DSCC Again Outraises NRSC; Debbie Dingell Won't Run In MI SEN; Joe Sestak Preps For Comeback?
Click hereto read online and see our archives.
WHAT'S NEWS
The RNC raised $18.02M in the first quarter, ending March with $8.67M on hand and no debts. $6.3M of the total haul, about a third, was raised in March alone (The Hill). The DNC raised $13.9M in the quarter and ended with $5.9M on hand and $22.5M in debts. The cmte brought in $5.7M in March alone (Hotline reporting).
The DSCC outraised the NRSC for the third consecutive month, bringing in more than $5.2M in March, compared to the GOP cmte's $3.2M (On Call).
SC-01 Special: VoteVets Action Fund released a new TV ad targeting ex-Gov. Mark Sanford (R), adding to the Dem onslaught against the GOP nominee just two weeks before Election Day (On Call). Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) PAC gave $2.5K to Sanford last week, after the NRCC announced it would not support his bid (Roll Call).
MA SEN Special: The Boston Globe endorsed Rep. Edward Markey (D) and state Rep. Dan Winslow (R) in their respective primaries (Boston Globe). Markey raised about $4.8M since announcing his bid -- about three times as much as Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) -- and had $4.6M on hand "as of April 10" (AP). Ex-Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez (R) raised $582K, loaned his campaign $600K and had $500K on hand. Winslow raised $244K, loaned his campaign $150K and had $142K on hand. Ex-U.S. Atty Michael Sullivan (R) raised $174K and had $96K on hand (MassLive).
NJ GOV '13: Gov. Chris Christie (R) unveiled a plan on Friday to "reduce gun violence by strengthening background checks and making it easier to commit the mentally ill" (Newark Star-Ledger).
HI SEN: Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) met with the DSCC on Thursday to discuss primarying Sen. Brian Schatz (D), but sources said she's still undecided about whether to run for the Senate or mount a GOV bid (Honolulu Star-Advertiser).
IA SEN: Sen. Tom Harkin (D) endorsed Rep. Bruce Braley (D) to succeed him. Harkin: "(H)e's got pretty much the Democratic Party in Iowa behind him, so it made it very clear to me that maybe I should get on board this train, huh?" (Radio Iowa).
MI SEN: DNC cmtewoman Debbie Dingell announced that she will not run, calling on Dems to "unite behind one candidate," specifically mentioning Rep. Gary Peters (D) (Lansing State Journal).
MN SEN: Rep. John Kline (R) said that he will seek reelection, rather than mounting a bid for SEN or GOV (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).
MT SEN: The Progressive Change Campaign Cmte is "running full-page ads in seven newspapers throughout" the state including "the signatures of 75 gun owners" protesting Sen. Max Baucus' (D) vote against expanding background checks for gun sales (USA Today).
NH GOV: State Sen. Andy Sanborn (R) met with officials at the RGA last week and "could be preparing a run" (WMUR).
PA GOV: '10 SEN nominee/ex-Rep. Joe Sestak (D) raised $460K in the first quarter and changed the name of his campaign cmte from "Sestak for Senate" to "Friends of Joe Sestak," the "first firm indication" he'll run for higher office "in the near future" (PoliticsPA).
NUMBER BRUNCHING
MA SEN Special: A new Springfield Republican/WSHM-TV poll of Dem primary LVs, conducted 4/11-18 by Western New England Univ. Polling Institute, shows Markey leading Lynch, 44-34%. Among GOP primary LVs, Gomez leads Sullivan, 33-27%, with Winslow at 9% (release).
LA Mayor '13: A new USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll of runoff LVs, conducted 4/15-17 by Benenson Strategy Group (D)/M4 Strategies (R), shows Councilor Eric Garcetti (D) leading Cont. Wendy Greuel (D), 50-40% (release).
NY GOV: According to a new Siena College poll of RVs, conducted 4/14-18, 53% would vote to reelect Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), while 39% "prefer someone else." In the previous poll, conducted 3/3-7, 54% said they would vote to reelect Cuomo, and 37% preferred someone else (release).
OUR CALL
Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day
• A lot of folks dismissed Gabriel Gomez's chances of winning the GOP primary after a letter he wrote to Gov. Deval Patrick (D) seeking an interm appointment to the Senate surfaced, but he now enters the final week with a marginal lead in the polls and a significant financial advantage over his GOP opponents.
• After the 47% video, after the clinging to guns and religion hubbub and in an era of smart phones, politicians should realize that nothing is off the record. Don't bother trying to ban recording devices when you're in a room with 100 iPhones. Maine Gov. Paul LePage is going to be the latest politician to feel the sting of a covert recording. But, pro tip for the Democratic tracker: Don't hand your recording equipment off to someone else.
• After Al Franken's 312 vote victory in 2008, it would seem unimaginable he wouldn't be in the top tier of GOP Senate targets this cycle, and yet no prominent challenger appears to be looking at the race. Republicans can't be so focused on the red-state senators up this cycle that they give those in purplish states complete passes.
• The GOP staredown in MI SEN could be a tense one. Reps. Justin Amash and Mike Rogers have found themselves at odds in recent days; Amash was the chief critic of Rogers' CISPA bill, and each accused the other of misinformation without naming names. Over the weekend, Amash took to Twitter to criticize the decision not to Mirandize the Boston bombing suspect, while Rogers hit the Sunday show circuit defending the public safety exemption.
HAIR OF THE DOG
FRESH BREWED BUZZ
"A feisty rivalry is brewing between tea party upstarts, nonpartisan data geeks, operatives linked to the Koch brothers and insiders like [ex-Bush adviser] Karl Rove," as the party attempts to make up for its data deficit in '12. Meanwhile, the RNC is "encouraging the intramural competition and, at the same time, pushing a data management system of its own" (Politico).
"I hope he will run" -- George W. Bush, urging ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush (R) to mount a WH '16 bid (New York Times).
If Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) wins reelection in '14, "he stands to become the oldest Kansan ever to serve in the U.S. Senate by the time the six-year term ends" (AP).
"I want my money back" -- ex-WH CoS Bill Daley, in an op-ed on his donation to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who voted against expanding background checks for gun sales last week (Washington Post).
"Allen H. Neuharth, the newspaper visionary and former Gannett chairman who founded USA TODAY, helped create a museum dedicated to news and became one of the industry's most influential and sometimes controversial figures, died Friday at his home in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was 89" (USA Today).
"His problem is he has a Ph.D. in campaigns and elections, and he gets an F in how to conduct a divorce and a marriage" -- ex-SC GOP chair Katon Dawson, on Sanford (National Review).
Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) on Friday tweeted out a link to a TV ad from his WH '08 bid "warning of 'spineless politicians' who are not doing enough to protect the borders and what can happen." Tancredo attached the hashtag #bostonboming to the ad, which "mentions Russia, has people walking around -- and leaving -- black nylon backpacks in crowded areas, and has a frightening sound of a bomb going off at the end of the ad. Tancredo's point is inaccurate: The two suspects in the Boston marathon bombing were not in the U.S. illegally; both were U.S. residents" (Denver Post).
AL Dem chair Mark Kennedy will resign his post at noon today, and later will announce the formation of the Alabama Democratic Majority, which seeks to "support progressive Democrats fed up with the years of failure" by the state party "to offer voters little more than watered down Republican Party rhetoric and what Kennedy calls the politics of fear" (Birmingham News).
"25 Photos From The London Marathon Showing Support For Boston" (BuzzFeed).
SWIZZLE CHALLENGE
CFPB dir. Richard Cordray was a five-time "Jeopardy!" champion at a time when that was as far as you could go on the show.
The winner is David Lucas, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "Which has happened more often -- Bob Dylan had a song in the Billboard Top 40; or Bob Dylan was on the cover of Rolling Stone? Also state the total number of times each of those events occurred." The 3rd correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.
NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS
SHOT...
"I don't recall a lot of discussion in the media about what the Watergate burglars found at the Democratic National Committee back in the early 1970s and that's probably because whatever it was, it was far less concerning than the burglary itself" -- Senate Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell (R), defending his record on mental health in an op-ed this a.m. (Lexington Herald-Leader).
...CHASER
"I figure it's their fault for being on our land before we got here" -- Maverick ("Maverick").
Sarah Mimms, Editor
