Daily Kos Elections will be going on a modified schedule for the final two weeks of the year. We'll be back to publishing the Digest regularly in 2014. In the meantime, we'll be posting a daily open thread, and we may post news updates occasionally. Happy holidays!
7:48 AM PT (James L): VA-10: Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis has declined a comeback bid under the Republican banner for the open seat of GOP Rep. Frank Wolf.
10:55 AM PT: TX-04: GOP Rep. Ralph Hall, at age 90 the oldest member of the House in U.S. history, says that next year's campaign will be his last.
10:58 AM PT: VA State Senate: GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell has scheduled the special election for Attorney General-elect Mark Herring's 33rd District state Senate seat for Jan. 21. So even if Democrats hold Lt. Gov.-elect Ralph Northam's Senate seat on Jan. 7, Republicans would still control the chamber 20-19 until the second special could be held.
11:02 AM PT: KS-Gov: A big bunch of former GOP office-holders has formed a new group to oppose the re-election of Gov. Sam Brownback, a fellow Republican. The organization includes a number of ex-legislators, many of whom were defeated in primaries last year by conservative allies of Brownback's, as well as former U.S. Sen. Sheila Frahm, who lost to Brownback himself in a 1996 primary. Brownback faces an above-average challenge from Democratic state House Minority Leader Paul Davis.
11:07 AM PT: House: On behalf of Americans United for Change, PPP has new polls of five House districts, mostly focused on extending unemployment insurance protection. (It's broadly supported.) There are no horserace numbers, but we do have job approvals for four potentially vulnerable Republicans: Gary Miller (CA-31), Mike Coffman (CO-06), Rodney Davis (IL-13), and Dan Benishek (MI-01). (John Boehner's district was also surveyed.) Everyone is under water, but nothing dramatic.
11:11 AM PT: Census: BuzzFeed has some animated GIFs showing changes in the U.S. since 1990 on the county level, based on Census data, across several different demographic categories.
11:14 AM PT: GA-01, -10, -11: Emily Cahn offers a helpful rundown on the GOP primary fields for Georgia's three open House seats.
1:18 PM PT: LA-Sen: State Rep. Paul Hollis, who first said he was considering a bid for Senate in October, has filed paperwork with the FEC. He's the third Republican to enter the race against Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, along with Rep. Bill Cassidy and Air Force vet Rob Maness.
1:24 PM PT: Money: Kent Cooper lists how much cash the 17 members of Congress who are retiring at the end of next year still have in their campaign accounts. All told, it's $13 million, with Montana Sen. Max Baucus leading the way with $3.3 million.