A new U-T San Diego/10News poll in San Diego finds the two-month sprint to become San Diego’s next mayor begins in a statistical dead heat with Kevin Faulconer (R) just edging David Alvarez (D), 47% to 46%, among likely voters.

Republicans “are so giddy about the prospect of winning” Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (R-LA) seat “that their main problem is too many of them are trying to do so,” the New York Times reports.

“As Democrats look across the rest of the South, the outlook does not get much better. Ms. Landrieu, along with Senators Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Kay Hagan of North Carolina, is pretty much all that is left of Southern Democrats in the Senate.”

“All three are up for re-election next year. And the outcome of their races could determine whether the Southern Democrat, once a formidable species in the Senate, is headed for extinction.”

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) “is the only Republican governor whose state is both running its own health insurance exchange this year and expanding its Medicaid program under the health law. He’s arguably doing more to put the Democrats’ signature law into place than any other Republican,” Politico reports.

“But in fully implementing Obamacare, Sandoval faces a double-edged sword: He’s helping bring health care coverage to a state with the second highest uninsured rate in the country, while he may be hurting his national ambitions because he’s not actively blocking the president’s law.”

Former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie told Politico that is considering a run against Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) next year.

Said Gillespie: “It’s a very winnable race.”

“Gillespie, who has never sought public office, floated the trial balloon at The Homestead resort, where about 500 activists and party leaders are gathered for a three-day annual meeting… Virginia’s Senate race is currently not seen as competitive, but Gillespie’s entry would all-but-guarantee a real battle and could put the state on the map in 2014.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) “is again looking at another bid for the presidency, this time backed by ministers eager to put an evangelical into the White House,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Huckabee will test the waters when he returns home to Little Rock December 12-13 to address the Arkansas Renewal Project, part of evangelical organizer David Lane’s American Renewal Project… Among the potential candidates looking at a GOP bid, Huckabee is closest to the pastors. He is a social conservative who can quote the Bible as easy as former President Bill Clinton.”

“According to reports, pastors from Iowa and South Carolina–two key political states early in the GOP primary season–are meeting with Huckabee during the convention to urge him to run.”