Senate 2010: Florida

The DSCC launches a new ad attacking Crist. Crist hasn't announced that he will be running for the senate seat although most reports seem to imply this will happen as soon as the legislative session in Florida is over.



Crist is very popular in Florida but a couple of the criticisms lobbed in this ad could be very effective -- that Crist is abandoning the job (and the state) when the times got tough and his lax schedule.

Specter Switches

Sen. Arlen Specter from PA announced today that he was switching parties.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter is switching parties so he can run in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, abandoning his party because he does not want to be "judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."

Specter, in a Tuesday afternoon statement, said he knows his supporters will be disappointed but says he is "willing to take all comers" in his Senate race. President Obama called Specter this morning when he heard the news and told the Pennsylvania senator that he's "thrilled" to have Specter on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Sen. Bennet

The Washington Post has an interesting piece on Colorado's newest senator.

He gave up $5 million in unvested stock and a job in finance for the low-paying, high-stress position of chief of staff to Hickenlooper. He left that post to take the helm of an urban school district. Throughout his working life, Bennet has zigged and zagged between seemingly unrelated jobs for which he had no prior experience. And in each case, he left with a measure of success...

Senate 2010: MO, FL

Missouri:
Sen. Kit Bond, the senior Republican from Missouri who sits on powerful Senate committees, announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection in 2010, giving Democrats a shot to pick up a seat in a state that has emerged as a major battleground.

The announcement is a blow to Senate Republicans who now will have at least four of their incumbents seeking retirement at the end of the session, a sign that 2010 could be another tough cycle for the weakened GOP minority.

Florida:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) announced Tuesday that he will not seek the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (R).Bush, the brother of the current president and the son of the 41st commander in chief, was thought to be perhaps the one GOP candidate who could clear the primary field for the open seat.

Senator Bush?

CQ Politics:

The Tampa Tribune reports that former Gov. Jeb Bush is leaning toward seeking the Republican Senate nomination in 2010. Friends and political associates say Bush has been deluged by Republicans urging him to run, including his brother President George W. Bush. At a White House Christmas party Thursday, “the president was just effusively promoting it to all the Floridians, and so was Laura,” said accountant and GOP financial consultant Nancy Watkins of Tampa. “He was saying, ‘We’ve gotta get Jeb going for the Senate’.” The seat came open when GOP Sen. Mel Martinez said he wouldn’t seek a second term.

Senate Briefs

Florida: Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) will not seek reelection for a second term in 2010. Former Gov. Jeb Bush has been mentioned as a possible contender for the seat. Florida CFO Alex Sink, who was mentioned as a possible challenger to Martinez, had indicated that she will not seek the senate seat even before Martinez announced his decision. Mark Halpernin reports that Martinez may not serve out his term, allowing Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) to name his replacement. The person replacing Martinez would most likely get a head start over potential challengers in 2010.

Alaska: Sen. Lisa Murkowski has some tough words for Palin.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sent a sharp message to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), according to the Politico: "If you want to make a run at the White House, keep your hands off my Senate seat."

Said Murkowski: "I can guarantee it would be a very tough election... If she wants to be president, I don't think the way to the presidency is a short stop in the United States Senate."

New York: Bill Clinton will not seek Hillary's seat. Here's a list of possible replacements for Sen. Clinton's seat.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) is the consensus strongest pick for the post, not least because he is thought to be a strong opponent for Paterson in two years. Paterson ascended to the seat earlier this year after a prostitution scandal forced Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) out.

Also thought to be near the top of the list are Democratic Reps. Nydia Velazquez, Kirsten Gillibrand, Brian Higgins, Nita Lowey, Gregory Meeks and Steve Israel, along with Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his cousin, Caroline Kennedy, also are being mentioned.

Paterson faces a difficult balancing act in a state with many powerful Democratic sects and an executive branch dominated by white men from New York City.

Gillibrand, Higgins and Brown could help mollify up-staters hoping for one of their own; Velazquez or Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. would give Hispanics a senator; and Meeks would be the only African-American in the Senate, pending a potential black successor to Obama.