West Virginia: NRCC Makes TV Buys Against Rahall

House Republicans are targeting Rahall early. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin airing advertisements Wednesday targeting Democratic Rep. Nick J. Rahall II.

The small buy is intended to show that the committee is readying to take on Rahall’s district — regardless of whether he seeks re-election in 2014. Rahall is considering a bid for retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s seat.

The NRCC will spend $12,000 to air the spot from April 3 to 9.

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NRCC Makes Small Ad Buys In Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota

Rep. Greg Walden is the NRCC chairman. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Republican Congressional Committee has bought airtime in three television markets in the next week, according to a Democrat and a Republican who monitor media buys.

The small buys target competitive districts home to Democratic incumbents:

• Arizona’s 2nd District: $3,585 in the Tucson market targeting Rep. Ron Barber;
• Georgia’s 12th District: $2,750 in the Augusta media market targeting Rep. John Barrow; and
• Minnesota’s 7th District: $1,540 in Minneapolis media market targeting Rep. Collin C. Peterson.

These buys are minimal for television advertisements, but a well-placed GOP source cautioned the initial figures do not reflect the NRCC’s full upcoming advertising spending — and additional spending could be on the way soon.

South Carolina: 2016 Courtship Boosts Colbert Busch in Special Election

O'Malley visited South Carolina this weekend. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Three years before the South Carolina presidential primary, prospective presidential candidates are courting first-in-the-South Democratic activists — and, in one case this weekend, boosting a long-shot special-election House candidate.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley spent the weekend making overtures to the Palmetto State’s Democratic establishment.

On March 23, O’Malley name-dropped Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch’s campaign for the 1st District special election in his keynote speech to the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Issues Conference. He noted that his daughter, a College of Charleston student, is one of her volunteers, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.

That same day, CNN reported that Biden will attend a fundraising dinner for the South Carolina Democratic Party just days before the May 7 special election — although Biden will not visit the coastal 1st District.

“The vice president will not be coming to the 1st District while he is in the Palmetto State, and Elizabeth will be totally involved campaigning in the 1st District while he is in town,” a spokesperson for Colbert Busch said in an email to CQ Roll Call. Full story

NRCC Raises $14.4 Million at Annual March Dinner

Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon heads the National Republican Congressional Committee. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised a record $14.4 million off of its Wednesday evening fundraising dinner, according to a committee source.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker headlined the event, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul D. Ryan served as the chairman for the annual dinner for the committee’s top donors.  Full story

Utah: Love Hires Top Hatch Strategist for Matheson Rematch

Love prepares for a rematch with Matheson (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After a 1-point loss in Utah last year, Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love is actively laying the groundwork for a second challenge to the sole Democrat in the state’s delegation, Rep. Jim Matheson.

In preparation for a bid, Love has hired former state GOP Chairman Dave Hansen, who was widely heralded last year for successfully managing the re-election campaign of Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Love and Hansen sat down with CQ Roll Call for an interview Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where she was scheduled to speak.

“We are looking at it very seriously,” Love said. “We are trying to get people engaged and going, and let them know that we have to start early so that we are not starting from behind.”

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DCCC Trumpets Recruitment Strategy for ’14

Israel leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (Bill Clark CQ/Roll Call File Photo)

Recruitment matters for House Democrats, who are already aggressively pursuing potential candidates in order to the expand the congressional playing field and put House control in play, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel said Wednesday.

“We will win in 2014 in 2013,” he said in a briefing for reporters and groups allied with the party.

Israel ticked through a number of internal DCCC recruiting programs which he said would put his party on a strong footing for the mid-term elections. In 2014, the party must net 17 seats to take control of the House.

Among handful of potential candidates he floated: Gwen Graham, the daughter of former Florida governor and Sen. Bob Graham, in Florida’s 2nd District, currently held by two-term Republican Rep. Steve Southerland II; and Brendan Mullen, a 2012 nominee who fell short against now-freshman Rep. Jackie Walorski, a Republican, in Indiana’s 2nd District. Voters in both districts tend to lean Republican.

“We will make 2014 a referendum on the tea party and we will win that referendum by recruiting. deploying and fielding candidates who run as solutionists and problem solvers,” Israel said.

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House Democrats Outraise GOP Counterparts by $1.3M in February

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised the National Republican Congressional Committee in February and ended the month with more money in the bank.

The DCCC took in $6.3 million in February to the NRCC’s $5 million haul. The DCCC had $7.6 million in cash on hand as of the end of last month, while the NRCC had only $4.4 million.

The NRCC had slightly less debt though: $10 million to the DCCC’s $10.9 million. The DCCC announced its fundraising totals earlier on Wednesday.

The DCCC also outraised the NRCC in January.

Shop Talk: RNC Names Mike Shields as New Chief of Staff

Shields has a new gig at the RNC. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The Republican National Committee named Mike Shields, a longtime House GOP operative, as its new chief of staff on Tuesday.

“Mike brings a wealth of political experience with him to the RNC, having worked on the Hill and in the field, for national committees and at the state level,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.

Last cycle, Shields served as political director of the National Republican Congressional Committee — an entity housed in the same building as the RNC. In 2010, Shields ran the NRCC’s independent expenditure arm.

Shields was also one of the final contenders to be National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director.

The RNC’s current chief of staff, Jeff Larson, will continue as a senior adviser to the committee, according to a press release.

Politico first reported the Shields news.

NRCC Announces Regional Chairmen; DCCC Names Frankel, Pingree to ‘Women LEAD’ Effort

The National Republican Congressional Committee announced Tuesday its new regional chairmen for the 2014 cycle. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Reps. Chellie Pingree of Maine and Lois Frankel of Florida as leaders of the committee’s “Women LEAD” campaign, aimed at recruiting and supporting female candidates.

The NRCC regional chairmen are:

• Alabama Rep. Martha Roby, who will serve as the Southern regional chairwoman
• Montana Rep. Steve Daines, who will serve as the central west regional chairman
• Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who will serve as the Midwest regional chairman
• California Rep. Devin Nunes, who will serve as the western regional chairman
• New York Rep. Tom Reed, who will serve as the northeast regional chairman Full story

New Hampshire: NRCC Makes First Ad Buy of 2014 Cycle (VIDEO)

The National Republican Congressional Committee will attack Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., in its first television advertisement of the 2014 cycle.

The committee put $20,000 behind the spot, which will air on a WMUR affiliate beginning Monday.

The spot criticizes Shea-Porter’s opposition to the GOP-backed “no budget, no pay” bill, playing on her state’s motto, “Live Free or Die.”

Last November, Shea-Porter defeated then-Rep. Frank Guinta, the Republican who ousted her from Congress in 2010. She is expected to be a top target for Republicans in 2014.

Shea-Porter explained her vote to WMUR, which reported the ad buy on Friday.

“The wealthy people in the House and Senate can go without the pay, but others will be hurt along with their families for something that wasn’t their decision,” Shea-Porter told the affiliate.

Romney’s Pollster Warns GOP Members Not to Count on Six-Year Itch

House Republicans got a refresher course in why they lost the White House this morning and a warning to beware of President Barack Obama’s bully pulpit this election cycle.

At their first political conference meeting of the 113th Congress, held at Republican National Committee headquarters a stone’s throw from the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Vice Chairman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and top GOP pollster Neil Newhouse told members to be on guard for Obama’s campaign machine.

Westmoreland warned that just because the Obama for America campaign has relaunched as Organizing for Action and Obama is not eligible for re-election does not mean he will not be present on the political scene.

“His attention has gone from getting himself elected to keeping the majority in the Senate and winning the majority in the House,” Westmoreland said in an interview, paraphrasing his remarks. “They need to be prepared for him being involved, because he made it quite clear at their retreat that he wanted his last two years to be like his first two years and that means, of course, having Pelosi as the speaker.”

Westmoreland’s prediction is already ringing true. Organizing for America is planning its first official day of action to back up Obama’s call for gun control measures. Full story

NRCC Raised $4.4 Million in January

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $4.4 million in January, Stivers announced Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $4.4 million in January.

Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, the committee’s vice chairman for finance, made the announcement Wednesday morning to the House Republican Conference, which responded with cheers, according to a source in the room.

Stivers told House Republicans it was the NRCC’s best haul for a January in an odd-numbered year since 2007.

The NRCC ended last month with $2.8 million in cash on hand.The committee paid off $1 million of its debt in January, leaving it $11 million in debt at the end of that month.

At the conference meeting, a number of members announced sizable donations to the NRCC. Rep. John Campbell of California said he was giving more than $250,000 to the committee.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has not yet released its January fundraising numbers, which are not due to Federal Election Commission until next week.

Walker to Headline NRCC Dinner March 20

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will headline House Republicans’ major fundraising dinner March 20.

Walker, who has been hailed as the conservative, collective-bargaining-busting hero, will deliver the keynote address at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual event at the National Building Museum.

Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the dinner, will work with Walker and other members on fundraising.

In 2012, South Carolina Gov. Nikki R. Haley headlined the dinner, which brought in a hefty $12 million.

The news of Walker headlining the dinner was first reported by Yahoo News.

DCCC, NRCC Release Final 2012 Fundraising Numbers

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee released their final tallies of fundraising for the 2012 cycle, which saw the Democrats pick up seats but Republicans maintain the majority.

During the two-year cycle, the DCCC raised $183.8 million to the NRCC’s $155.7 million.

The DCCC ended the cycle with a debt of $13.5 million. But the NRCC wasn’t far behind, ending the year with $12 million in debt.

In the final Federal Election Commission reporting period from Nov. 27 through Dec. 31, the DCCC raised $1.9 million to the NRCC’s $605,000. Full story

Campaign Committee Scorecard: Outlook for 2014

From left, DCCC Chairman Israel, NRCC Chairman Walden, DSCC Chairman Bennet and NRSC Chairman Moran

Congressional campaign committees have seen their financial influence wane in the past two cycles with the advent of super PACs. But make no mistake, these entities remain a powerful force in determining the playing field for the midterm elections.

While outside groups have replicated pieces of the campaign committees’ role — from recruitment to opposition research to candidate development — the campaign committees remain the top political clearinghouses for each party. Their involvement can still make or break a race.

In Roll Call’s new scorecard, we rate the challenges ahead for each committee this cycle, as well as how well-equipped each is to handle them.