House races

She would be Pennsylvania's first female governor, and is likely to get heavy fundraising and organizational support from EMILY's List.

Speaker John Boehner is in Obama's hometown on Monday for a high-priced fundraiser for House Republicans.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is launching "Words with Elizabeth," a new website hitting House candidate Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D).

The site, designed to look like the popular "Words with Friends" Web game, outlines what will likely be the main GOP lines of attack in her race against former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R).

One group is threatening primary challenges to Democrats who support Obama in reducing federal benefits and Social Security payments.

Former Army Ranger Kevin Strouse (D) will run against Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), he announced Thursday, giving Democrats a potentially strong recruit in the swing district.

Strouse emphasized his military background and struck a bipartisan tone in his announcement.

"When I was serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, it didn't matter whether the Ranger next to me was a Democrat or a Republican, all that mattered was that we worked together and got the job done," he said in a statement announcing his campaign. "I've dedicated my life to public service and solving tough challenges and I know Washington can do better at strengthening the middle-class, protecting our national security and creating good paying jobs. The families of the 8th District need leaders who have proven they will work for common-sense solutions, not the broken politics of Washington."

Fitzpatrick is a top Democratic target, though he may be tough to beat.

Democrats barely defeated him in 2006 with a strong candidate during a wave election, and the GOP has redrawn his district to be more Republican after he won back his old seat in 2010. Fitzpatrick ran eight points ahead of Mitt Romney in the district and won with 57 percent in 2012.

With Strouse Democrats are following a playbook that's worked in the past: Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), who defeated Fitzpatrick in 2006 only to lose to him in their rematch, was also an Army vet.

Comedian Stephen Colbert ripped MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Wednesday for heaping praise on Mark Sanford. 

President Obama's Wednesday night fundraisers in San Francisco brought in more than $3.2 million for House Democrats.

The pair of fundraising events, one for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and another for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), brought in about half as much as the committee raises most months.

Obama, who didn't do much for the House and Senate Democratic party committees during the 2012 election, has been more focused on helping them this time around.

House Republicans brought in $14.4 million at their annual dinner in March, their biggest fundraiser of the year.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is launching television and Web ads targeting seven Democrats for voting against Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget.

Party strategists believe there's little to gain from harping on the former governor's well-known extramarital affair. 

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Wednesday that Democrats would hammer Mark Sanford over past ethics allegations, not his extramarital affair, and said the former governor “needs to answer for” those charges as he campaigns in a special House election.