Shea-Porter Will Not Run for the Senate in 2010

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) will not challenge New Hampshire's other representative in a primary for the 2010 Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH). Her decision clears the way for Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) to have the whole party behind him. New Hampshire is turning blue very quickly and the Republicans don't have a candidate yet, although former senator John Sununu might try to get back in. But considering that he was fired by the voters last November, it will be an uphill climb for him. New Hampshire is probably the Democrats' best pickup opportunity now, although Pennsylvania and Missouri are close behind. Ohio is a tossup and if Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) decides to run for reelection as governor, so is Florida.

Simmons Will Challenge Dodd in Connecticut

Former congressman Rob Simmons (R) will challenge Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) in 2010. Normally a five-term Democratic senator from a blue state would be considered invincible, but Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Simmons will no doubt try to blame the highly unpopular bank bailout on him. On the other hand, the Democrats are already tying Simmons to George Bush, saying he is no moderate but was a strong supporter of the economic policies that got us into this mess in the first place. Another problem Simmons will have is that while ordinary voters may not be so keen on Dodd, the banks would rather deal with the devil they know rather than a new devil, so they will pump money into his campaign like there is no tomorrow. Thus Simmons will be dealing with a Democrat with universal name recognition and loads of money in a blue state. It is not impossible for Republicans to win statewide in Connecticut--Gov. Jodi Rell is a Republican--but it will be a tough slog, despite one initial poll showing it to be a close race. But these early polls don't mean much. On the other hand, this announcement may cause Dodd to turn the screws on the banks a lot tighter to show the voters he is no pushover.

Tedisco Would Have Voted "No" on the Stimulus

The Republican candidate for the NY-20 House seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand when she was appointed to the Senate, Jim Tedisco, has now said he would have voted against the stimulus bill. Since most voters approve of the bill, toeing the party line like this is probably going to cost him votes in what is becoming a close race against businessman Scott Murphy (D).

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