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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Illinois: At Least Three GOP Incumbents Go Down

At least three GOP House incumbents lost their seats in Illinois tonight, according to Associated Press projections.

Here is a roundup of the competitive Illinois House seats as of late tonight:

Illinois’ 8th 

Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D) defeated Rep. Joe Walsh (R).

Illinois’ 11th 

Former Rep. Bill Foster (D) over Rep. Judy Biggert (R).

Illinois’ 12th

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bill Enyart (D) defeated businessman Jason Plummer (R).

Illinois’ 17th 

Former East Moline Alderwoman Cheri Bustos (D) defeated Rep. Bobby Schilling (R).

The only outstanding competitive Illinois race is for the 10th district. Almost 99 percent of precincts were reporting, but it was too close for the AP to call. Democrat Brad Schneider is challenging Rep. Robert Dold (R). Schneider was up by 1 point as this was posted.

The race for the 13th district between Rodney Davis (R) and David Gill (D) was also too close to call.

Illinois: Democrats’ Redistricting Crown Jewel Not as Royal as Expected

Rep. Jan Schakowsky campaigns with Democratic House hopefuls Tammy Duckworth and Brad Schneider at Harmony Park in Arlington Heights, Ill. (Shira Toeplitz/CQ Roll Call)

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Democratic hopes of winning the House majority have been quashed, but in this northern Chicago suburb’s crowded village hall on a Saturday morning, one can see the glimmer of what might have been.

At this single location, early voters wait an hour to cast ballots in one of three redrawn Congressional districts. The hall serves as a symbol of the extent to which Democrats redrew the lines of the state’s map to their advantage.

Throughout the cycle, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) repeated these words: “The road to the majority runs through Illinois.” But less than week before Election Day, it’s clear that Democrats won’t net the 25 seats needed to regain the Speaker’s gavel, and it’s equally clear they won’t make as many gains in Illinois as they had hoped. Full story

DCCC’s Latest Round of TV Buys Includes First Spending for Louise Slaughter, Kathy Hochul

The independent expenditure arm of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee today made a new round of television ad buys in seven districts, including two New York seats where the DCCC has not previously purchased air time.

With three weeks to go before Election Day, the DCCC and the National Republican Congressional Committee have been shifting money away from races that appear less competitive and toward ones that now pop a little brighter on the committees’ radars.

According to a Democratic source with knowledge of the buys, the DCCC has placed new advertising dollars on broadcast TV in the following districts: Full story

John Boehner to Boost Candidates in Iowa, Illinois

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Speaker John Boehner will be in Iowa campaigning for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday, and he also plans to fundraise for two House challengers while he’s in the state.

Ben Lange and John Archer, who are running against Democratic incumbents in Iowa’s 1st and 2nd districts, respectively, will get a boost from the Speaker.

The Ohio Republican will start the day with a fundraising luncheon in Davenport for Archer, a lawyer who is running against Rep. Dave Loebsack (D). The event will be held at the Davenport Country Club, and donations range from $250 to $1,000 a person, according to the Quad-City Times. Full story

Crossroads GPS Launches House Blitz Across the Country

The juggernaut GOP-affiliated group Crossroads GPS will soon announce a massive $8.1 million television and radio effort for House Republicans slated to begin Saturday and run for three weeks.

The group will target races in 11 districts from the West Coast to the central plains to just north of New York City.

The targeted seats are:

• California’s new 21st district, where state Assemblyman David Valadao (R) faces Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hernandez (D)
• Illinois’ open 12th district, where retired businessman Jason Plummer (R) faces retired Maj. Gen. Bill Enyart (D)
• Illinois’ 17th district, where Rep. Bobby Schilling (R) faces former East Moline Alderwoman Cheri Bustos (D)
• Indiana’s open 2nd district, where former state Rep. Jackie Walorski (R) faces Iraq War veteran Brendan Mullen (D)
• Iowa’s 3rd district, where Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) faces Rep. Tom Latham (R)
• Iowa’s 4th district, where Rep. Steve King (R) faces former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack (D)
• Michigan’s 1st district, where Rep. Dan Benishek (D) faces former state Rep. Gary McDowell (D)
• Nevada’s new 4th district, where businessman Danny Tarkanian (R) faces state Sen. Steven Horsford (D)
• New York’s 1st district where Rep. Tim Bishop (D) faces businessman Randy Altschuler (R)
• New York’s 18th district, where Rep. Nan Hayworth (R) faces attorney Sean Patrick Maloney (D)
• New York’s 25th district, where Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) faces Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks (R)

Liberal Super PACs Announce New House Race Advertising

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is among the Republicans being targeted by a new liberal super PAC. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

A super PAC led by Jonathan Soros, the son of liberal financier George Soros, today announced the eight lawmakers it will target via direct mail, phone contact and Internet advertising.

The New York Times has described the group, Friends of Democracy, as “The Super PAC That Aims to End Super PACs.” Earlier this year, the Times reported that the group was targeting “10 to 15 House lawmakers whose records and public statements have not been supportive of what Mr. Soros calls a system of ‘citizen-led’ elections.”

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Republicans Launch New Round of Ads in House Races

The National Republican Congressional Committee and other GOP-aligned outside groups launched a new round of television advertising over the weekend in a bevy of House races.

With seven weeks to go until Election Day, the NRCC on Sunday released 10 new TV ads — six in districts the group is working to hold and four in districts the GOP hopes to pick up. Democrats must score a net gain of 25 seats in November to wrestle back control of the House majority. Full story

Illinois: David Gill Absent From DCCC Chicago Fundraiser

Every Democratic nominee running in a competitive Illinois House district was invited to participate in a party-organized fundraiser held Friday at Chicago’s Wrigley Field — except for emergency room physician David Gill.

Gill’s exclusion from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event signals that House Democrats have yet to commit to putting resources behind his bid for the open 13th district.

The DCCC listed five candidates on the invitation to the high-dollar fundraiser, which was headlined by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), whose district includes Wrigley Field. Among the nominees invited were Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth, former Rep. Bill Foster, businessman Brad Schneider, former East Moline Alderwoman Cheri Bustos and retired Major General Bill Enyart. Democrats view the House districts where these candidates are running as some of their best pickup opportunities for November.

The fundraiser comes as Gill’s GOP opponent, Rodney Davis, announced that he raised $440,000 in six weeks. Local Republican officials selected Davis as their party’s nominee after Rep. Timothy Johnson (R) suddenly retired less than a month after winning the primary.

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NRCC Hits California Dems in Ads; DCCC Robocalls on Health Care Repeal

The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin airing new ads Tuesday attacking California Democratic Reps. Lois Capps, John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney on the 2010 health care law, days after the Supreme Court ruled it to be constitutional.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began live-calling and robocalling residents in 10 targeted districts, knocking mostly Republican incumbents for wanting to repeal the health care law.

Illinois: Bobby Schilling Poll Shows Him Over 50 Percent

A poll for the campaign of Rep. Bobby Schilling shows him leading the Democratic nominee in the 17th district. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

A new poll done for Rep. Bobby Schilling’s (R-Ill.) re-election campaign showed him with a double-digit lead over former East Moline Alderwoman Cheri Bustos, the Democratic nominee.

The poll — paid for by Schilling’s campaign — gave the Republican a large 16-point lead, 51 percent to 35 percent, over Bustos. Full story

Illinois: DCCC Names Five Nominees to Red to Blue Program

One day after Illinois Democrats picked their House race nominees, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) anointed five winners to the Red to Blue program.

On Wednesday, Israel named the following five candidates to the benchmark program: Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth in the 8th district, businessman Brad Schneider in the 10th district, former Rep. Bill Foster in the 11th district, former St. Clair County Regional Superintendent of Schools Brad Harriman in the 12th district and former East Moline Alderwoman Cheri Bustos in the 17th district.

Notably absent from Israel’s list is the nominee in the 13th, a competitive district where Rep. Timothy Johnson (R) is running. National Democrats recruited Greene County State’s Attorney Matt Goetten to run there, but he trailed his lesser-known opponent, emergency room doctor David Gill, by a couple hundred votes today.

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