PA-Sen:  Specter (D) was running strong against Democratic primary challenger Joe Sestak (D).  Specter had a 20 point lead not too long ago.  No more. The daily Muhlenberg College tracking poll of the Pennsylvania Senate race showed Sestak tied with Specter at 43 percent Friday after trailing the senator by…

IL-Sen:  Alexi Giannoulias (D) was running neck and neck with Congressman Mark Kirk (R) in the race to win Obama’s Senate seat.  But Giannoulias is from a banking family.  The bank his family owns recently failed.  That event is all over the Illinois press.  Kirk is taking advantage of that…

PA-Sen:  Incumbent Arlen Specter, who switched from R to D last year, was ahead of primary challenger and Congressman Joe Sestak by 20 points.  Sestak had a shot, but Specter was doing well. Now, Quinnipiac has Sestak within single digits, 47 to 39%.  Other pollsters also have the race within…

The anti-incumbent fever cuts both ways, and some incumbent Republicans felt it yesterday.  However, Dems are most at risk, ultimately, from dissatisfaction.  It was primary day in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina yesterday. IN-Sen:  Former Indiana Senator Dan Coats won the Republican primary to replace retiring Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)…

Libertarians are generally portrayed as a subset of Republicans.  Indeed, Ron Paul is a prominent libertarian and Republican.   This recent poll however, shows that Republicans are the most negative towards libertarians and Independents are the most positive.  With Democrats in the middle. On balance, Republicans view "libertarian" negatively, Democrats are…

PA-12:  The Republicans have a very good chance to pick up the late Congressman John Murtha’s seat.  Research 2000 found the following. Mark Critz (D): 40 Tim Burns (R): 46 Undecided: 14

PA-15:  Early poll. Incumbent Republican Charlie Dent holds a 12-point lead over Democrat John Callahan… 43-31%… .

PA-Sen:  Former Club for Growth chief Pat Toomey (R) substantially outraised Arlen Specter (D)  in the first fundraising quarter of this year.  Toomey raised $2.3M to Specter’s $1.1M. In other fundraising news… in districts we follow a bit more than most: CO-04:  Incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey raised more money than…

The following letter from Colorado Senate Candidate, Andrew Romanoff, was sent to Dave Anderson, member of the CPA Colorado Chapter.

"Dear David,

Yesterday, I toured the plant of Springs Fabrication, Inc., in Colorado Springs — a success story in an industry that has too few.  American manufacturers and the jobs they produce will continue to disappear unless and until we retool our trade policy.

Thirty-five years ago, the United States exported more goods and services than we imported.  That was the last time our nation ran a trade surplus.

CO-Sen:  Incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet is facing a strong primary challenge from Andrew Romanoff.  Romanoff has strong party and voter support, though less money than Bennet.  Bennet will skip the Colorado Dem convention, working to get enough petitions to get him on the ballot. Leading Republican candidate Jane Norton…