Roll Call says that after Rep. Bart Gordon's announced retirement yesterday, "several party strategists conceding that more departures are inevitable… GOP strategists are convinced they will be able to at least trim the Democrats' majority by ousting junior Members who captured Republican seats in their party's 2006-08 upswing. But the net gain of at least 41 seats that Republicans need to capture a majority is daunting. The last time a party swallowed that many seats in one gulp was in 1994, when the Republicans scored a 52-seat gain."

"The Tea Party movement's desire to dent the slate of Republican-establishment candidates faces one huge hurdle next year: closed primaries," CongressDaily's McPike writes, adding: "[I]f the Tea Party groups can't mobilize to register voters before registration deadlines in the 25 states that close their primaries to those not registered as Republicans, the movement might have little or no impact in those states. At least seven states with closed primaries could feature Senate races with competitive GOP primaries: Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada and Utah. Many House races might also be affected… Senate races attracting a lot of attention in Kentucky and Nevada require voters to pick sides for next year's primaries by the end of this year."

CALIFORNIA: Along with New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte and Kentucky's Trey Grayson, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has formed a joint fundraising committee with former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, CQ Politics reports.

HAWAII: Roll Call: "Rep. Neil Abercrombie's (Hawaii) imminent resignation has left his otherwise-safe Democratic House seat vulnerable to a takeover in a special election in the coming months. Abercrombie's announcement last week that he is leaving Congress early to focus on his 2010 gubernatorial campaign leaves Democrats in a bind and officials in Hawaii fumbling to figure out when to schedule a special election."

ILLINOIS: Republican Senatorial contenders Rep. Mark Kirk and Patrick Hughes appeared before the Chicago Tribune editorial board. "Are we going to be the party of the principles of Ronald Reagan, which is limited government, low taxes and our traditional social values and a strong national defense? Or are we going to be the party of Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe and the policies of Barack Obama?" asked Hughes, while Kirk said he would "build a coalition of Republicans, independents and Democrats." Kirk leads in a recent Tribune poll, with 41% of likely primary voters.

NEW YORK: "Marc Mukasey, the son of Bush administration Attorney General Michael Mukasey is mulling mounting a challenge to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, sources tell The Post. But the younger Mukasey, a partner at Rudy Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, would run only if the former mayor opts out of the race, the sources said."

TEXAS: "The ever-changing Democratic race for governor morphed into a contest between the mayor and the millionaire Monday as humorist Kinky Friedman dropped out to run for state agriculture commissioner," the Houston Chronicle writes. "Friedman's departure left outgoing Houston Mayor Bill White and hair-care millionaire Farouk Shami as the two main contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and lessened the chances of the race going to a runoff."