Anthony Weiner’s New York City mayoral campaign “insisted it’s too soon to talk about strategy nearly three weeks into the ex-congressman’s comeback race. But the campaign’s carefully-curated stops, which typically number fewer than his rivals–might also reveal something about the polling that convinced him to jump into the race in the first place,” Politicker reports.

“Voter research conducted by one rival campaign revealed an interesting finding: that black voters seemed to be more forgiving of Mr. Weiner’s online dalliances than other groups.”

Beth Reinhard:
“Business leaders in Virginia aren’t thrilled with their choices for
governor, but Democrat Terry McAuliffe is beginning to capitalize on
their dissatisfaction with the deeply conservative tenor of the
Republican ticket. McAuliffe has raised substantially more money than
Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli from nearly every business
sector except for the energy industry, according to an analysis by the
non-partisan Virginia Public Access Project. A handful of McDonnell’s
top donors in the business world are still on the sidelines or have
donated to McAuliffe.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) “plans to drive his Chevrolet Impala to the State Board of Elections building in Trenton to deliver petitions to get on the Aug. 16 Democratic primary ballot for the Senate seat vacated by the death last week of Sen. Frank Lautenberg,” the New York Times reports.

“The gesture has a clear intent: to draw a sharp contrast between Mr. Pallone’s working-Joe persona and the presumed front-runner in the Democratic primary contest, Cory Booker, the celebrity mayor of Newark, who declared his candidacy on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D) tonight became the fourth major Democrat to throw herself into the race for U.S. Senate, according to the Newark Star Ledger.

Despite all other public polling showing Rep. Ed Markey (D) solidly ahead of Gabriel Gomez (R) in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election, a new McLaughlin (R) poll finds Markey leading Gomez by just one point, 45% to 44%.

BuzzFeed: “Cory Booker may be a Democratic Party star; he may have a 40-point lead over rivals in the polls; he may have 1.4 million followers on Twitter and a name familiar to every voter up and down the Garden State and across much of the country — but the special election for U.S. Senate this fall isn’t his for the taking.”

“New Jersey Democrats involved in and following the race to fill the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg say the Newark mayor is the clear favorite, but that his opponents will work to expose a number of weak points in his narrative to take down the national political celebrity.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Massachusetts finds Rep. Ed Markey (D) leading Gabriel Gomez (R) by eight points in their special U.S. Senate race, 47% to 39%.

A new University of Massachusetts at Amherst poll finds Markey with an 11-point lead, 51% to 40%.

“Were you raising your hand or flirting with me?”

— Anthony Weiner, quoted by Politicker, noting the “off-the-cuff comment drew laughter — if slightly uncomfortable — from the largely positive crowd.”

First Read: “Make no mistake: Appointing a caretaker like Chiesa wasn’t Christie’s first choice, but he had no choice after announcing that the Senate election would take place in October. (If you’re a Republican, you’d rather want to run alongside Christie in November, or wait until 2014.) But here’s perhaps the biggest story out New Jersey this week: No one has been more helped by this entire process than Cory Booker. Quick Democratic primary? Check. Two Democratic congressmen who are also running (Pallone and Holt) that might split the anti-Booker vote? Check. October general election? Check. On paper, Booker’s election is starting to look like a slam dunk.”

Terry McAuliffe (D) “has been trying to build an Obama-style, technologically savvy, grassroots campaign to crank out voters who helped the president carry the state twice but don’t normally vote in gubernatorial elections,” National Journal reports.

“The November vote will be the first statewide election since the 2012 vote to test whether the Obama campaign model can be applied to candidates other than the president.”

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Gabriel Gomez (R) “clashed in their first debate in Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election Wednesday, sparring on abortion, national security and gun issues. A recurring theme of the one-hour matchup at the WBZ-TV studios was Gomez’s claim that Markey is representative of old-style Washington politics while Markey suggested that Gomez would be another Republican vote for gridlock in Congress,” the Boston Globe reports.

Jim O’Sullivan notes the awkwardness of both candidates: “Neither Gomez nor Markey demonstrated himself as a forceful, effective debater, in line with expectations for many who observed the Republican and Democratic primary debates.”

Missouri state Rep. Jason Smith (R) easily won Tuesday’s special election for the vacant 8th Congressional district seat in southeastern Missouri, beating fellow state Rep. Steve Hodges (D) by a more than 2-to-1 ratio, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Smith said in an election night interview that he planned to fly to Washington today with the hope of quickly taking the oath of office: “We’ve been without representation in the 8th District the last 134 days, and I’m going to stay up there until the speaker of the House will swear me in.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) intends to run for the U.S. Senate seat opened by the death of Frank Lautenberg, three sources with knowledge of the congressman’s thinking told the Newark Star-Ledger.

“Pallone has long harbored interest in running for the U.S. Senate and said as much this year, even though Newark Mayor Cory Booker has led in polls of potential candidates and is the favorite of many top Democrats. One drawback would have been Pallone having to give up his House seat that he’s held for 25 years. But since Christie has bumped the election up to 2013, Pallone can run for Senate without having to worry about giving up that seat.”

“I don’t know the cost for the special election and I don’t care.”

— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), announcing a special U.S. Senate election that falls just weeks ahead of the November gubernatorial election.

[Read more…]

National Journal: “Republicans are fuming over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to hold an early special election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, with several Washington-based operatives suggesting he’s looking out for his own interests over helping the GOP regain a Senate majority. The decision to hold a separate special election in October 2013 — just two weeks before his own election — would give any interested Republican candidates little time to announce, organize a campaign, and raise the necessary money to take on a top-tier Democrat, likely Newark Mayor Cory Booker.”

“The governor’s decision, along with growing GOP expectations that his
appointee will be a placeholder, means that what could have been an
outside chance at a GOP pickup now looks like a long-shot.”

Said one senior GOP official: “I think this ends his 2016 chances. It’s year after year with this guy.”

A new New England College poll in Massachusetts shows Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) with a double-digit lead over Gabriel Gomez (R) in this month’s special U.S. Senate election, 52% to 40%.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said he would call for a special election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on October 16, 2013.

He will make an interim appointment to fill the seat soon.

Terry McAuliffe (D) has a nearly 2-to-1 edge in campaign cash on hand at the end of May over rival Ken Cuccinelli (R) in their head-to-head sprint to November’s bellwether gubernatorial election in swing state Virginia, the AP reports.

New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) said the special election to fill Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) seat should be held in November, at the same time voters cast ballots for governor, the Newark Star Ledger reports.

He “acknowledged there is some conflict between state laws governing how senate seats are filled before a term expires, but the governor must defer to giving voters the option at the earliest moment.”

Said Sweeney: “It needs to be happen in November. I know there is some conflicting information, but you cannot disenfranchise voters for 17 or 18 months.”

If Christie ignores his advice, Sweeney said, “We’ll take it to court.”

The Week: Christie faces a huge decision.