Beth Reinhard: “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker polls near the bottom of would-be presidential contenders. Unlike potential rivals, you won't find him on the cover of Time magazine or slow-jamming the news with comedian Jimmy Fallon. But he's a conservative Republican who won election in a blue state, survived a brutal recall campaign, and now posts approval ratings over 50 percent. A budget-slashing chief executive and son of a Baptist minister who straddles the fiscal and social conservative camps. A proven fundraiser who has put his thumb in the eye of President Obama and Big Labor. He's poised to be the sleeper Republican presidential candidate of 2016.”

MASSACHUSETTS: A Boston Globe poll has Ed Markey (D) leading Gabriel Gomez (R) 54%-43% in the special election for the Senate race. Markey has outspent Gomez by about $4 million in the nine-week period before the election. A new Markey ad is all President Obama.

NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker’s at the 92^nd St. Y in New York at 6:30 pm ET tonight talking about cities as engines of growth as part of the “The Metropolitan Revolution” book tour with author Bruce Katz of Brookings. The tour will head to DC Wednesday with former DC Mayor Anthony Williams before going on to the Aspen Ideas Festival, the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and elsewhere.

A Stockton College poll has Chris Christie up 64%-24% for reelection.

NEW YORK: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)’s favorability has slipped some to 58%/34%.

TEXAS: Roll Call: “When the Supreme Court takes on a key part of a voting rights law later this month, Texas Democrats will be watching more closely than anyone on Capitol Hill. The high court’s ruling could affect whether, and how, the congressional boundaries in the state will be revised — yet again.”

WEST VIRGINIA: Politico: “Sen. Joe Manchin, co-author of a plan to expand background checks on gun sales, is launching a TV ad to defend himself from attacks by the powerful National Rifle Association.

Manchin will begin running the TV ad later this week.”

MICHIGAN: Rep. Mike Rogers (R) will announce his Senate plans Friday, National Journal’s Tim Alberta reports. Rogers is thought to be unlikely to run.

MASSACHUSETTS: A WBUR/MassInc poll has Ed Markey (D) up over Gabriel Gomez (R) 46%-39%.  

Joe Biden praised Markey at a fundraiser Tuesday, but delivered this warning: “There’s a big difference in this race. Barack Obama’s not at the head of the ticket. And that means those legions of African Americans and Latinos are not automatically going to come out. No one has energized them like Barack Obama. But he’s not on the ticket. So don’t take this one for granted.”

Obama heads to Boston today for Markey. And who’ll be joining Obama? Party-switcher Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who recently became a Democrat. Previously, he had been an independent and before that, a Republican.

The Boston Globe’s lead takeaway from the Markey-Gomez debate Tuesday night was that Markey would oppose elimination of the home-mortgage interest deduction in deficit talks, and Gomez was non-committal.

Gomez released an ad Wednesday morning. Script: “Gabriel Gomez is a VERY BAD man. He kills old people. He hates women. He even leaves the toilet seat UP. This is ridiculous. Congressman Markey must think we’re stupid. Markey is everything that's wrong with Congress, 37 years of pay raises, bounced checks, taking millions from people he regulates. It’s about trust. If you like Congress, Ed Markey is your guy. But if you want an independent thinker try Navy Seal Gabriel Gomez.” 

The Boston Globe: Gomez’s ad “attempts to respond to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s ad, which accuses him of supporting tax breaks for the rich and the elimination of insurance coverage of mammograms and cancer screenings.

Those charges are based on Gomez’s opposition to broad-based tax increases and his opposition to President Obama’s health care law, which guarantees insurance coverage for mammograms and other preventive services. Gomez says he believes health care laws should be left to the states.” 

PENNSYLVANIA: MSNBC’s Michael LaRosa reports: “Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord took his first public step in signaling that he intends to run for governor. According to a state authorization form obtained by Hardball, McCord on Tuesday filed paperwork to create the ‘McCord for Governor’ political action committee, one of the clearest signs yet that the state treasurer has his eyes on challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Establishing the committee allows him to accept campaign contributions for next year’s race.” More: “McCord would face a crowded Democratic primary, which includes prolific fundraiser Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, who’s vying to be the state’s first female Governor. “

SOUTH DAKOTA: The Hill: “Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) will not run for Senate in South Dakota, a decision that will begin to assuage Republican fears that a nasty primary could hurt their chances at a likely pickup.” 

VIRGINIA: Virginia Democrats held their primary elections Tuesday (Republicans nominated their candidates via state party convention). State Sens. Ralph Northam and Mark Herring won their respective races for lieutenant governor and attorney general. Northam defeated Aneesh Chopra, the former White House chief technology officer, 54%-46%. Herring won in a closer race over Justin Fairfax, a former U.S. attorney b y a closer 52%-48% margin.

Meet the nominees… Northam has been a state senator for the past five years and ran on trying to return Virginia to the vision and governance styles of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. He’s a doctor, retired major in the Army, and Virginia Military Institute graduate.

Attorney General nominee Mark Herring, another state senator, ran as something of the opposite of Ken Cuccinelli on a left-leaning platform. He touts health care. He specifically made an issue of women’s health care, including birth control. The Loudon County Democrat has a degree in economics (he also served on the Loudon County chamber of commerce), a master’s in foreign affairs, and a law degree. 

The Cuccinelli (R) campaign took aim at the nominees, looping them in with gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and saying they put “anti-job, pro-tax policies first. It also hits McAuliffe by asking the candidates a list of questions, including, “What does it say about Terry McAuliffe’s campaign slogan of ‘putting jobs first’ that he has nothing to back up his claim of creating 100,000 jobs?” 

But Cuccinelli is dealing with another controversy, including this from the Virginian-Pilot editorial page: “Cuccinelli wants the public to believe his office intervened in a lawsuit on behalf of powerful interests solely to uphold a state law pertaining to oil and gas drilling. And, he said, he rejects ‘in the strongest possible terms’ suggestions that his office's involvement resulted in any way from Big Energy's big donations to his gubernatorial campaign. But email exchanges involving a senior assistant attorney general, included in the public case file and posted online attricities.com, indicate Cuccinelli's office played a role far greater than the attorney general is willing admit.”

The Cuccinelli campaign went off the air Sunday, a media tracking source confirms. Cuccinelli’s team notes that it’s the last week of school and summer vacations are beginning. The McAuliffe camp notes it is still on the air and had a cash-on-hand advantage of $5.4 million to $2.3 million, as of May 29. Both campaigns had been spending upwards of $400,000 a week on statewide advertising. 

E.W. Jackson’s book cover misspells Ten Commandments. (It only has one “m.”)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing new Spanish-language radio ads criticizing House Republicans for voting to deport qualified children of undocumented immigrants.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is hitting GOP candidates on paycheck fairness in releases set to go out today in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. In one release targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), DSCC spokeswoman Regan Page says:  "You would think equal pay for equal work would be a no brainer but that’s clearly not the case for Republicans like Mitch McConnell...Equal pay is not just about fairness and equality for women, it also has a serious consequences for the Kentucky economy." Similar releases will also hit candidates and potential candidates in other top Senate races, including Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), North Carolina state House Speaker Thom Tillis, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). 

ILLINOIS: Former Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley has launched an exploratory committee to run for governor. Another Obama ex-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is mayor of Chicago. Daley comes from a famous Illinois political family.

MASSACHUSETTS: “Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey are gearing up for their second debate as President Barack Obama prepares to visit Massachusetts to whip up support for Markey in Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election,” the AP writes. “The one-hour Springfield debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the studios of WGBY-TV and will be broadcast live. It’s expected to include questions important to the western part of the state.”

NEW JERSEY: “Now the speculation ends and the race begins,” the Star-Ledger reports. “Six candidates — four Democrats and two Republicans — Monday officially filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg.”

The two Republicans running: Dr. Alieta Eck and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, who is seen as “the lone major Republican candidate.”

There’s “a growing list of Democrats who have endorsed Christie instead of state Sen. Barbara Buono,” the Star-Ledger writes.

VIRGINIA: 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.”

Joe Biden will speak at the Virginia Jefferson-Jackson dinner June 29. It’s yet another speech at a fundraising event in an early state. He spoke in Michigan April 20^th and South Carolina May 3^rd.

MASSACHUSETTS: Ed Markey (D) and Gabriel Gomez (R) debate Tuesday in Springfield, Mass. Their final debate will be June 18, a week before the June 25^th special election.

Former Gov. Paul Cellucci died Saturday of ALS. He was 65.

NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker made it official Saturday and jumped into the Senate special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Ex-Sen. Bill Bradley introduced Booker.

But Democrats don’t plan to make his life easy. Buzzfeed: “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.”

(But here’s the thing: They have ONLY two months to do this, given that the Dem primary will take place in August.)

Star Ledger: “Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) [Sunday night] became the fourth major Democrat to throw herself into the race for U.S. Senate.”

VIRGINIA: The investigation into Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) expands. “A Virginia state delegate has confirmed that he’s been called to appear next month as a witness before a federal grand jury as part of an investigation related to Gov. Robert F. McDonnell,” The Washington Post reports. 

Why are Republicans seemingly ignoring their problems as a party? Ron Brownstein answers: Because of the midterms (in part). “Republicans have a problem with young voters. Democrats have a problem with young nonvoters. That simple equation, which applies equally to minority voters, helps explain why Republicans could enjoy another strong midterm election in 2014 without solving any of the underlying demographic challenges that threaten them in the 2016 presidential race. Next year’s election could both disappoint Democrats (by frustrating their hope of recapturing the House) and mislead Republicans (by tempting them to believe they have overcome the trends that allowed Democrats to win the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections.) It could also highlight one of the forces that is making it difficult for either party to sustain unified control over Washington, even as they struggle to reach consensus on almost anything while power is divided.”

NEW JERSEY: How close are Christie and Attorney General Jeff Chiesa? The Star-Ledger’s Jenna Portnoy: “Chiesa grew up in in Bound Brook with two younger sisters. His father worked at a chemical plant and died when Chiesa was 8, leaving his mother — a public school teacher — to raise him and his two sisters. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1987, and returns every year to see a football game. He earned his law degree from the Catholic University of America in 1990 and a year later joined the Cranford law firm now known as Dughi & Hewit. It was there that he met Christie. Chiesa followed Christie to the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2002. He became Christie's trusted eyes and ears, and led some of the office's most high-profile public corruption cases, like the one against former state Senate president John Lynch. He moved again in 2009 after Christie was elected governor, taking the reins of his transition team.

“He told The Star-Ledger that year that he wanted to help Christie hit the ground running ‘because I'm personally and professionally so invested in seeing him succeed.’ He was named Christie's chief counsel when the governor took office. Their close relationship has spawned questions about how well Chiesa would be able to stand alone as attorney general.”

Warning sign: “Candidates must file papers to run by Monday.” Here’s looking at you, Cory Booker.

NEW YORK: 67% of New York voters support Andrew Cuomo’s push to expand abortion rights, according to Quinnipiac.

PENNSYLVANIA: Rep. Alysson Schwartz (D) would beat incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett (R) 45%-35%, a Quinnipiac poll finds.

And Hillary Clinton leads the presidential field in Pennsylvania, although her favorability score has slipped nationally, thought it’s still at 58% in Bloomberg’s poll. That’s down from a high of 70 in December.

ARIZONA: Coming around… “Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has become an unlikely warrior for Obamacare,” Politico writes. “Brewer is a conservative Republican who sued to topple the health law, refused to set up a health insurance exchange and memorably wagged her finger at President Barack Obama on a Phoenix airport tarmac. But now she’s so determined to put the Obamacare Medicaid expansion in place in her state that she’s vetoing any legislation that reaches her desk until the Republican Legislature caves. … It’s a posture that’s confounding conservatives who once embraced her for signing a toughest-in-the-nation crackdown on illegal immigrants and for defying the Obama White House. Brewer says it’s been quite the firestorm, but she insists that expansion saves money and saves lives — and that everybody would realize that if they weren’t so ‘hung up on the fact’ that it was part of Obama’s health law.”

FLORIDA: Beth Reinhard: “Risking a Hispanic backlash in favor of his conservative base, Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday rebuked President Obama's immigration policy by vetoing a bill intended to help children of illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses. The governor’s action is largely symbolic since the state already provides driving permits to young people whose deportation has been deferred by the Obama administration. The bill quietly sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature without the governor’s office raising any objections, sponsors said.”

More: “The last-minute block and tackle suggests Scott’s sensitivity toward conservative activists, who were aghast when the onetime crusader against Obama’s health care law embraced in February the administration’s proposed expansion of Medicaid.” 

MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe: “Democrat Edward Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez 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 Globe’s Jim O’Sullivan details the awkwardness of both candidates in last night’s debate: “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.” 

Gomez is out with a new ad, a positive bio piece, labeling him a “new kind of Republican.” Rudy Giuliani is stumping with Gomez today and they’re visiting the Boston marathon bombing site. Markey’s going across the country to raise money in Beverly Hills.

VIRGINIA: National Journal: “Can a white, wealthy political operative and businessman emulate President Obama's historic success at turning out voters who don't regularly participate in elections? Terry McAuliffe is betting on it. Even the most optimistic Democrat knows that for McAuliffe, ginning up turnout to presidential levels in an off-year election is near impossible. Behind the scenes, however, the Democratic frontrunner 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.”

And then there’s this… In a 2008 book by E.W. Jackson, per Politico and first posted by National Review, he said yoga leads to Satan and said “most people are dead spirits.”

“When one hears the word meditation, it conjures an image of Maharishi Yoga talking about finding a mantra and striving for nirvana. … The purpose of such meditation is to empty oneself. … [Satan] is happy to invade the empty vacuum of your soul and possess it. That is why people serve Satan without ever knowing it or deciding to, but no one can be a child of God without making a decision to surrender to him. Beware of systems of spirituality which tell you to empty yourself. You will end up filled with something you probably do not want.” …

“[M]ost people are dead spirits. As such they have the nature of Satan who does not want to have anything to do with God or anyone related to Him. Of course they are not aware that they are imbued with the nature of Satan. They would be mortified by the idea of becoming Satanists or devil worshippers. Satan benefits far more from people who do not know they serve him than from those who knowingly bow to him. Your spirit was made for attachment. It is either attached to God or to Satan, but it is not neutral, no matter how much people think themselves to be.”

RNC Chair Reince Priebus tapped Facebook engineer Andy Barkett to be the RNC’s chief technology officer. “I am excited to announce that Andy Barkett will be leading the effort to expand our data and digital capabilities as our chief technology officer,” Priebus said in a statement. “I am confident that with Andy’s experience and our continued efforts to build meaningful relationships with experts in Silicon Valley, we'll see the changes to this part of our operation that we all agree are both important and necessary to winning elections in the future." 

MASSACHUSETTS:  Ed Markey (D) and Gabriel Gomez (R) debate tonight. Markey leads Gomez in a New England College poll 52%-40%. President Obama goes to Boston next Wednesday to raise money for Markey. Markey’s out with a new ad slamming Gomez’s claim to be a “new kind of Republican.” Rubio sent out a fundraising solicitation for Gomez.

MISSOURI: The Kansas City Star: “Republican state Rep. Jason Smith won a special election Tuesday for a vacant congressional seat in southeast Missouri that had been held by the same political family for the past 32 years.” He won 67%-28%.

NEW JERSEY: Rep. Frank Pallone’s (D) getting into the special election to replace Frank Lautenberg. 

Aaron Blake points out that Cory Booker (D) will have to break his pledge to finish out his full term as Newark mayor. Said Booker in a video earlier this year: “Let there be no doubt: I will complete my full second term as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.”

And what does the accelerated election mean? How about this from NJ Politicker: “Petition signatures are due in 15 days.”

NORTH CAROLINA: Per Jessica Taylor, Thom Tillis has hired On Message Inc., for media & polling in his bid for NC SEN.

David Wasserman says if Republicans make gains in 2014, it’s likely not because it has anything to do with President Obama or a six-year itch, but a built-in GOP midterm advantage, especially with older voters.

Reid Wilson: “Republicans scheming to take back control of the Senate next year are walking a delicate line between the politically pragmatic decisions they need to make to win and an activist base that sees a nefarious, hidden agenda in Washington's meddling. And no one finds himself confronting those sometimes competing interests more than Jerry Moran, the Kansas Republican who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”

MASSACHUSETTS: Ed Markey has a web video out tying Gabriel Gomez to Mitch McConnell and national Republicans after McConnell put out a fundraising email calling Gomez “crucial to taking back the Senate,” the Boston Globe reports.

Carole King was campaigning for Markey over the weekend.

NEW YORK: Andrew Cuomo isn’t embracing Anthony Weiner. He doesn’t want to talk about him. Said the New York governor: "I appreciate that you continue to ask questions that you know that I don't want to answer. I respect your perseverance. I hope that you respect my discipline." (H/T: Political Wire.)

VIRGINIA: E.W. Jackson, the controversial Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, said it was Ken Cuccinelli who suggested he run for lieutenant governor in 2010. Cuccinelli (R) is at the top of the Virginia gubernatorial ticket. Some have suggested Cuccinelli is trying to put distance between himself and Jackson, given Jackson’s past controversial statements, including regarding slavery and abortion.

Jackson told the Washington Post of Cuccinelli: “He said essentially: I think you’d make a good candidate for lieutenant governor. Have you thought about it? I do remember him suggesting that if it worked out . . . he would be proud to have me as a running mate.”

Cuccinelli’s spokeswoman tried to put some separation between Cuccinelli and Jackson’s account. “Ken asked why the Senate and if he ever thought to run for anything else — like maybe Lieutenant Governor? E.W. may have misconstrued that as a direct ask,” said Ana Nix.

TEXAS: Politico: “Gov. Rick Perry’s high-profile efforts to lure jobs to Texas from other states may be good business and smart politics back home, but they’re infuriating to prominent Democrats around the country. And now at least one Republican business leader says Perry’s taking the Lone Star swagger a little too far.”

Hillary Clinton continues to lead the 2016 field. Quinnipiac has her beating Jeb Bush 48%-40%, and Rand Paul 49%-41%. But some of the sheen is already starting to come off Clinton’s favorability rating. She goes from 61%/38% in February to 52% /40% now after the Benghazi hearings and attacks from Republicans. (Her drop off is mostly with Republicans but also with independents.)

And regarding Joe Biden, he loses to both Bush (44%-38%) and Paul (43%-39%). And Biden is a net-negative – 37%/44%. Paul is a net-positive – 32%-24% and Bush is 29%/29%.

Mitt Romney is looking to get back on the national stage: “The former Republican presidential nominee plans to welcome 200 friends and supporters to a three-day summit next week that he will host at a Utah mountain resort. He is considering writing a book and a series of opinion pieces, and has plans to campaign for 2014 candidates. But he is wary of overdoing it." But, he added, “I'm not going to be bothering the airwaves with a constant series of speeches."

ARKANSAS: NBC’s Kasie Hunt reports: Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor - arguably the most endangered Democrat who's up for reelection in 2014 - has started airing TV ads defending himself against attacks from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control group.  It's his first ad of the 2014 cycle - and begins airing today, about 18 months before Election Day. "The mayor of New York City is running ads against me because I opposed President Obama's gun control legislation. Nothing in the Obama plan would have prevented tragedies like Newtown Aurora, Tucson or even Jonesboro," Pryor says in an ad straight to the camera. "I'm Mark Pryor, I approved this message because no one from New York or Washington tells me what to do. I listen to Arkansas," he says.

MASSACHUSETTS: Gabriel Gomez (R) still won’t say if he would have voted for the Blunt Amendment, which would have given employers the option to not pay for their workers’ birth control.

Is Gomez having trouble raising money?

NEW MEXICO: “Jamie Estrada, fired campaign manager to Susana Martinez, was indicted today on computer intrusion and false statement charges,” KOB TV reports. “The charges stem from the interception of emails between Martinez and members of her staff between July 2011 and June 2012.” Martinez said in a statement: “The federal felony indictment today vindicates what I have been saying for almost a full year – that the personal and political emails of dozens of people, including my own, were hijacked, stolen, and never received by the intended recipients.”

NEW YORK: Ouch. The New York Times on Christine Quinn’s forthcoming memoir: "Ms. Quinn's candor about her personal life is as notable as her vagueness about politics. There is not a single reference to the slush-fund scandal that has been her lowest point as speaker. She says little about her relationship with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whom she calls 'my colleague.' The battle over term limits is disposed of in two pages, while thousands of words are devoted to her wedding last year." (h/t Political Wire.)

NORTH CAROLINA: State House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) is throwing his hat in the ring against Kay Hagan (D). He’s considered by Republicans to be a “very serious” candidate.

The News & Observer: “Tillis could face a crowded primary. Others named as possible contenders include U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk and Renee Ellmers of Dunn; state Sen. Phil Berger; and former ambassador Jim Cain. So far, however, Dr. Greg Bannon, a Cary OB-GYN, is the only Republican Senate candidate who has announced.”

VIRGINIA: Terry McAuliffe (D) claimed some measure of credit for the transportation bill in the state passing, despite holding no elective office. In a recent ad, an announcer says, “...(T)ea party Republicans refuse to support the plan, but Terry McAuliffe thinks this is too important a time for partisan politics. McAuliffe reaches out to Democrats and urges them to support the bill, and the bill passes.”

AP fact checks that today: “As a high-profile booster, McAuliffe certainly did no harm. But to imply a role much beyond that is like hailing a team mascot for a decisive buzzer-beating 3-point basket. Far more credit is owed to House and Senate Democratic leaders who kept their caucuses together and worked quietly for weeks alongside McDonnell and select Republicans to keep the bill afloat in turbulent and treacherous seas.”

Buzzfeed dug up a McAuliffe CSPAN bite in which he blames Bush for his father’s death. “There are many reasons why people thought Jack had died. He was 83 years old. And I said the main reason is that he could not go into a new year knowing that a Republican was actually moving into the White House. I just don’t think he could’ve handled that. He had eight great years. President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were so nice to my mother and father, they’d come down all the time. So he had a great eight years when President Clinton and Vice President Gore were in office, and he just wasn’t going into a new year with a Democrat not being in the White House Steve, he just couldn’t handle it.”

National Journal: “In 2000, Ted Cruz was known only as a Texas-raised, Harvard-trained domestic policy adviser to the George W. Bush campaign. … Cruz helped craft the campaign’s immigration policy, which called for speeding up the application process, increasing the number of work visas, and allowing the relatives of permanent residents to visit the U.S. while their applicants were pending.”

More: “The route Cruz chose, from working on the reform-minded Bush campaign to voting against the bill Wednesday as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, confounds some of those who crossed paths with him. His role on the Bush campaign is a lesser-known part of the biography of a politician increasingly viewed as a potential presidential contender in 2016.”

Cruz yesterday said he didn’t “trust Republicans” or Democrats. He wants to hold the line on the debt ceiling.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus thinks there’s a double standard in the Obama administration leak investigations. “Where’s the investigation of the leaks surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden?” he asks in an op-ed in Politico. He contends: “Releasing classified information is, of course, a serious matter. But if preventing leaks is the administration’s chief priority, why do they operate with two different sets of rules? Why do they act differently when leaks are convenient for them or perpetuate a desired narrative or burnish their public image?”

And yet, there was this… The Washington Post: “Federal investigators looking into disclosures of classified information about a cyberoperation that targeted Iran’s nuclear program have increased pressure on current and former senior government officials suspected of involvement, according to people familiar with the investigation.”

COLORADO: Tom Tancredo (R) is going to announce that he’s running for governor today on a conservative talk radio show. Why? The Denver Post: “Tancredo, a Republican, referred to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s decision on Wednesday to grant a temporary reprieve on the execution of death row inmate Nathan Dunlap. Dunlap was convicted of killing four people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese in 1993. Several Republicans castigated Hickenlooper on Wednesday for the move that halts Dunlap’s date with death that was scheduled for August.”

PENNSYLVANIA: EMILY’s List has endorsed Allyson Schwartz for governor of Pennsylvania.

Political Wire: “A new Harvard study contacted over 7,000 election administrators in 28 states and found they provided different information about voter ID requirements to voters of different ethnicities.”

The Washington Post: “‘Responses to Latino names,’ the researchers write, ‘are three-and-a-half to four percentage points less likely [to get a response from election officials] than to non-Latino white names.’ The bias against Latino e-mailers was about three points greater in voter ID questions….”

A Hamilton College poll finds that 58% of Republicans don’t think the 2012 election was fair. From the write up: “Republicans are particularly concerned about voter fraud and intimidation in big urban areas, with 32 percent of them believing that it had a big impact on the election, 49 percent believing it had some impact, and only 19 percent believing it had no impact.” 

CALIFORNIA: Thin Greuel… City Councilman Eric Garcetti (D) defeated Controller Wendy Greuel (D) to be the next mayor of L.A. The L.A. Times: “Garcetti will be the first elected Jewish mayor of the city. At 42, he will also be the youngest in more than a century. He is scheduled to take office July 1.” 

Garcetti was up 54%-46% at nearly 5 am ET, when Greuel called to concede. 

MASSACHUSETTS: Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez (R) released an ad labeling Rep. Ed Markey (D) as “Dirty Ed Markey.” Markey is running an ad highlighting Gomez’s opposition to stricter gun background checks and invokes Newtown. Gomez’s ad responds: “Now, Markey actually blames Gomez for the Newtown shooting. Disgusting. Thirty-seven years in Congress. Dirty Ed Markey.”

But as the Boston Globe points out: “Despite what the ad says, Markey has not blamed Gomez for the Newtown shooting. Markey has released an ad that highlights Gomez’s opposition to an assault weapons ban and to limits on high-capacity magazines, ‘like the ones used in the Newtown school shooting.’”

MICHIGAN: AP: Republican Rep. Mike Rogers has pulled off a rare feat in a bitterly divided Congress — a working, productive relationship with Democrats in overseeing the nation’s 16 spy agencies. The question now is whether the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee sticks around the House or fulfills GOP hopes and launches a bid for the U.S. Senate seat from Michigan. … Rogers also is on the short list to replace Robert Mueller as FBI director, a nomination by President Barack Obama that likely would sail through the Senate and complicate the political outlook in Michigan.”

NEW YORK: Anthony Weiner officially announced his run for mayor. He put out this ad, hitting notes of working-class, old New York. It’s an ad for the boroughs and businesses. He alludes to the scandal that dropped him from Congress, too. “Look, I made some big mistakes, and I let a lot of people down, but I’ve also learned some tough lessons. I’m running for mayor, because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life, and I hope I get a second chance to work for you.” 

But Weiner has a lot of work to do. A Quinnipiac poll found almost half of New Yorkers don’t think he should be running – 49%. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continues to lead, but with just 25%, though she gets a 53% job approval. Weiner now comes in second with 15%. And there’s still an opening for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to launch and independent bid. By a 45%-38% margin, New Yorkers think he should run.

USA Today points out that Weiner’s had his eye on being mayor for a while: “Weiner, a former City Council member, ran for mayor in 2005 but lost the Democratic primary nomination to Fernando Ferrer. He intended to run again in 2009 and was leading early public opinion polls. When the council changed the city's term limits law and Bloomberg ran again, Weiner abandoned his mayoral bid at that time and returned to Congress." 

Tabloid Wars? The New York Post picks at Weiner’s rollout: “Anthony Weiner announced his campaign for mayor early this morning with — what else? — a leak. Shortly after midnight, the disgraced ex-congressman’s campaign accidentally posted online a 2-minute, 16-second video in which he throws his hat into the ring, lays out his platform — and even acknowledges the scandal that ended his days in DC.”

But the New York Daily News begins to make the case for him: “The unconventional campaign launch culminates a comeback tour that began in early April with a magazine interview and continued with the posting of a policy booklet online filled with ideas for the next mayor. Although the sexting scandal made Weiner a national punchline, he has the potential to be a force in the mayoral race. He has $4.3 million in campaign funds — raised in anticipation of this year’s election before his political career derailed. It’s the second-largest war chest among all the candidates, after that of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Weiner also boasts high name recognition, although that is partly the result of his very public fall from grace two years ago this weekend.”

VIRGINIA: Terry McAuliffe is up with a new TV ad highlighting his support for the state’s recently passed transportation bill.

Stu Rothenberg warns Republicans of overreach on the trio of controversies: “Let’s not forget: Republicans failed to capitalize on President Bill Clinton’s inappropriate conduct by over-playing their hand and pushing impeachment. Not only did they fail to drive him from office, the GOP ended up losing a handful of House seats in the 1998 midterms instead of adding seats as initially expected. Republicans allowed themselves to look as if they were primarily interested in scoring political points and overturning the results of the 1996 election, even if it meant paralyzing the government. That same danger exists once again for the GOP.”

Charlie Cook: “One wonders how long Republicans are going to bark up this tree, perhaps the wrong tree, while they ignore their own party’s problems, which were shown to be profound in the most recent elections. Clearly none of these recent issues has had a real impact on voters yet. Republicans seem to be betting everything on them, just as they did in 1998—about which even Newt Gingrich (who was House speaker that year) commented recently to NPR, ‘I think we overreached in ’98.’ Republicans and conservatives who are so consumed by these ‘scandals’ should ask themselves why, despite wall-to-wall media attention and the constant focus inside the Beltway—some are even talking about grounds for impeachment—Obama’s job-approval needle hasn’t moved. The CNN/ORC poll suggests that people are aware of and watching the news, but they aren’t reacting, at least not yet. Clearly Republicans hope the public will begin to respond. But at what point do they decide that maybe voters might be more interested in other issues or worries than about politicians on one side pointing fingers and throwing allegations at those on the other side? At what point might the GOP conclude that it is just digging the hole a little deeper?”

ARKANSAS: A state treasurer accused of taking money from a broker who managed state funds says she won’t resign, despite Gov. Mike Beebe’s (D) call for her to do so.

GEORGIA: Michelle Nunn is planning her announcement for the Senate within weeks, Roll Call reports.

MISSISSIPPI: Sen. Thad Cochran (R), 75, says he’s undecided about running for reelection in 2014.

NEW YORK: Maggie Haberman: “Bill and Hillary Clinton are making clear they are staying out of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, just as the race is about to be roiled by the candidacy of their close aide Huma Abedin’s husband, Anthony Weiner. The pair of stay-on-the-sidelines statements came as Weiner is set to declare his candidacy by video this week, likely on Tuesday or Wednesday. But the statements seem aimed at avoiding the appearance of taking sides in a race that includes the potential first female (and first openly gay) Democratic nominee, a potential second black New York mayor, and Hillary Clinton’s own former Senate campaign manager.”

SOUTH DAKOTA: Politico: Majority Leader Harry Reid and ex-Sen. Tom Daschle had a tense exchange over the South Dakota Senate race. Reid and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee “wanted to recruit former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) as their candidate to replace [Tim] Johnson in 2014. … But against Reid’s will, Daschle … was privately encouraging a longtime former aide and personal friend, Rick Weiland, to mount a bid of his own. Daschle’s endorsement of Weiland helped persuade Herseth Sandlin to pass on the Senate race, according to Democratic sources close to the issue. Reid and top Senate Democrats were stunned and outraged by Daschle’s move, a sentiment Reid communicated directly to the former senator, according to several people familiar with the incident.”

UTAH: Mia Love, who lost in 2012, will try again for a rematch in 2014 against Democrat Jim Matheson. But in a year without Mitt Romney at the top of the ticket, the most popular politician in Utah, Love would start out with an uphill climb.

VIRGINIA: National Journal: “Virginia Republicans Panicking Over Their Choice for Lieutenant Governor.” Write Beth Reinhard: E.W. “Jackson’s unexpected entrance into the Virginia statewide elections this year is one of the starkest examples of the challenges facing the GOP as it tries to broaden its appeal on the way to 2016.” More: “Forced into an awkward arranged marriage, Cuccinelli’s top advisers have urged Jackson to put aside his social crusades and reinforce their campaign’s message on job growth. But until the campaign is comfortable that Jackson is on board with the plan, Cuccinelli is expected to keep his distance from Jackson after completing a two-day statewide tour with him on Tuesday.”