Bachmann’s campaign will air 31 ads that run 30 seconds each on local Fox affiliate KSMP beginning Thursday. The ads were made by Crossroads Media, an Arlington, Va.-based firm, and will air over a 12-day period, according to the filing, which was first reported by National Journal.
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
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.
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
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.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will be returning to Capitol Hill in the 113th Congress, after eking out re-election by a narrow margin against businessman Jim Graves (D).
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Bachmann led Graves by just 3,230 votes — 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent for Graves. That’s a far less comfortable margin than Bachmann, who abandoned a presidential bid earlier this year, is used to. In 2010, she won by nearly 40,000 votes and got 52.5 percent.
In her presidential bid, Bachmann, who is a tea party hero and a lightning rod for the left, posted a surprising win in the 2011 Ames straw poll. But she dropped out of the presidential race in January, after her campaign cratered and she placed sixth in the Iowa caucuses in the state where she was born. Full story
More often than not, the newest Republican television ads have accused Democrats of cutting Medicare by $716 billion to help pay for President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, otherwise referred to as “Obamacare.”
Democrats have vigorously disputed the charge, which surfaced during Wednesday evening’s presidential debate between Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Some media outlets that submit political attacks to fact-checking reviews have sided with the Democrats on this issue. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from employing this line of attack, which paid dividends in 2010 and might again Nov. 6.
Meanwhile, House and Senate candidates have been running either attack ads or spots responding to attacks.
Here’s what broke through the clutter today:
Indiana 8
Paging whomever owns the copyright to the Temptations’ “My Girl”…
Rep. Larry Bucshon (R) was up with this ad that plays over a slightly altered version of the Motown classic in an attempt to tie his Democratic challenger, former state Rep. Dave Crooks, to Obama.
New York 24
How do you respond when accused of being soft on women’s issues? Look directly into the camera and make your case. At least, that’s how Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R) is responding to an ad that her opponent, former Rep. Dan Maffei (D), put on the air earlier this week. Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon responded similarly last week.
The Buerkle campaign did not immediately respond to a request for buy information.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) made retiring Rep. Barney Frank into political fodder in her race for Minnesota’s 6th district, dinging her opponent, businessman Jim Graves, for planning to host the Massachusetts Democrat at a presidential debate-watch fundraiser tonight.
Frank, ranking member on the powerful Financial Services Committee and known for the Wall Street reform law that bears his name, will attend Graves’ debate-watch fundraiser at a hotel that Graves owns in downtown Minneapolis. Democrats say the seat could be in play after a September poll paid for by Graves’ campaign showed the race to be competitive, with Bachmann leading Graves, 48 percent to 46 percent.
Bachmann has capitalized on Frank’s appearance at the fundraiser, releasing a video on her website that highlights Graves’ ties to Frank, a backer of “big government policies like the Wall Street bailout, the failed stimulus package and Obamacare,” according to Bachmann.
A newly released Democratic poll shows Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) could face a competitive race in November, although there is little other evidence at this point that she is in danger.
Bachmann led businessman Jim Graves (D) 48 percent to 43 percent, according to a survey paid for by the likely Democratic Farmer Labor nominee’s campaign. Nine percent of respondents were undecided.
The survey marks the first public indication that the 6th district race could be competitive. Democrats unsuccessfully targeted Bachmann in the 2008 cycle, but they argue the Congresswoman is more vulnerable than ever following her failed presidential bid. Full story
Let there be no doubt, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) staked her claim today on the newly drawn 6th district of Minnesota.
A special court panel drew the Congresswoman’s home into Rep. Betty McCollum’s (D) 4th district, but she forcefully told Roll Call that the 6th district was where she planned to continue her legislative career.
“I wanted to be very clear, unmistakable, unequivocal today out of the gate, I will be running in the 6th district,” she said. “So there was no question so people would be able to make their decisions accordingly as well.”
Although the newly released Minnesota Congressional reapportionment map has drawn Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) into Rep. Betty McCollum’s (D) 4th district, a Twin Cities Member-vs.-Member race is not in the cards.
Bachmann will continue to run in the 6th district, even though her residence does not fall within the new lines, according to a source in her camp. At first glance, Minnesota Republicans say, the new 6th district actually improves a Republican’s chances of winning.
