Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) seemed a little defensive this morning when asked why he scheduled a U.S. Senate special election for a Wednesday in October. "I didn't pick when Sen. Lautenberg passed away," Christie told MSNBC. That may be true, but it's not the point -- the governor could have scheduled the race to coincide with statewide elections in November.
* Though E.W. Jackson, Virginia Republicans' candidate for lieutenant governor, had tried to distance himself from some of the unhinged comments from his recent past, Jackson yesterday told Bryan Fischer he stands by his anti-gay rhetoric and his comparisons of Planned Parenthood and the KKK.
* In Florida, a new Quinnipiac poll offers some good news and some bad news for Gov. Rick Scott (R). The good news is, his approval rating is 43%, which is an all-time high for the troubled incumbent. The bad news is, in a hypothetical matchup against former Gov. Charlie Crist, Scott trails by 10 points.
* In Alaska, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is poised to kick off a U.S. Senate campaign, and will face right-wing activist Joe Miller in a Republican primary. The winner will face incumbent Sen. Mark Begich (D) in 2014.
* Don Berwick, a leading health care policy wonk who ran Medicare and Medicaid in President Obama's first term, is launching a gubernatorial campaign in Massachusetts. Berwick joins a Democratic field that's expected to be quite crowded.
* In North Carolina, Public Policy Polling shows Gov. Pat McCrory's (R) approval rating steadily dropping in recent months, now standing at 45%.
* In Montana, it now appears it's not a question of whether former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) will launch a U.S. Senate campaign, but when.