House races

House Democrats will likely have to confront a pair of ethics scandals before Election Day, despite early hopes.

President Barack Obama shifted into campaign mode Monday.

Karl Rove urged South Carolina Republicans to reelect Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and "retire" his Democratic colleague, Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.).

"(Democrats) want Joe Wilson out, they know what a strong symbol he is," said Rove at the South Carolina GOP's annual Silver Elephant Dinner Saturday. "They want him out. They know what it would mean in red, red, South Carolina to get him out of here. They're trying to pull a surprise on us; let's pull one on them. Let's retire Spratt." 

Wilson gained notoriety for yelling "you lie" at President Obama during a speech to Congress in September. The 68-year-old Spratt filed in March to run for his 15th term. He won reelection in 2008 by a 25-point margin.

The Silver Elephant Dinner was a moneymaker for the South Carolina GOP. Admission to hear Rove ran at least $100, which bought a chicken dinner and "hours of speeches," according to The State. Those who paid some $1,500 got access to a private reception, a photo with Rove and an autographed copy of his book.

Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) trails top GOP recruit Allen West in a rematch of their 2008 race, according to a poll done for West's campaign.

The Wilson Research Strategies poll shows West ahead 44-42 despite being known to less than half of voters. It was conducted last week on Sunday and Monday.

Klein joins a long line of Democratic incumbents who have trailed in some early polling on their races. Much of the polls have been from GOP sources, but the surveys are still notable, especially when Democrats have shown little polling ammo with which to fight back.

Klein doesn't have particularly bad numbers -- 43 percent favorable, compated to 31 percent unfavorable -- but appears to be suffering from a poor environment. Just 21 percent of voters say they will definitely vote to reelect him.

Klein defeated West 55-45 in 2008.

Update 2:17 p.m.: Klein spokeswoman Sarah Rothschild responds: “While Allen West is focused on a poll for the November election, Congressman Ron Klein is working every day to stimulate the economy and on bipartisan solutions that will protect Florida homeowners, crack down on Medicare fraud and impose tougher sanctions on the rogue regime in Iran.”

The campaign website of businessman Tim Burns (R) crashed Friday morning as it was in the midst of a so-called "money bomb" tied to the visit of Vice President Joe Biden to Pennsylvania.

But it wasn't because of foul play, said Kent Gates, a spokesman for the campaign. "It is a problem with the hosting company and we tried to get it resolved all day."

By Friday evening, the website was still down.

Biden was in Pittsburgh Friday for a fundraiser for Burns' Democratic opponent, Mark Critz. The two are running to fill the late Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.) seat.

The Burns campaign started a money bomb last Friday tied to the visit. Gates said the campaign had surpassed its goal of raising $50,000 by Thursday night morning and was on pace to surpass $60,000 before the site crashed.

Gates said the website hosting company, Network Solutions, "had a bunch of websites that they were hosting crashing" on Friday.

(This post was updated on April 25 at 7:26 p.m.)

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) is in serious trouble in his primary, according to a new poll released by state Sen. Mike Oliverio.

The poll, which was conducted by in-state pollster Orion Strategies, shows Oliverio surging to an eight-point lead on the incumbent, 41-33. A couple months ago, Mollohan led 41-31.

Oliverio raised $220,000 in the first quarter -- his first in the race -- and had $140,000 cash on hand. Mollohan, meanwhile, raised $360,000 and had $280,000 in the bank.

Mollohan faces difficult in both the primary and general election, with both Oliverio and the Republicans hoping to take advantage of his relatively meager bankroll (by incumbent standards) and some ethical troubles. 

Republicans including former state Del. David McKinley and businessman Mac Warner are fighting for their party's nomination in the conservative district, which went 57 percent for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008.

Pennsylvania House candidate Mark Critz (D) took aim at the Census Bureau for ordering swag from foreign manufacturers.

Critz called it "appalling" that the Bureau had spent $6.4 million on "Census 2010" hats made in China and collared shirts from Central America.

"We used to have hat and shirt factories all over this district," he said at a press conference Thursday at the Bureau's downtown Johnstown headquarters. "With (John) Murtha, it was 'Buy American.'"

According to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, he showed reporters one of the red shirt's "Made in" label, which said El Salvador.

"We're in a position where unemployment is going up. People are in pain. Children are in pain," he said. "We have to support one another."

Critz said he wasn't against foreign trade. "We have to work with these countries," he said. "It's not a matter of drawing a line in the sand. It's a conversation that needs to take place."

He faces Republican Tim Burns in the May special election to fill the late Murtha's House seat.

House Democrats received talking points Thursday to help them sell a pending bill to restrict campaign spending by corporations ahead of what’s expected to be a legislative fight with business groups.

The document, circulated by the Democratic leadership and obtained by the Ballot Box, warns of "big money interests" being able to "drown out the voices of average Americans." 

"The most important thing we can do in response to this ruling is ensure transparency and allow people to follow the money that is influencing elections and politicians in Washington,” it states.

Next week Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is expected to introduce the DISCLOSE Act, a direct response to the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which lifted spending restrictions by corporations and labor unions in elections. 

A summary of the bill was circulated in the Capitol, and on Friday business groups warned Democrats to expect a fight if they try to push it through. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it would “fight any and all attempts to muzzle and or demonize independent voices from the election discussion.”

“It is no secret that Mr. Van Hollen’s campaign committee faces significant losses in the House this fall, and nothing in this ill-conceived and one-sided piece of legislation would change that,” Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue said in a statement. “We believe it is the American people who should choose their congressional representatives, not partisan campaign operatives posing as legislators.”

A spokesman for Van Hollen’s office called the Chamber’s response a “temper tantrum.”

"It's not really surprising that powerful special interests based in Washington would be throwing temper tantrums over efforts to curb their influence and increase transparency so the American people know who is spending money on our elections,” said Doug Thornell, a Van Hollen spokesman.

Van Hollen’s office also noted that despite the harshly worded statement from the national affiliate, the Democrat was named “legislator of 2009” by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC has added six names to its list of endorsements for the 2012 midterm election.

The new endorsees include four top GOP House hopefuls, a Senate candidate and a senator:

-State Sen. Joe Heck, running for Congress in Nevada’s 3rd District
-Iraq veteran Adam Kinzinger, running for Congress in Illinois’ 11th District.
-Former Rep. Steve Chabot, running for Congress in Ohio’s 1st District.
-State Sen. Mick Mulvaney, running for Congress in South Carolina's 5th District.
-Rep. Mark Kirk, running for Senate in Illinois.
-Sen. Tom Coburn, running for Senate in Oklahoma.

Coburn faces no real danger this year, but the other five will be waging closely watched campaigns.

To help the candidates, Pawlenty will match donations through his website up to the $5,000 limit for each candidate. He will also send a fundraising e-mail on the candidate's behalf.

As The Ballot Box reported yesterday, Pawlenty will do an event for Mulvaney on May 8.

President Obama is endorsing the congressman who drew headlines recently for suggesting the island of Guam might "tip over and capsize."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Obama has endorsed Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who drew plenty of ridicule recently for this comment at a hearing.

Johnson has been battling Hepatitis C, which has made his speech slow and caused him to lose a lot of weight. But he has said he will press forward with serving in Congress.

At the same time, he has drawn primary challenges from former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones and DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes.

The endorsement of a black lawmaker in a majority-black district is a rare one for Obama. In 2008, he drew some heat from African-Americans for backing white Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) over a black state senator in Barrow's primary. That led black lawmakers facing their own primaries to wonder why he wasn't helping them.

The Johnson endorsement could set a precedent for other black lawmakers seeking the president's help this year.