Tag: DCCC

The DCCC has unveiled an unprecedented sixth wave of their Red to Blue program, adding eight new candidates to the list:

AL-03: Josh Segall

CA-50: Nick Leibham

IA-04: Becky Greenwald

LA-01: Jim Harlan

MN-06: Elwyn Tinklenberg

NJ-05: Dennis Shulman

SC-01: Linda Ketner

TX-10: Larry Joe Doherty

The committee also upgraded a number of candidates to their slate of “Emerging Races”: Bill Durston (CA-03), Rob Hubler (IA-05), Bill Mitchell (FL-09), and Georgianna Oliver (OK-01).

We saw in 2006 that the later a candidate gets added to the program, the less meaningful that endorsement is. Although keep in mind that the DCCC added a fourth wave to Red to Blue on October 27, 2006 — far too late to have any meaningful impact, and five of those candidates are serving in Congress today.

The spending was a bit lopsided, though.

Here are the latest Independent Expenditures filed tonight by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. In total, it was a $7.9 million day for the Republican and Democratic groups, and the biggest single-day money dump by the DCCC so far this cycle.

For more details on these and other expenditures, please consult our Independent Expenditure Tracker.

Of particular note is the titanic DCCC expenditure in Alaska against Don Young. Alaska is a cheap media market, so this must represent several weeks worth of ad time — it could possibly be a saturation buy for the entire month.

All told, the DCCC spent money in 41 districts tonight, while the NRCC is going for concentrated bursts in just a limited number. It seems that they’re going for a strategy of holding a line around a few select races rather than try to keep up with the DCCC across the board — which is no surprise, given their extraordinarily weak cash-on-hand ($14.4 million as of September 1st).

Via Roll Call:

House Democratic leaders made an impassioned final plea Thursday night to get their rank and file to cough up more money for their effort to expand the party’s majority, just as Members are set to head home to hit the campaign trail a month before Election Day.

In a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) implored their colleagues to come up with the $14 million in Members’ dues needed to meet their overall $50 million goal, according to people who were present.

While we still have a cash advantage over the NRCC, the number of seats in play as we approach crunch time is so enormous that even the relatively hale DCCC needs a big money infusion to stay competitive everywhere. This is a once-in-a-generation (or perhaps lifetime) opportunity, and we need every last dime we can get. The good news is that members of our caucus still have a lot they can give:

Democratic lawmakers who are not politically in danger or in competitive races are collectively sitting on roughly $153 million in their re-election accounts, according to party tally sheets. (Emphasis added.)

Fortunately, it looks like some Dems are seriously stepping it up:

Several Members announced on the spot that they were writing checks, according to sources in the room.

Rep. Chet Edwards (Texas), who is included in the DCCC’s “Frontline” program for vulnerable incumbents even though his re-election in November seems certain, said he wouldn’t be in Congress if it weren’t for the generosity of the Caucus and announced he was giving $100,000 – news that elicited audible gasps from his peers.

Edwards sits in the reddest district held by a Democrat in the entire country – Texas’s 17th CD gave 70% of its vote to George Bush. Meanwhile, Rep. Ron Klein (FL-22) gave another $100K on top of the $100K he’s already given, and he’s only a freshman. If folks like Edwards and Klein can kick it up a notch, then almost every other member can as well. Time’s a-wastin’.

Blue Indiana has the scoop:

This morning, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Third Congressional District Candidate Mike Montagano to its Red to Blue Program.  Candidates named to this program are considered to be amongst the top candidates across the country, having skillfully demonstrated that they stand for change and will represent new priorities when elected to Congress.

“Mike Montagano’s appointment to the Red to Blue program is further proof that Hoosiers are tired of the economic mess we’re in and are clamoring for change.  He is set to unseat Mark Souder and deliver results for the Third District,” said Dan Parker, Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party.

Souder, an anonymous GOP wingnut with a thin record of legislative accomplishments, gave the NRCC some heartburn in 2006, when he won by a 54-46 margin in this R+16 district — but only after the NRCC stepped in with several hundred thousand dollars worth in attack ads against Democratic candidate Tom Hayhurst.

Democrat Mike Montagano has been up on the airwaves in this district for the past couple of months, and internal polling from a few weeks ago showed him cutting Souder’s lead from 27 points to 13. Given the conservative tilt of this district, Montagano still faces an uphill battle against Souder, but this is a timely boost for the Democrat.

Boom goes the dynamite. The following independent expenditures were filed with the FEC tonight:

The expenditures — mostly for TV buys and some mail — amount to the biggest single-day money dump for the DCCC so far this cycle.

The beleaguered NRCC is up with their first real TV buy of the fall in PA-03 — a telling sign of GOP Rep. Phil English’s vulnerability. They should also be posting a buy against Dem Rep. Steve Kagen (WI-08) soon.

For more details on these and other expenditures, please check SSP’s Independent Expenditure Tracker.

The DCCC has filed nearly $1.6 million in media buys in support of House Democratic candidates tonight. Here’s the damage:

This is on top of $1.4 million in media buys filed in 15 other districts yesterday. Tonight marks the first time that the DCCC has spent money on TV ads in LA-06, NJ-03, NM-02, NV-03, and WI-08.

For more details on these and other expenditures, please consult SSP’s Independent Expenditure Tracker.

The DCCC filed $1.37 million worth in media buys in support of Democratic House candidates tonight. Here’s the damage:

Tonight marks the first time that the DCCC has aired ads in AZ-08, FL-16, KY-02, MD-01, and VA-11.

The lone GOP-friendly media buy comes from the bastards at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which is dropping cash in support of Republican Bill Cassidy (himself an MD) in his race against Don Cazayoux. See you in hell, eye doctors!

But don’t get the impression that this is one-sided affair just because the NRCC is holding its musket fire. Freedom’s Crotch is up with some ad buys of its own smearing Democrats:

• AL-02: $150,000
  

• IL-11: $430,000
  

• NJ-03: $74,000
  

• NJ-07: $500,000

The Crotch is also spending an unspecified amount on NM-01 and NV-03. Ugh.

Well, this is the big break that Boswell needed:

Now, the Democrat has been added to the DCCC’s exploding “Red to Blue” list and estimates he’s taken in another quarter of a million dollars since the May 20 primary. But the best news may be the DCCC reservation of $840,000 worth of ads in the district, with the ads slated to begin at the end of the week.

The DCCC’s ads could be in critical in the expensive Louisville media market, where about three-fifths of the voters reside and where neither Boswell nor Guthrie is particularly well-known. The National Republican Congressional Committee has not reserved time in the district.

Earlier in the summer, Boswell posted a three-point lead over Republican state Sen. Brett Guthrie in a SUSA poll of the race. He followed that up earlier this month with a Garin-Hart-Yang internal showing him leading by eight points. Boswell has been active in Kentucky politics for decades, serving in the state Senate since 1991, and before that, as the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and five years in the state House.

However, with only $45,000 in the bank at the end of June, Boswell was at risk of getting swamped out by the far superior fundraising of Guthrie. With the DCCC on board, Boswell now has a fighting chance.

UPDATE: Here’s the first ad:

If Republicans thought they dodged a bullet when Jon Powers lost the Democratic primary for the open seat of retiring GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds, they just received a reality check. The DCCC has just hit the airwaves with this ad:

Here’s the full script:

NAFTA has already cost New York over 50,000 jobs. But Congressional candidate Chris Lee chose to employ labor in China. Work that could’ve been done right here. Lee tried to hide the facts, removing all mention of his company employing workers in China from his campaign website, hoping you wouldn’t learn the truth. Chris Lee: a record of employing labor in China we can’t afford. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Both the Democratic House and Senate committees have been spending furiously. The NRSC continues to rally, but they’ve basically ceded a two-month head start to the DSCC in some races.