A grand jury has indicted Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, a Republican hoping to unseat U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, on charges stemming from his management of a multibillion-dollar college savings program in his previous job as Nevada's state treasurer.

The Clark County grand jury indictment handed up Wednesday names Krolicki and Kathryn Besser, his former chief of staff in the treasurer's office. They face arraignments Dec. 18 in Clark County District Court.

The indictment accuses Krolicki of two counts of misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer, and two counts of misappropriation by a treasurer. The four counts all are felonies, and each carries a possible sentence of up to four years in prison.

Besser faces two counts, including being a principal to misappropriation and falsification of accounts and being a principal to misappropriation by a treasurer.

The indictments, which don't allege any funds were missing, were sought by Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

The first-term lieutenant governor quickly called a news conference Wednesday to deny the charges. He said the indictment was the result of "a secretive process" that was unfairly orchestrated by the attorney general.

"I can now begin defending myself in the fairness of an open courtroom and can clearly demonstrate that these accusations are false," he said.

Krolicki, 47, was the first Republican to announce his plans to run against Reid, who is up for re-election in 2010. He has said he was targeted for political reasons by Masto—and that Reid was involved.

Lt. Gov. John Carney has decided "beyond a doubt" that he's "running for a federal office in 2010," according to a source close to his campaign operation. He has a couple of private sector job offers that will allow him the freedom to attend campaign related activities for the next two years, according to another source close to Carney.

The question, of course, is which federal office. The obvious is Mike Castle's House seat. But what about a primary against Beau Biden for the Senate?

McAuliffe came prepared — both to combat criticism and to exhibit his command of Virginia facts and figures.

He easily rattled off statistics about how many hours Virginians spend stuck in traffic each year, how many poultry farmers work in the state and how many people are unemployed in one of its most financially distressed cities, Martinsville.

McAuliffe, 51, repeatedly mentioned his McLean address, his business credentials and his support for Democrats across the state, including what he described as large donations to the last two governors, Mark R. Warner and Timothy M. Kaine.

The candidates, seated at a table and dressed in dark suits, all claimed superior leadership qualities and accomplishments. They clashed occasionally but still referred to each other as "my friend."

Moran pointedly told McAuliffe, a consummate fundraiser who could bring millions of dollars to the race, that "Virginia is not for sale." McAuliffe reminded Moran that he was not the only one who has started a successful business in Virginia. "Do your research," he snapped.

Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave has broken her long public silence about her defeat last month, saying she was the victim of "vicious attacks and lies" by big-spending left-wing interests.

Musgrave made her comments in robo-calls sent Monday to 275,000 households in Georgia to support Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who was in a runoff election against Democrat Jim Martin. Chambliss won re-election in the runoff Tuesday night.

"Pro-abortion radicals and liberal activists won't stop until they have a choke hold on our government," Musgrave said on the calls. "You can stop them with your vote. It's too late to change the result in Colorado but on Tuesday you can cast your vote for Saxby Chambliss."

The calls, reported Tuesday on the Web site of the Fort Collins Coloradoan, were done on behalf of Team Sarah, a group created by the Susan B. Anthony List, which promotes anti-abortion congresswomen.

Musgrave, a three-term congresswoman, was defeated 56 percent to 44 percent by Democratic businesswoman Betsy Markey four weeks ago. She has yet to concede or even publicly address her supporters or volunteers, many of whom had gathered at a restaurant on election night.

Gov. Blagojevich, in the most detailed interview to date on how he will fill the Senate seat formerly held by President-elect Barack Obama, told me Tuesday his replacement does not have to be an African-American and he is open to selecting someone who would serve only the two years left in the term.

Blagojevich is aiming to replace Obama -- who was the only African-American in the Senate -- before the new Senate is sworn in next month to give the new senator a leg up on seniority.

In a phone interview, I asked Blagojevich if he considered the vacancy an African-American seat. "I think it is a factor of a great deal of weight in my mind but it is not the only factor or the only consideration, and somebody could be the next Barack Obama who happens not to be the African-American, and that person would be hard not to make a U.S. senator."

Blagojevich also says that he will soon be meeting with Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who has been waging a public campaign for the appointment  Jackson is the only member of the delegation interested in the appointment that hasn’t yet met with the governor.

Asked whether he was interested in running for the seat then, Bush told Politico by e-mail Tuesday night: “I am considering it.”

A source close to Bush said he'll be thoughtful and methodical about the decision-making process. He will consider the impact a race would have on his family and his business and whether or not the U.S. Senate is the best forum from which to continue his advocacy for the issues on which he’s focused, such as education, immigration, and GOP solutions to health care reform.

In an interview with Politico immediately after November’s election, the former governor said the Republican Party should take four primary steps to regain favor with voters: show no tolerance for corruption, practice what it preaches about limiting the scope of government (“There should not be such a thing as a big-government Republican”), stand for working families and small business, and embrace reform.

Bush said conservatives should “do the math of the new demographics of the United States,” explaining that the Republican Party “can’t be anti-Hispanic, anti-young person, anti many things and be surprised when we don’t win elections.”

Since Martinez's announcement Tuesday, Bush has received many phone calls and emails from Floridians and national Republicans urging him to run, the source close to him said Tuesday night.

Georgia voters encountered short lines but heavy campaigning Tuesday on the morning of the state’s runoff election for the Senate between the incumbent Republican, Saxby Chambliss, and Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

Polling stations across Georgia reported low to moderate voter turnout. At the Atlanta Public Library on Ponce de Leon Ave., where more than 1,600 people voted in the general election, only 400 people had voted by noon today.

With voter turnout critical to both candidates’ success, the Martin and Chambliss campaigns cranked up massive get-out-the-vote efforts. Matt Canter, a spokesman for Mr. Martin, said the campaign had 3,200 people knocking on doors and 3,000 others making phone calls to likely Democratic voters.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and son of the onetime senator from New York, said this morning that he had telephoned Gov. David A. Paterson and explained that he was not interested being appointed to the United States Senate.

According to people who know the governor’s preferences, Mr. Paterson has been interested in a candidate who is from upstate, or a woman or someone who is Hispanic. But he has also been interested in appointing someone with the kind of marquee name that would generate enthusiasm — and campaign contributions — in defending the seat in a 2010 campaign.

President-elect Barack Obama has recorded a radio ad that will hit the airwaves today in support of the Democratic House candidate in a Louisiana runoff, a sign, his advisers argue, that he is using his political power to help expand the party's majority in Congress.

In the ad, a copy of which was obtained by The Fix, Obama urges a vote for Caddo Parish District Attorney Paul Carmouche who is facing off against physician John Fleming in a runoff this Saturday for the Shreveport-area seat vacated by Rep. Jim McCrery (R).

"To change America and to get Louisiana's economy back on track -- I need leaders like Paul Carmouche working with me in Washington," Obama says. "Paul Carmouche is the kind of leader we need in Washington...to make a difference for the people of Northwest Louisiana." (Full script is after the jump.)

The radio ad follows two emails that the Obama campaign sent to its Louisiana statewide list: the first was a call for volunteers to help Carmouche, the second sought to raise money for the Democrat's campaign. Obama also recorded an automated phone call to voters in the district.

With a lot of speculation on the Democratic side about possible challengers to Sen. Arlen Specter in 2010, don't forget this possibility: "Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) [president of the Club for Growth], whom Specter defeated by less than two percentage points in 2004, said he hasn't ruled out a 2010 rematch, but has no timetable for a decision.

Of course, the primary source of speculation centers around MSNBC’s own Chris Matthews, who has been coy about whether he intends to challenge Specter in two years. It will be interesting to see how the Peacock Network covers the buzz surrounding his potential candidacy in the future.