Wednesday Must-Reads: Election Trickle

A few votes at a time, we’re getting closer to having a complete Congress. In Minnesota, after counting the newly opened ballots, Al Franken is now up by 312 votes, though Gov. Tim Pawlenty says appeals could continue for at least a few months. And in the daily see-saw of NY-20, Republican Tedisco is now up by 17. At least it’s now official that Democrat Mike Quigley will replace Rahm Emmanuel in Congress—though that win was so predictable that even Rahm forgot to vote. Big news in other quarters is the Vermont legislature’s vote to legalize same-sex marriage. That, along with the Iowa court decision, has launched a new advertising campaign in what I’ll call “same-sex battleground states” that argues same-sex marriage will affect traditional marriage as well. (Tangentially related, for those interested in advocacy campaigns: sometime Campaign Insider Colin Delany lists some effective advocacy websites.) In other developing races: Democrats have launched what Republicans call a “shadow front group,” Common Sense Virginia, that can campaign against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell even as the Democratic primary candidates bicker amongst themselves. In Illinois, state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has raised an impressive $1 million in less than a month, establishing himself as a frontrunner in the 2010 race for Sen. Roland Burris’s seat. Up in Pennsylvania, Sen. Arlen Specter’s attacks on primary opponent Pat Toomey continues as he compares the former representative to ‘those AIG guys.’ But really his more valid point is that a Toomey win in the primary all but guarantees another Democrat in the Senate. Finally, in Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning has Chris Dodd-like numbers, as his approval rating is 28 percent and he trails all Democratic contenders.