The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman, chaired by Rep. Steve Israel, has launched a new program to help candidates in targeted districts. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched a new program aimed at cultivating strong candidates in targeted districts for the 2014 elections.
The Jumpstart program “provides early financial, communications, operational and strategic support to help top-tier candidates get a head start in these highly-targeted races,” according to a memo that will be sent to donors and supporters today.
Eight Democrats have been tapped for the program so far based on recent polling: Full story
Walden is the chairman of the NRCC. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
The House GOP’s campaign arm unveiled the first round of vulnerable incumbents for its Patriot program on Monday morning, suggesting which members it believes could need the most help in 2014.
However, these 11 new members in their incumbent-retention program have also signed a contract pledging they will reach certain communications, fundraising and strategy benchmarks to receive support later in the cycle.
“Our Members in the Patriot Program have proven that they are ready to run aggressive, organized campaigns,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon said in a press release.
A couple of names are notably absent from the list below, including Rep. Gary G. Miller, R-Calif., who represents a district that President Barack Obama won with 57 percent last November. House Democrats have already indicated Miller will be one of their top targets in 2014. Full story
Bennet endorsed Romanoff, who is running for the 6th District. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., on Friday endorsed his one-time primary opponent, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, in his campaign for Colorado’s 6th District.
“Andrew Romanoff has a long record of fighting for Coloradans and a commitment to empowering our next generation with greater opportunity,” Bennet, who is now the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
In 2010, Romanoff displeased many party officials when he challenged Bennet, then an appointed senator. The primary quickly turned bitter, lasted late into the summer and even pitted former President Bill Clinton against national Democrats. Bennet defeated Romanoff by fewer than 10 points and went on to win a full senate term in November.
What a difference three years makes. Now Democratic Party leaders, including Bennet, are lining up behind Romanoff for what’s expected to be one of the most competitive House races.
Bachmann, left, is being targeted by House Majority PAC. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
House Majority PAC, the super PAC formed in the 2012 cycle to support Democratic House candidates, has rolled out its first round of Republican incumbent targets for the 2014 cycle.
They are:
Rep. Michele Bachmann – Minnesota’s 6th
Rep. Mike Coffman – Colorado’s 6th
Rep. Gary G. Miller – California’s 31st
Rep. Rodney Davis – Illinois’ 13th
Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick – Pennsylvania’s 8th
Rep. Michael G. Grimm – New York’s 11th
Rep. Joe Heck – Nevada’s 3rd
Rep. David Joyce – Ohio’s 14th
Rep. John Kline – Minnesota’s 2nd
Rep. Steve Southerland II – Florida’s 2nd
“In 2012, House Majority PAC built a strong record of success, and in 2013 we are ready to hit the ground running to hold these Republicans accountable and communicate with swing voters about their extreme records and backward priorities,” House Majority PAC Executive Director Alixandria Lapp said.
The group spent heavily in the fall of 2012, making major ad buys in markets.
Former Colorado Speaker Andrew Romanoff was one of the potential 2014 House candidates who was in town for the inauguration. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Thinking about running for Congress? For hopeful Democrats, there was no better place to be this weekend than hobnobbing with the party elite and donors at inaugural festivities.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leveraged the weekend to tout a trio of potential recruits for House races in 2014. A Democratic source said the following three recruitment prospects attended the committee’s inaugural luncheon at the Italian Embassy on Jan. 21:
Former Colorado Speaker Andrew Romanoff. He’s already indicated that he’s interested in challenging Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., in the 6th District. Coffman tops the DCCC’s target list for 2014 after he won re-election by a 2-point margin in November.
Democratic National Committeewoman Erin Bilbray-Kohn. She has said she’s “seriously thinking” about challenging Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., in the 3rd District. The daughter of a former Nevada congressman, Bilbray-Kohn served as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s, D-Nev., top finance aide in 2010. Democrats view Heck as vulnerable after he won re-election with 50 percent of the vote, and the president won the district. Full story
Former Colorado Speaker Andrew Romanoff is thinking about challenging Republican Rep. Mike Coffman for the 6th District in 2014, according to a Politico report.
“I haven’t made much secret of the fact that I’d like to return to public service, and that’s one path I’ve looked at,” he told the paper. “I haven’t made any decision.”
Romanoff is a Bill Clinton loyalist who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Michael Bennet in the 2010 Democratic primary.
Coffman defeated Democratic nominee state Rep. Joe Miklosi by about 2 points. Coffman had been in a safe GOP seat, but 2010 redistricting threw him into a pure tossup district. Democrats invested heavily in the race, and it is at the top of their target list in 2014.
Rep. Mike Coffman is hoping to get some help from GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's visit to Colorado this weekend. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
The contenders in two tight Colorado Congressional races that have attracted national attention and money have embarked on their final push before Election Day. And the homestretch in the Centennial State will bring the top of the ticket from both parties, with President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney scheduling events this weekend.
But for Sal Pace, a Democratic state lawmaker challenging Rep. Scott Tipton (R), the final leg means a few more days in an automobile hopping from town to town in the state’s expansive 3rd district.
“We’ve gotten a couple of flat tires, and there was one near miss with a moose,” said Pace today by phone while driving between events in Grand Junction and Rifle. Then, it was on to Edwards. Full story
The pro-Democratic House Majority PAC today said it will begin airing an ad against Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican who is in a tight race with challenger Joe Miklosi for Colorado’s 6th district.
The ad — which features a young-looking man, a little girl and a woman — urges voters to reject Coffman based on his opposition to embryonic stem cell research.
“Next summer, I’m going on a camping trip with my friends,” opens the young man. “On the way home, I’ll be in a car accident, and I’ll be paralyzed for the rest of my life.” Full story
The most noteworthy television ads today all dealt with negativity — how to dish it out and how to respond. The toughest ad we saw came from the Democratic House Majority PAC. The ad in the Colorado 6th House race is one of the toughest we have ever seen.
Here is what else that cut through the clutter:
Arizona Senate
As we noted Thursday, campaign ads took a nasty turn this week. The sharpest turn in the last 36 hours has been in Arizona. Wednesday night’s debate between former Surgeon General Richard Carmona (D) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R) was a cordial affair. The next morning, the Flake camp dropped an anvil on Carmona with an ad featuring one of his former supervisors harshly criticizing him.
Carmona’s team reacted quickly — issuing a statement Thursday afternoon, and by the evening, they had a new TV ad posted on YouTube.com. According to a campaign source, the ad was put together Thursday, but the Carmona campaign anticipated the attack and was prepared.
Campaigns often pretape rebuttal ads weeks or months in advance in anticipation of specific negative attacks. This was the case with this September ad from Rep. Mike Coffman (R) in Colorado’s 6th.
The airwaves in Colorado are ablaze with a duo of new ads in two competitive Congressional districts.
Democratic challenger Sal Pace is attacking a recent ad by Rep. Scott Tipton (R) as the two battle for their state’s 3rd Congressional district. And a new ad from the campaign of Rep. Mike Coffman (R) in the tossup race for Colorado’s 6th district calls statements from Democratic challenger Joe Miklosi’s camp “false” and “misleading.”
The Tipton ad says Pace supported “cutting Medicare by over $70 billion” and that the state lawmaker “cast the deciding vote to raise seniors’ property taxes by $90 million.” It concludes: “Hurting seniors, raising taxes. We can’t afford Sal Pace.” Full story
Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter's new district is deemed competitive by Republicans. (Tom Williams CQ/Roll Call File Photo)
As triage news trickles out of the national committees, it is highly doubtful any of it will be about a Colorado House race. The reason? The three competitive House races in the state share the Denver media market.
If one of the committees opts to pull the plug on a candidate, evidence of the move will be subtle. Instead of canceling an ad-buy altogether, the money will most likely stay in Denver, but be directed toward another candidate.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has about $2.9 million in ad reservations in Denver. The National Republican Congressional Committee has about $2.2 million.
The state’s three competitive races are in the 3rd, 6th and 7th districts. There is no indication coming out of the committees or their independent expenditure units of how much they plan to earmark for each race. Rumors abound that one campaign or another is about to get “triaged,” but no credible evidence has surfaced about any committee’s intentions to cut off a candidate.
Congressional Republicans are using their 2010 playbook in ads today, as they go on offense and play defense in various races around the country. Meanwhile, Democrats are picking up on 2012 trends: personally criticizing one’s opponent and going creative.
Indiana Senate
To fend off accusations of gutting Medicare in 2010, many House Republicans ran ads featuring their own parents vouching for their Medicare bona fides. State Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s (R) new spot features his dad. The campaign announced that it will run on statewide broadcast.
The voters who live in the Denver-area community where dozens of people were shot in a movie theater are at the center of the presidential contest and struggle for control of the House.
But today, there is no appetite for campaigning — even among the most committed political operatives, and sources say that there has been a mad scramble to pull down any form of political advertising.
“Everything is on hold here,” state Democratic Party spokesman Matt Inzeo said. “It’s a bad day.”
“There’s a time for politics and this is not it,” added Owen Loftus, a campaign spokesman for Rep. Mike Coffman (R). Loftus said that the Congressman has suspended all campaign activities.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) recently questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace and patriotism, then quickly apologized for the comments. The Denver NBC affiliate 9NEWS first broke the story and posted the audio online late Wednesday night.
“I don’t know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don’t know that,” Coffman said on Saturday at a fundraiser at the Elbert County Fairgrounds.”But I do know this, that in his heart, he’s not an American. He’s just not an American.”
The comments come as Coffman is in the fight of his career against state Rep. Joe Miklosi (D) in the redrawn 6th district. Full story
