State by state

Minnesota
Comedian Al Franken (D) out-raised Sen. Norm Coleman (R) for the third straight quarter, but the first-term incumbent retains a 2-to-1 cash advantage over the former “Saturday Night Live” star.

Franken’s campaign said it raised about $1.9 million in the fourth quarter, while Coleman’s campaign said it raised $1.7 million. Franken’s campaign also raised more than Coleman by similar margins in the second and third quarters.

But Republicans are quick to point out the Franken campaign’s spending rate. Despite raising nearly $2 million in the final three months of the year, Franken’s cash on hand will rise just more than half a million dollars to about $3 million.

Franken, who said in a video Monday that he would launch his first television ads soon, also burned through more than $1 million in the third quarter.

Coleman, meanwhile, increased his cash on hand from $5 million to about $6 million.

Democrat Mike Ciresi’s campaign declined to release his fundraising figures. Ciresi has raised far less money but has the ability to self-fund.

— Aaron Blake

Mississippi

Former Rep. Ronnie Shows became the second Democrat to announce that he would run in the special election for former Sen. Trent Lott’s (R) seat.

Shows, who said Saturday that he would be a candidate, joins another Democrat named Ronnie, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, on his party’s side. Senate appointee Roger Wicker, a seven-term congressman, is the lone Republican running.

A dual Democratic field could split party unity, and could possibly take the focus off of defeating Wicker. The special election is nonpartisan, meaning the Democrats would likely have to hold Wicker below 50 percent and then wage a three-week runoff campaign against him.

Shows served two terms between 1999 and 2003, losing reelection to Rep. Chip Pickering (R) in 2002 after redistricting pitted the incumbents against one another in a GOP-tilted district.

Musgrove made his candidacy official on Monday. The qualifying deadline is Friday.

Gov. Haley Barbour (R) set the special for November, but state Democrats are fighting for a legal interpretation that would move it up to early this year.

— A.B.

Oregon

Oregon’s electrical workers’ union and the American Federation of Teachers’ state affiliate have thrown their weight behind Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley in his fight to be the Democratic challenger to Sen. Gordon Smith (R).

Merkley, who is running against attorney Steve Novick, has racked up several union endorsements. He also has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which spent $93,000 on him in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Smith won a union endorsement of his own: The International Association of Fire Fighters’ Oregon affiliate said it would back the second-term Republican in the race.

— Jessica Holzer

Virginia

State Del. Robert Marshall will challenge former Gov. Jim Gilmore for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s Senate race.

Marshall said at a press conference Tuesday that Gilmore’s support for a woman’s right to have an abortion during the first eight weeks of pregnancy prompted his candidacy.

First elected to the House of Delegates in 1991, Marshall also stressed his support for low taxes, traditional marriage and an end to the war in Iraq.

Republicans will select a nominee in June at a convention, which will likely be dominated by conservative activists. State Democrats have rallied behind former Gov. Mark Warner as their nominee.

— Walter Alarkon

Former Sen. George Allen (R) announced Tuesday that he will not run for his state’s governorship in 2009 and sounded skeptical about a return to elective office.

In a statement posted on his website, Allen thanked those who encouraged him to run but said he will not enter the race.

“We will always fondly recall our time in the Governor’s Mansion as an unparalleled honor and a period of historic initiatives and transformational accomplishments for Virginians,” Allen said. “Yet, as we look forward, we are excited about other significant ways we can serve and contribute outside of elected office. Therefore, I will not be a candidate for governor in 2009.”

Allen said he will continue to work in the public sphere. He fell to now-Sen. Jim Webb (D) by fewer than 10,000 votes out of more than 2 million cast in 2006.

— A.B.