Be forewarned: we could probably change the name of the Wrap for the next ten days to the Fund-Fest edition of the Wrap. Expect a lot of top-tier candidates to lay their first quarter FEC cards on the table, revealing their fundraising hauls for the first three months of the year. Also, a few polls, and a very quiet edition of the Ras-a-palooza, grace the Monday edition of the Wrap.
THE U.S. SENATE
AR-Sen: GOP Primary Starting To Heat Up
Our attention here at Daily Kos has been centered, and rightfully so, by the ascendant primary challenge of Democratic Lt. Governor Bill Halter against incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln. That said, there is also a pretty hot primary forming on the GOP side, as the frontrunners begin to jockey for position. It began last week when 2004 nominee/former state Senator Jim Holt blasted state Senator Gilbert Baker for backing a cap-and-trade style bill in the Arkansas Lege. Baker is getting in some shots of his own, but he has a different target: Congressman John Boozman. His first ad features a photo montage of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Blanche Lincoln, and Boozman, placing the blame for the ailments of the nation on a broken Congress.
CA-Sen: Boxer Leads Double-Digits in Curious LAT/USC Poll
There is good news and bad (or, at least, strange) news out of the new LA Times/USC poll of the California Senate race pitting Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer against a trio of Republican hopefuls. The good news is that the poll gives her a sizeable lead of 14 points (48-34) over her GOP opposition. The strange news is that the poll also used a generic Republican; a curious move, since there are just three Republican frontrunners, and they are all relatively well known. The LAT/USC poll also looked at the GOP primary, and continue to find right-wing insurgent candidate Chuck DeVore unable to find traction. The primary poll had Tom Campbell leading at 29% of the vote, with Carly Fiorina trailing at 25% of the vote. DeVore nabs just 9% of the GOP vote.
In other California Senate news, in what has to be good news (!) for Carly Fiorina: John McCain will be campaigning for her in Orange County tomorrow afternoon.
THE MONEY CHASE: Candidate $$$ Reports Begin to Trickle In
We are starting to see some first-quarter fundraising numbers, and many of them are formidable on the Republican side. Probably the eye-popper from the day came from the Keystone State, where likely GOP nominee Patrick Toomey amassed over $ 2.3 million for the quarter. The aforementioned Tom Campbell did not do too shabby in California, banking $ 1.6 million for the quarter. In Nevada, even as a new Ras poll shows him in deep trouble, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid more than tripled up the GOP, raising $ 1.5 million (both Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian are reporting takes in the half-million range).
THE U.S. HOUSE
THE MONEY CHASE: A Lot of Candidates Turn Over the Q1 Cards
A lot of first-tier campaigns were awfully quick to run to the press with their 1st quarter fundraising hauls. Kudos to Reid Wilson for grabbing a lot of them. Here is a quick synopsis of the numbers he and his crew compiled:
Rick Berg (R--ND AL): $483K raised, $324K on hand
David Ciccilline (D--RI 01): $725K raised
Bob Dold (R--IL 10): $504K raised, $377K on hand
Frank Guinta (R--NH 01): $275K, included six-figure loan
Colleen Hanabusa (D--HI 01): >$400K raised
Ann McLane Kuster (D--NH 02): $285K raised, $800K on hand
Jonathan Paton (R--AZ 08): >$500K raised
David Rivera (R--FL 25): $700K raised
Other numbers trickling in include a report from Denny Heck (D--WA 03), who took in $350K (about half of which was his own money). He is sitting on over a half million on hand. Also, the guy who is arguably the GOP frontrunner against Alan Grayson, Bruce O'Donoghue, has banked around $300K. Colorado freshman Rep. Betsy Markey had a great quarter, as well, raising over half a million in the first quarter.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
CA-Gov: Even With Pro-HIR Electorate, Brown Trails Whitman
Mcjoan noted in the Open Thread this afternoon that the brand-new LA Times poll out of California shows an electorate more likely to embrace supporters of health reform than their opponents. Be that as it may, the same poll has Democrat Jerry Brown down three points (44-41) to GOP frontrunner Meg Whitman. The same poll shows that Whitman has a commanding lead (60-20) over Republican Steve Poizner in a GOP primary.
IA-Gov: GOP Poll Has Branstad Leading, Culver at Parity With Others
With the standard caveat about partisan polling (although it is not clear who was the client in this case), Republican pollsters Magellan Strategies turn their attention to Iowa, and find what pretty much every other pollster has found: former GOP Governor Terry Branstad leads incumbent Democrat Chet Culver easily (50-34), while Culver is close with potential GOP rivals Bob Vander Platts (39-40), and leads Rod Roberts by six (38-32). Interestingly, Culver holds his own with the non-Branstad GOP contingent despite Magellan claiming brutally low job approval (30%) for the Governor.
THE MONEY CHASE: Interesting Numbers Out West
The cash call does not extend to the halls of D.C., as we are also seeing some finance figures out of the gubernatorial matchups, as well. In Oregon, at least on the money front, two clear frontrunners are emerging. On the Democratic side, former Gov. John Kitzhaber raised nearly $188K over the last 30 days, compared to just $21K for primary rival Bill Bradbury. Kitzhaber also enjoys a nearly five-to-one cash-on-hand advantage over his opponent. Meanwhile, on the GOP side, former NBA baller Chris Dudley is lapping the field on the cash front, raising over $217K over the last 30 days. Half of that cash, however, came from just two sources (one of whom was Nike's Phil Knight). Dudley opponent Alvin Alley raised about one-quarter of what Dudley managed in the last month.
One piece of good news for the Democrats was a respectable fundraising performance in deep-red Utah from Salt Lake county Mayor Peter Corroon. Corroon, who only got in the race this year, reported that he has banked over $360K thus far.
THE RAS-A-PALOOZA
One casualty of the return (yay!) of the Weekend edition of the Wrap on Saturday is the Monday edition of the Ras-a-Palooza. Exactly one poll, which looks...well...an awful lot like every other Rasmussen poll in the state has looked.
Of course, it is worth noting that the poll was conducted last Wednesday, before the most recent revelations that Nevada's high-profile GOP Senator, John Ensign, might be facing criminal indictments in his near future, which could obviously have implications for the GOP in Nevada.
NV-Sen: Danny Tarkanian (R) 49%, Sen. Harry Reid (D) 42%
NV-Sen: Sharron Angle (R) 51%, Sen. Harry Reid (D) 40%
NV-Sen: Sue Lowden (R) 54%, Sen. Harry Reid (D) 39%