Remainders: They Work Hard for the Money

Congressional candidates work hard for the money, and it shows in the first-quarter fundraising reports filed on Monday.

This quarter, seven figures marked the high bar for Senate campaign fundraising bragging rights — a large sum for hauls from this early in the cycle.

To be sure, the political fundraising market is different in every state (for example, it’s easier for incumbents to raise money in New Jersey than Alaska). But across the map, senators seeking re-election in 2014 — most of whom of are Democrats — raised big bucks.

Here’s a roundup of Monday’s fundraising announcements and filings: Full story

Shop Talk: Booker Hires Kevin Griffis for Senate Race

Booker is exploring a bid for Senate. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker continues to staff up his nascent Senate campaign; he has hired Kevin Griffis to serve as a senior adviser with a focus on communications.

Booker filed paperwork to explore a run for the open New Jersey Senate seat a couple of months ago, and this new hire signals he is continuing to put together campaign infrastructure.

Public polls show Booker with high ratings since he announced a bid for Senate last year. But several other Democratic candidates are considering a bid, including Reps. Rush D. Holt and Frank Pallone Jr., state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

A veteran of of Democratic politics in Virginia, Griffis worked on President Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, according to a 2012 press release from the Podesta Group. Griffis worked at the Department of Commerce prior to his time at the Podesta Group. In 2008, he served as Obama’s communications director for the tough South Carolina Democratic primary.

CQ Roll Call has profiled Booker’s early hires, although his finance director ultimately opted against taking an official role in the campaign.

New Jersey: Poll Shows Booker Boosted After Lautenberg Retirement Announcement

Booker's position in the polls has improved.

A new poll shows Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s commanding lead in the 2014 primary in New Jersey has increased since Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg’s retirement announcement.

Half of the respondents said they would back Booker in a new Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind survey — a score that’s increased by 8 points since a similar January poll.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., another Democrat who has expressed interest in the Senate race, picked up 4 percent in the poll. Meanwhile, 7 percent supported Democratic Rep. Rush D. Holt, who has also floated his name as a contender. Thirty-two percent of respondents were undecided.

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New Jersey: Survey Shows Menendez’s Popularity Sliding

Menendez's poll numbers went south in a recent survey. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Robert Menendez’s popularity in the Garden State has taken a big hit following the drumbeat of media reports about his alleged improprieties.

In a new poll from Quinnipiac University, 41 percent of registered New Jersey voters surveyed said they disapprove of the way Menendez is handling his job as senator, while only 36 percent approve. A month ago in a similar poll, 51 percent approved and 33 percent disapproved.

Twenty-eight percent of those polled said Menendez was “honest and trustworthy,” while 44 percent said he was not.

Those numbers would be daunting for any incumbent facing re-election. But Menendez, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, will not face voters until 2018. He won re-election with 59 percent of the vote last November.

Another Democrat, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, on the other hand, is exploring a run for the state’s open Senate seat in 2014. He fared well in the poll, with 59 percent saying they had a favorable opinion of him and only 11 percent seeing him unfavorably. Potential Republican candidate Geraldo Rivera didn’t do as well: only 20 percent had a favorable opinion of him, with 39 percent seeing him unfavorably.

The Quinnipiac University poll used live interviewers to survey 1,149 registered voters on land lines and cellphones Feb. 13-17. The poll’s margin of error was 2.9 points.

New Jersey: Holt Expresses Interest in Senate Bid

Holt, right, is considering a bid for New Jersey's Senate seat. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Rush D. Holt, D-N.J., indicated Thursday he is interested in running for Senate.

“There’s no point in being coy,” he told PolitickerNJ. “I’ve made no secret in previous years that I would consider the Senate at the right time. But an expression of interest should not be taken as a campaign announcement.”

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New Jersey: Lautenberg Won’t Seek Re-Election

Lautenberg announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 4:16 p.m. | Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., will not seek re-election, setting up a lively Democratic primary for his seat in 2014.

CQ Roll Call confirmed Lautenberg’s decision, which he explained to The Newark Star-Ledger in a report published Thursday.

“I am not announcing the end of anything. I am announcing the beginning of a two-year mission to pass new gun safety laws, protect children from toxic chemicals and create more opportunities for working families in New Jersey,” Lautenberg told the paper. “While I may not be seeking re-election, there is plenty of work to do before the end of this term and I’m going to keep fighting as hard as ever for the people of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.”

Garden State operatives expect more than one Democrat will seek the seat. Last year, Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced he had formed an exploratory committee to look at a bid. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. is also eyeing the seat, along with possibly other state politicians.

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New Jersey: Another Poll Gives Booker Big Edge Over Lautenberg

Meanwhile, television personality Geraldo Rivera has work to do if he wants to be a viable contender, according to a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll.

In the poll released Thursday, 40 percent of Democrats backed Booker, while 25 percent said they would support Lautenberg. Notably, only 15 percent of surveyed Democrats said they wanted Lautenberg to return to the Senate.

Lautenberg has not yet said definitively whether he will seek re-election in 2014. Regardless of his plans, CQ Roll Call rates this race as Safe Democratic.

Only 26 percent of respondents said they were likely to vote for Rivera. The television personality indicated his interest in the Garden State Senate race last month.

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New Jersey: Andrews Defends Booker’s Lautenberg Challenge

Andrews defended Booker's decision to explore a Senate bid. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Robert E. Andrews defended Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s primary challenge to his fellow New Jersey Democrat, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, on Tuesday.

“I think he’s tried to be respectful of the senator’s choice, but made it clear he’d like to serve in the Senate and I think that’s very legitimate,” Andrews told CQ Roll Call.

Andrews knows what it’s like to be in Booker’s position. In 2008, he challenged Lautenberg in the Democratic primary; he lost by a whopping 24-point margin.

Booker announced his intention to explore a bid for Lautenberg’s seat late last year, when speculation had already started over whether the 89-year-old senator would run again in 2014.

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Shop Talk: Booker Aide Says Finance Director Leaving Campaign, Politics

Booker's finance director has left his Senate campaign. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker‘s Senate campaign fundraiser has suddenly left her position with his nascent Senate campaign to seek a gig outside of politics, his aide confirmed.

Samantha Maltzman left the campaign after less than two weeks on the job, although a Booker aide characterized the departure as amicable.

Maltzman came to the Booker campaign as one of her party’s most prominent finance directors in New Jersey. Her résumé, which CQ Roll Call profiled as part of Booker’s team, includes stints with Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Booker is challenging Lautenberg for the Democratic nomination in 2014, although the five-term senator has not said yet whether he will seek re-election.

Maltzman did not return a request for comment. Full story

New Jersey: Geraldo Talks Senate Run on Facebook

Television personality Geraldo Rivera took to his Facebook page to clarify the legal ends of his Senate candidacy contemplations.

“Despite my constitutionally protected musings on whether to seek that high office, I am taking no formal steps to initiate the electoral process, making no declarations, forming no committees, raising no money and hiring no campaign aides,” Rivera wrote. “Therefore, there is no [Federal Communications Commission] complication regarding equal time.”

Rivera is getting at the fact that he hosts a radio program and is stating that he is still in compliance with the “equal time rule.”

Rivera has floated his name as a Republican contender in the 2014 Senate race in New Jersey. Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election. Rivera’s recent comments have mostly been met with eye rolls, but according to The New York Times, Fox News “is taking it seriously.”

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New Jersey: Lautenberg Raised $11,000 in 4th Quarter of 2012

Lautenberg raised about $11,000 in the fourth quarter of 2012. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg raised just more than $11,000 in the final three months of 2012 — a paltry total for any incumbent preparing to seek re-election.

Lautenberg, who has not said yet whether he will seek a sixth term, reported $182,000 in the bank, according to his year-end fundraising report filed with the Federal Election Commission last week.

Lautenberg is one of the wealthiest members of Congress and has previously self-funded his own re-election to the tune of seven figures. The New Jersey Democrat also posted meager fundraising at the start of his last race in the 2008 cycle, but he loaned $1 million to seed his campaign in December 2006.

Latuenberg’s small haul will continue to fuel questions about whether the 89-year-old plans to run for re-election. Lautenberg faces a tough Democratic primary challenge from Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who announced last month that he is exploring a bid for the seat. Democrats are expected to hold the seat in 2014.

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New Jersey: Geraldo Rivera ‘Truly Contemplating’ Senate Run

Television personality Geraldo Rivera said on his radio program Thursday that he is “truly contemplating” a run as a Republican candidate for Senate in 2014, per The Hill.

Prior to this news, the action had been entirely on the Democratic side. Newark Mayor Cory Booker has created a federal account in preparation for a Senate run — a move that has greatly antagonized Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, who has not yet said if he is running for re-election.

Another possible Democratic contender is Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. A number of state officials are also being discussed as candidates or are publicly talking about runs, pending Lautenberg’s decision.

Roll Call rates the race as Safe Democratic.

New Jersey: Democrats Prefer Booker Over Lautenberg in New Poll

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, above, led Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg in a poll of New Jersey Democratic primary voters. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

New Jersey Democrats are ready for Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg to step aside in favor of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, according to a Qunnipiac University poll released Wednesday morning.

The survey showed that in a Democratic primary, Booker got 51 percent of the support, while 30 percent backed Lautenberg.

The poll’s key finding is that while Democrats might approve of Launtenberg’s job performance, they are ready for him to retire. Lautenberg’s job approval was at 50 percent, but 45 percent said he does not deserve to be re-elected, compared to 36 percent who said he does.

Another 71 percent of those surveyed said that his age, 90 years old at his next swearing-in, makes his job “too difficult.”

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Pascrell: Booker Doesn’t Scare Lautenberg

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. discussed the New Jersey Senate race with CQ Roll Call Tuesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg won’t be intimidated, nor will he decide his political future based on Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s entrance into the New Jersey Senate race, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. suggested in an interview with CQ Roll Call on Tuesday.

“My friend Frank Lautenberg is a dog. I mean he ain’t gonna lay down for anybody,” Pascrell said. “He will make the right decision when it comes time, so I’m confident in the process. I’m confident in our bench and we’ll see what happens.”

Lautenberg has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election in 2014. But Booker has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission, possibly paving the way for a contested Democratic primary. The move has sparked drama of the Garden State variety. Lautenberg’s aides have responded with highly critical, anonymous comments to the press directed at Booker.

“That’s kind of like, in-your-face. So, now you know how I think about it,” Pascrell said of Booker’s decision to file his candidacy papers before Lautenberg had announced whether he would run for re-election. “It’s a photo-op. What can I tell you?”

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New Jersey: Booker Says Talk of Senate Campaign Is Premature

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

In at least his third national television appearance in about 36 hours, Newark Mayor Cory Booker attempted to downplay his nascent Senate bid on MSNBC’s “The Last Word.”

“This is really not an issue right now. In order to stay in compliance with the Federal Election Commission, I can’t even do the due diligence of research, of travel, I can’t even go down to D.C. to meet with people from my mayoral account. I have to file something,” Booker said in a Monday evening interview.

“This is 18 months away. It’s a long time. All of New Jersey, we should not be talking about Senate races!” he added. “We have two great senators doing a great job for us, fighting the good fight on critical issues from guns to Sandy aid. … We don’t really need a distraction right now over a Senate race. It’s not even an election year.”

At issue is the fact that until Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg announces his retirement, Booker has essentially launched a primary challenge of the 88-year-old incumbent. The move sparked anger within Lautenberg’s camp and within New Jersey Democratic circles.

Booker indicated he had agreed to the Monday night MSNBC television appearance to discuss gun violence.

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