DeMint-Linked Group Eyes Louisiana Senate Candidate

Retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness announced his candidacy this week for Senate in Louisiana, and now the PAC formerly associated with Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint is considering supporting him.

The Senate Conservatives Fund emailed supporters on Wednesday highlighting Maness and making clear that it won’t be supporting Rep. Bill Cassidy, the leading Republican in the race to take on Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu.

“We still need to vet Col. Maness to see if he’s someone SCF can support, but we’re excited about his potential,” SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins wrote. “It’s encouraging to see people run for office who aren’t career politicians and who aren’t part to the political establishment.” Full story

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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Louisiana: Landrieu Raises $1.2 Million in First Quarter

Landrieu is a top GOP target in 2014. (By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., announced on Thursday that she raised more than $1.2 million  in the first quarter of this year, more than double what her new opponent hauled.

Her GOP challenger, Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy, raised $500,000 in the same time period. He officially entered the race last week.

(See also on Roll Call: Cassidy Blasts Obama, Landrieu as He Officially Enters Senate Race) Full story

Louisiana: Fleming Opts Out of Senate Race

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

GOP Rep. John Fleming announced  Thursday he would not join the Louisiana Senate race, saying his entrance into the contest could thwart a GOP pickup of the Democratic-held seat.

Fleming said he decided to opt out of the race after fellow Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy announced Wednesday that he would be challenging vulnerable Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu.

“For me to enter the race now would risk a contest between two experienced Republican Congressmen, potentially offering Senator Landrieu a path back to Washington,” Fleming said in a statement. “I can’t let that happen.”

Fleming’s announcement is a shift from his tune earlier in the week, when he said “I haven’t ruled anything out.” Full story

Louisiana: Cassidy Blasts Obama, Landrieu as He Officially Enters Senate Race

Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy made his bid for Louisiana’s Senate seat official on Wednesday morning, releasing a video announcement that serves as both a primer on Cassidy’s personal story as well as an attack on his opponent, Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La.

Seated alongside his wife Laura, a breast cancer surgeon, Cassidy seeks to defend his conservative record in the announcement spot, and highlight Landrieu’s support of President Barack Obama’s policies, including Obama’s 2009 health care overhaul, which remains deeply unpopular in the state.

“As a family, we have decided that I will run for the United States Senate in the election held November 2014 and it’s going to be a tough race,” Cassidy says in the announcement video. “I’m running against Senator Mary Landrieu who’s been there for 18 years and against the most powerful man in the world, Barack Obama.” Full story

Louisiana: Cassidy Challenging Landrieu

Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy will challenge Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in Louisiana, in what’s likely to be one of the most competitive races of 2014, CQ Roll Call has confirmed.

The Associated Pres reported Tuesday that Cassidy will officially announce his candidacy in a video to be released on Wednesday.

Cassidy has long been mentioned as a top potential contender to Landrieu, who is seeking a fourth term in a state President Barack Obama lost by 18 points in November. Cassidy had more than $2 million in the bank by the end of 2012, and his campaign announced Monday that he raised $500,000 in the first quarter. Full story

Hagan Latest 2014 Democrat to Come Out for Gay Marriage

Hagan is the latest Senate Democrat to come out in favor of gay marriage rights. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The Supreme Court’s focus this week on gay marriage has put Democratic senators seeking re-election in 2014 under a microscope, with no shortage of media outlets asking their offices about evolving views on the issue.

With the court taking up the constitutionality of a portion of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricted the federal definition of marriage to opposite sex couples, several Democratic senators have determined in recent days that now is the time to make public revised or clarified stands on the marriage issue. Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who is up for re-election in 2014, became the latest Democrat to announce her support for gay marriage Wednesday morning in an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer.

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Louisiana: Dardenne Not Running Against Landrieu

Landrieu is a top GOP target in 2014. (By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, a popular local GOP official, will not take on Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in 2014.

“I’m not going to run for the U.S. Senate,” he told LaPolitics.com Friday.

George C. Kennedy, Dardenne’s longtime strategist, confirmed the news.

Landrieu is a top GOP target in 2014. Her state has increasingly voted for Republicans in recent years, including for Mitt Romney in 2012.

Dardenne first publicly floated the idea of Senate run in an interview with CQ Roll Call earlier this month.

Other potential Republican candidates for Senate include Reps. John Fleming and Bill Cassidy, as well as former Rep. Jeff Landry.

Louisiana: Boustany Will Not Run for Senate

Boustany announced Monday that he will not run for Senate in 2014. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Louisiana Republican Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. will not take on three-term Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in 2014.

Boustany’s name had been floated in recent weeks as a potential GOP challenger, but a spokesman for the congressman told CQ Roll Call Monday that he has opted to stay in the House.

“While Congressman Boustany is honored to have been encouraged to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, he remains dedicated to the 3rd Congressional District of South Louisiana,” spokesman Neal Patel said in a statement. “Serving on the House Ways and Means Committee allows Congressman Boustany to focus on issues important to Louisiana ranging from trade, to comprehensive tax reform, to health care. He looks forward to continue representing South Louisiana on Capitol Hill.”

Landrieu, a Democrat in an increasingly Republican state, is seen as vulnerable. CQ Roll Call rates this race as a Tossup.

But no congressman has yet pulled the trigger on a challenge, although Pelican State GOP Reps. John Fleming and Bill Cassidy, as well as former Rep. Jeff Landry, are considering running against her. Full story

Louisiana: Dardenne ‘Pondering’ Run Against Landrieu

Landrieu is a top GOP target in 2014. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, a popular GOP figure in the Pelican State, confirmed he’s “pondering” a run against three-term Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu.

Long thought to be a likely contender for governor, Dardenne told CQ Roll Call that recent polling had him mulling the Senate race — one of the national GOP’s top targets in 2014.

“You can’t help but ponder it when you see some numbers like that and it gets people talking and wanting to know what you may be interested in doing,” he said in a Friday morning phone interview. “I guess ‘pondering’ is the best word — at least for right now.”

Dardenne trailed Landrieu by only a few points, 43 percent to 46 percent, in a recent hypothetical horse-race matchup from the automated Democratic survey firm Public Policy Polling.

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Many Potential GOP Senate Candidates Vote Against VAWA

Brown voted against the Senate-passed VAWA reauthorization (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Several congressmen running for Senate in 2014 or considering a bid voted against final passage of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization on Thursday.

A majority of House Republicans voted against the Senate-backed version of the bill, S 47, which passed with Democratic support. But those “no” votes, easily packaged into  a 30-second TV spot, could pose a political problem for potential GOP Senate candidates down the road in competitive races.

Republican Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, who is running for the state’s open Senate seat, voted “no.” So did his fellow Peach State Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston, Tom Price and Tom Graves — all potential Senate contenders.

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NRA Targets Democratic Senators Up in 2014 With Local Newspaper Ads

The National Rifle Association will target several senators up for re-election in 2014, including Pryor. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Rifle Association will launch a print advertising campaign targeting mostly Democratic senators up for re-election in 2014, according to sources close to the group.

On Thursday, full-page ads are scheduled to run in local newspapers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and West Virginia. They will be supplemented by digital advertising in these states and 10 others, including Alaska, Colorado, Montana, New Hampshire and South Dakota.

Additionally, the group has scheduled full-page ads to run Feb. 25 in regional editions of USA Today, reaching parts of 15 states.

The campaign is estimated to cost north of $375,000, sources said. Full story

GOP Outside Group Makes Issue Ad Buy on Fiscal Cliff

The GOP-aligned American Action Network has launched an online advertising campaign urging Beltway policy insiders to support congressional Republicans during the fiscal cliff debate.

The online digital campaign includes Web videos and search, mobile and display ads. The money behind the buy is in the tens of thousands of dollars. The group’s newest Web video features economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who is associated with AAN’s sister organization, American Action Forum.

Holtz-Eakin is a former Congressional Budget Office director and was a top domestic adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Updated 11:29 a.m. | Crossroads GPS is making an effort on this front as well, with a $240,000 local radio ad buy targeting five Democratic senators who are in races Roll Call rates as Tossups.

Those radio spots are airing in target=”_blank”>Alaska, targeting Sen. Mark Begich; target=”_blank”>Louisiana, targeting Sen. Mary L. Landrieu; target=”_blank”>North Carolina, targeting Sen. Kay Hagan; target=”_blank”>South Dakota, targeting Sen. Tim Johnson and West Virginia, targeting Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

Inside the 2014 Senate Races

Roll Call’s initial Senate ratings outlook projects a potentially bullish cycle for Republicans, with an opportunity to recapture the majority for the first time in eight years.

But that’s exactly how things looked two years before the 2012 elections, when Democrats surprised many with victories in Missouri and North Dakota on their way to picking up two seats. So the challenge for the GOP and incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran of Kansas is to capitalize on their opportunities.

That and how voters feel about President Barack Obama in 2014 could determine how the parties fare at the ballot box less than two years from now. Democrats won their current majority in 2006, in the second midterm election under President George W. Bush.

Republicans are hoping Obama’s second midterm is similarly kind to them, if not equal to the president’s 2010 midterm shellacking, when the GOP won seven seats (and control of the House) despite beginning the cycle as the underdog.

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