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Wednesday's campaign round-up

<p>Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to

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:

* Technically, Newt Gingrich is still running for president, but that's about to change: the former House Speaker will suspend his campaign next week.

* On a related note, Rick Santorum grudgingly conceded yesterday that it's "very clear" Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee, and the former senator will eventually endorse his former rival.

* The Republican National Committee has dropped the pretense and begun officially coordinating its 2012 activities with Romney's team.

* In Pennsylvania's Democratic congressional primaries yesterday, Rep. Mark Critz beat fellow Rep. Jason Altmire in the state's 12th congressional district, while Blue Dog Rep. Tim Holden was easily defeated by attorney Matt Cartwright in the 17th district.

* In Pennsylvania's Republican congressional primaries yesterday, Rep. Tim Murphy easily won in the 18th district, state Rep. Scott Perry picked up the party's nod in the 4th district, and businessman Tom Smith won the opportunity to take on Sen. Bob Casey (D) in November.

* In North Carolina, PPP found most of the state's voters favoring a controversial anti-gay ballot measure, but support for the proposal appears to be fading rather quickly.

* Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) will run for re-election in 2014, declaring, "I like this job!"

* And following up on last week's reporting, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has released a new ad, which appears to be a not-so-subtle audition for his party's vice presidential nomination. (Incidentally, if the "lowest unemployment rate in three years" is a big selling point, McDonnell is inadvertently giving President Obama's re-election campaign a boost.)