Remainders: If You Got It, Flaunt It. Early.

If you got it, flaunt it. And in campaign fundraising, the best flaunt their numbers early.

There are several days yet until campaigns are required to file their first quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. Typically, only campaigns with hauls worth bragging about release their figures early.

Here’s are the congressional campaign fundraising figures that caught our eye on Thursday:

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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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Arizona: GOP Challenger to Sinema Kicks Off Campaign on Sunday

Sinema (right) will get a challenger this week, when an retired Air Force colonel announces a bid. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a freshman Democrat in one of Arizona’s most competitive districts, will get her first GOP challenger on Sunday.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Wendy Rogers emailed supporters earlier this week announcing a St. Patrick’s Day campaign kickoff in Phoenix.

“She will become Arizona’s first Republican congresswoman ever elected,” the invitation read. “Climb aboard to become a part of Arizona history in the making!” Full story

DCCC Announces 26 Members on Frontline Incumbent Retention Program

Israel leads the DCCC. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel named 26 of his colleagues to the Frontline program, a committee program designed to protect their most vulnerable incumbents.

“We call this program Frontline for a reason – these Members are on the vanguard of protecting and expanding the middle class,” Israel said in a written statement released Tuesday morning.

“While the 2014 campaign will be dominated by a strong offense taking on the Tea Party Republican Congress, our success begins with our Members,” added Israel, a Democrat from New York. “These battle-tested men and women have proven time and again that they can win because no one better reflects the values of their districts.”

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn. will spearhead the program as its chairman. He’s a Frontline alumnus as recently as the 2012 cycle.

Otherwise, the list includes several freshman members and Blue Dog Democrats:

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Arizona: Two Republicans Seriously Considering Taking On Sinema

Republicans are already talking about lining up to take on newly elected Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in 2014. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Democratic Rep.-elect Kyrsten Sinema has not even been sworn in, and Arizona Republicans are already abuzz about candidates preparing to take her on in 2014.

Two contenders who sought the GOP nomination in Arizona’s 9th District earlier this year confirmed to CQ Roll Call that they are seriously considering running for the nomination to challenge Sinema. They are businessman Martin Sepulveda and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Wendy Rogers.

Sepulveda said that if he won the nomination, he would run as the “polar opposite” to Sinema on the size of government, military issues and values. He also placed a heavy emphasis on tying her to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Full story

Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema Declared Winner in 9th District

Democrat Krysten Sinema has been declared the winner in Arizona's 9th District. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Former Democratic state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has officially defeated Republican Vernon Parker in Arizona’s 9th District race, according to The Associated Press.

The narrow margin between Sinema and Parker put the race into overtime and led to a delay in declaring a winner, but Sinema has slowly increased her lead since Election Day.

Looking forward, this Phoenix-area seat will remain highly competitive. It is a new seat created after reapportionment and Sinema will be the first person to occupy it. Full story

Handful of House Races Still Uncalled

The 113th Congress isn’t set yet. The winners in six House races remain unclear.

Here’s an update on those races:

• In Arizona’s 2nd district, retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally (R) led Rep. Ron Barber (D), but there are early ballots and provisional ballots left to be counted. Both parties felt confident that the outcome of this race would be in their favor, but it might take a while to find out who is right. “It’s just gonna drag on there for a week or two,” one Arizona Democratic political insider said.
• In Arizona’s new 9th district, former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) led ex-Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker (R) by about 2,700 votes, but many, many ballots remained to be counted, and the race has not yet been called by the Associated Press.
• In California’s 7th district, physician Ami Bera (D) led Rep. Dan Lungren (R) by the slimmest of margins — 184 votes, according to the AP. A margin like that could make this race ripe for a recount, which must be requested by one of the candidates. Full story

Ann Kirkpatrick Wins in Arizona; Six House Races Still Outstanding

It’s official: Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) is coming back to Congress.

She led GOP rival Jonathan Paton by about 7,000 votes at the time the Associated Press called the race late on Wednesday afternoon.

Redistricting improved the district for Democrats, but Kirkpatrick’s road back to Congress was not assured. She had a strong start to her campaign, but Republicans blitzed Arizona television with negative advertising against her.

In other races that were called Wednesday afternoon, Democrats and Republicans traded gains. Full story

House Majority PAC Airs Final Spots in Nine Races

Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC today will announce its final flight of advertisements in nine key races.

According to a copy of the spots provided early to Roll Call, House Majority PAC will target the following districts with six-figure buys:

In Arizona’s 1st district, the Democratic group and EMILY’s List will jointly air “Why” through Election Day in the Phoenix market for $120,000:

In Arizona’s new 9th district, it will join with EMILY’s List to air “About Women” through Election Day in the Phoenix market for $120,000:

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Daily Ad Track

What a difference a debate can make.

About a month ago, the biggest trend among Democrats was to tie Republicans to presidential nominee Mitt Romney in an effort to sink GOP Congressional candidates. Two weeks out from Election Day — guess what? Republican are employing that strategy in reverse as they seek to ride Romney’s coattails in certain states and House districts.

Here’s what cut through the ad clutter today:

Indiana Senate

State Treasurer Richard Mourdock earned a lot of attention this morning when he released an ad with Romney making a personal appeal on camera for Mourdock’s election to the Senate. The Mourdock campaign was not able to immediately return a request for buy information on the ad.

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Daily Ad Track

Forget gutter politics. One ad today is so nasty it is going straight to the toilet.

Florida 22

This ad is why we try to avoid labeling Daily Ad Track with words like “best.” At first, this ad from Republican Adam Hasner seems like a normal checklist of negative points against Democrat Lois Frankel. But at the end, it takes a grody turn. The Hasner camp did not immediately return a call requesting buy information, but the biggest question we have is, will this ad air during dinner time?

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Arizona: Vernon Parker Denounces Mailer’s Image as Racist, Divisive

An image on an Arizona Democratic Party mailer has shifted the focus this week away from national issues and put the spotlight on race in the competitive contest between former Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker (R) and former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D).

At issue is a direct mail piece with a photo of Parker, an African-American, that appears to be darker than his natural skin tone. The Arizona Democratic Party sponsored the mailer, which can be seen at the bottom of this post. It was reported by local news outlets earlier this week.

“When you make me four, five shades darker and my teeth 10 shades whiter and my eyes 10 shades whiter, I think they get the point I am black,” Parker told Roll Call. When asked if he thought the image resembled a minstrel, Parker said yes.

“The mailers are being used as a divisive factor in the campaign,” Parker said. ”It is unfortunate that the Democratic Party [that] goes around saying that they’re ecumenical and inclusive would use a photograph like that.”

According to state Democratic Party spokesman Frank Camacho, an original version of the photo was taken from Parker’s Facebook page. No Photoshopping was done beyond transferring a color photo to black and white, he said. He described the practice as “very common in political campaigns” and said the notion that the photo was further altered with a racial intent was “completely false.” Full story

Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema Raises Nearly $800,000 in Third Quarter

Former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) raised $775,000 in the third quarter in her open-seat race against Republican Vernon Parker for Arizona’s 9th district, according to her campaign.

Of that sum, $653,000 was raised from Aug. 9 to Sept. 30. The campaign is still calculating her cash on hand, but it is likely to be somewhere north of $275,000.

Sinema will need every dollar she has raised. Republican outside groups are either already on the air or are expected to buy Phoenix television time. And Parker indicated in a recent interview with Roll Call that his fundraising had picked up after Arizona’s Aug. 28 primary. Full story

Daily Ad Track

Here are the most noteworthy television ads we have seen today.

Missouri Senate

EMILY’s List and the Service Employees International Union have combined for an ad campaign against Rep. Todd Akin (R). It hits the usual criticisms that have been leveled at Akin since he made his “legitimate rape” comment in August. But it goes a step further, with one of the most vicious, perennial accusations that can be made against a politician — not taking a hard line against pedophilia. It is part of a $1 million ad buy.

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Arizona: Paul Gosar, Matt Salmon Win GOP Races; 9th District Battle Set

Rep. Paul Gosar won a competitive GOP primary on Tuesday in Arizona. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Paul Gosar beat back a competitive GOP primary challenge Tuesday and former Rep. Matt Salmon won the nomination that clears the way for him to return to Congress after a more than decade long hiatus.

The GOP races in the 4th and 5th districts were the two most-watched Republican primaries outside of the blockbuster Member-vs.-Member race involving Reps. David Schweikert and Ben Quayle in the 6th district. Full story