The AP is calling it for Prosser, President Obama’s approval rating is down, four House Republicans voted against Paul Ryan’s budget, Pete Hoekstra isn’t running for Senate and Tim Pawlenty raised $160,000.

Make sure to sign up to get "Afternoon Fix" in your e-mail inbox every day by 5 (ish) p.m.!

EARLIER ON THE FIX:

Republicans go out on a political limb on budget

The case against Rick Santorum

Fast Fix: Romney’s pitfall? (VIDEO)

The most likely redistricting victims

Tom Latham to run in Iowa’s 3rd district

President Obama, the compassion candidate

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

* Wisconsin Supreme Judge David Prosser narrowly survived an unexpectedly heated re-election campaign, the AP has declared. He defeated challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,316 votes. On the day of the election, Kloppenburg appeared to have eked out a win, because an error by a county clerk had left out 14,000 votes. The race became something of a referendum on Gov. Scott Walker (R) and his collective bargaining legislation.

* Obama’s job approval rating has hit an all-time low of 41 percent, according to the most recent Gallup poll. The survey was taken the same week as negotiations over the budget; they didn’t move significantly after a deal was struck. Gallup notes that Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all were similarly unpopular at this stage of their presidencies, and two out three did pretty well in the next election.

* Not great for Jon Huntsman‘s presidential ambitions: The Daily Caller has gotten their hands on some very complimentary letters from the China ambassador to President Obama and former president Bill Clinton. “You are a remarkable leader,” Huntsman told Obama, “and it has been a great honor getting to know you.” He praised Clinton’s “experience, sense of history and brilliant analysis” and described Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as having “even more charisma than her husband.” But it’s probably better for him that these letters come out now than in the heat of the campaign.

* House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) explains the maneuver that led Republicans to switch their votes on an extremely conservative budget plan: "I thought to myself the Republican leadership is probably thinking we're going to defeat it for them,"he told TPM. "I said to myself I'm not interested in seeing that happen.” Nearly all the House Democrats voted present, and in the end enough Republicans switched their “yays”to “nays” for the plan to fail. The proposal was an alternative to Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget that was never expected to pass.

* The Arizona state legislature passed a so-called “birther” bill requiring presidential candidates (including President Obama) to prove they are U.S. citizens before their names can appear on the state’s ballot. Arizona would become the first state to require such proof if Gov. Jan Brewer signs the measure into law. She has yet to indicate where she stands. Similar bills failed twice in the past two years.

* Obama is not concerned about a hot mic incident last night in which he said basically the same thing he’s been saying publicly, but with a little more sass. On Ryan, he said, “this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill — but wasn’t paid for. So it’s not on the level.” On Republican attempts to defund health-care legislation as part of budget negotiations: “You think we’re stupid?”

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

* Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana was one of four Republican House members to vote against the budget proposed by Paul Ryan. He’s running for Senate next year in a state where 17 percent of the population is on Medicare (in the top third of the country, percentage-wise). He said there were “too many unanswered questions” on Medicare reform and that seniors must be “protected.” The other three ‘nos’: Reps. Ron Paul of Texas, Walter Jones of North Carolina, and David McKinley of West Virginia.

* Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty raised $160,000 in the first quarter of the year. It’s not that much, but Pawlenty didn’t announce his exploratory committee until two weeks before the deadline. Most of the cash came from big donors who maxed out their contributions. His advisers told donors early on to wait until April 1 to make a big fundraising push.

* Acting West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) released his first campaign ad today, contrasting the budget battles in other states with “stable and strong” West Virginia. As governor, he says, “I have two priorities. Create jobs, and lower taxes. ” The only major Democratic candidate in this special gubernatorial election who has yet to go on the air is Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. The primary is in four weeks; here’s a preview.

* Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) will not run for Senate next year, he announced today. He said that after talking it over with his wife, “we agreed that it was not in the best interest of our family at this time to enter the race.”There’s still no top-tier GOP candidate to take on Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) next year.

* Former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will appear on “30 Rock” sometime in the next couple weeks. In the show’s first season, Jack Don­aghy (played by Alec Baldwin) frequently claimed that the top Bush administration staffer was his girlfriend. Executive producer Tina Fey says it’s an "amazing cameo."

THE FIX MIX:

Peacock spider mating: NSFW?

With Rachel Weiner and Aaron Blake