OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: Jackson Jr.'s seat highlights new Black Caucus challenges

TOP STORY: Jesse Jackson Jr.’s seat

The race to replace retiring Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) is throwing a spotlight on new electoral challenges facing the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
 
The Illinois race is the first real test of whether open-seat elections in expanded, more diverse districts are still likely to elect African-Americans to Congress.
 
Because of dwindling urban populations, less segregated neighborhoods and a fast-growing Hispanic population, many districts where African-American politicians have been all but guaranteed a win are no longer as secure.
 
The CBC’s ranks will hold steady in 2012 at 42 members, and grow if Jackson’s replacement is African-American.
 
But after four decades in which the CBC’s ranks swelled, the caucus is in a more precarious position. Many of its seats are held by longtime members whose eventual retirements could open the door for a white or Hispanic politician.

Read the full story in tomorrow's paper and at TheHill.com.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

@RepStevePearce: “Many members were not reelected, and new members are moving in. Empty offices are everywhere on Capitol Hill ... ”
— Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), tweeting out a picture of a hallway full of furniture and boxes during Congress’s biennial office shuffle.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"My gut is telling me you've got to clear out all the cobwebs in your head before you even think about anything of that kind. But I will tell you this — I'm committed to serving my country. That's been my life from the very beginning," — former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R), when asked about running for president in 2016.

POLL POSITION:

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is in strong shape for reelection if he decides to run for a seventh term, according to a new survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling.

The senator leads a number of possible GOP opponents by between 18 and 22 percentage points and cracks the 50 percent threshold in every possible match-up. His closest possible challenger in the poll is Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who trails by 52 percent to 34.

Levin, who will be 80 by his next election, hasn't said whether he's running again.

AD WATCH:

Unions are attacking Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a new national television ad that likens him to the penny-pinching Mr. Potter of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

In a clip that pays homage to the Christmas favorite, the ads say Boehner’s plan to stop the tax increases and budget cuts of the “fiscal cliff” would sacrifice entitlement programs while protecting the wealthy.

“Welcome to Boehnerville — where the rich won’t pay their fair share; our children’s educations will be cut; Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will be put at risk; and the economic recovery would falter,” the ad says before encouraging people to contact Congress.

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