Schweitzer Passes on MT SEN; New McAuliffe Ad Slams Cuccinelli; Abbott Bids to Succeed Perry in TX

National Journal

Wake-Up Call! is Hotline's daily morning briefing on campaigns and elections. Click here to subscribe.

WHAT'S NEWS

  • DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano "is being named as" the next pres. of the Univ. of CA system and "is expected to take up the UC reins" sometime in Sept., officials said (Los Angeles Times).

  • Organizing for Action (D) raised $8.2M in the second quarter (Chicago Sun-Times).

  • NJ SEN Special: Rep. Frank Pallone (D) "announced" that he had $3.35M CoH at the end of June, a "nearly" $400K "decrease from his last report at the end of March" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

  • VA GOV '13: Ex-DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe (D) released a new TV ad, in which a SW VA woman says AG Ken Cuccinelli (R) "cannot be trusted" (YouTube). The state Dem Party "launched a new ad hitting" Cuccinelli "for his stance on the Violence Against Women Act, escalating the battle over female voters" (Washington Post).

  • NYC Mayor '13: Ex-MTA Chair Joe Lhota (R) "raised almost" $534K from 5/12-7/11 (New York Daily News). Huma Abedin "joined her husband," ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D), "on the campaign trail for the first time Sunday and proved to be a celebrity in her own right" (New York Daily News).

  • GA SEN: Rep. Paul Broun (R) raised $385K in the second quarter (GeorgiaTipsheet.com).

  • KY SEN: In a meeting held when Sec/State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) "was still weighing whether to run," Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid "promised he would not publicly stump" against Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell (R) (Politico).

  • MI SEN: The NRSC met last week with Oakland Co. District Court Judge Kim Small (R), who would be "a potentially interesting alternative whom the national GOP is taking seriously" (Washington Post).

  • MT SEN: Ex-Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) "shocked" the political establishment Saturday "with his announcement that he wouldn't run ... as many had expected" (Billings Gazette). Supt. of Public Instruction Denise Juneau (D) and Aud. Monica Lindeen (D) "said Saturday that they will consider jumping in" (Billings Gazette).

  • SD SEN: Physician Annette Bosworth (R) "will formally announce her candidacy Tuesday" (Sioux Falls Argus Leader).

  • CA-25: Rep. Buck McKeon (R) raised nearly $140K in the second quarter and has $521K CoH (Roll Call).

  • IL-13: Ex-Madison Co. Chief Judge Ann Callis (D) "said she has raised more than" $225K in the second quarter and has "more than" $200K CoH (Carbondale Southern Illinoisan).

  • IN-02: '12 nominee Brendan Mullen (D) "will not launch a rematch against" Rep. Jackie Walorski (R) (Roll Call).

  • KS-03: Rep. Kevin Yoder (R) raised $300K in the second quarter and has $1.5M CoH (Kansas City Star).

  • KY-06: Rep. Andy Barr (R) raised "more than" $360K in the second quarter and has almost $580K CoH (cn|2). Education advocate Elizabeth Jensen (D) "raised more than" $74K in the two weeks between declaring her candidacy and the close of the second quarter (cn|2).

  • MO-02: Rep. Ann Wagner (R) "raised close to" $500K in the second quarter and has $756K CoH (St. Louis Beacon).

  • OH-08: The joint fundraising cmte of House Speaker John Boehner (R) reported raising more than $6M in the second quarter. The cmte "spent" $1M "on expenses," "transferred" $5.3M to the joint fundraising cmte's participants and has $253K CoH (Roll Call).

  • OH-14: Rep. David Joyce (R) raised $406K in the second quarter (Roll Call).

  • PA-13: Ex-Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky (D) raised $185K in the second quarter and has $160K CoH (PoliticsPA.com).

  • PA-18: Rep. Tim Murphy (R) "raised" $181K in the second quarter and has $426K CoH (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

  • CO GOV: State Sen. Greg Brophy (R) announced his candidacy on Sunday (Denver Post).

  • MA GOV: Treas./ex-DNC Chair Steve Grossman (D) announced his candidacy on Saturday at the state Dem convo (Lowell Sun).

  • NY GOV: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) raised $6.2M over the first half of this year and has $27.8M CoH (New York Daily News).

  • TX GOV: "To the cheers of hundreds of sweltering supporters at La Villita" in San Antonio on Sunday, AG Greg Abbott (R) launched his campaign "with a pledge to stick to his conservative principles" (San Antonio Express-News).

  • DC Mayor '14: Mayor Vincent Gray (D) "provided no clarity when asked in an interview whether he would seek reelection." Gray: "I don't know the answer to that yet, but I'll never walk away from service" (Washington Post).

  • WH '16: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is "scheduled to be" in NH on Aug. 23 for a state GOP fundraiser (New Hampshire Union Leader). Ex-Sec/State Hillary Clinton (D) has assembled "a small personal office" in DC, "staffed with familiar faces," including Abedin (New York Times).

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day

• After taking so many steps toward a bid, Schweitzer's decision to quit the MT SEN race puts Dems in a serious bind. An almost-safe seat now favors the GOP -- and the party's path to 51 seats suddenly looks a whole lot more plausible. Should be a good fundraising month for the NRSC.

• With immigration dead in the water, the Senate on the verge of nuclear (option) meltdown and the House GOP opposing anything Obama endorses, we'll go on record with a prediction right now: Max Baucus and Dave Camp aren't going to get any significant tax policy changes through the 113th Congress.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • "We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honor Trayvon Martin" -- Pres. Obama's statement after a Sanford, FL, jury acquitted George Zimmerman on Saturday night (National Journal).

  • VA First Lady Maureen McDonnell "has reduced maids and a state trooper to tears" (Washington Post)

  • "I miss it like an abscessed tooth" -- Ex-Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), on the Senate (Washington Post).

  • The TX state Senate "passed sweeping new abortion restrictions late Friday," sending them to Gov. Rick Perry (R) to sign into law "after weeks of protests and rallies that drew thousands of people to the Capitol and made the state the focus of the national abortion debate" (AP).

  • "Jag just rolled his eyes" -- Schweitzer, describing the reaction of his border collie when he polled his family on whether he should run for SEN. Schweitzer said his wife and three children all voted no" (Billings Gazette).

  • Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham's (D-NM) Shih Tzu, Kiwi, was reunited with Lujan Grisham last week, 13 months after running away (Albuquerque Journal).

  • George H.W. Bush is coming to the WH Monday for a ceremony Obama is holding "to recognize the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award." Ex-First Lady Barbara Bush, son Neil and "other relatives are expected to attend." Points of Light CEO Michelle Nunn (D), "a possible" GA SEN candidate, is also "scheduled to attend" (AP).

  • "I'm a very spontaneous person. If someone aggravates me, I'm going to go after them. I wake up every morning and I say, 'What bad guys should I go after today?'" -- '10 NY GOV nominee Carl Paladino (R) (New York Times).

  • "The Governor of D.C." (Washington Post).

  • "She texted me right away and was like, 'you did what?' And I’m like, 'I know'" -- '13 MA SEN nominee Gabriel Gomez (R), on calling Rep. Edward Markey (D) "pond scum." Gomez "said he is open to making another run for political office" (Boston Globe).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • Surely (Shirley?) you knew that the late Leslie Nielsen played Francis Marion in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

  • The winner is Abel Iraola, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "Modern day campaigns love to make a photo-op out of their candidates going into polling stations and voting for themselves, but one former president was elected to office without that luxury, because he'd never registered to vote. Who was it?" The 5th correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"I know it's hot out here, but it is not as hot as this campaign is about to get" -- Abbott, declaring his TX GOV bid amid "the punishing heat" at an outdoor event (San Antonio Express-News).

...CHASER

"Press Asks Perry ... Are You Packing Heat?" (FoxNation.com).

Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor

CORRECTION: Friday's Wake-Up Call! misstated Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's (R-WV) second-quarter fundraising totals. Capito raised $770K in the quarter for her WV SEN bid.