Remainders: Larry Flynt Backs Mark Sanford

Polls close for the special primary for Senate in Massachusetts at 8 p.m. EDT. Check Roll Call tonight for results.

In the meantime, here’s what you might have missed “At the Races” on Tuesday …

#SC01: Larry Flynt — the publisher of Hustler — endorsed former Gov. Mark Sanford’s special election bid. He’s said he’ll donate the maximum to the struggling Republican’s campaign.

And in what will likely come as more welcome support, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and FreedomWorks PAC backed Sanford over the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Meanwhile, House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, targeted female Republicans in its final ad before Election Day.

#PAgov: GOP Gov. Tom Corbett’s terrible polling makes Republicans nervous about four suburban Philadelphia seats.

#GAsen: Republican Rep. Jack Kingston will hold two news conferences on Thursday — and all signs point to him announcing a bid for Senate.

#2016: Libertarian Gary Johnson sounded like “he’s up for another run” in a speech at George Washington University on Monday night.

What we’re mulling on Tuesday… Full story

Rand Paul, RNC Chairman Headline N.H. GOP Unity Dinner

Paul will go to New Hampshire next month for a GOP event meant to showcase party unity. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Any time a senator heads to New Hampshire for a state party event, he or she sparks presidential buzz.

But Sen. Rand Paul’s scheduled visit to the Granite State next month reveals just as much about New Hampshire Republican politics as his own national ambitions.

The state GOP’s recent electoral history demonstrates a deep divide between the tea party and more established Republicans. But in May, Paul will co-headline a dinner with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a partnership that’s intended show unity in the party, according to New Hampshire Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn. 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.

New Hampshire: Guinta Opens Door to Senate, Comeback Bids

Guinta has not ruled out running for Senate in 2014. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Outgoing Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., will consider running statewide in 2014, perhaps challenging Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

“My name comes up for Senate, House and governor,” Guinta told Roll Call Thursday in a phone interview. “Obviously, it’s nice to be thought of in that way. Quite frankly, at this point, it’s something that I will focus on sometime next year.”

But two well-placed New Hampshire GOP sources noted that Guinta, the former mayor of Manchester, expressed a particular interest in the Senate race. Roll Call rates the contest as Leans Democratic.

Republicans view the seat as enticing because the party not controlling the White House historically picks up seats in midterm elections. What’s more, the Granite State has proved itself as the ultimate barometer of Congressional races, electing a new set of House Members in three of the past four cycles.

Guinta emphasized that he thought it was too early to select a race, but said he plans to “see how things play out and keep options open.”

“I’m certainly going to take some time in 2013 to assess and make a determination at some point if I would run,” Guinta said.

Full story

Presidential Campaigns Make Closing Arguments in Sprint to Election Day

President Barack Obama fires up supporters at a late-night rally in northern Virginia on Saturday. Obama and MItt Romney are barnstorming swing states in the last push to turnout voters on Election Day. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney made their closing pitches to swelled crowds of swing state supporters in the final weekend before voters deliver their verdict, while top surrogates hit the Sunday show circuit to spin their map to victory on Tuesday.

Much of the debate in the campaign’s final hours has focused on Pennsylvania, where Romney is campaigning today and where President Bill Clinton will stump for Obama on Monday. Republicans insist their last-minute play for the Keystone State is based on polling showing it’s winnable. But Democrats charge that the move is a sign of desperation from a team whose path to 270 electoral votes is narrowing.

Later today, Romney will stop in Morrisville, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia across the river from New Jersey. The Romney team sought to expand the battleground map with a late multi-million dollar investment on Pennsylvania airwaves, vastly outspending Democrats there in the last two weeks.

“It’s a remarkable juxtaposition here that Mitt Romney will be in the suburbs of Philadelphia today, and, you know, four years ago, Barack Obama was in Indiana,” Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie said on ABC’s “This Week.” “When you look at where this map has gone, it reflects the — the change and the direction and the momentum toward Governor Romney.  And the fact is that a state like Pennsylvania being in play, a poll out today showing Michigan a dead heat, you know, this — the map has expanded.” Full story

Unions Unleash Ads in New Hampshire, Wisconsin

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union have launched ad campaigns totaling almost $2 million in two tight statewide races in New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

The New Hampshire campaign features a $1.3 million joint ad by AFSCME and SEIU assailing GOP gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne as a “radical” who “wants to end Medicare as we know it.”

Polls show Lamontagne statistically tied with Democrat Maggie Hassan in the open-seat gubernatorial contest. The joint ad targeting Lamontagne will run in the Boston-Manchester market between now and Election Day. Full story

New Hampshire: Rematch Between Charles Bass and Ann McLane Kuster Gets Rough

A newly surfaced tracker video shows attorney Ann McLane Kuster (D) verbally and physically engaging with a staffer to the campaign of her rival for New Hampshire’s 2nd district, Rep. Charles Bass (R).

As has been increasingly common in recent cycles, the context of the video is an annoyed Congressional candidate and a persistent videographer. For 30 seconds, Kuster and the videographer tussle over the camera, and the clip concludes with Kuster saying, “Eff him.”

The video first surfaced Tuesday on the New Hampshire Journal, a conservative website. The incident took place on Friday in Concord at an event with Vice President Joseph Biden.

The New Hampshire Union Leader confirmed that the tracker was Bryan Klepacki, a staffer for the Bass campaign. Kuster campaign manager Garrick Delzell described Klepacki as an “aggressive tracker.” He said there were several minutes in which Klepacki had pestered Kuster leading up to that point in the video.

Full story

New Hampshire: Tim Pawlenty to Fundraise in August

(Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Barring any unforeseen schedule changes or major Romney campaign decisions, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will head to Manchester for the state GOP Ice Cream Social on Aug. 11.

It is an interesting selection of a headliner. Pawlenty is at the center of speculation to be presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president. Only about two weeks ago, fellow VP contender Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) also traveled to New Hampshire for a state party event.

By all accounts, New Hampshire will be a central battleground in the presidential race in the fall.

According to the state GOP Facebook invite, tickets for the Pawlenty event will cost $20.12.

New Hampshire: Ex-Sen. John Sununu Could Eye Comeback

Former Sen. John Sununu (R) will headline an afternoon fundraiser on June 23 for the New Hampshire GOP. The appearance has caught notice among Granite State Republicans as a possible first step back into electoral politics, perhaps to challenge to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in 2014.

Should Sununu run, it would be a rematch of his 2008 race with Shaheen. The former governor beat Sununu after he had served just one Senate term, joining the ranks of many other Democrats who won that year in what was a wave election for the party.

In March, Shaheen’s office confirmed to Foster’s Daily Democrat that she plans to run for re-election, despite raising very little money at this point in her first term.

So far in this cycle, Shaheen has raised about $265,000, and she had about $150,000 in cash on hand at the end of the first quarter.

New Hamsphire is a swing state. Two years after Shaheen beat Sununu by 7 points, Granite State voters supported now-Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R). Sununu is the son of former Gov. John Sununu, an influential figure in New Hampshire Republican politics and top adviser to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Between the Lines: Then There Was One

Kansas is now the only state in the country with an outstanding redistricting map.

New Hampshire’s new map became law on Monday when Gov. John Lynch (D) signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Reps. Charles Bass and Frank Guinta ultimately agreed to the map after some earlier tension over moving voters between the two districts.  Both Congressmen are being targeted by Democrats in an effort to defeat them this cycle.

New Hampshire: Ann McLane Kuster Brings In $350,000 in First Quarter

Ann McLane Kuster’s campaign released her first-quarter fundraising in her race to displace Rep. Charles Bass (R).

Full story

New Hampshire: Politicians Move Closer to Redistricting Map

Updated 6:23 p.m. | New Hampshire might finally be moving toward a redistricting map, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

State lawmakers had delegated the map drawing to the state’s two Members, Reps. Charles Bass and Frank Guinta. Both men are Republicans and had been at odds over the state’s single Congressional line.

“This plan, we’re told, helps Bass somewhat while preserving Guinta’s slight lean-GOP district,” the Union Leader reported. “It gives the 1st District swing towns that slightly lean GOP in exchange for swing towns that generally lean a little more heavily to the GOP.”

Full story

New Hampshire: State Moves on Redistricting

The New Hampshire House's redistricting committee backs a map that favors Rep. Frank Guinta. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The New Hampshire House of Representatives is finally beginning to move ahead with the state’s redistricting, according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report.

The state House committee that oversees redistricting recommended a plan that “effectively sided with U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta over U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in their redistricting feud,” according to the Union Leader.

Full story