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Johnson said.
• Democrats have speculated that if Johnson does not seek re-election, his son, U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, might seek the seat. Asked if he has discussed the issue with his son, Johnson said reporters should ask his son.
• Brendan Johnson on Wednesday again declined to talk about the Senate race.
• "As I've said before, I'm not going to discuss politics publicly while I'm in this job," the younger Johnson said.
• Also mentioned as a possible Democratic Senate candidate is former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.
• Elizabeth Smith, an associate professor of politics at the University of South Dakota, said the eventual Democratic candidate will need to begin raising money and setting up a campaign organization soon.
• "U.S. Senate races are really expensive, so generally speaking for a candidate to do well, they have to start well in advance to develop the kind of campaign war chest that is needed," Smith said.
• Rounds is a formidable candidate for the Republican nomination because he has won two statewide races for governor, Smith said.
• Both Brendan Johnson and Herseth Sandlin have the name recognition and ability to set up a campaign organization required to run a strong race, Smith said. South Dakota is a Republican state, but it has a history of electing both Republicans and Democrats to the Senate, she said.
• "No matter who runs, I think it's going to be a highly competitive race," Smith said.
•
Pope Francis' humility: stops by hotel to get bags
NICOLE WINFIELD,Associated Press
• VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and praying like a pilgrim before a beloved shrine in a decidedly different style for the papacy usually ensconced inside the frescoed halls of the Vatican.
• The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, made an early morning visit in a simple Vatican car to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna.
• He had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St. Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray to the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
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