Fundraising

Four Democratic senators who are up for reelection in 2014 have joined forces on fundraising.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) created a joint fundraising committee last week called Senate Victory 2014, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Hagan is the most vulnerable senator in the group, and could face a tough reelection fight if a strong Republican challenger emerges, according to a recent poll.

The chairman wants to be competitive in every state and "stop looking at elections through the lens of 'battleground states.'"

The Republican National Committee announced a new website to solicit grassroots ideas on how to rebuild after the 2012 election.

Clinton began 2013 with $205,000 on hand, funds that can be used for future campaigns, according to reports.

Patriot Voices, former Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-Pa.) fundraising organization, is opposing former Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) nomination for secretary of Defense with a series of online and radio ads, according to aides for the former senator.

The conservative powerhouse won't look for primary challengers to the 85 Republicans who backed the bill, said President Chris Chocola.

Charles and David Koch, the pair of billionaire brothers who helped bankroll a significant portion of outside conservative spending in the last election cycle, announced Tuesday they were postponing their semi-annual meeting so they could further analyze the election results.

"We are working hard to understand the election results, and based on that analysis, to re-examine our vision and the strategies and capabilities required for success," Charles Koch wrote in a letter, obtained by the National Review, to fellow donors. "Although some of the needed changes are already evident, it will be several months before the state data necessary to complete this analysis is available."

The Koch retreats have become a major draw for top conservative fundraisers. At a Koch event earlier this year, the conservative billionaires and their allies reportedly pledged a collective $100 million toward efforts to defeat President Obama. The Huffington Post reported that the bothers themselves pledged $60 million of that total.

Nearly a dozen newly elected members of Congress have set up leadership fundraising PACs before being sworn into office, with most planting the flag weeks before Election Day.

Six lawmakers-elect filed paperwork to establish their own leadership political action committees in September, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Reps.-elect Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Roger Williams (R-Texas), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) all established leadership PACs — a fundraising vehicle that members use to support candidates and colleagues — before Nov. 1.

Sens.-elect Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), meanwhile, all filed paperwork to create a leadership PAC within the last two weeks.

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum immediately jumped on Tuesday's defeat of the U.N. disabilities treaty to promote his advocacy group in favor of conservative Republicans.

The former senator from Pennsylvania failed in his primary bid against Mitt Romney last year, but has since tried to reemerge as a conservative kingmaker. He launched his “Patriot Voices” nonprofit in June to get Republicans into office and push them to the right, and joined World Net Daily as a columnist this week.

“We did it,” Santorum tweeted Tuesday. “#CRPD was defeated today. @Patriot_voices will cont to have an impact on important issues. Pls join us.”

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) resigned late last month from FreedomWorks, a prominent Tea Party organization, in a dispute over the direction of the group.