Remainders: Special (Election) Report

House Democrats Spend More to Defeat Mark Sanford #SC01

Israel is the DCCC chairman. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

House Democrats reported spending almost half a million dollars to defeat former Gov. Mark Sanford’s bid for South Carolina’s 1st District.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has now invested a total of $458,000 in the special election via independent expenditures, according to Federal Election Commission records filed Monday. That’s more than double its initial buy in the race.

Sanford, a Republican, faces Democratic nominee Elizabeth Colbert Busch on May 7.

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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: I am NOT Retiring #FL27

Ros-Lehtinen is not retiring. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is not retiring from Congress — much to the chagrin of Democrats eyeing her increasingly competitive Miami-area seat.

After top House Democrats suggested the 12-term Republican could call it quits soon, Abby Livingston emailed the congresswoman’s press staff, expecting a boilerplate statement from her spokesman for Roll Call’s weekly Farm Team series.

Instead, an animated Ros-Lehtinen called her back personally within a couple hours. From Farm Team:

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Remainders: 867-5309/Jenny, Don’t Change Your Number

• #FLgov: Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla, is mulling a gubernatorial run in 2014.
• #PA13: This blog premiered a new series, “The Candidate,” that questions the scores of congressional hopefuls who visit the CQ Roll Call offices each cycle. The first victim? State Sen. Daylin Leach, a Democrat running in a crowded primary for Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz’s seat.
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel touted his recruits in a memo to his caucus. Notably missing? Former Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., who is trying to come back to Congress via the 31st District.
• #GAsen: Former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, endorsed Rep. Paul Broun in the GOP primary to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
• #HIsen: Tensions from the 2008 Democratic presidential primary continue through the 2014 Senate primary. Several years ago, appointed Sen. Brian Schatz backed now-President Barack Obama and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa supported Hillary Rodham Clinton. Could Bubba or Obama campaign in the Aloha State first?

What we’re mulling on Thursday …

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House Dems Tout Recruits to Caucus

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel penned a Thursday memo to the caucus boasting about their edge in recruitment and fundraising for 2014.

According to a copy of the memo obtained by CQ Roll Call, the New York Democrat outlines section-by-section how, in his view, House Democrats are on track to make gains in 2014.

“We are ahead-of-schedule on recruitment, ahead-of-expectations on fundraising, and ahead-of-the-curve on defining the Republican Congress,” Israel wrote of his second cycle leading the DCCC. Full story

Mark Sanford Does Not Remember the Alamo #SC01

Usually, it’s Texans who are notorious for invoking the Alamo amid tough circumstances.

But this weekend, former Gov. Mark Sanford referenced the epic battle in a full-page newspaper advertisement in the Sunday edition of Charleston’s The Post and Courier.

Sanford, the GOP’s nominee in South Carolina’s 1st District special election, is going through some trying times.

Last week, The Associated Press reported that his former wife had accused him of trespassing on her property. In the next two days, national Republicans abandoned his campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee bought air time for a hard-hitting television advertisement against him.

He’s now the underdog in the heavily GOP district against the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

So Sanford is invoking the Alamo in his struggle to return to Congress:

“In March of 1863, there was similarly little time. A South Carolinian by the name of William Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword and simply asked those who would stay and fight, to cross it. His efforts, and that of those who died with him there at the Alamo, ultimately inspired Texans to come to the aid of their brethren and defeat Santa Anna’s army though they were outnumbered at the onset by six to one. I’m outnumbered right now, but will fight to the end toward freedom and financial sanity in Washington so important to sustaining it. I’d ask you to cross the like and fight with me.”

There’s a problem with this anecdote: the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836.

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South Carolina: DCCC Makes TV Buy in Sanford Special Election

Updated 1:18 p.m. | The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved airtime in South Carolina’s 1st District special election, two GOP sources tell CQ Roll Call.

The buy comes less than 24 hours after the House GOP’s campaign arm abandoned their nominee, former Gov. Mark Sanford, announcing they would not make any expenditures to help him win the safe GOP district.

Sanford faces Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch on May 7.

The buy is for at least $143,000, a GOP source noted. It will run April 19-28.

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House Retirement Watch Clues Found in First Fundraising Reports

Coble was hospitalized in February but has returned to work. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Not a single House member has announced they will retire in 2014, but first-quarter fundraising reports indicate some may be headed in that direction.

Most of the Senate retirement announcements have come and gone, as Senate campaign officials tend to push members to step aside early in the cycle. However, House members generally don’t reveal their intentions until about a year before the elections.

For now, a dose of weak fundraising showings from the first three months of the midterm cycle offer clues as to which members could be considering the end of their congressional tenures. Whether they actually plan to retire likely won’t be known for some time, but the lack of motivation in fundraising will continue to feed speculation about some members’ political futures. Full story

Ohio: Joyce Raised $234,000 in First Quarter

Rep. David Joyce raised a strong $234,200 during the first quarter of this year, according to fundraising figures provided exclusively to CQ Roll Call.

Joyce, perhaps Ohio’s most vulnerable House Republican, ended last month with $463,000 in the bank.

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Minnesota: Graves All In for Rematch With Bachmann

Graves announced he will see a rematch against Bachmann, above. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

With a top Democratic recruit on board, Rep. Michele Bachmann’s re-election will be one of the most closely watched contests of the midterm elections.

Minnesota hotelier Jim Graves announced Thursday that he will seek a rematch against the four-term House Republican. Graves lost by just a single point in their 2012 matchup, and national Democrats are in turn expected to expend far more resources there than last cycle.

(Read more about House races in Roll Call: Top 5 House Rematches to Watch) Full story

Top 5 House Rematches to Watch (So Far)

As Reps. Andy Barr, R-Ky., Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., can attest, sometimes the second time is the charm.

All three freshmen won rematch races in 2012 after narrowly losing bids for Congress in 2010.

Three months into the 2014 midterm cycle, there are at least a handful of highly anticipated House race rematches on tap. More are likely to materialize in the next year.

The 2012 opponent of Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., made his comeback official Tuesday, and Minnesota hotelier Jim Graves is expected to announce Thursday whether he will again challenge GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann. Observers believe he will run.

The House landscape is far from set at this early juncture, with first-quarter fundraising reports due Monday and challengers just starting to roll out their campaigns.

Also, a presidential-year electorate differs (in some districts greatly) from a midterm electorate. Depending on the district, that could mean that a rematch race is less — or more — competitive. Full story

Illinois: Rodney Davis Raises $401K in First Quarter

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., raised just north of $401,000 in his first full fundraising quarter in Congress, according to figures provided exclusively to CQ Roll Call.

The freshman will report having $334,000 in cash on hand and zero debt at the end of March, which marks the deadline to close the books on the first fundraising period of the year.

Arizona: Ex-ASU Quarterback Files to Challenge Sinema

Sinema has already attracted a couple of GOP challengers. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Former Arizona State University quarterback Andrew Walter filed a statement of candidacy last week to challenge freshman Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

The Arizona Capitol Times first posted the news on Monday that Walter had formed a campaign committee. He is a credit analyst at MidFirst Bank and an owner at an eponymous LLC, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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Iowa: Democrat to Challenge Steve King

King will attract a Democratic challenger soon. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Jim Mowrer, a special assistant to the undersecretary of the Army, is all but certain to run for the seat held by GOP Rep. Steve King, according to a source close to his thinking.

Mowrer has met with staff at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and, per the source, will run regardless of whether King seeks the open Senate seat or re-election to the 4th District.

Democrats competed fiercely for the 4th District in 2012, but King won by a resounding 8 points. But an open-seat race would likely make it easier for Democrats to pick up the seat.

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DCCC Raised $3.2 Million at Obama Fundraiser

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $3.25 million Wednesday evening at fundraising events President Barack Obama headlined in San Francisco.

It was the first of eight DCCC fundraisers the president has committed to in the 2014 cycle. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attended the events — cocktails at one home and then dinner at another — and Obama stressed the importance of returning her to the House speaker position.

“I am here because there are very few people in public office who I am more fond of and respectful than the person who just introduced me, Nancy Pelosi,” Obama said in his remarks.  “She is thoughtful, she’s visionary, she’s as tough as nails. She is practical. She never lets ideology cloud her judgment.”

DCCC Chairman Steve Israel of New York was also in attendance, along with California Democratic Reps. Michael M. Honda, Jared Huffman and Eric Swalwell.

The president noted that Israel “is doing an often thankless, extraordinarily difficult job.” At the end of February, the DCCC had $7.6 million in the bank compared to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s $4.4 million cash on hand.

Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.