House races

Newly elected Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) was officially sworn into office Wednesday evening.

Heading into the 2014 election, the Florida Republican Party will play up the state’s congressional races as central to GOP efforts to prevent House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from regaining the Speaker’s gavel.

"From a purely strategic standpoint, this is about making sure that we win, protect our guys in Florida and win, and she's a part of the equation," Chairman Lenny Curry told The Hill on Wednesday during a wide-ranging interview.

"She helps us win because the electorate doesn't like her," he said, predicting that the strategy would resonate with voters.

A former staffer to Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) is seeking his old boss's seat in Congress. Read more...

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is running online ads in the districts of seven vulnerable Democrats tying them to the IRS scandal and asking them to condemn the agency's behavior

Targets include GOP Reps. Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Michael Grimm (N.Y.) and Joe Heck (Nev.).

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is raffling off an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle through his House campaign. Some Democrats want to ban this type of weapon. 

"Want to give Mom the perfect Mother's Day gift?" Stockman tweeted on Friday. "Win her a FREE AR-15! I'm giving one away!"

The tweet links to a raffle on Stockman's campaign website seemingly designed to cull supporters' contact information for future fundraising.

"Enter the drawing to win a FREE Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, almost impossible to find in stores and the number one firearm on the gun banners' wish list!" the website proclaims.

The AR-15 is similar to the weapon used in the Sandy Hook massacre and would be one of the weapons banned if an assault weapon ban went into effect — something that's highly unlikely as Congress has failed to act on much narrower gun control measures.

The winner for the raffle will be drawn on the Fourth of July.

One caveat: Winners will be subjected to a background check from a licensed firearm dealer.

Former Rep. Marjorie Margolies (D-Pa.), Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law, is moving closer to a bid to return to Congress after nearly 20 years out of office. Read more...

“It was always going to be a hard district," Pelosi says of her party's loss.

Comedian Stephen Colbert lamented his sister Elizabeth Colbert Busch's (D) loss to Rep.-elect Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), threatening to sever ties with his home state of South Carolina.

The campaign arm for House Democrats has launched a new initiative to help eight of its most promising candidates.