Missouri state Sen. Chuck Purgason is waging a lightly funded campaign against cash-rich Rep. Roy Blunt for the 2010 Republican nomination for Senate.

Purgason's third-quarter campaign report, which was available today in the Senate's public records office, showed that he raised just $11,035 through the end of September, spent most of it and has $1,067 left in the bank. Purgason formally organized his campaign in August.

He did get some money from two colleagues in the state legislature. Rep. Mike Dethrow gave $500 to Purgason's campaign, of which $300 came from Dethrow's campaign committee. Rep. Ward Franz gave $300 to Purgason's campaign. All three men represent parts of southern Missouri.

Democrat Beau Biden, Delaware's Attorney General, said on national television Thursday that he is "absolutely" considering a run for the Senate in 2010. But Biden also made it clear that he isn't in a rush to commit for the special election for the seat long held by his father, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Democratic officials are anxiously awaiting a decision by the younger Biden. They consider him their strongest prospect to prevent a takeover of the Senate seat by Republican Michael N. Castle, the longtime incumbent in the state's only U.S. House seat and a former governor.

Castle, after mulling a bid for months, announced his candidacy on Oct. 6.

But the younger Biden, in an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," noted that he just recently returned to Delaware after spending a year fulfilling a military obligation in Iraq, and he wants to spend some time with his family and concentrate on his duties as Attorney General before deciding on his next move.

Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada's Republican Party until Wednesday, has officially entered the field of GOP candidates seeking to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his 2010 bid for re-election.

Lowden last ran for public office as a state senator in the mid-1990s.

She announced at the beginning of September that she would be resigning her party post to pursue a possible challenge to Reid, a four-term incumbent whose central role in controversial national policy debates has spurred a dropoff in his job approval ratings at home.

In a release sent out Thursday morning, Lowden's campaign said she will file the official paperwork to become a candidate. Her statement did not take aim at Reid explicitly, but did say that Nevada's current economic woes were the product of "an unresponsive, out-of-touch federal government."

Democrat Martha Coakley, Massachusetts' Attorney General, topped $2 million in her first month of fundraising for the contest to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat.

That figure -- released Thursday, a day after the third-quarter reporting period ended -- was more than double the original goal set by Coakley's campaign. And it confirmed Coakley's status as the widely perceived front-runner for the Dec. 8 Democratic primary, which will precede the Jan. 19 special election.

Coakley is opposed in the primary by Rep. Michael E. Capuano; Stephen Pagliuca, managing director of the financial firm Bain Capital and a co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics; and Alan Khazei, co-founder of the City Year national volunteer program.

The Democratic nominee will likely be a strong favorite to win the seat in Massachusetts, one of the party's premier strongholds. The winner of the general election will succeed interim Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr., a longtime Kennedy associate and former Democratic National Committee chairman who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick and sworn in Sept. 25, exactly a month after Kennedy died of cancer.

The long-delayed campaign for Delaware's 2010 U.S. Senate special election will be jump-started soon, as Beau Biden -- the state's Attorney General and the prospective Democratic front-runner for the seat -- has returned home from a year-long tour of duty in Iraq as a captain with his state's Army National Guard .

Biden is expected to decide soon whether he is a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat long held by his father, Joseph R. Biden Jr., who in November 2008 was elected vice president even as he won a seventh Senate term in Delaware. Biden resigned the seat in January, and was replaced by Democratic appointee Ted Kaufman, a friend and longtime aide, who is not running in the special election to fill the final four years of the elder Biden's unexpired term.

The vice president appeared Wednesday afternoon at a welcome-home ceremony in Dover for 110 soldiers, including his son.

Illinois Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is getting a boost for his 2010 Senate campaign from the politically potent Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The SEIU on Thursday endorsed Giannoulias, who is a leading candidate for the seat formerly held by President Barack Obama and currently held by Democrat Roland W. Burris, who isn't running in the 2010 race.

An SEIU release praised Giannoulias, but it mostly criticized Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, who is the leading Republican candidate for the seat.

Linda McMahon's background as a pro wrestling impresario has prompted any number of jokes since last week when she launched her bid for the Republican Senate nomination in Connecticut. But it took mere days -- and a big-money campaign ad run -- to show that the first-time Republican candidate is dead serious about trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Christopher J. Dodd.

McMahon dipped into the wealth she has amassed as CEO of publicly-traded World Wrestling Entertainment to finance a seven-figure television ad buy. Her campaign has two ads running on network television in the New York City media market -- the nation's biggest and most expensive -- and across Connecticut for the next seven days.

McMahon's campaign also launched an introductory radio spot yesterday to air statewide for one week; took out full-page ads in local newspapers; sent out mailers; and has Web ads up targeting Connecticut voters.

Illinois Democrat Cheryle Jackson, a candidate for the Senate seat President Obama once held, is getting aid for her 2010 bid from the feminist political action group EMILY's List.

Jackson, who heads the Chicago Urban League, was described in an endorsement press release Thursday, as a "dynamic and charismatic leader who is hands down the best candidate to keep President Obama's former Senate seat in the Democratic column."

Jackson is a former aide to Rod R. Blagojevich when he was Illinois governor, but before he became embroiled in the corruption scandals that prompted the state legislature to remove him from office last January.

The endorsement by EMILY's List, which backs Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights, was widely expected. Jackson faces competition from three men in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary: state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias; David Hoffman, a former Chicago inspector general; and Jacob Meister, a lawyer.

Rep. Michael E. Capuano is not officially kicking off his Massachusetts Senate bid until Friday, but that didn't stop the six-term Boston Democrat from launching his TV advertising campaign.

Capuano began airing an introductory spot statewide on Thursday. The ad touts his ability to carry on the legacy of Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime incumbent whose death Aug. 25 created the vacancy.

"Only one candidate stood with Ted Kennedy against Bush's Iraq War and mirrors his progressive record," the ad begins, before reeling off a list of policies the mostly liberal Capuano supports, including a strong public health care option, abortion rights and gay marriage equality.

Capuano spokeswoman Alison Mills said the ad buy was "substantial."

Linda McMahon, the chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, announced Wednesday that she has joined the contest for the 2010 Republican Senate nomination in Connecticut.

Her entry adds a good deal of personal wealth -- and perhaps a bit of her sports marketing firm's trademark theatrical flair -- to the already crowded field of Republicans seeking to challenge Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. Suffering from a job approval slump tied to questions about his oversight of the financial industry as chairman of the Banking Committee, Dodd is more vulnerable than at any previous point in his Senate career.

McMahon, who stepped down from her CEO post to run, released a statement Wednesday touting her business experience as a key qualification for the seat. "I have spent the past 30 years growing what began as a 13-employee small business into a publicly traded, global entertainment company," she said. "I understand what it takes to balance a budget, create jobs and grow the economy."

She has run the company with her husband, Vince McMahon, a showman who long has been the public face of pro wrestling and its flamboyant mixture of sports and theater.

His poll numbers aren't great and there's a long line of Republicans eager to take him on.

How does Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid deal with that? By ignoring it, at least for now.

"Right now, I have a job to do for the people of the state of Nevada and the people of this country, and I'm doing my very best to move this agenda along," Reid said Tuesday.

"Republicans have a primary that'll be decided next June," Reid, who is running for a fifth Senate term, said Tuesday. "At last count, there are 10 Republicans involved in that primary."

"I think the people of Nevada know me very well. They know what I've done over the years, and we'll deal with the Republicans when that's necessary. Right now, that's not necessary."

Jane Norton is now officially a Republican candidate for Colorado's 2010 U.S. Senate race, in which Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet is defending the seat to which he was appointed in January.

"I'm running for the United States Senate for one simple reason: the federal government is out of control," Norton said in a video posted on her campaign Web site.

Norton, who was elected in 2002 to a four-year term as Colorado's lieutenant governor, planned formal announcement stops Tuesday in Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction.

Massachusetts Rep. Stephen F. Lynch unexpectedly took himself out of consideration for the Democrats' Senate special election nomination Tuesday, shaking up the race just as it looked like the field for the Dec. 8 primary was solidifying.

In a short statement, Lynch said he concluded that "the challenge of putting together the resources and organization necessary to wage a competitive statewide campaign in less than 90 days is insurmountable." Observers have estimated it will cost between $3 and $5 million to fund a competitive campaign.

The move was a surprise, as Lynch appeared poised to launch his bid in the primary to choose the Democratic nominee for the Jan. 19 special election, which will fill the seat left vacant by the Aug. 25 death of Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Lynch had been widely expected to run as a more moderate alternative to other, more liberal Democrats in the race.

Lynch -- who has represented the Boston-based 9th Congressional District since 2001 --obtained nomination papers from the office of Massachusetts' secretary of state Sept. 4. And he filed paperwork to form a campaign committee, Stephen F. Lynch for Senate, on Friday.

Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney, a favorite of the House Democratic leadership, has decided against running in the special election for the Senate seat left vacant by the Aug. 25 death of Democrat Edward M. Kennedy.

"A great number of people have kindly urged me to run for the United States Senate," Tierney said in a statement released Monday morning. "I have given the matter serious consideration and determined that, at this time, I can best be of service in the U.S. House of Representatives -- continuing to work to make education more affordable and accessible, to build and strengthen our nation's workforce, to enact meaningful health care reform and to ensure we have a pragmatic foreign policy."

He continued, "These and other serious matters must be addressed in the coming weeks and months and they, along with my constituents, warrant my full attention."

Elaine Marshall, North Carolina's secretary of state, announced Wednesday that she has taken the first official step to launching a bid against Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr -- giving the Democrats the top-tier challenger they have sought for one of their targeted 2010 Senate takeover bids.

Marshall filed paperwork with state officials establishing her intention to run. And Marshall campaign adviser Thomas Mills said the response in the 24 hours since has been "bigger than we thought."

"We just about couldn't handle what came in yesterday," Mills said of the donations, phone calls and e-mails pouring in to Marshall's nascent campaign. Democrats, he said, "want to have somebody to get behind against Burr."

Nevada Republicans have a new candidate seeking to challenge four-term Democrat Harry Reid, the U.S. Senate majority leader: State Sen. Mark Amodei, who hails from the state capital of Carson City in northern Nevada, formally launched his campaign Wednesday.

Amodei is a 14-year veteran of the state Assembly and Senate who cannot run again for his current office in 2010 because of Nevada's term-limit law, as noted by Las Vegas Sun political analyst Jon Ralston, who also pointed out that Amodei is one of the few Republicans from northern Nevada who has been contemplating a challenge to Reid.

Amodei indicated earlier this year that he would back a potential Senate bid by Dean Heller, the Republican who is in his second term representing the state's sprawling 2nd Congressional District. But Heller, also a Carson City resident, announced in August he is running for re-election to the House and not for the Senate in 2010, opening the door for Amodei and a number of other GOP hopefuls.

Already in the Republican primary field are Las Vegas real estate developer Danny Tarkanian, son of famed University of Nevada at Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian; former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle; doctor Robin Titus; and Reno attorney Chuck Kozak, among others.

Illinois Rep. Mark Steven Kirk -- a Republican centrist who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 -- received a campaign contribution last month from Republicans for Choice PAC, a group that assists party candidates who support abortion rights.

The $1,000 contribution was reported by the PAC in a filing Wednesday to the Federal Election Commission.

That amount is drop in the bucket next to the millions of dollars that Kirk will raise in his campaign to succeed Roland W. Burris, the appointed Democratic incumbent, who is not running for a full term in the seat that Democrat Barack Obama held when he was elected president in 2008.

Still, the contribution is a reminder of the differences on policy issues between Kirk and the handful of lesser-known but determined conservative opponents he has drawn in the Feb. 2 primary election.

And the donation wasn't unexpected, as Kirk has repeatedly gone on the record in favor of abortion rights. In June 2003, he was one of five Republicans who voted against banning a particular procedure that opponents call "partial birth" abortion. He also has voted to expand embryonic stem cell research, another position opposed by the conservative "pro-life" movement.

Jane Norton, the former lieutenant governor of Colorado, is the latest Republican to launch a challenge to appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in his 2010 bid for a full six-year term.

The Denver Post reported Tuesday that Norton, Colorado's No. 2 officeholder from 2003 to 2007, filed papers to establish a campaign committee and plans to make an official candidacy announcement next week.

Norton has set up a campaign Web site and is taking other steps to promote her candidacy online. Typing "Michael Bennet" in Google displays Norton's campaign Web site address as a "sponsored link."

While Norton's previous statewide stint likely will make her a top-tier candidate for the GOP nomination, she joins a field already crowded with six other would-be Republican challengers, who have revealed tentative or official plans to run.

Republican Rep. Peter T. King’s decision to eschew next year’s Senate special election in New York has dealt a serious — though not unexpected — blow to the GOP’s hopes of challenging appointed Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand.

The New York Daily News reported Monday that King would instead seek a 10th term in the 3rd District on Long Island. King said he reached his decision “after months of deliberation and conversations with family members and friends and advisers,” the newspaper reported.

He had, however, indicated in late June that he was likely to opt out of the Senate race.

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is not one of the Democrats' top priority targets for the 2010 campaign, if only because his home state of South Carolina leans so strongly Republican. And the challenging party's chances of ousting DeMint grew still slimmer after state Sen. C. Bradley Hutto, a leading prospective opponent, ruled out a challenge to the first-term incumbent.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Hutto would not run, quoting Phil Bailey, political director of the state Senate Democratic caucus. And a legal aide at Williams & Williams, the law firm in Orangeburg where Hutto practices, confirmed to CQ Politics on Monday that he had decided against the race.

Hutto is the second Democrat to take a pass on a challenge to DeMint, after Joe Erwin -- an advertising executive and former state Democratic party chairman -- ruled out a run in April.

Colorado Republicans are still looking for a top-tier candidate to run for the Senate next year now that former Rep. Bob Beauprez has decided against entering the race to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.

In a statement posted Monday on his website, Beauprez -- who left his House seat to run unsuccessfully for governor against Democrat Bill Ritter Jr. in 2006 -- expressed confidence that the GOP would find a strong conservative candidate. "I believe we will have a great nominee, and I believe we can and will win. It will take all of us pulling in the same direction, for the same reason," he wrote.

Former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton is expected to decide by the middle of September whether she will enter the race for the Republican nomination, The Denver Post reported last week.

"Rod Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff for communications" doesn't exactly sparkle on a job application these days -- and Illinois Democrat Cheryle Jackson's previous service to the disgraced former governor is something she has had to address as she kicks off her 2010 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Jackson, who announced Monday that she was seeking the seat held until last November by President Obama, was asked about her ties to Blagojevich during an interview Tuesday on the Don Wade & Roma radio program in Chicago. "I'm glad to get that question," she said.

Jackson said that millions of Illinois voters initially backed Blagojevich, who succeeded the scandal-plagued Republican Gov. George Ryan in the 2002 election, because they believed he would help working families and make health care more available and affordable.

"Those are things that people got excited about, and I was excited about, and that's why I went to go work for him," Jackson said. "When it became less about that, and more about the infighting ... that's not what I signed up for.

"I signed up to help families, to help people get jobs and health care. And when it became less about that, I left," she said.

Illinois Democrat Cheryle Jackson is joining the race for the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama.

Jackson, the president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, said in a statement Monday that in her current position, "I've seen first hand how empowering a job and opportunity is for all of Illinois."

"I've watched people lost in a cycle of hopelessness and underachievement, and I've seen what can happen when people have a chance to compete," she said. "We have a lot of people in pain, a lot of people anxious and worried in this nation and in our state. We need to get back to the values that made Illinois great -- change, community, and opportunity. That's what my candidacy will be about."

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., may be on recess, but she's still limiting her talking points to health care -- and not her plans for a Senate run.

Maloney was back in Washington Thursday to talk up the Democrats' health care overhaul proposals in light of a new Joint Economic Committee study showing that, under the current system, women suffer disproportionately from a lack of adequate health insurance coverage -- a subject that would no doubt play well in the liberal constituencies that make up many of New York's Democratic primary voters. But she remained mum when asked when she would launch her expected primary challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed in January to the Senate seat to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"Let's just focus on helping pass this important bill," Maloney said at a Capitol news conference about the JEC study. Asked if she intended to wait until the health care overhaul battle was complete before making a move, the nine-term congresswoman again begged off, saying only that the health care overhaul -- "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" -- remains her focus.

Both major parties' congressional campaign units make a practice of setting up joint fundraising committees. These operations share the contributions they receive between the national party organization and individual candidates who are up for election in the current cycle.

But a Democratic fundraiser held in June, from which the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) netted the lion's share of the proceeds, highlights the fact that having a joint committee usually does not mean a 50-50 split.

The event on June 15 event at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago, was headlined by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former House Democrat from Illinois. And it raised more than $600,000 for "Senate Victory 2010."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the latest member of the Democratic Party establishment to get behind appointed New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's 2010 campaign.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, joined a growing list of Gillibrand backers, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who announced his support on Thursday.

Gillibrand has been hustling to line up support from congressional colleagues and Democratic support groups in advance of an expected primary challenge by nine-term Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney. Aides to Maloney have said that she will announce in late July that she is a candidate for the 2010 special election.

New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday picked up the endorsement of the feminist group Planned Parenthood's political arm -- the latest indication that there is no summertime lull for the appointed senator as she prepares for her 2010 election contest, and the possibility of a serious Democratic primary challenge by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney.

Maloney, who is in her ninth House term representing a New York City district, is one of a number of prominent Democrats who sharply opposed the January decision by Gov. David A. Paterson to pick Gillibrand to succeed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Andy McKenna

McKenna revealed Monday that he will forgo the race, a development that could pave the way for Kirk to announce his candidacy soon.

"As party chairman, my goal has been to build party unity," McKenna said in a statement Monday. "Mark Kirk and I met last evening as part of an ongoing discussion about the U.S. Senate race. I reassured Mark that if he chooses to be a candidate, I will not oppose him."

A possible bid for the 2010 Republican Senate nomination in Kentucky certainly won't enable eye surgeon Rand Paul to rake in the mega-millions in campaign donations procured by his much better-known father -- Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul -- when he campaigned for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination on his strongly libertarian-tinged platform.

Paul's organization said it hasn't held any fundraising events, instead collecting mostly small contributions "from over 1,200 regular people who nickle and dimed their way to an impressive showing" in advance of the candidate's fundraising report for the year's second quarter, which is due to be filed by July 15.

John Hoeven

Hoeven, though, has been reticent about the possibility of a Senate bid, so even a hint that he is thinking about opposing Dorgan is bound to get attention. That happened Monday, when, according to the Associated Press, Hoeven said he might make a decision by Labor Day about whether to run for the Senate.

"I don't have any specific timeline, but that's probably a reasonable range," Hoeven told the AP while discussing the state Republican Party's efforts to recruit a challenger to Dorgan.

But when CQ Politics inquired about the remark later in the day, Hoeven's office suggested we don't read too much into it.

Steve Pearce

But the GOP will have to wait a bit longer than Pearce initially indicated. After earlier saying he would reveal a decision by the end of June, Pearce told CQ Politics Friday that he is still weighing his 2010 plans and will withhold his announcement until sometime between July 20 and July 27.

Pearce in 2008 edged then-Rep. Heather A. Wilson for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat opened up by the retirement of six-term GOP incumbent Pete V. Domenici. But Democrat Tom Udall, then the state's other U.S. House member, trounced Pearce in the general election by 61 percent to 39 percent.

Kendrick Meek

The development marks the latest in Meek's efforts to consolidate support and fend off a potential primary challenge from Rep. Corrine Brown.

"He has been battle-tested time and time again and that's the kind of leader we need" in the Senate, said Wasserman Schultz during a conference call with reporters Monday morning.

Wasserman Schultz is the vice chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in charge of retaining the party's incumbents in the 2010 elections, and Meek is one of the few House Democrats so far who is not running for re-election. That is not seen as a problem though, as he is virtually certain to be succeeded by a Democrat in the overwhelmingly Democratic, black-majority 17th District in the Miami area.

Michael Castle (Getty)

Castle was interested in becoming the ranking Republican on the Education and Labor Committee -- a post that California Republican Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon is vacating to become the top-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. But Castle said in a statement that he couldn't commit to Republican leaders that he will run for a tenth term next year in his state's at-large congressional district.

Richard Burr (Getty)

But the first-term Republican, who is seen as vulnerable to a challenge in his 2010 re-election contest, had less to say on Thursday about speculation over which Democrat will seek to take him on next year.

"We're on track with what we have planned to raise, and structurally have put the campaign together," said Burr, who reported $1.6 million in cash on hand in his campaign account as of the end of March.

He acknowledged that he has been targeted for defeat by Democratic strategists, saying, "I'm sure with the bounty that the Democratic Senatorial [Campaign] Committee has on my head, I won't go unopposed."

Pat Grassley

But unlike many political "dynasties," the Grassley duo is not father and son. Rather it is grandfather and grandson. None of the elder Grassley's five children ever delved into politics.

"Maybe it skips a generation," said Pat Grassley, who recently turned 26 years old.

Tom Coburn (Getty)

Coburn has carved out a niche in Congress as an outspoken conservative. In his re-election candidacy statement at the Tulsa Press Club, Coburn said, "Many in Washington are claiming that all problems can be solved with more spending and less individual freedom. Those ideas have never worked and they never will. While I'm confident the wisdom of the American people will prevail, we won't win without a fight."

Coburn has provided a reliable vote on legislation for Senate Republican leaders, though his persona as a "citizen politician" and his dogged opposition to federal spending earmarks has sometimes nettled colleagues of his own party as well as Democrats.

Kendrick Meek (Getty)

But that clear field for Meek may be just temporary. Corrine Brown, who like Meek is a member of Florida's U.S. House delegation, stated over the weekend that she is exploring the possibility of running in next year's race for the seat left open by retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez.

A bid by Brown, who had not previously been widely mentioned as a potential Senate candidate, would pit two of Florida's three African-American House members against each other. Brown and Meek have been House colleagues since the latter was first elected in 2002. He succeeded his mother, Carrie P. Meek, who was first elected to the House along with Brown in 1992.

Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's first television ad of the 2010 cycle went live Friday, but it is President Obama, rather than the embattled five-term senator, who is the star of the 30-second spot.

Hoping to capitalize on a "shout-out" the popular president gave Dodd for his work on an overhaul of credit card companies' practices (PL 111-24), the ad features images from the bill's signing ceremony and audio of Obama talking about the "common-sense reform" it enacted.

Dodd, Obama goes on to say, "has been a relentless fighter to get this done." The ad ends with the claim that the Democrat is "fighting back for us."

Chris Kennedy

This candidacy would make him the latest in the famed family's "second generation" to enter the political fray.

It also would lengthen the list of Democrats who are either certain to run or are thinking about running in the February primary for the seat held by interim Democratic Sen. Roland W. Burris, whose appointment to the seat Barack Obama vacated to become president has remained controversial and unpopular.

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported that Kennedy could announce his plans this week.

Charles Bronson

His decision strengthens Republican state Attorney General Bill McCollum's status as the party's odds-on favorite.

The race became an open-seat contest last week when Republican Gov. Charlie Crist announced he would run for U.S. Senate in 2010 instead of seeking re-election.

Schumer and Gillibrand last January when she was named to replace Hillary Clinton. (Getty)

"I think she's going to win, and I don't think she's going to end up having a primary," Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said of Gillibrand, who is seeking her first full term in 2010.

Schumer said Gillibrand, appointed in January by Gov. David A. Paterson appointed replace now-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, was "a very capable person," who was "performing well in the Senate and earning "the respect and affection of her colleagues."

Veteran Rep. Jose Serrano said Wednesday that he is considering a 2010 primary run against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, even as other possible contenders have dropped out in recent days.

"If Rahm Emanuel is making calls, he has a few more to make," Serrano said of the White House chief of staff.

Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., announced Friday that he would not run for the seat after President Obama lobbied him to stay out.

Bill McCollum does breakfast with Rudy Giuliani during last year's Florida primary. (Getty)

McCollum touched on several major issues during his announcement speech in Orlando, including health care, transportation and education.

"Florida faces challenges today unlike any other time in our state's history," McCollum said, according to his written statement. "With your help, I will be elected Florida's next governor and together our state will grow, prosper, and continue to be one of the most wonderful places on earth to live, work, and raise a family."

Merrick Alpert was a member of former VP Al Gore's advance team. (Getty)

Alpert intends to formally launch his candidacy Tuesday, according to a statement he posted on his Web site over the weekend.

Dodd finds himself at political risk heading into his 2010 campaign: Highly popular through most of his career, his approval ratings among Connecticut voters have dropped sharply over the past year -- because of questions raised about the Senate Banking Committee chairman's ties to the financial industry, though also because many state voters were disgruntled over his brief, failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Ken Buck (third from left)

Buck is the top prosecutor in northern Colorado's Weld County. And he is hoping to replicate the recent victories for major statewide office scored by former prosecutors -- albeit of the Democratic variety.

One is Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter Jr., who appointed Bennet in January to the seat that Democrat Ken Salazar vacated to become Interior secretary in President Barack Obama's administration. Prior to his 2006 election to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Owens, Ritter was the longtime district attorney in Denver and a federal prosecutor before that.

Salazar himself was serving his second term as Colorado's Attorney General when he was elected in 2004 to the Senate seat Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell left open to retire.

Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey -- a conservative activist, former House member and political nemesis of longtime Sen. Arlen Specter -- has been showing some serious political muscle since he launched a 2010 Senate bid less than three weeks ago. His campaign said Tuesday that he has raised more than half a million dollars over the 20 days since he announced his candidacy.

The money news came exactly a week after five-term Republican moderate Specter made his bombshell announcement that he was switching to the Democratic Party. Specter made the move to avoid a rematch of the 2004 Senate primary in which the Specter barely staved off an upset by Toomey, and was prompted by polls showing Toomey holding a big lead over the incumbent among the strongly conservative-leaning GOP primary voting base.

But the tout about the surge of early campaign funds also came amid simmering speculation that Toomey might soon draw yet another big-name primary opponent from the state Republican establishment: Tom Ridge, a former two-term governor.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's female Democratic colleagues are rallying around her as she prepares for a tough primary and general election, with a fundraiser next week in Washington, D.C.

An evening of "cocktails and conversation" hosted by the 12 Democratic senators at Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu's Washington, D.C., home is scheduled April 29th.

Those interested in co-hosting are asked to give $5,000 per political action committee or $4,800 per individual -- the maximum allowed in an election cycle -- with sponsors asked to give $2,500 per PAC and $2,400 per individual.

The fundraiser is a sign that Gillibrand is keeping her well-oiled fundraising machine chugging after an impressive first quarter where she raised $2.3 million and reported $2.2 million cash on hand. And such solidarity for Gillibrand's candidacy in Washington could bode ill for New York Democrats interested in challenging her in 2010 -- among them Reps. Steve Israel, Carolyn B. Maloney and Carolyn McCarthy.

Anti-illegal immigration activist Chris Simcox is slated to announce Wednesday that he will challenge Arizona Sen. John McCain in a Republican primary in 2010.

A Simcox media coordinator confirmed that he has several media events scheduled across the state, including an announcement at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix. Simcox also has a campaign Web site set up -- www.simcoxforsenate.com.

"It's time to help put Arizona and America back on the right track by electing Chris Simcox to represent the Great State of Arizona in the United States Senate," the site says. "As a grass-roots, border security activist and founder of the original Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), Chris has done more to make Arizona a safer and better place to live than most of the sanctimonious career politicians in Washington, D.C."

Kendrick Meek talking to reporters in January after announcing his candidacy. (Getty)

Meek, who is serving his fourth term representing the Miami-area 17th District, reported to the Federal Election Commission $1.8 million raised through Mar. 31, which included $324,000 transferred from his House account. After spending, Meek reported $1.6 million on hand at the close of the first quarter.

Meek's totals trumped those of Democratic primary competitor Dan Gelber, a Florida state senator. Gelber raised $363,000 and reported $296,000 on hand.

Jim DeMint (Getty)

But the first-term Republican incumbent, who is up for re-election in 2010, is not resting. His campaign also announced a roster of six finance co-chairmen, which he deemed the "'Dream Team' of Palmetto State fundraisers." Among them are former Ambassador to Canada and former Speaker of the state House, David Wilkins and former state Republican party chairman and Spartanburg financial adviser Barry Wynn.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's shaky status in Connecticut hasn't scared away too many donors, it seems.

The five-term Democratic incumbent reported just over $1 million in total receipts in the first three months of 2009, his report to the Federal Election Commission states.

Christopher J. Dodd (CQ/Scott J. Ferrell)

Dodd ended March with $1.4 million in the bank.

Dodd's cash is likely to give him an edge against two Republican challengers, former Rep. Rob Simmons and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, who both announced they would run for the seat in March.

Recent polls show Dodd trailing both men in hypothetical match-ups, but neither Simmons nor Caligiuri has the name recognition or fundraising clout of Connecticut's senior senator.

Steve Israel (Getty)

Israel has yet to file his first quarter report, which is due to the Federal Election Commission by midnight Wednesday.

Israel had demonstrated his fundraising prowess in past campaigns, raising large sums for the Democratic party as well as for his own safe House seat. He will need to rally his entire fundraising network and then some to mount a credible primary challenge to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and statewide general election campaign, something he has not ruled out.

Robin Carnahan

Carnahan, the daughter of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former Sen. Jean Carnahan, reported $1.05 million in total receipts since organizing her campaign in early February. About four-fifths of her first-quarter take came from individual donors.

Though the primary election is 16 months away, Democratic officials in Missouri and Washington, D.C., are treating Carnahan as if she is already their party's nominee for the seat of retiring four-term Republican Christopher S. Bond.

John Thune (Getty)

Thune announced Wednesday that his campaign raised $880,687 in the first quarter of 2009, giving him $4.4 million in cash on hand. "We had a successful first quarter, and we will continue the necessary work of raising the resources we need to prepare for a competitive election in 2010," Thune said in a release announcing the haul.

The first-term Republican, who upset Majority Leader Tom Daschle in a fierce contest in 2004, has no declared challengers yet. His toughest prospective Democratic opponent, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, seems to be leaning toward a governor's race if she runs for statewide office.

Chris Chocola (Getty)

The twin endorsments for 2010 would normally come as little surprise, as the two are the most readily identifiable fiscal hawks in the Senate.

"It is hard to find a more devoted duo to the principles of limited government and economic freedom than Sens. Coburn and DeMint," said the Club's new president, former Indiana Republican Rep. Chris Chocola.

Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Torsella, a candidate for the Senate seat of Republican incumbent Arlen Specter, raised nearly $600,000 in the final six weeks of this year's first quarter, his campaign said Tuesday.

Torsella, a former Philadelphia deputy mayor who also headed the city's National Constitution Center, began fundraising in mid-February and has $584,000 cash-on-hand.

Torsella's first-quarter receipts came almost exclusively from individual donors, according to report summary pages his campaign provided to CQ Politics. And nearly all of the money he raised from individuals was itemized, meaning that the funds came from contributors who gave at least $200.

Harry Reid (Getty)

Reid is already a frequent target of critical press releases and commentary coming out of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The committee even aired a television ad attacking Reid in late January.

Reid, whose approval ratings have hovered around 50 percent, does not have an opponent yet, but he's not taking any chances. He ended 2008 with $3.3 million in cash on hand and will disclose his fundraising for the first three months of 2009 next week. He has more fundraisers on the horizon, including a high-profile event with President Obama in Las Vegas May 26.

Kirsten Gillibrand (Getty)

The DREAM Act, which was introduced March 26, would amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow states to provide higher education funding for children who came to the United States as illegal immigrants.

A former Iowa state lawmaker has announced an exploratory committee to challenge Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, in 2010.

Bob Krause, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus, hopes that Grassley's status as a five-term incumbent will turn out to be a weakness.

Bob Krause

"As a good farmer like Sen. Grassley would know, 51 years is a long time between crop rotations," Krause said in an interview. He added that lawmakers tend to become disconnected with constituents after spending so much time in Washington, and their perspectives change.

He also criticized Grassley's recent disapproval of AIG executive bonuses, arguing that in 1999, Grassley supported the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which removed barriers among banking, securities and insurance companies.

Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is making a last-minute push in the the year's first-quarter fundraising period as she seeks to solidify her grasp on her New York Senate seat. Her campaign has set a goal of raising another $25,000 over the final 39 hours of the filing period, which ends March 31st at midnight.

"To show our broad-based support, our campaign must end this first quarter in the strongest financial position possible," Gillibrand wrote in an e-mail to supporters Monday. "I would be incredibly grateful if you could support my race with whatever you can give now."

Gillibrand, who was appointed to the post by Gov. David A. Paterson in January, no doubt hopes an early show of financial force will make those Democrats mulling a 2010 primary challenge think again. Gillibrand established herself as a tireless fundraiser during her two congressional campaigns in 2006 and 2008, and her ability to raise money for a Senate race that is likely to cost more than $30 million helped earn her the nod to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, who became secretary of State.

Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd could get another Republican challenger on Tuesday. Republican state Sen. Sam Caligiuri will be making "an important announcement about his future plans with regards to the 2010 United States Senate race," he notified reporters in a release sent out Monday morning.

The announcement will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday in front of Caligiuri's home in Waterbury, Conn.

Dodd has already attracted one challenger, former Rep. Rob Simmons, who announced March 15 that he would take on the the suddenly vulnerable six-term senator. Dodd's popularity at home has plummeted since last summer, thanks to a series of scandals related to real estate deals and his ties to the financial industry.

When they're on the hustings, members of Congress like to tout endorsements or praise from organizations that look favorably on their voting records. One group whose support many lawmakers embrace is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the mammoth business federation with more than 3 million members.

The Chamber today announced that 260 lawmakers had qualified for its 2008 "Spirit of Enterprise" award by siding with its positions at least 70 percent of the time on the most important votes in last year's session. (Some of the lawmakers are no longer in Congress because they retired, sought other office or were defeated for re-election.)

There is a Republican skew to the list of honorees: 233 of the 260 lawmakers who got the Chamber's nod align with that party, including 188 of 204 in the House and 45 of 56 in the Senate. The Chamber's free-market positions on trade, tax and regulatory issues generally draw more support from Republicans than from Democrats, who by and large line up more frequently with the positions of labor unions.

Jerry Moran (Getty)

"His election to the United State Senate would be a tremendous benefit to those of us fighting against the bailouts and irresponsible spending in Washington, D.C.," Coburn said of Moran, according to a fundraising letter Thursday. "I give him my strongest endorsement for the U.S. Senate." Coburn's home state borders Kansas to the south.

Moran, of Kansas' 1st District, faces a hotly contested primary battle against House colleague Todd Tiahrt of the 4th District for their party's nomination.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he will not be a candidate in 2010, according to the Sacramento Bee, quashing speculation he will challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

"I am not running for anything, so no one could threaten me, because I'm not running for Senate, I'm not running for Congress, I'm not running for another term as governor," Schwarzenegger said in reference to his freedom to make policy decisions during a Cal Expo news conference, according to the newspaper.

Schwarzenegger is term-limited in January 2011 and many Republicans hold out hope he will run for Senate.