Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* The very first televised attack ad of the 2014 cycle is on the air: the right-wing Club for Growth is running this spot in Arkansas, targeting incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor (D). For the record, the election is still about 20 months away.
* In Massachusetts' Senate special election, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) was counting on an AFL-CIO endorsement to give him a boost over Rep. Ed Markey (D). It was no doubt disappointing, then, when the labor union announced it would not intervene in the Democratic primary.
* In a strange twist, former Gov. Mark Sanford (R) asked his ex-wife Jenny Sanford to run his congressional campaign. She declined.
* Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D) conceded last week that she's likely to give up her House seat so she can devote all of her energies to her gubernatorial race against incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett (R).
* In a bit of a surprise, Rep. Tom Graves (R) announced this morning that he will not run in next year's open U.S. Senate race in Georgia.
* If Rep. Steve King (R) doesn't run for the Senate in Iowa next year, don't be surprised if Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) enters the race. Then again, all signs suggest King will run.
* And in Virginia, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is moving closer to running for governor this year as an independent. He emailed supporters late last week saying he thinks "there is an opportunity to make history in Virginia this year."