The midterms: Hayworth makes it official

Stu Rothenberg on GOP chances to regain control in the Senate: "Having seen victories by Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, the 1994 Republican and 2006 Democratic Congressional sweeps, and Sen. Scott Brown's (R) recent Massachusetts victory, I'm not inclined to rule out unexpected outcomes -- especially nine months before an event. But the recent explosion of talk of Republicans gaining 10 seats in the Senate is simply premature. Right now, the GOP has an opportunity to net as many as eight Senate seats. That's a huge number, especially considering that Democrats have 18 seats up this fall, but it is well short of control."  
 
ARIZONA: Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth made his primary challenge to Sen. John McCain official yesterday, "casting himself as a conservative outsider standing up against the Washington establishment. He is now in the midst a three-day tour of the state that will take him to, among other places, Tucson and Mesa," the New York Times writes.    
 
On Hayworth's launch, the AP adds, "Conservatives in Arizona have long been skeptical of McCain, who carved out a niche as a maverick senator working with Democrats on key issues. But McCain has consistently evaded political threats from the right and lately has staked out solidly conservative positions."  
 
Politico says that "Chris Simcox, the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the militant anti-illegal immigration group, has dropped his own primary challenge to Sen. John McCain for Senate to endorse former Congressman J.D. Hayworth , according to Hayworth spokesman Jason Rose."   
 
CALIFORNIA: In the opening shot of what will probably be a bruising battle for California governor, an independent Democratic group says it will end GOP billionaire Meg Whitman's unchallenged saturation of the state airwaves starting today," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "The activists -- called Level the Playing Field 2010 -- will broadcast radio ads and launch an aggressive multimedia effort depicting Whitman as trying to "crown herself governor."    
 
NEVADA: Roll Call: "With polls showing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) trailing even the lowliest of no-name GOP candidates trying to defeat him this year, it is fast becoming clear that a major goal of Reid's new 'Jobs Agenda' is to save one of the most important jobs of all: his own."  
 
NEW YORK: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand laced into potential primary challenger Harold Ford Jr. yesterday over questions critics have raised about his taxpaying in New York state, calling it a 'very important' issue that he has yet to answer," The New York Post writes. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA: "Former state treasurer and auditor general Barbara Hafer said Monday that she will seek the House seat long held by the late Congressman John Murtha, making her the first Democrat to declare her candidacy in the wake of Murtha's death last week," pa2010, a Pennsylvania election site, reported yesterday. "Almost from the moment Murtha died of complications from gallbladder surgery last week, Hafer was mentioned as a top-tier candidate."