Florida: Vern Buchanan Pulls In Almost $500,000 in First Quarter

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), under growing ethical scrutiny, will report an impressive $484,000 in fundraising receipts in the first three months of this year, according to an internal memo obtained by Roll Call.

The campaign had about $1.5 million in cash on hand at the end of March, according to the memo to supporters from Celena Thibodeaux, Buchanan’s finance director.

It was unclear if the Congressman’s first-quarter campaign haul included contributions or loans from himself. A call and email to a campaign spokeswoman were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Buchanan, the vice-chairman for finance for the National Republican Congressional Committee, is seen as a top target by Florida and national Democrats, especially after a front-page New York Times story reported an apparently “widening” federal investigations into the Congressman. But his fundraising in the first quarter shows that he continues to have strong financial support and resources available for a campaign.

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Massachusetts: Elizabeth Warren Raises Almost $7M in First Quarter

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren raised an extraordinary $6.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, her campaign manager announced in an email to supporters. That means the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Massachusetts more than doubled the fundraising of Sen. Scott Brown (R), who raised $3.4 million in the first three months of the year.

“Scott Brown still has $4 million more in the bank than we do, and there’s a lot of work ahead to do to close the gap,” campaign manager Mindy Myers wrote. Brown ended March with $15 million in cash on hand, so that means Warren ended the quarter with about $11 million.

Roll Call rates the race as a Tossup.

Florida: David Rivera Gets Democratic Opponent

Rep. David Rivera has a new Democratic opponent. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Embattled freshman Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) picked up a Democratic opponent today, after losing one last week.

Real estate businesswoman Gloria Romero Roses announced her candidacy for Florida’s southern 26th district this morning, seven days after state Rep. Luis Garcia (D), who got in a very public tussle with national Democratic figures, dropped his bid.

“Florida’s growth has been stagnant coming out of this downturn in part because Congressman David Rivera has been too focused on defending himself in his ongoing scandals rather than fighting for jobs and strengthening our small businesses,” Roses said in a statement, embracing hyperbole. Full story

Illinois: More Timothy Johnson Retirement Fallout

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Timothy Johnson’s preferred candidate in the race to replace him will announce his campaign Monday, much to the chagrin of many Illinois Republicans — including Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) — who remain irked about the way the six-term Congressman’s post-primary retirement went down this week.

Jerry Clarke, Johnson’s former chief of staff, will announce his campaign Monday for the 13th district seat. An Iraq War veteran, Clarke currently serves as chief of staff for freshman Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.).

Several Illinois Republicans, including Rep. John Shimkus, have encouraged former Shimkus aide Rodney Davis to enter the race. Davis is still talking over a potential bid with his family, according to Shimkus’ chief of staff, Craig Roberts, who added that Davis is “leaning toward doing it, and if he does, he’ll have our full support.” Full story

Montana: Jon Tester Launches Two More TV Ads

Sen. Jon Tester’s campaign has launched two more positive TV ads in Montana to boost the Democrat’s first bid for re-election.

The 30-second ads, which the campaign said it spent about $60,000 on, will begin airing statewide this weekend. Both focus on Tester’s efforts to support military veterans.

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Massachusetts: Scott Brown Ended March With $15 Million

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The campaign of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) raised $3.4 million in the first quarter of 2012 and had about $15 million in cash on hand — a huge war chest for his race against Harvard professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren (D).

Warren hasn’t announced her full fundraising haul for the first quarter, but her campaign said it raised $2.5 million from “Massachusetts families.”

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Pennsylvania: Jason Altmire Raises More Than Mark Critz in Past Three Months

Rep. Jason Altmire (above) faces fellow Democratic Rep. Mark Critz in a primary forced by redistricting later this month. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Jason Altmire raised slightly more than Rep. Mark Critz in the final months before their April 24 Democratic primary in a southwestern Pennsylvania House district.

Altmire’s campaign announced he raised about $330,000 from Jan. 1 through April 4, which is the pre-primary reporting period.

Critz raised about $285,000 during the same period, his top campaign aide confirmed to Roll Call. Full story

Indiana: New Poll Shows Dick Lugar With 7-Point Lead

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Embattled Sen. Dick Lugar (Ind.) has had a rough couple of weeks, and a new poll underscores just how much trouble he is in against state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in the GOP primary next month.

Lugar led Mourdock 42 percent to 35 percent among likely GOP primary voters, according to the Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll released today. While the poll showed Lugar with a single-digit lead, 42 percent is a dangerously low number for a veteran lawmaker and it underscores just how competitive Lugar’s first tough re-election battle has become.

Indiana has an open primary, and therefore, independents and Democrats can vote in the May 8 contest. Lugar and Mourdock ran even among self-identified Republicans in the poll, which suggests the Senator’s saving grace lies with independents. Lugar led among independents and voters who said they lean Republican, 52 percent to 26 percent. Full story

Massachusetts: Tisei Posts $350,000 Quarter in Race Against Tierney

(Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Republican Richard Tisei pulled in an impressive $350,000 in the first quarter of 2012 in his bid to unseat Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.). Tisei, a former state Senator and GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, managed to raise the substantial sum despite being a Republican in a state that overwhelmingly favors Democrats.

His campaign told Roll Call he ended last month with $454,000 in cash on hand. Tierney’s fundraising numbers for the first quarter were not immediately available.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Tisei raised $312,000 to Tierney’s $161,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Full story

Arizona: Ron Barber Pulls In $550,000 in Two Months

Ron Barber is running to replace his old boss, ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. (Jonathan Gibby/Getty Images)

Ron Barber, a former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), is off to a strong start in his campaign to fill the ex-Congresswoman’s seat.

In the reporting period that began Jan. 1 and ended March 28, the Democrat raised almost $550,000 and had nearly $465,000 in the bank.

Barber raised the large sum in less than two months with a big hand from a who’s who of Democratic interest groups and Members. Full story

Parties Look Back, Ahead in Maryland’s 6th District

Wealthy businessman John Delaney (above) is favored over Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in Maryland's 6th district race this fall. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Those deeply invested in Maryland’s 6th district — a seat Democrats are counting as a top pickup opportunity this fall — spent most of Wednesday making sense of this week’s primary results.

On the Democratic side, wounds remain raw. State Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola was supposed to win it all, but he lost big in the primary to businessman John Delaney, who poured more than $1.6 million of his own money into the campaign.

Garagiola’s mentor, state Sen. Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, gave a backhanded endorsement of Delaney on Wednesday, according to several reports.

But among party operatives — the Democrats who care more about a pickup in the delegation than the personalities involved — there is an almost palpable sense of relief that Delaney won.

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Illinois’ Timothy Johnson to Retire

Rep. Timothy Johnson is regularly seen around Capitol Hill talking to constituents on his cellphone. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 9:37 p.m. | Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.) will not seek re-election after all, according to a House Republican leadership aide.

His eleventh-hour retirement stunned many of his House Republican colleagues. Johnson made every indication he’d seek re-election in the mostly new territory, including securing the GOP nomination in the March 20 primary.

What’s more, Johnson’s decision puts his downstate Illinois seat in play. Democrats redrew Johnson’s district to be more competitive during redistricting last year.

The Illinois politics tip sheet, Capitol Fax, first reported Johnson’s retirement. According to the report, Johnson feels he can step aside now because he believes the seat is not competitive with emergency room doctor David Gill as the Democratic nominee. Full story

Michigan: Stabenow Raises $1.5M for ‘Best Quarter Ever’

(Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Debbie Stabenow raised $1.5 million in the first quarter of this year — a sum her campaign called her “best fundraising quarter ever.”

The Michigan Democrat banked about $7 million by the end of March for her race against the likely GOP nominee, former Rep. Pete Hoekstra.

Stabenow faced the first tough re-election challenge of her career at the start of the 2012 cycle. But Hoekstra stumbled earlier this year when his campaign released a controversial Super Bowl spot that even Republicans criticized for its racial overtones. Full story

Barack Obama Vs. Mitt Romney: The Campaign Begins

(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

If former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defeats President Barack Obama on Nov. 6, his road to victory might lead all the way back to the speech he delivered Friday in Appleton, Wis.

In that address, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee presented his philosophy on the economy and its relationship with the federal government as a vision. And more importantly, he provided a moral underpinning for his viewpoint that attempted to connect his ideas to average Americans. Voters might reject Romney’s vision and opt for Obama’s. The president has been quite adept at framing his policies on taxes and government spending in terms of “balance” and “fairness” for the “middle class,” and polling data has shown that voters have reacted favorably. Full story

Georgia: NRCC Hits John Barrow in TV Spot to Air During Masters

The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin airing a television ad in the Augusta, Ga., media market Thursday knocking vulnerable Democratic Rep. John Barrow and attempting to tie him to President Barack Obama.

The ad, set to air during the Masters Tournament, uses a golf theme. It shows two silhouetted figures holding golf clubs — who appear to look something like Obama and Barrow — with one’s arm around the other. The NRCC is backing the ad with a weeklong $36,000 buy.

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