantos before he died.

— Walter Alarkon

The money is set to flow in the race to replace Rep. John Doolittle (R), especially if former gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Tom McClintock (R) joins the fray.

Former Rep. Doug Ose’s (R) campaign told the Sacramento Bee this week that it has a $500,000 ad blitz readied in case McClintock enters the race.

“Doug Ose is committed to this race and to making people aware of his views,” spokesman Doug Elmets told the paper. “He’s got the resources it will take to get his message out.”

Elmets said the ads would not target McClintock but would play up Ose’s credentials. The wealthy former congressman had $500,000 in his campaign account when he entered the race early this month.

The race is already set to be a pitched battle between Ose and former state Sen. Rico Oller (R).

— Aaron Blake

Illinois

Special election candidate Jim Oberweis’s (R) campaign said a clerical error made it appear as though it was violating the so-called millionaire’s amendment in its race for former Rep. Dennis Hastert’s (R) seat.

In its filing with the FEC due two weeks before the March 11 special election, the campaign listed separate self-contributions of $300,000 and $340,000 to the special election, a total that would have required earlier disclosure so that opponent Bill Foster (D) could raise more money from individual donors.

But Oberweis’s campaign said one of the contributions was actually made for the general election, which will be held in November, and the wrong box was checked. Accordingly, he didn’t pass the threshold that would have forced him to report the contributions within 24 hours of making them and would have allowed higher limits for Foster.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pointed out the error late Tuesday, accusing Oberweis of skirting Federal Election Commission rules.

“They were reported improperly to the FEC, so once we were made aware by the ever-helpful DCCC of what was sitting on the FEC website, we immediately worked with the FEC to get that corrected,” Oberweis spokesman Bill Pascoe said.

The situation could prompt some kind of ruling from the FEC on whether Oberweis violated any rules with the incorrect filing. Foster’s campaign pointed to Oberweis’s past campaign transgressions, including an FEC fine. Foster’s campaign is considering taking action.

— A.B.


Georgia

State Sen. Nancy Schaefer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that she might join the primary for Rep. Paul Broun’s (R) seat.

Broun, who won his seat unexpectedly in a special election last year, already faces a strong and well-financed primary challenge from state Rep. Barry Fleming.

The district and race are highly regionalized, with Broun from the Athens area and Fleming from the Augusta area. Schaefer wouldn’t take directly from the base of either, as she represents more rural northeast Georgia.

It’s not clear what impact she would have on the two established candidates. Schaefer’s area was important to Broun’s special election victory, but her entry could also conceivably dilute the anti-incumbent vote in the primary.

— A.B.


Minnesota

Comedian and Senate candidate Al Franken (D) announced the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) Minnesota State Council on Tuesday.

The 28,000-member union should give the leading Democratic candidate a boost in his campaign as he faces attorney Mike Ciresi and professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for the Democratic endorsement.

The winner will face Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in what is expected to be one of the top Senate races in the country.

— A.B.


New York

Democrat Tracey Brooks has the endorsement of two members of the nuclear McNulty family, even though retiring Rep. Michael McNulty (D) hasn’t endorsed in the race.

McNulty’s father, former Green Island Mayor Jack McNulty (D), endorsed Brooks on Wednesday, joining the congressman’s sister, current Green Island Mayor Ellen McNulty Ryan (D), who had previously voiced her support.

Brooks is running against candidates including Albany County legislator Phil Steck in the Democratic primary.

Former Assemblyman Paul Tonko (D) has also been mentioned as a potential candidate.

— A.B.

Ohio

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) might be safe in his primary after all, according to a poll by Public Policy Polling.

The former presidential candidate leads Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman 55-29 in the independent survey, with three other candidates under 5 percent.

Kucinich and Cimperman will face off on Tuesday in what has turned out to be an expensive sprint of a primary. Kucinich has drawn criticism for leaving the district behind during his presidential campaigns.

The poll found 4 percent of voters will support him in the presidential race.

“It’s evident from this poll that his constituents don’t think much of his presidential ambitions, but he has convinced them that he’s still their best choice for Congress,” said the polling firm’s president, Dean Debnam.

The poll surveyed 470 likely Democratic primary voters in the 10th district on Monday.

— A.B.


Oregon

The field for retiring Rep. Darlene Hooley’s (D) seat is beginning to shake out, with state Sen. Kurt Schrader as the only Democrat in the race so far and a potential GOP primary brewing.

Schrader joined the race after his wife, Clackamas County Commissioner Martha Schrader (D), and former Monmouth Mayor Paul Evans (D) opted not to run.

On the GOP side, businessman Mike Erickson has a tough primary opponent in former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix. Mannix, who fell to Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) 49-46 in 2002, has opened an exploratory committee and is expected to enter the race.

GOPers have stood by Erickson in the weeks after Hooley announced her exit, but Mannix’s entry adds a big variable to the race.

Only two weeks remain until the filing deadline.

— A.B.