ARIZONA: Now Ron Barber says he’s not sure if he’d vote for Nancy Pelosi.
FLORIDA: Here’s a lede: “The world’s greatest deliberative body faces monumental decisions on issues ranging from crushing debt to nukes in Iran. But U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is more likely to be seen fighting monster snakes,” the Miami Herald writes. During 12 years in the Senate, the Florida Democrat has maintained a tight focus on the state, rarely missing an opportunity to exploit headlines or take up populist causes, whether sounding alarms over Burmese pythons in the Everglades or Chinese drywall or demanding pensions for ex-Negro League ballplayers in Tampa.”
INDIANA: Lugar won’t campaign for Mourdock.
MICHIGAN: Roll Call
OHIO: Stu Rothenberg was impressed with Josh Mandel, but not enough to think he’ll win the Senate race. “Mandel probably needs Romney to carry the state in the presidential race and Buckeye State voters to view the Senate contest as a referendum on an Obama-Brown tandem if the young Republican is going to defeat the incumbent,” he writes.
PENNSYLVANIA: A big potential issue… “Amid the complexities of Pennsylvania's new voter identification law, the news release sent out from Harrisburg on Wednesday promised to make things simpler,” the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “The Corbett administration was announcing it had worked out a way for PennDot to check with the state Health Department to verify state birth records - a ‘simplified method to obtain photo ID for Pennsylvania-born voters,’ said the headline on the Department of State release. It may be simplified, but it still isn't simple.”
TEXAS: The Texas Tribune breaks down each race today, including the GOP Senate primary: “After nine years as Texas' lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst can point to major conservative victories, with the passage of dozens of major bills. But critics say that when push came to shove, he often avoided tough negotiations. You might come to believe that Ted Cruz, the former state solicitor general, is the reason the stone monument to the Ten Commandments is still standing near the northwest corner of the Texas Capitol. It's not so.”
The Austin American Statesman: “In a Republican race for an open U.S. Senate seat, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst faces former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former ESPN football analyst Craig James in a primary notable for its often negative tone and fluctuating poll results.”
Smart Politics: “Nearly 40 percent of Lone Star State Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate have gone to a runoff since 1916 with the second place candidate winning in more than half of the runoff elections.”
