House races

Three Georgia Democrats are facing primary challenges Tuesday — one for voting against healthcare reform and another who questioned whether Guam could tip over.

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) infuriated his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill by voting against the healthcare legislation in March. Only 10 members gave to his campaign in 2010, down from 22 in the 2008 cycle. 

Former state Sen. Regina Thomas (D) hoped to capitalize on Barrow’s controversial vote and her demographic advantage in the primary for the heavily African-American district. But she failed to raise enough money to be competitive. Morever, this is her second crack at Barrow, having lost to him by more than 50 points in 2008. Democratic strategists expect Barrow to survive Tuesday’s vote.  

Meanwhile, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) — who questioned whether Guam could “tip over and capsize” — is up against former DeKalb County chief Vernon Jones and DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes. 

Johnson has the backing of President Obama and has raised and spent significantly more than his opponents. He even released a catchy campaign song, although it was later taken down from his website for unknown reasons.  

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) also faces a primary challenge from Democrats Mike Murphy and Michael Frisbee, but he too is expected to retain the nomination. 

Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), the only member of his party to receive the backing of the Tea Party Express rejected the group's endorsement Monday citing the controversy over a blog post written by one of its leaders Mark Williams. 

Williams posted a mock letter to President Abraham Lincoln from Benjamin Jealous, the president of the NAACP. It came on the heels of the NAACP’s July 13 passage of a resolution calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate racist elements of the movement.

The mock letter begins: “We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!”

The Tea Party Federation expelled Williams' group over the weekend. The Tea Party Express reacted with anger to that expulsion Monday and defended Williams in a news release. 

In a letter to Amy Kremer, co-chair of the Tea Party Express, Minnick called the blog post by Williams "reprehensible." 

"Since the Tea Party Express refuses to reject and rebuke Mr. Williams, I have no choice but to decline your endorsement," Minnick wrote. "I thank you very sincerely for your kind words about my work as a Congressman, and hope that your group can see the error of its ways."

Financial services lobbyists are holding a Washington fundraiser this week for Ohio House candidate Steve Stivers.

The Republican's bid to unseat Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) is one of the most competitive races in the country. It pits Stivers, a former bank lobbyist, against Kilroy, a freshman member who has campaigned, in part, on her work to overhaul financial regulations.

The Wednesday lunch fundraiser is with Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, to raise money for Stivers. Gold level donors are suggested to make a $5,000 political action committee donation. Silver level donors are suggested to give $2,000 in PAC money or $1,000 personal. And bronze level donors are suggested to give $1,000 in PAC money or $500 in personal money.

The fundraiser invitation was circulated by the Financial Services Roundtable.

Stivers raised $533,000 in the last quarter and has $1.25 million in cash on hand. Kilroy raised $230,000 in the last quarter and has $934,000 in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Kilroy was one of two freshman House Democrats appointed to a 43-member conference of lawmakers finalizing the financial regulatory bill, one of the party's highest domestic priorities. Kilroy has campaigned hard against Stivers as "part of a culture" of deregulation that led to the financial crisis.

Meanwhile, the Stivers campaign has criticized Kilroy for holding fundraisers during the conference committee proceedings. Stivers has pulled in more campaign cash than Kilroy from financial services interests.

"We were critical of the connection between Congresswoman Kilroy’s selection to the Fin-Reg conference committee and the fundraiser that went to PAC’s, noting her committee assignment on Financial Services, one day later," said a Stivers spokesman. "Congresswoman Kilroy’s fundraising activity was out-of-step with the canceled fundraisers during Fin-Reg conference committee activity by Chairman Frank and ranking member Bachus, and it was out of step with the precedent established by the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation of eight members who held fundraisers in close proximity to the first House Fin-Reg vote.

"Steve Stivers is not a member of Congress and has no issue regarding conflict of interest. Moreover, he is not acting outside the accepted norms of Congress, as the Kilroy fundraiser clearly did," the spokesman said.

--Updated at 4:32 p.m.

A new Mason-Dixon poll shows freshman Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) in a dead heat with Republican challenger Joe Heck. Titus leads 42 percent to 40 percent, with 9 percent still undecided. 

Among unaffiliated voters, the two are tied at 39 percent. The survey polled 400 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.

Titus is one of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s top targets in 2010, but has one early advantage — she reported more than $1.2 million cash on hand at the end of the second quarter. Heck reported just under $350,000.   

Sessions’s campaign counterpart, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), said he was confident Democrats would retain the majority.

Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday said Democrats would defy predictions of major losses in the midterm elections.

Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) sparred Sunday over their respective parties’ chances in the 2010 midterm elections.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has filed paperwork to create a Tea Party caucus in the House of Representatives. 

Bachmann sent a formal request Thursday to the House Administration Committee to form the caucus that Bachmann hopes would convene at the start of the next Congress in January 2011, with her as chair.

The congresswoman said the caucus would be “an informal group of members dedicated to promote Americans’ call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution and limited government.”

Bachmann’s call for a House Tea Party caucus comes after Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) suggested earlier this week that he would like to form a Tea Party caucus in U.S. Senate. 

Kansas state Rep. Kevin Yoder is the favorite to emerge from a crowded 3rd district GOP primary and will likely face Democrat Stephene Moore, wife of retiring Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), in the general election.

But the Kansas Democratic Party wants to soften him up before that happens. The party released a Web video Wednesday that plays off the lawmaker's surname.

"Have you noticed some of Kevin Yoder's ads just don't pass the sniff test?" the announcer says. The ad goes on to say the failed "sniff test" comes from the "Yoder odor."

Democrats weren't the first ones to rhyme Yoder's family name with something. The Republican lawmaker's latest TV ad is titled "Yoder voter."

"I'm a Yoder-voter mom," one woman says in the 30-second ad. The term "Yoder voter" is repeated several more times before the close.

The Kansas primary is Aug. 3.

Democrat Terri Sewell defeated Sheila Smoot on Tuesday in the contest for the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.).

The Associated Press called the race for Sewell, with her ahead of Smoot 56 percent to 43.

If Sewell wins in November, she would become the state’s first black congresswoman.

Sewell, who had the financial backing of EMILY’s List, raised more than $1 million during the campaign. In a statement Tuesday night, EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock congratulated Sewell, who is expected to win easily in the heavily Democratic district come November.

“EMILY’s List is thrilled to celebrate Terri Sewell’s hard-fought victory in Alabama, where voters responded to Terri’s principled track record of accomplishments, her optimism and dedication to her community and to her hard work on the campaign trail,” Schriock said in a statement. “In this reliably Democratic district, Terri will continue to campaign toward the general election talking about the issues that matter so much to people in Alabama — jobs and education — and will bring that focus and dedication with her to Washington.”