Monday's campaign round-up
Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* In Massachusetts' U.S. Senate special election, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) boasted last week that Gabriel Gomez may be key in the Republican Party's drive to take back the Senate. This is, of course, exactly what Massachusetts Democrats hoped McConnell would say.
Watch on YouTube* On a related note, Gomez is not only failing to disclose his 2005 tax returns; he's also refusing to disclose his clients from his career at a private equity firm.
* It's generated very little attention, largely because the result is a foregone conclusion, but there's a congressional special election in Missouri tomorrow, with a race to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R). Speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House of Representatives, Jason Smith, is expected to easily defeat state Rep. Steve Hodges (D).
* In Florida, former Gov. Charlie Crist, gearing up for a likely gubernatorial campaign in 2014, has spoken in recent weeks "with multiple national political consultants" about assembling a campaign team. Crist, formerly a moderate Republican, is now a Democrat.
* In Virginia, the controversies surrounding Gov. Bob "Ultrasound" McDonnell (R) got a little worse this morning with a Washington Post report that his wife "was paid $36,000 last year to attend a handful of meetings as a consultant to the philanthropic arm of one of the state's major coal companies."
* On a related note, though McDonnell has expressed an interest in national office, most of his constituents believe he should not launch a White House bid.
* Michigan's U.S. Senate race got a little more interesting this morning when Terri Lynn Land, a former secretary of state and current Republican National Committee member, kicked off her campaign.
* And in Nebraska, where Republicans have struggled to recruit a top-tier candidate, former state Treasurer Shane Osborne became the first GOP candidate to enter the race.
