2010 Elections, Political News

The Virginia Democratic Party is touting a new web ad it’s using to portray Republican Robert Hurt as a wealthy lawyer born in New York City with a silver spoon. Called, “A Charmed Life,” the video goes on to slam him for his voting record in the state Legislature, something Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) has done regularly in TV ads. “Robert Hurt wants to waltz into Congress,” the announcer says. “It’s up to you to stop the music.” Hurt’s family has lived in Southside Virginia for decades, and he is a lawyer in their small town of Chatham. He’s served in the state legislature for 8 years.

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Virginia Dems Hit Robert Hurt For ‘Charmed Life’ (VIDEO)

A new poll commissioned by the Portland Oregonian found Democratic Reps. David Wu and Kurt Schrader ahead of their Republican challengers by double digits. The two were considered potentially vulnerable in this volatile election cycle, with Republicans poised for massive gains in the House. Schrader, whose 5th district has more swing potential than Wu’s 1st district, led Republican Scott Bruun 50 percent to 38 percent, with 11 percent undecided. Wu took 51 percent to Republican Rob Cornilles’s 38 percent, with 8 percent undecided. Washington-based Elway Research conducted the poll from Oct. 18-21, surveying 400 likely voters in each district with a 5-point margin of error. SurveyUSA polled the districts last week and found differing results — Bruun led Schrader by 10 points, and Wu led Cornilles by 9 points.

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Oregon: Poll Finds Wu, Schrader In Good Shape

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is now spending money to help defend Reps. Jim Costa (Calif.) and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), whose re-election bids have only recently been considered threatened, in response to the continually shifting political landscape. With just more than two weeks before the midterm elections, the DCCC spent $40,000 on advertising in California’s 20th district, where Republican Andy Vidak is challenging Costa, according to reports filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. The DCCC ad says Vidak would cut federal funding for water projects that are vital to agriculture in the central California district, where Costa is running for a fourth term. “There are some things we can’t do without,” the ad’s narrator says, referring to water. “Andy Vidak, he’s one thing we can do without.” Grijalva’s campaign says his race in southern Arizona’s 7th district is the closest of his career. The DCCC reported spending $63,000 on an ad for the Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairman against Republican Ruth McClung, who has recently received a flurry of endorsements from national Republican figures. The DCCC ad targets McClung for supporting a national sales tax and eliminating corporate income taxes. “Ruth McClung. Radical ideas we can’t afford,” the ad’s narrator says. Grijalva joins three other Democratic incumbents in Arizona in fighting off stiff challenges: Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords.

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DCCC Invests In Two Newly Vulnerable Incumbents

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had a monster September, bringing in nearly $16 million and ending last month with $41.6 million in the bank for the homestretch of the midterm elections. The monthly fundraising total is nearly twice as much as the committee raised in August, and leaves it with a significant amount to spend on an expanding landscape of competitive races that feature vulnerable incumbents. The committee has spent nearly $19 million in independent expenditures so far, according to reports filed through Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. According to DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider, it will spend another $40 million on TV over the final few weeks, while $20 million will be spent through coordinated spending and direct get-out-the-vote efforts. Meanwhile, the National Republican Congressional Committee had its own strong month of fundraising, bringing in $11.2 million and showing $19 million in cash-on-hand as of Sept. 30. That was its highest monthly total since 2006 and was thanks in part to more than $5 million in Member donations. The NRCC’s IE arm had spent just less than $20 million through Tuesday to boost the party’s efforts to regain control of the House. The GOP needs a net gain of at least 39 seats to win the majority.

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DCCC Has More Than $41M To Spend In Final Weeks

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee launched new ads Thursday in two battleground states. The DSCC dropped another ad in the open-seat race in West Virginia, where Gov. Joe Manchin is fighting to keep the seat in Democratic hands. The NRSC is up with another ad in Colorado, where Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R) has an opportunity to defeat Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. The DSCC ad hits Raese on labor issues. The ad’s announcer says: “How could he not pay worker’s comp, eliminate the minimum wage or sign a pledge that protected tax breaks for corporations sending jobs overseas. John Raese’s job is CEO, so for him maybe jobs are just another line on a spreadsheet. But around here, we know better.” The NRSC ad hits Bennet for his support of the stimulus, an issue the party and outside groups have been slamming him on for weeks. “Michael Bennet. He spends. We pay,” the ad’s announcer says.

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Parties Launch New Ads In Senate Battlegrounds

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee launched new ads Thursday in two battleground states. The DSCC dropped another ad in the open-seat race in West Virginia, where Gov. Joe Manchin is fighting to keep the seat in Democratic hands. The NRSC is up with another ad in Colorado, where Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R) has an opportunity to defeat Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. The DSCC ad hits Raese on labor issues. The ad’s announcer says: “How could he not pay worker’s comp, eliminate the minimum wage or sign a pledge that protected tax breaks for corporations sending jobs overseas. John Raese’s job is CEO, so for him maybe jobs are just another line on a spreadsheet. But around here, we know better.” The NRSC ad hits Bennet for his support of the stimulus, an issue the party and outside groups have been slamming him on for weeks. “Michael Bennet. He spends. We pay,” the ad’s announcer says.

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Parties Launch New Ads In Senate Battlegrounds

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has reserved more than $2.6 million in Nevada TV time on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is running neck-and-neck with his Republican challenger Sharron Angle. The DSCC reserved nearly $1.27 million next week and more than $1.36 million for the final week of the election, according to a GOP source who tracks media buys. The DSCC would not comment on the buy. Both Reid and Angle, a former state Assemblywoman, have been constants on the airwaves for the past several months. Angle’s third quarter fundraising take of more than $14 million, which her campaign announced yesterday, showed how that was possible. Reid began July with a large fundraising edge and was expected to have plenty to cover the state in advertising, which he has done. He has yet to report how much he raised last quarter. Despite the onslaught of ads, polling shows the race continues to be close. Nearly every poll since July has found the two running within the margin of error.

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DSCC Reserves $2.6M In Nevada For Reid

A new poll in California’s 11th district indicates Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) is not in good shape in his bid for a third term. The automated poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, finds Republican David Harmer ahead of the incumbent 48 percent to 42 percent. The poll of 624 likely voters was taken Oct. 8-11 and had a 4-point margin of error. McNerney entered Congress in the Democratic wave year of 2006 by defeating a Republican incumbent. In this swing district — the only California district to flip since the last redistricting — Harmer appears poised to be able to do the same thing in this strong cycle for Republicans. Both parties’ House campaign committee arms have spent independent expenditure money in the district, which is located east of the Bay Area. George W. Bush carried the district in 2004 and President Barack Obama won it in 2008, and both garnered 54 percent of the vote. UPDATE: The McNerney campaign released an internal poll Wednesday showing the incumbent in far better shape. It also noted that McNerney ended the third fundraising quarter with three times as much cash-on-hand as Harmer. The poll, conducted by Democratic firm Lake Research Partners two weeks before the SurveyUSA poll, found McNerney leading 45 percent to 35 percent. American Independent Party nominee David Christensen took 5 percent of the vote, which is higher than third-party candidates usually take in general elections.

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California: Poll Shows McNerney in Trouble

Another poll in Washington’s 8th district race shows Rep. Dave Reichert’s (R) lead over Democrat Suzan DelBene shrinking. Reichert led Delbene 49 percent to 46 percent in the Public Policy Polling survey done on behalf of the liberal website Daily Kos . PPP is a Democratic polling firm and the survey of 1,037 likely voters was taken Oct. 9-10. It had a 3-point margin of error. This is the third poll conducted on the race in the last three weeks. A DelBene campaign poll last week found Reichert ahead 48 percent to 44 percent and a late September SurveyUSA poll found Reichert up 52 percent to 45 percent. Previous polls showed Reichert ahead by as much as 13 points. While most recent attention in the state has focused on the Democratic-held 2nd and 3rd districts, Reichert is one of just a handful of Republican Members viewed as possibly vulnerable on Election Day. His moderate district, east of Seattle, voted 57 percent for President Barack Obama in 2008.

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Washington: PPP Poll Shows Reichert in Dead Heat

The recent emergence of a rape case Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck declined to prosecute five years ago only adds fuel to the storyline Sen. Michael Bennet (D) and Democrats have been pushing since Buck became the GOP Senate nominee: That he is weak on women’s issues. The latest flap surfaced over the weekend in the Colorado Independent , which reported about the 2005 case that Buck declined to prosecute because he did not believe he could convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that it was rape. The victim in the case secretly recorded her conversation with Buck, when he detailed his reasoning for not following through on the case. Democrats are now heavily pushing the story as a potential game-changer in the race, especially following previous statements the party has called him out on. Both Bennet and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have been on the air for weeks with TV ads hitting Buck on his views on women’s rights. The Bennet campaign has said that Buck opposes insurance companies being forced to pay for early detection tests for cancer. And a recent Bennet ad uses a clip of Buck saying he does not support abortion rights, even in the case of incest or rape.

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Democrats Push Women’s Issues to Top in Colorado