Kyle Trygstad looked into whether former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., will jump into South Dakota’s open Senate race now that Democrat Rick Weiland announced his candidacy. It wouldn’t be the first time Herseth Sandlin and Weiland have faced off in a primary.
Missouri state Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith, a Republican, released his first ad in the special election to fill former Rep. Jo Ann Emerson’s seat.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a new program to cultivate strong candidates in targeted districts for 2014. The DCCC has tapped eight Democratic candidates for the program 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
Rouzer will seek a rematch against McIntyre in North Carolina. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
After losing by one of the smallest margins in the country last year, former state Sen. David Rouzer officially announced Tuesday that he will seek a rematch against Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C.
Rouzer, who previously said he intended to run again, is hoping to take out one of the most vulnerable House Democrats of the cycle. McIntyre is one of nine Democrats who represent a district President Barack Obama lost in 2012.
Rouzer, a Republican, will run for Congress again (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Former state Sen. David Rouzer will make another run for North Carolina’s 7th District, according to the Charlotte News Observer.
If Rouzer wins the GOP nomination, he will face a rematch against Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., in 2014.
McIntyre edged out Rouzer by 654 votes, the closest margin of any House race in the 2012 cycle. The ballot counting went past Election Day. It was the last congressional race to be called, in late November.
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:
Rep. Mike McIntyre is coming back to Congress. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
After a recount in North Carolina’s 7th District that left Republican candidate David Rouzer trailing by hundreds of votes, he has conceded to Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre.
“I have called Congressman McIntyre to congratulate him on a hard-fought victory, and I wish him well as he joins a new Congress that will be dealing with very difficult issues facing our country,” Rouzer, a state senator, said in a statement.
McIntyre, a conservative Democrat who ran an expert campaign in a Republican district, will begin his 9th term in January.
The decennial redistricting process in the Tar Heel State drew McIntyre’s home out of his district and made the 7th significantly more Republican. But despite the uphill climb he faced, McIntyre managed to squeak out a close victory.
North Carolina’s 7th District was the final outstanding House race in the country.
However, in one Louisiana district, the new member will be decided by a Dec. 8 runoff. Republican Reps. Charles Boustany Jr. and Jeff Landry face each other there.
The campaign of McIntyre, above, said Rouzer's request for a recount is an unnecessary cost to taxpayers. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
The campaign of Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., begrudgingly accepted a recount of the vote in the 7th Congressional District but slammed Republican David Rouzer for requesting one. McIntyre currently leads the state senator by 655 votes.
McIntyre campaign manager Lachlan McIntosh said Rouzer’s request is hypocritical because he supports fiscal responsibility and is “asking taxpayers to pay for his pursuit of his own personal political ambition.”
“While we respect the legal right for a recount, it is unfortunate that taxpayer dollars, time, and resources will be spent on a process that has been closely monitored,” McIntosh said in a statement. ”All twelve county boards of elections in the 7th District have carefully reviewed the votes and the results have already shown Mike McIntyre to be the winner.” Full story
Rouzer is requesting a recount in the only House race still outstanding from the Nov. 6 elections. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Republican state Sen. David Rouzer, who trails North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre by 655 votes, is requesting a recount in the last House race yet to be decided after the Nov. 6 elections.
“Considering this is the closest Congressional race in the country and in light of the irregularity previously found in Bladen County, which significantly reduced the vote margin at that time, I have decided to request a mandatory recount of the votes cast in the 7th Congressional District as allowed by law,” Rouzer said in a statement. “In a race this close, accidental human error could easily change the outcome. It is important to ensure that every legal vote cast is properly and accurately counted.”
McIntyre, a Blue Dog Democrat, declared victory on Nov. 16 after a recanvassing effort gave him the 655-vote lead. Rouzer faced a noon deadline on Tuesday to ask for a recount. Full story
Patrick Murphy is on Capitol Hill this week for new member orientation even though his race against Rep. Allen B. West hasn't been called yet. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Democratic candidates continue to hold on to their small leads in the five outstanding House races. Here are the latest numbers as of Wednesday afternoon:
Arizona’s 2nd Democratic Rep. Ron Barber has about a 650 vote lead over Republican Martha McSally, according to the Arizona Secretary of State Office’s latest numbers.
California’s 7th Democrat Ami Bera is well ahead of Republican Rep. Dan Lungren by about 3,800 votes. Full story
Rep. Ron Barber leads his GOP challenger, but the race has not yet been called. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Five House races remain unresolved almost a week after Election Day.
The two main developments since Friday in uncalled races were in California and Arizona. Earlier today, Democratic former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema won the race against Republican Vernon Parker in Arizona’s 9th district. On Friday night, Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R) formally conceded to Democrat Raul Ruiz. Here are the races still up in the air: Full story
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
Rep. Larry Kissell (above) lost to former Congressional aide Richard Hudson. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
North Carolina Democrats are having a very, very bad night. Running in a redrawn Congressional map favoring the GOP, at least three Democratic Congressmen will not be coming back to Capitol Hill. The only bright spot for Democrats: Rep. Mike McIntyre’s race remained too close for the Associated Press to call as of 10:10 p.m.
Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell (D) lost to former Congressional aide Richard Hudson (R). With 68 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press said Hudson had 58.4 percent to Kissell’s 41.6 percent. Kissell, a lackluster fundraiser and campaigner, always had a steep path back to the House. After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee abandoned him, not fulfilling reservations it had to advertise on TV for him, his fate was all but sealed. 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.
The Republican-aligned YG Action Fund, a super PAC formed by former aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), boosted its TV advertising against Rep. Mike McIntyre (D) on Tuesday by almost $200,000.
The group now has $734,000 backing its TV spot in the Raleigh-Durham media market from Sept. 7 through Oct. 12.
The current spot — and others could be rotated in — is entitled “Two Mikes.”
Rep. Mike McIntyre joined several House Democratic colleagues speaking to the North Carolina delegates in Charlotte today. Missing was embattled Rep. Larry Kissell, who was only a few miles away.
Redistricting in North Carolina made both Kissell’s 8th district and McIntyre’s 7th significantly more Republican. But while Kissell is keeping his distance from the Democrats gathering in Charlotte — particularly President Barack Obama — McIntyre is speaking out.
At the delegation breakfast, McIntyre touted his seniority in the House and took some digs at his Republican opponent’s plans to cut education spending and overhaul Medicare.
McIntyre said state Senator David Rouzer wants to turn Medicare into “a voucher system” and “give seniors a check and say: good luck.” Full story
