Daily Rundown: 6/3/10

CA-Sen: Well, that was quick. Former Rep. Tom Campbell (R) will go back up on the air Friday, running a commercial touting that he will be the GOP's best shot at taking down Sen. Barbara Boxer (D). He cites a recent LA Times poll showing him up 7 points over Boxer, while Carly Fiorina loses by 6 points. Not a bad closing sell, but it may not be enough to overcome Fiorina's recent surge in the polls and massive financial advantage.

CO-Sen: It looks like the Obama administration tried to meddle in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary too. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement this morning admitting that deputy chief of staff Jim Messina called former state House Speak Andrew Romanoff to see if he was still interested in a job he applied for during the presidential transition (at USAID) to avoid a primary with Sen. Michael Bennet (D), who has the backing of the administration. Romanoff released a statement saying that no job was formally offered, but claimed that they inquired about his interest in two more administration jobs.

Now, this may all be inside baseball and may have no impact on voters, but it is still very embarrassing for the Obama administration. This follows a similar ploy in Pennsylvania to get Rep. Joe Sestak (D) to drop his primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter (D), in which the administration used Bill Clinton as a go-between for an offer of an unpaid, informal advisory position. Maybe this is a sign that the president should stop meddling in its party's primaries?

CT-Sen: A new Rasmussen poll finds Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) leading Linda McMahon (R) by 23 points, 56% to 33%. This is a huge change from their previous poll that had Blumenthal up 3, which was taken in the midst of his misstatements on his service.

NV-Sen: A new Suffolk poll shows former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle taking the lead in the GOP primary to take on Sen. Harry Reid (D), confirming her late surge. Angle takes 33%, compared with 26% for real estate developer Danny Tarkanian and 25% for casino executive and former state GOP chair Sue Lowden, whose campaign has been dogged by a series of mini-scandals in recent weeks. Angle is considered to be the weakest general election candidate against Reid.

FL-Gov: Bud Chiles, the son of former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, has announced that he will run for governor as an independent, a la Charlie Crist. This comes as bad news to Democrats, as Chiles will probably siphon votes away from state CFO Alex Sink (D), who already was facing an uphill battle against likely GOP nominee Attorney General Bill McCollum.

IA-Gov: Former Gov. Terry Branstad's (R) prospects still look pretty good in the general election against incumbent Gov. Chet Culver (D). A PPP poll has him up 15 points over Culver, 52% to 37%. But Branstad still has to get through the Republican primary, which has become more competitive that expected. Evangelical leader James Dobson just threw his support behind Branstad's chief rival, businessman and activist Bob Vander Plaats (R). GOP voters will choose their nominee on Tuesday.

MI-Gov: A lot of polls today. This one, from EPIC-MRA, shows Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R) leading the pack in the GOP gubernatorial primary. Hoekstra takes 30%, compared with 18% for Attorney General Mix Cox, 17% for businessman Rick Snyder (who is thought to be the strongest general election candidate), and 16% for Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. On the Democratic side it still looks pretty close, with state House Speaker Andy Dillon (D) leading Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero (D) 29% to 23%.

NV-Gov: That same Suffolk poll also tested the GOP gubernatorial primary, between former federal judge Brian Sandoval, incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons, and North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montadon. The poll finds Sandoval with a 22-point lead over Gibbons, 47% to 25%. Montadon comes away with 10%. The primary is on Tuesday.

SC-Gov: Oy vey. Another man has come forward and claimed that he had an "inappropriate sexual encounter" with gubernatorial hopeful state Rep. Nikki Haley (R). Instead of a blogger this time, it's a campaign aide to one of Haley's rivals, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R). Haley has once again denied the allegations and accused Bauer of being behind this 11th hour attack. Whether these claims actually have merit or are just despicable campaign tactics, the story might start to stick with South Carolina GOP voters. We'll see if it affects their votes come Tuesday--but somehow I think it won't.

HI-01: Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who is running for governor, is the latest Hawaii Democrat to endorse state Sen. President Colleen Hanabusa (D) in the Democratic primary for his old seat. Since former Rep. Ed Case (D) decided not to make a run for the nomination, Hanabusa has turned into the presumptive nominee to take on Rep. Charles Djou (R) in November.