Jo Bonner to Resign From Congress Soon (Updated) #AL01

A local newspaper reported Bonner will resign soon. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 3:57 p.m. | Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala., will resign from Congress later this year to take a job at the University of Alabama, CQ Roll Call has confirmed.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., told reporters about Bonner’s imminent departure. Bonner sent a personal note to Shelby a few hours ago explaining the move. He will take on the newly created position of vice chancellor of government relations and economic development. Full story

Tea Party Express Backs Special-Election Candidate

Missouri Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith picked up the endorsement of the Tea Party Express on Tuesday, less than three weeks before the special election in the Show Me State’s 8th District.

“Jason is a promising young conservative who will bring fiscal responsibility to Washington, D.C.,” Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer said in a news release. “Tea Partiers across the country applaud his commitment to repealing Obamacare and reining in the federal government’s out-of-control spending.”

Full story

Palin Endorses in Missouri Special Election #MO08

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Republican state Rep. Jason Smith in Missouri’s 8th District special election.

She vouched for him through her usual channel, Facebook, writing:

“Jason has worked tirelessly to build on the foundation of his humble beginnings and is a responsible and respected leader in the Show Me State. In Washington DC, Jason will maintain that innate sense of his community and will bring his commonsense conservatism to the halls of Congress. Jason recognizes that government is the problem, not the solution. He will protect our 2ndAmendment rights and work to promote a culture of life. We must all work together to send Mr. Smith to Washington on June 4th.”

While a Palin endorsement is sure to garner a candidate widespread attention, this one comes at an inconsequential time in the campaign. As the Republican nominee in a safely Republican district, Smith is already expected to cruise to a general election win on June 4.

His Democratic opponent is state Rep. Steve Hodges. This is an open-seat race to replace former Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who resigned earlier this year.

Remainders: Recruitment Season

Here’s what you may have missed “At the Races” on Thursday …

• Following a couple of Senate recruitment setbacks for both parties this week, Shira Toeplitz posted a timeline of when candidates announced their Senate bids in the 2012 cycle for comparison.
• 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.

What we’re mulling on Thursday … Full story

That Other Special Election… #MO08

Missouri state House Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith released his first advertisement in 8th District special election this week.

The Republican nominee’s biographical spot is intended to introduce him to voters in the final weeks before the June 4 contest.

Smith is excepted to win in the heavily Republican district located in the southeast corner of the state, which is open because Republican Rep. Jo Ann Emerson resigned earlier this year.

Full story

Mark Sanford’s Winning Team #SC01 | Shop Talk

Sanford is coming back to Congress. (Mary Ann Chastain/Getty Images)

Rep.-elect Mark Sanford’s special election victory is a testament to his well-run, competent campaign organization.

The Republican’s personal baggage alone made this a competitive race — even in the GOP-heavy 1st District. It was further complicated by the low turnout and unpredictable nature of a special election.

This is the team that pulled it off: Full story

Super PACs Fuel GOP Civil War

Republicans who have long pushed for campaign finance deregulation are now paying for one of its consequences: the rise of influential conservative super PACs vying for the soul of a fractured GOP.

That Republicans crushed by the 2012 election results are feuding over what went wrong and what comes next is nothing new. Less noticed has been the big money bankrolling GOP factions and the influential new super PACs and outside groups that hold the party’s future in their hands.

More than a dozen such groups have sprung up since Election Day, CQ Weekly reports this week — some promoting centrists, minorities or liberalized immigration rules, others championing conservatives at odds with “establishment” party leaders. As the story notes: Full story

Mark Sanford Wins Special Election #SC01

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Mark Sanford is officially coming back to Congress.

The former South Carolina governor defeated the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, on Tuesday night in South Carolina’s 1st District special election.

He defeated Colbert Busch 54 percent to 46 percent with 71 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. Full story

Remainders: Georgia on the Mind

Polls close at 7 p.m. EDT today for South Carolina’s 1st District special election between former Gov. Mark Sanford and Democratic nominee Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Keep an eye on Roll Call tonight to see if Sanford pulled off his comeback bid.

But in the mean time, here’s what you may have missed “At the Races” on Tuesday …

• #GASEN: Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., will not run for the state’s open Senate seat, and now Democrats must continue their search for a Peach State recruit. All eyes are on Democrat Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn and the CEO of Points of Light, a volunteer organization.
• #HISEN: EMILY’s List endorsed Hawaii Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in the Aloha State’s Democratic primary for Senate in 2014. Hanabusa will face Sen. Brian Schatz, who was appointed to fill the vacancy after Sen. Daniel K. Inouye died last year.
• #IASEN: Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker became the first Republican to announce that he will run for Iowa’s open Senate seat on Tuesday.
• #FL18: Republican Juno Beach Vice Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Andel announced she is challenging freshman Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy in 2014.

What we’re mulling on Tuesday … Full story

EMILY’s List Endorses Colleen Hanabusa #HISEN

Hanabusa is running for Senate. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

EMILY’s List announced on Tuesday its support for Hawaii Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in next year’s Democratic Senate primary in the Aloha State.

Hanabusa, who officially entered the race last week, will face appointed Sen. Brian Schatz in the special election to fill the remaining two years of the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s term.

The endorsement is not a surprise. The group, which backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, has supported Hanabusa for years. It also comes on the heels of an endorsement from Inouye’s widow, Irene Hirano Inouye. Full story

Remainders: A Very Special, Special Election

Keep an eye on Roll Call and this blog for ongoing coverage of former Gov. Mark Sanford’s bid to come back to Congress via the 1st District special election. It could really happen on Tuesday.

Until then, here’s what you might have missed “At the Races” on Monday …

• #GASEN: GOP Rep. Jack Kingston raised more than a quarter-million dollars at a fundraiser for his Senate campaign to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
• #IASEN: Since Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, declined to run for Senate, Republicans are on the prowl for a new  candidate.
• #CA31:  Two of former Rep. Joe Baca’s, D-Calif., Democratic House colleagues are not backing his congressional comeback bid. The blood feud continues!
• #SC01: Polls close at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday for the special election between Sanford and the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

What we’re mulling on Monday …

Full story

Mark Sanford Could Win on Tuesday #SC01

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Could Mark Sanford pull off this special election on Tuesday after all? It’s more than possible.

Democrats and Republicans agree the former governor has half a shot at winning the 1st District special election Tuesday.

Only a week ago, operatives were preparing Sanford’s political obituary. But internal and public polls showed the race closing — and suddenly his return to the Palmetto State’s congressional delegation has become more than a possibility. Full story

Remainders: Conservatives Buy Airtime for Mark Sanford

• #IASEN: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will not run for Senate and has encouraged Republican Rep. Steve King to seek the open seat instead.
• #MTSEN: EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock confirmed her interest in a bid for Senate.
• #MISEN: Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich. discussed his Senate campaign in an interview with CQ Roll Call.
• #MI14: Several Detroit-area Democrats are positioning to run for Peters’ seat including his primary foe from 2012, former Rep. Hansen Clarke.

What we’re mulling on Thursday…

Full story

Mel Watt Departure Would Create Crowded Special Election #NC12 | The Field

Watt has been nominated to a post in the Obama administration. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Longtime Rep. Melvin Watt’s nomination to serve in President Barack Obama’s administration would spark a crowded race for his heavily Democratic district in North Carolina.

On Wednesday, Obama officially nominate the 11-term Democrat to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. If confirmed, Watt’s subsequent resignation will create an opportunity that local and state politicians have been seeking for decades to ascend the state’s political ladder.

“These guys for years had ceilings on the local level and the federal level, and all of a sudden there are no ceilings,” said Morgan Jackson, a Democratic consultant with North Carolina’s Nexus Strategies and a former Watt staffer.

Jackson added that the open mayoral seat in Charlotte (Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, was nominated to serve as Transportation secretary last week) could create two simultaneously open positions that state politicians have been eyeing for years. Full story

Democrats Blitz Markey’s House Seat #MA05 | The Field

Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., has been the favorite to win the special election for Senate for months — which means his House seat has been an attractive spot for ambitious local Democrats for even longer.

A handful of Democrats have been running for nearly three months to replace Markey, who won a Senate primary on Tuesday and is in a strong position to win the special election on June 25.

Three Democrats made their congressional aspirations known in early February, and each of them turned in six-figure first-quarter fundraising reports. Other potential candidates were waiting for the outcome of Markey’s primary with Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, but nonetheless made their intentions to run for his seat known.

The list of announced candidates include: Full story