State by State

Colorado

Rep. Mark Udall (D) has some new help in his fight against Republican Bob Schaffer for Colorado’s vacant Senate seat.

Udall’s campaign confirmed Tuesday that Mike Stratton, a prominent Colorado Democratic strategist, has signed on as a paid adviser.

Stratton has been involved in both of the last two Senate campaigns in Colorado, unsuccessfully in the case of Tom Strickland in 2002 and successfully in the case of Ken Salazar in 2004. Strickland lost to Sen. Wayne Allard (R), whose retirement this year opened the seat. Salazar beat beer executive Pete Coors.

This cycle, Stratton started out as a senior adviser to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign, where he spent a lot of time organizing in Nevada. Richardson dropped out without getting that far, and two days before the caucus, Stratton jumped to the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

As a member of a Democratic Party commission on early nominating contests, Stratton had pushed for Nevada to get the early caucus.

— Mike Soraghan

Kansas

President Bush will make a visit to raise money with congressional candidate Nick Jordan later this month, The Kansas City Star reported Monday.

The state GOP announced a lunch on May 29 at a private home in Bucyrus, Kan., the Star reported.

Jordan is running for Rep. Dennis Moore’s (D) seat, a frequent GOP target that has proven elusive. Jordan, a state senator, is considered a top Republican recruit.

The White House said it has not announced the president’s schedule for late May yet.

— Aaron Blake

Kentucky

The latest poll in the Democratic Senate primary indicates businessman Greg Fischer might have topped out in his quest to upset former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford.

With a week to go before their May 20 contest, Lunsford led Fischer 41-23 in a SurveyUSA poll released Tuesday.

The weekly tracking poll has shown Fischer inching up toward Lunsford for weeks, but the latest poll showed Fischer ticking up just one point and Lunsford staying steady at 41 percent, versus a week ago.

Just 22 percent of 595 likely voters said they might change their mind before Tuesday’s election.

— A.B.

Maine

The Business-Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC), a group of companies that support business-friendly candidates, endorsed its first Democrat of the cycle Tuesday in Maine 1st district congressional candidate Adam Cote.

Cote is one of several Democratic candidates competing to replace Rep. Tom Allen, himself a Democrat. Allen is leaving the House to run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Susan Collins.

Even with Allen’s departure, Democrats dominate the 1st district and are expected to retain the seat easily.
Gregory Casey, president and CEO of BIPAC, said Cote would “work to promote sound business policies.”

“He is the clear choice in a hotly contested Democratic primary,” Casey said.

BIPAC targets its donations to business-friendly candidates who face tough races. It has traditionally given more money to Republicans. The group has now endorsed five candidates, with the first four being Republicans.

— Jim Snyder

Oregon

Kevin Mannix, a Republican vying for retiring Rep. Darlene Hooley’s (D) seat, sent a letter to voters Monday alleging that primary rival Mike Erickson impregnated a woman eight years ago and then paid for her to have an abortion.

Mannix, in his letter, cites as evidence for the abortion a 2006 e-mail that appears to be sent by a friend of the woman.

“Rarely have I been confronted with such a difficult decision as to whether to proceed with something of this nature,” Mannix writes in his mailing. “But what is on the line here is the character of the person who will represent you in Congress.”

After the letter was sent, the woman told The (Portland) Oregonian that Erickson drove her to the abortion clinic, stopping en route to withdraw $300 to pay for the procedure.

Erickson, who has campaigned as a pro-life candidate, strongly denied the charges in a statement, The Oregonian reported. The two will meet Tuesday for the right to run in the general election in a swing district.

“These false allegations are exactly the kind of politics that people want changed, and the kind of desperate smear that Kevin Mannix resorts to,” Erickson’s statement reads.

“These unsubstantiated and untrue allegations are from an e-mail from 2006 that no news media reported at the time. They are just as untrue today as they were then.”

— Walter Alarkon

A pair of polls on the upcoming Democratic Senate primary show a close race between activist Steve Novick and state Rep. Jeff Merkley, with lots of undecided voters.

A SurveyUSA poll released late Monday showed Merkley leading in a 31-27 statistical tie, while an independent poll by local pollster Davis, Hibbitts and Midghall Inc. on Tuesday showed Novick leading 29-23.

Both polls were conducted since May 8, with the SurveyUSA automated poll surveying 615 likely voters and the latter poll surveying 400 likely voters.

The SurveyUSA poll showed peace activist Candy Neville at 11 percent and 30 percent voting other or undecided, while the second poll had her at 3 percent, with 43 percent undecided.

The primary will be held Tuesday.

A Rasmussen poll from this weekend showed both candidates giving Sen. Gordon Smith (R) a tough race. Merkley was statistically tied, trailing 45-42, while Novick trailed 47-41.

— A.B.