Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt Picked To Lead Romney Transition Team

So far, Leavitt has acted as a "low-profile advisor" to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, advisors to President Barack Obama and Romney spar over issues of job creation and the health law. News outlets also report on how some religious leaders and scholars who backed Obama in 2008 are now skeptical.   

Boston Globe: Mitt Romney Picks Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt To Lead Transition Team
Mike Leavitt, the former governor of Utah and health and human services secretary under President George W. Bush, has been charged with leading presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's transition team. Leavitt has acted as a low-profile adviser to Romney during the campaign, and the two have been close since Leavitt, as governor, courted Romney to run the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (Borchers, 6/3).

Reuters: Obama, Romney Campaign Advisers Trade Blame On Job Creation
Advisers to President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney squared off on Sunday over job creation in a debate which, following Friday's weak jobs report, promises to be a deciding factor in the November vote. Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to Romney, citing Obama's healthcare reform law and a decision to put a major oil pipeline on hold, said on "Fox News Sunday" that Obama's policies have put a damper on job creation (6/3).

The Associated Press: Democratic Faithful See Waning Support For Obama
But some religious leaders and scholars who backed Obama in 2008 are skeptical. They say the Democrats have, through neglect and lack of focus, squandered the substantial gains they made with religious moderates and worry it will hurt Obama in a tight race against Republican Mitt Romney. … Catholic bishops have filed a dozen lawsuits nationwide challenging a Department of Health and Human Services mandate that most employers, including religious groups, provide insurance that covers birth control (Zoll, 6/4).

The Associated Press: Obama Win Could Cost Romney $5M In Personal Taxes
Under his own proposal, Mitt Romney would pay half what he would under President Barack Obama's tax plan. For a man of Romney's means, that could save almost $5 million a year. … Obama's health care law, already in place, also raises Medicare taxes on the wealthy, especially big investors, starting in 2013. That could cost Romney more than $800,000 (Cass, 6/4).

And in campaign news related to gubernatorial and congressional races -

Politico Pro: ACA May Shadow Wash. Gubernatorial Race
Washington State's Rob McKenna might be the Mitt Romney of gubernatorial candidates — but in reverse. Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has railed against federal health reform despite having signed into law a similar plan while governor of Massachusetts. Washington state gubernatorial contender McKenna has said that he doesn't want the entire federal health reform law struck down — even though in his current position, state attorney general, he signed onto the multi-state lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to do exactly that (Feder, 6/1).

Denver Post: Colorado's First-Ever June Primary Creates Little Statewide Excitement
The top Republican race to watch is the battle for House District 19 between Rep. Marsha Looper of Calhan and Rep. Amy Stephens of Monument, who were drawn into the same House district during legislative redistricting last year. Looper is being backed by Tea Party activists and others angry with Stephens over her support for establishing a state health- insurance exchange, one of the key tenets of the federal health- care-reform law, called "Obamacare" by conservatives (Hoover, 6/3).