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2Q Fundraising:
• AZ-Sen: Jeff Flake (R), $800K raised, $2 million cash-on-hand (Dems really ought to be working on candidate recruitment)
• FL-Sen: George LeMieux (R), $950K raised
• FL-22: Allen West (R), $1.5 million raised (but no word on his cash-on-hand… let's see what his burn rate looks like)
• IA-03: Tom Latham (R), $580K raised, $1.5 million cash-on-hand
• IL-10: Brad Schneider (D), $321K raised, $306K cash-on-hand
Senate:
• IN-Sen, UT-Sen: The Club for Growth is airing ads targeting Dick Lugar and Orrin Hatch over the debt ceiling, but most amusing is Hatch's "surprise" (his campaign's words) since he recently signed the club's dumb "cut, cap, and balance" pledge. Reminds me of Democrats who got lacerated as "weak on terror" in 2002 despite voting for the Iraq war resolution. Surprise! You can never please these guys.
• LA-Sen: Though she isn't up for re-election until 2014, Sen. Mary Landrieu says: "I'm planning on running. I'm looking forward to serving another term, if not two. I have no reason not to. I'm still relatively young. I mean 55, by Senate standards, is young." As Jonathan Tilove points out in his extensive profile of Landrieu's current standing in the Pelican State, when she first took office in 1997, she was one of eight Democratic statewide elected officials in Louisiana. Now she stands alone.
• PA-Sen: Army vet and businessman David Christian is the latest Republican to consider a possible run against the buzzsaw named Bob Casey. His website reeks of Some Dudeness, but someone actually put together a reasonable-looking Wikipedia page for him (some time ago, not just yesterday), showcasing his extensive military decorations. He also ran for Congress twice in the 1980s, coming very close to beating one-time Dem Rep. Peter Kostmayer in the 8th CD in 1984.
Gubernatorial:
• NH-Gov: Republican Ovide Lamontagne, a possible gubernatorial candidate, "hopes to announce his decision around Labor Day," according to Joey Cresta at Seacoastonline.com.
• WI-Gov: Ex-Rep. David Obey, who retired in 2010 at the age of 72 after over forty years in the House, refused to directly answer a question about whether he'd challenge Gov. Scott Walker in a possible recall election. I would be shocked if Obey took the plunge (should the possibility be in the offing), since he well and truly seemed like he was hanging up his spurs last year. Perhaps he's just enjoying the attention.
House:
• CA-36: Just what you want on the final weekend before an election: Republican Craig Huey was served with a demand for child support payments from his ex-wife, apparently just before a campaign event on Sunday. And in case you missed it, a new Daily Kos/SEIU poll (performed by PPP over the weekend) showed Democrat Janice Hahn with an eight-point lead. Click the link for full details.
• GA-08: Former state Rep. DuBose Porter, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nod last year, says he won't run against GOP frosh Austin Scott. He also said he thinks that the Macon area (currently in the 8th) could be swapped with Republican-heavy Thomasville (which is presently in Dem Rep. Sanford Bishop's 2nd CD).
• IL-08: Democratic veterans group VoteVets endorsed Tammy Duckworth, who just joined the Democratic field.
• IL-10: State Rep. Carol Sente says she's thinking about joining the Democratic field in the new 10th CD and will make a decision by Friday.
• NY-09: Dem David Weprin picked up a couple of additional party lines in his bid to win the special election: the Working Families Party unsurprisingly gave him their backing, as did the Independence Party. It's always a little tricky to know whom the IP will back, but generally they like winners who will give (or have given) them money.
• OR-01: State Rep. Brad Witt made it official: He'll also try to unseat Rep. David Wu in the Democratic primary. Rather than rehash, check out the OR-01 bullet in the 6/30 Digest to see why I'm not happy about this… and why you probably won't be either.
Other Races:
• WI Recall: Late last week, a judge threw out Democratic and Republican challenges to rulings by the state GAB that allowed the recalls to proceed. (Dems had challenged the GOP's signature collection practices; the Republicans had some complaint about the Dems' filing paperwork.) My understanding is that Democrats do not plan to appeal this decision.
Grab Bag:
• Passings: Former Dem Rep. Frank Mascara, who represented Pennsylvania's 20th CD from 1995 to 2003, passed away at the age of 81. In 2002, he lost a primary to Jack Murtha in PA-12, after his old seat was eliminated in redistricting.
Redistricting Roundup:
• California: Bummer — the redistricting commission won't release a second draft of its maps, which they were expected to do this Thursday. That means we likely have to wait until July 28 before we see anything new — that's the commission's final deadline to produce maps.
• North Carolina: An interesting article on North Carolina's redistricting shows you the effects of the federal court jurisprudence which requires zero population deviation in congressional districts. A great example: The entire population of Sampson County was placed into the 2nd CD… except for one person, an 85-year-old woman who would instead live in the 3rd. Many more similar stories at the link.
• Wisconsin: We discussed the new Republican congressional plan at length last week, but it's also worth noting that the GOP did a number on the legislative map as well. They really took a hammer to the Senate lines, drawing Democratic recall target Bob Wirch out of his district, and also drawing two Dem recall challengers out of the districts they are seeking as well, Fred Clark and Nancy Nusbaum. You can read more here.