Thursday Tidbits

Virginia: Broken record alert: yet another poll shows popular former Governor Mark Warner with a huge lead over - shall we say - less popular former Governor Jim Gilmore in their 2008 Senate race. Rasmussen Reports' latest numbers show a 20-point lead for Warner with a 57-37 margin.

Maine: Senator Frank Lautenberg will hold an endorsement event with Congressman Tom Allen today. Why is this particularly notable? Because Lautenberg was perhaps the most vocal Senator in calling for Susan Collins to hold oversight hearings on Iraq waste and mismanagement while Collins was Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Oversight, hearings that Collins seemingly never got around to holding.

Idaho: The 2008 Senate campaign of former Congressman Larry LaRocco offers an update on grassroots outreach, fundraising (including the Jon Tester event), and his new radio ad via a post on the terrific Idaho blog Red State Rebels.

New Jersey: Republican Senate candidates Joe Pennacchio and Murray Sabrin are accusing a third Republican candidate, Anne Evans Estabrook, of violating campaign finance law by hiding the amount of money she has put into her own campaign, ostensibly to avoid triggering the "Millionaire's Amendment," which would allow Estabrook's opponent to raise their contribution limits. Love those bloody GOP primaries. (HT: Blue Jersey)

Massachusetts: Republican state sen. Scott Brown, who had earlier suggested that he would consider a 2008 Senate challenge to Senator John Kerry, has instead opted to run for re-election to the Massachusetts state Senate.

Texas: State Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Noriega has released his first TV ad, highlighting his military service, accomplishments in the state Legislature, and some priorities for when he's in the Senate: