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2Q Fundraising:
• FL-Sen: Bill Nelson (D), $1.8 million raised
• LA-03 (?): Charles Boustany (R), $475K raised, $1.1 million cash-on-hand
• MO-Sen: Claire McCaskill (D), $1.4 million raised, $3 million cash-on-hand
• MT-Sen: Jon Tester (D), $1.2 million raised, $2.3 million cash-on-hand
• NV-Sen: Shelley Berkley (D), $1.2 million raised, $2.5 million cash-on-hand; Dean Heller (R), $1.1 million raised, $2.3 million cash-on-hand; Byron Georgiou (D), $140K raised (plus $500K "of his own money"), $1.5 million cash-on-hand
• NY-19: Nan Hayworth (R), $381K raised, $630K cash-on-hand
• RI-01: Brendan Doherty (R), $300K raised (including $50K of his own money)
• WA-Gov: Rob McKenna (R), $668K (incl. $26K transfer from AG account) (June only)
• WV-Sen: Joe Manchin (D), $516K raised, $861K cash-on-hand
Senate:
• MA-Sen, MA-09: Yes, we may need a savior in the Massachusetts Senate race, but please don't let it be Stephen Lynch. The 9th CD Rep. says he hasn't ruled out a run against GOPer Scott Brown, but oddly also claims he is "definitely" running for re-election. I don't know why he'd want to paint a target on his back with a seat-chop looming in redistricting, but here's hoping he stays in his current seat. (There are many reasons to dislike the wankerish, conservative-ish Dem, but his flip-flop to "no" on the final healthcare vote was unforgiveable in my book.)
• NY-Sen: Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos (previously mentioned here) officially launched his campaign against Dem Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Nassau's finances are such a disaster that the county was placed into state receivership earlier this year. So being the guy in charge of Nassau's books is sort of like being chief helmsman on the Titanic.
• OH-Sen: This is funny. Video has (re-)surfaced of Republican Senate candidate (and pretend state Treasurer) Josh Mandel from his college days. (Believe it or not, that was a decade ago, not last spring.) As Stephen Koff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer puts it, you can see a smiling Mandel at every turn of the camera, Forrest Gump-style, standing behind none other than Al Gore. Mandel's contemporaneous quotes to the student newspaper are great: "The excitement on campus over the past day has been incredible" and "I thought he gave a great speech that resonated with students.'' The video is being pushed by Mandel's primary opponent, ex-state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, which suggests this race could get nasty.
Gubernatorial:
• KY-Gov: The RGA is out with an ad on behalf of David Williams, talking about the rough employment situation in Kentucky but, oddly, not bothering to attack Dem Gov. Steve Beshear by name. Also, does anyone else find that little animated minecar distracting?
• NH-Gov: UNH has Gov. John Lynch at a 65-32 approval rating — strong shape if he wants to run for a fifth term.
House:
• FL-??: Ex-Rep. Alan Grayson, who represented the 8th CD for a single term before losing last year, says he plans to run for Congress once more… but where exactly is unclear. A lot of folks expect that a new seat will get created in the Orlando area, so that seems to be the most likely location. But if so, Grayson will likely have company in the Democratic primary: Val Demings, recently retired as Orlando's police chief, says she plans to make a House bid as well.
• IL-13: Democrat David Gill, an ER physician who's lost to Rep. Tim Johnson three times before (including last year), announced he'd make a fourth attempt, this time in the new (and Dem-friendlier) 13th. Another Dem, labor lawyer Mark Lee, said he's also considering the race.
• IN-09: Tough luck for Democrats: state Rep. Peggy Welch says she won't try to unseat freshman GOPer Todd Young next year.
• MI-11: Looks like Thad McCotter's fellow Republicans aren't waiting for his corpse to cool: state Sen. Mike Kowkall (just elected to his first term last November), says he plans to run for McCotter's 11th CD seat. McCotter, of course, is "running" for "president" (his words, not mine), but he also held out the possibility of seeking re-election in the off chance his White House aspirations fall short. Kowkall is going to make that Plan B a lot less comfy-looking.
• NH-01, NH-02: That same UNH poll mentioned above at the NH-Gov bullet showed ugly numbers for New Hampshire's two Republican congressmen: Frank Guinta in the 1st sports a 24-30 job approval rating, while Charlie Bass over in the 2nd is at an even worse 28-39.
• NY-09: This should be helpful for David Weprin: Republican Bob Turner refused to take a position on the Ryan plan… and in NYC, even in the 9th district, there's only one right answer. Turner also said he hoped to spend "as little as possible" of his own money on the race. That's some fire in the belly.
• UT-04: State Rep. Carl Wimmer, who had previously expressed an interest in running for Utah's as-yet-uncreated 4th CD, created an exploratory committee with the FEC. He says he'll make a formal announcement this fall.
Other Races:
• WI Recall: Good news on the money front: The Democratic incumbents targeted for recalls have far outraised their Republican opponents, hauling in six-figure sums while the GOPers have struggled to reach five. Meanwhile, the DLCC is out with a new ad targeting Randy Hopper — not, as you might expect, on his personal peccadillos, but rather on the same themes we've seen in almost every other Dem ad in the recalls: supporting cuts to education funding and tax breaks for the wealthy.
Grab Bag:
• NRSC: Her?
Redistricting Roundup:
• Hawaii: Want to draw new maps for Hawaii? The state has a new redistricting app you can play with.
• Kansas: Major bummer, I know, but Kansas lawmakers will not begin work on redistricting until next year.
• New York: In response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call (yet again) for an independent redistricting commission, state Senate Republicans told him to take a hike (yet again).