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Today, the Wrap wears green, because it is Hell to get pinched that many times....

THE U.S. SENATE

CA-Sen: Rasmussen Sees Tight Re-Election Race for Boxer
Is the Senate race in the Golden State tightening? The folks at Rasmussen seem to think so. They have Barbara Boxer leading former Congressman Tom Campbell by just a pair of points (43-41), while more conservative candidates Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore trail by just six points (46-40). When DK polled this race last week, Campbell came closest at four points (not terribly different from Ras), while Fiorina and DeVore were further behind.

CO-Sen: Caucus Wins for the Underdogs in Senate Battles
It plays only a tangential role in determining the nominees, but the perceived underdogs on both sides of the partisan coin in the competitive Senate race in Colorado can crow a little bit about strong performances in last night's caucuses in the state. On the Dem side, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff scored a win in the high single digits (51-42) over appointed incumbent Senator Michael Bennet. On the GOP side, establishment choice Jane Norton finished in a dead heat with the lesser-known Ken Buck, who seems to be running at Norton from the right.

NC-Sen: Burr Still Looking Mediocre, According to Local Boys PPP
It would seem that it is now safe to say that Republican Senator Richard Burr is the most vulnerable GOPer running for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Burr's poll numbers have been mediocre (according to everyone except Rasmussen), and the new numbers from PPP (PDF file) confirm that. Burr leads Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall by just five points (41-36). His leads over both Cal Cunningham and Ken Lewis are a touch wider, though he is still well under the 50% threshold (43-32 against both of them). PPP also polled the primaries, and they had it close to a toss-up between Marshall (20%) and Cunningham (16%) on the Democratic side, with Lewis not far behind (11%). Burr, meanwhile, easily leads the GOP side with 58% of the vote.

NY-Sen: Gillibrand Lands Another (Second-Tier) Challenger
When your biggest claim to fame is that your daughter has an affiliation with American Idol, that might not say much for your political career (ahem...Scott Brown excepted, of course). Idol judge Kara's father, Joseph DioGuardi, has announced he will challenge Gillibrand this year. DioGuardi was a Congressman in Westchester County, New York over two decades ago and was last seen running dead last in his efforts to get the GOP nomination against John Hall in the 19th district two years ago.

THE U.S. HOUSE

NY-13: Unions Put Serious Electoral Pressure on Wavering Dem
If you were wondering if the unions were serious about playing hardball with recalcitrant Democrats on the health care front, wonder no more. Check out this ad, which was set to run this morning in the Staten Island Advance, pressuring McMahon to vote "yes" on the reform package.

SD-AL: Is HCR Going To Lead To High-Profile Primary?
Here was a most intriguing headline yesterday from the folks at CNN: apparently former Obama campaign veteran Steve Hildebrand is none too pleased with the voting habits of the state's Democratic Congresswoman, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin. How displeased is he? He is contemplating a primary challenge to the fourth-term incumbent.

THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES

CA-Gov: Pair of Polls Have Brown-Whitman As A Pure Toss-Up
As you well know, we here at DK polled the Golden State last week, and found a very close race between Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman in the batttle for Governor of California. With the inclusion of the two polls released today by Rasmussen and the venerable Field Poll, it is safe to conclude that this race is a pure toss-up. The Field Poll says that Whitman's nearly incessant advertising has paid off (PDF file). Field gives Whitman a three-point edge over Brown (46-43). Brown, for what its worth, is drubbing the other GOPer in the field, Steve Poizner (49-32). Meanwhile, Rasmussen actually has Brown in better shape than the Field Poll, showing the two candidates deadlocked at 40.

NY-Gov: Is NY GOP Relying on a Dem To Be Their Standard Bearer?
Andrew Cuomo's status as the undisputed frontrunner to replace fellow Democrat David Paterson as the Empire State's Governor (he leads former GOP Congressman Rick Lazio by a better than 2-to-1 margin) has the GOP scrambling in a unique direction. They are apparently romancing Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, and Levy is very actively embracing the overtures. According to the Albany Times-Union, Levy penned a letter to state GOP leaders asking for their endorsement. Here is a potential snag, however: Jessica Taylor of Politico is reporting that the RNC is threatening to withhold any outside assistance in the race if Levy is the party's standard bearer.

2010 Elections: Ballot Box Lays Down Some Early Analysis
Worth a read: Josh Goodman at Ballot Box, the elections blog for Governing Magazine, has been laying down some early predictive analysis of the gubernatorial elections in 2010.