Fiorina Expected to Launch Bid This Week

By Emily Cadei | November 3, 2009 1:00 AM | | Comments (0)

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, is expected to formally launch her long-awaited Republian campaign against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer sometime this week. She has public appearances scheduled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, though the campaign is not disclosing at what event, specifically, she will make her announcement.

Her main rival for the GOP nomination, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, is hoping for a big announcement of his own. The DeVore campaign is hyping a conference call slated for Tuesday night hosted by the Senate Conservative Fund political action committee and featuring the PAC's chairman, Sen. Jim DeMint , R-S.C., and Erick Erickson, editor of the influential conservative blog RedState.com.

A release touting the conference call, which is being held to discuss the state of play in the 2010 Senate races, promises that "Sen. DeMint will announce at least one major SCF endorsement at the end of the call." The DeVore campaign is leaving the strong impression that it could be him.

DeMint has waded into at least one other contested GOP Senate primary this year by backing former Florida state Speaker Marco Rubio in his contest with Gov. Charlie Crist, the establishment favorite.

Likewise in California, Fiorina is considered the desired nominee by party insiders in California and Washington, D.C.

Fiorina is being feted at a Capitol Hill-area fundraiser next month headlined by a list of notable senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Among the others Republican senators listed as hosts of the Nov. 17 event at Bistro Bis are John McCain of Arizona, whom Fiorina served as a top surrogate in the 2008 presidential race, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a leading conservative in the chamber and an ally of DeMint's.

CQ Politics currently rates the general election contest Safe Democratic.

To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.

More from CQ Politics

Categories: California, Senate

Tags: Boxer, Coburn, Crist, DeMint, DeVore, Fiorina, Graham, McCain, McConnell, Rubio

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