Can Donald Trump help a Jewish candidate in a tight U.S. Senate race?
Wisconsin’s voters may have rejected Senator Russ Feingold, but he still has a place in the heart of the state’s Jewish community.
Finding Jewish Candidates Where You’d Least Expect Them: Forward Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman takes us beyond the usual suspects New York in Florida and into … well, other places where Jews are running for office. Hint: think “beyond the lower 48.” (MitzVote)
Counting on Labor: Two candidates included in our Races to Watch are the subjects of negative union-backed ad campaigns: Pat Toomey for Pennsylvania senate, and Mark Kirk for Illinois senate, Republicans both. In Pennsylvania, the union will announce $2 million in campaign efforts, including a push for voter turnout for Democrat Joe Sestak. In Illinois, a union PAC is running an ad against Kirk. (YouTube via Politico’s Morning Score
By the Numbers: Senatorial polls have been looking dismal for Democrats as they’ve slid downwards. But, as Nate Silver writes, recent numbers show a slight uptick. For example: In Illinois, “a Rasmussen Reports poll now shows the Democrat, Alexi Giannoulias, with a 1-point lead; he had trailed by 4 points in their previous survey of the race.” On the other hand, Wisconsin is trending Republican, with Ron Johnson’s eight-point lead over incumbent Russ Feingold. (FiveThirtyEight on the New York Times)
POTUS, Hammering Away: While on the campaign trail, Barack Obama chided the GOP’s private donations, suggesting that some of the cash came from abroad. “Groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won’t tell you where the money for their ads come from,” he said. (The New York Times)
-Reading Rahm: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is still playing out the possibility of running to become Chicago’s first Jewish mayor. A recent poll of his own gave Rahmbo a 14-point lead against possible challengers. (NBC)