GEORGIA: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Political rookie Michelle Nunn is about to underline her status as the leading Democratic candidate in Georgia’s race for U.S. Senate with an eye-popping $1.7 million raised in the first three months of her campaign....She's on a path to outraise every Republican in the contest."
KANSAS: Kansas City Star: "U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas now has a tea party opponent. Leawood radiologist Milton Wolf, 42, announced Tuesday evening that he will oppose the veteran lawmaker in next year’s Republican primary. Wolf — a cousin of President Barack Obama — is well known among conservatives and tea party activists. He has been mentioned on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, has appeared on various Fox News programs and writes a conservative-leaning column."
KENTUCKY: Lexington Herald-Leader: "If the Supreme Court decides with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell on a campaign finance case that was argued Tuesday, Kentuckians could be overwhelmed next year as donor floodgates are opened. McConnell, a longtime warrior against campaign finance reform, was allowed by the court, in a rare move, to include his lawyer's efforts in McCutcheon vs. FEC, which could invalidate previous campaign finance laws and allow unlimited donations to parties and campaign committees."
NEW JERSEY: Chris Christie flirted with the idea of running for president in 2016 during a debate for governor last night: “Listen, my mother told me a long time ago that [you] do the job you have at the moment the best you possibly can and your future will take care of itself,” he said. “The fact is, people have been talking about me running for president in this state since 2010. They all thought I was gonna do it in 2012. I said I wouldn’t, and I didn’t.” He added, “And the fact is, after 2017, I’m gonna be looking for a new job anyway” and that he wouldn’t “make any decisions until I have to.”
The Star Ledger: “Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic challenger Barbara Buono clashed sharply tonight on everything from unemployment to gay marriage to Hurricane Sandy in a contentious first televised debate.” Christie blamed the state’s higher-than-the-national-average unemployment rate on the economy Corzine left him. Buono retorted: "You have to man up. You have been in office for four years."
VIRGINIA: Terry McAuliffe (D) and Ken Cuccinelli (R) appeared together at an event in Northern Virginia. The Washington Post: “The federal government shutdown continued to reverberate across the Potomac River in the Virginia governor’s race Sunday as businessman Terry McAuliffe pointedly called on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II to denounce the shutdown and one of its key architects, Sen. Ted Cruz.”
Another Post story: “The federal government shutdown seems to be substantially hurting Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli as Election Day draws closer.”
The Daily Press: “Prior to the Oct. 1 shutdown, Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was leading Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli by five percentage points in a Hampton University poll and seven points in a poll conducted by the University of Mary Washington. In the first post-shutdown poll, which Christopher Newport University in Newport News released Tuesday, McAuliffe led Cuccinelli 47 percent to 38 percent among likely voters — nine percentage points.”
A University of Mary Washington poll last week had McAuliffe up 42%-35%.