Congressional news from outside of New Mexico

News yesterday that Pete Domenici would not run for re-election obscured other developments in congressional races.

• Shaheen comfortably back on top

Jeanne Shaheen started off the summer with some mighty leads against incumbent John Sununu in the New Hampshire Senate race. But two polls shortly after she announced suggested the race might be much closer. While she led by about 5% in both, it was a far cry from the blow-outs of earlier polls.

In the latest University of New Hampshire poll, Shaheen is back to a huge lead: 54% to 38%. The favorability ratings tell much of the story: Sununu's stands at a dismal 40/37, versus Shaheen's 56/25. New Hampshire thus confirms that its Senate race leans towards pick-up (NH ranks second in our latest Senate rankings). With so many other seats to defend, will the GOP even bother putting up a fight in New Hampshire?

• Open seat headaches
  

A day after Democrats got state Debbie Halvorson, their best candidate, to run for the IL-11 open seat, the rumored Republican candidate announced she would not run after all. State Senator Christine Radogno was played up as the most promising Republican, as her moderate reputation would be a good match for the district. But it shall not be.

Republicans have plenty of other options, and IL-11 will not be an easy pick-up for Democrats. But Halvorson and Radogno's decisions illustrate how much easier it is for Democrats to recruit in this political climate, and how much trouble the GOP is having to get its top candidates in races. The same phenomenon is playing out in OH-15, where many top Republicans have now passed on the race, leaving the GOP with no obvious candidate.

• Feeney's retirement watch
  

Florida Republican Rep. Tom Feeney has been rumored to be eyeing retirement for quite some time now, and Democrats are trying to influence his decision by already running ads against him. They hope he will choose against having to go through a bruising re-election campaign and call it quits, opening up a very promising seat. But Feeney fundraising release for the quarter suggests he has no intention of going anywhere: Feeney raised $324,000 between July and September, a sum the Politico calls "his highest haul since he was first elected." This by no means rules out a retirement (Domenici was raising money before he bowed out yesterday), but strongly suggests Democrats should have a plan to run against Feeney rather than prepare for an open seat.