MASSACHUSETTS: “But the tenacious consumer advocate [Elizabeth Warren] and academic, who is taking steps to run, faces a tough fight that will attract national attention given that control of the Senate is on the line,” Roll Call reports. “Warren, untested as a political candidate, will have to win a long, contentious primary against at least seven others. She is up against history in a state that has never elected a female Senator or governor. And, most importantly, to win she’ll have to convince blue-collar, conservative Democrats — as well as independents who made up the majority of registered voters in 2010 — that she is in touch with their most pressing concerns.”

MINNESOTA: “The National Republican Congressional Committee will release a television ad Tuesday targeting Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and his 2010 vote for the Democratic health care law. Roll Call obtained an early peek at the ad.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will headline the New Hampshire Republican Party’s annual dinner September 26th in Concord,” Virginia affiliate NBC12 reports (via GOP12)

NEW YORK: While Chris Christie had his helicopter problem, well, Andrew Cuomo used a state plane to fly home. “Gov. Cuomo used state aircraft more than a dozen times to fly to or from his Westchester home, the Associated Press reported Sunday,” per the New York Daily News.

“Gov. Cuomo used state aircraft for 16 flights to or from his home following statewide tours during which he called for belt-tightening and budget cuts, according to records obtained by The Associated Press,” the New York Post writes. “But the AP acknowledged yesterday that Cuomo used the planes far less than his predecessors and that there is no record of any politicking or fund-raising during Cuomo's trips.”

WISCONSIN: Stu Rothenberg: “Each time a statewide election rolls around in Wisconsin, former Gov. Tommy Thompson’s name surfaces. And each time, Thompson — who was in the GOP presidential race for just more than four months in the middle of 2007 — refuses to rule himself in or out until, finally, he announces he won’t run. This time is different.”