House Race Hotline editor Tim Sahd will take a look each Friday at the top five House stories of the week. Here are this week's big newsmakers, brought to you by Friday House Cleaning:

5. FL-12: I Think We're Alone Now

When an seat opens up in a relatively safe CD, it's very unusual to see one candidate emerge quickly as the frontrunner (for example, the IL-15 special, with its see the 14-person Dem field). But it looks like ex-state Rep. Dennis Ross (R) may have the GOP field practically to himself in the race to replace retiring Rep. Adam Putnam (R). Several candidates have already sworn off the race, and Ross is touting endorsements from much of the state party's heirarchy, including popular ex-Gov. Bush (R). Bush's endorsement carries a lot of weight, and state Sen. Paula Dockery (R) -- one of the few remaining potential candidates -- must now have to think long and hard before commiting to this race.

4. Accountability Now: This One Not Directed By Francis Ford Coppola

Several liberal-leaning groups announced 2/26 that they were forming "Accountability Now PAC" -- an org whose mission is to "use primaries to hold incumbents to account for voting with corporate interests instead of their constituents." It highlights Rep. Donna Edwards' (D-MD 04) successful challenge of then-Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD) in '06 as an example of what it hopes to accomplish. If this PAC is serious -- and SEIU, MoveOn and DailyKos certainly qualify as serious -- than this group could make quite a splash in Dem primaries. Could it be the Dem version of the Club for Growth? If so, it could cause major headaches for the DCCC.

3. RI-01: Wait, There Are GOPers In RI?

Don't laugh: RI GOPers are actively drafting state Rep. John Loughlin (R) to run against Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI 01). Kennedy is in no immediate danger of losing his seat: since winning election in '94, he's never earned below 60%, and the CD gave Pres. Obama 65% of the vote.

But the fact that the GOP is interested in throwing up a credible challenger there sends a message that they're actually interested in widening the playing field this cycle. If the party has any hope of making major gains, they've got to think outside the box. And this seat would certainly be outside the box. GOPers also have a credible candidate in another unlikely place: HI-01, where Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D) may run for GOV. Neither seat is likely to flip parties, but if the GOP can at least make Dems think twice about these races, they've already won.

2. NY-20 Special: Dirty Dozen

The first independent poll in this race was released 2/26, and it showed Assemb. Min. Leader Jim Tedisco (R) holding a 46-34% lead over businessman Scott Murphy (D). Normally, a 12% lead in a Dem-held CD a month before election day would be cause for GOP celebration. Instead, it is Dems who are claiming the big mo'. Why? Because a GOP poll earlier this month showed Tedisco with a larger, 50-29% lead, largely due to his high name ID, and Murphy's nearly non-existent one.

This race was bound to get closer, but the results of this poll enable Dems to claim that their message on the economy and the stimulus (Tedisco won't say whether he supported the bill) is undermining the GOPer. The NRCC this week released a radio ad hitting Murphy for being a Wall Street insider and "wheeler-dealer," and you can expect to see more of those ads as Tedisco and GOPers attempt to fill in the blanks of the still relatively-unknown Dem.

1. IL-05 Special: Who's Got The Mo'?

Murphy can claim the mo' in NY-20, but it's anyone's guess who's got it in IL-05 the weekend before decisive 3/3 primary. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D) won key union endorsements (and a $250K TV ad pledge from SEIU) this week, while Cook Co. Commis. Mike Quigley (D) -- the early leader -- has just begun airing TV ads. And state Rep. John Fritchey (D), the third member of the top-tier, stumbled late in the race with accusations that protected embattled Sen. Roland Burris (D) at then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) impeachment hearing, but he appears to have rebounded a bit. With 12 candidates and a very small pool of voters (30-50K), it's anyone's game. And it's not even worth venturing a guess.