Redistricting

Officials in Washington state are attempting to lock down a process to replace Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), but are finding that a redistricting year is a messy time to hold a special election.

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Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Mark Critz (D-Pa.) are up with dueling ads in their House primary battle.

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The American Conservative Union's political action committee endorsed Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) over Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) Tuesday morning, making it the latest conservative group to jump in for Manzullo in the member-vs.-member primary.

The group joins the Tea Party-affiliated Freedomworks, the anti-abortion-rights Eagle Forum and the 60 Plus Association, a conservative seniors group, in supporting the longtime congressman.

Kinzinger has the backing of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) as well as fellow Illinois Republican Reps. Aaron Schock and John Shimkus. The Campaign for Primary Accountability, an anti-incumbent super-PAC, is also backing him.

The race has turned into a proxy war between conservative groups and Republican House leaders. Kinzinger has received donations from House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as well, although neither has endorsed in the race and Boehner has declared he is neutral.

Kinzinger decided to run against Manzullo in a new district encompassing part of both their old districts after his district was dismantled by a Democratic gerrymander. The two will face off in a primary next Tuesday.

Freedomworks, a national Tea Party-affiliated group, has endorsed Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) over Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), making it the latest major group to weigh in on the primary.

"It's not difficult to recognize that Manzullo is the fiscal conservative and Kinzinger is the moderate," said Freedomworks PAC Executive Director Max Pappas in a statement. "When it came to the big spending votes last year, Don Manzullo said, 'Enough is enough.' Kinzinger too often voted for more of the same."

The group's endorsement comes a day after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) threw their support to Kinzinger. House Republican leaders have identified Kinzinger as a rising star and have been increasingly public in helping his campaign against the longtime congressman.

"We work on a regular basis with both Adam Kinzinger and his opponent. We join our colleague Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois in the judgment that Adam Kinzinger is the right choice to keep advancing our conservative movement," Cantor and Shimkus said in endorsing Kinzinger.

The two were thrown together after the Democrat-controlled restricting process was finished. Their primary has turned into a funhouse-mirror image of many races between older establishment Republicans and younger Tea Party challengers.

Kinzinger won his seat in 2010 with strong Tea Party support but has developed a more centrist voting record since he entered the House, making establishment Republicans happy but angering his Tea Party base.

His decision to quit the conservative Republican Study Committee and join the centrist Tuesday Group after a fight between the RSC and House GOP leaders pleased Boehner but infuriated groups like Freedomworks, which cite that switch as one reason they've endorsed Manzullo. He's also angered local Tea Party groups with some of his votes; the Illinois Tea Party, a confederation of statewide Tea Party groups, is also backing Manzullo.

Illinois's primary is on March 20.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) endorsed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) over Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) Thursday, the latest sign of establishment GOP support for the freshman congressman.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) also endorsed Kinzinger. In a joint statement, the two took a shot at Manzullo.

"We work on a regular basis with both Adam Kinzinger and his opponent. We join our colleague Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois in the judgment that Adam Kinzinger is the right choice to keep advancing our conservative movement," they said in the statement. "Adam Kinzinger is hands down the candidate the conservative cause needs to win the primary for Congress on March 20th and he has our enthusiastic endorsement for a second term in Congress."

Kinzinger has quickly become a favorite of House Republican leaders, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has also donated to his campaign. But while he enjoyed Tea Party support in his 2010 win, some have been unhappy with his relatively centrist voting record. The Illinois Tea Party, a confederation of local Tea Party groups, has endorsed Manzullo.

The district was drawn to pack as many Republicans into it as possible after Kinzinger's district was largely dismantled. The Hill rates this seat as safely Republican.

The fiscally conservative Blue Dog PAC endorsed Hayden Rogers, who is running to replace his boss, Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).

Democrats view Rogers as their strongest chance to hold the Republican-heavy seat left open by Shuler's retirement. Rogers knows the district well: he was Shuler's campaign manager during his upset win in 2006 and has been his chief of staff ever since.

"Working closely with Hayden, I have seen his commitment to Blue Dog principles," said Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), co-chairman of the Blue Dog PAC. "As a former small business owner and Congressman Shuler's chief of staff, Hayden has been an invaluable voice in the Blue Dogs' efforts to encourage private sector job creation and reduce unnecessary and burdensome regulations that slow growth. We are proud to endorse his candidacy today."

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Rep. Bob Turner's (R) district is dismantled while other lawmakers find themselves in difficult territory.

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Rep. Jason Altmire may be barred from running in the Democratic primary against fellow Rep. Mark Critz.

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Democrats were left without a top-tier challenger to freshman Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) and didn't get their top candidate to replace retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), leaving them in a weak position for 2012 as Arkansas's election filing period closed Thursday.

Democrats held three of the state's four House seats before the 2010 elections, but now face the very real possibility of being shut out there after 2012.

Former state Rep. Jay Martin (D), the Democrats' preferred candidate to challenge Griffin, changed his mind shortly before the filing deadline and decided not to run. Martin is the second potentially strong candidate to decide against a run this week: State Democratic Party Chairman Will Bond also announced shortly before the filing deadline that he wouldn't challenge Griffin.

The filing deadline for the seat was Thursday. Democrats' top remaining candidate for the seat is former state Rep. Herb Rule (D), who hasn't held political office in nearly 30 years.

The district is GOP-leaning at the presidential level but was long held by conservative Democrats, and is the most Democratic district in the state. Under the new lines, President Obama would have won 44 percent of its vote in 2008.

In the race to replace retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Democrats failed to land any of their initial recruits, although they have 2010 Senate candidate D.C. Morrison, pastor and attorney Q. Byrum Hurst and state Sen. Gene Jeffress in the race. Republicans have a number of candidates, including former U.S. Army Capt. Tom Cotton, whom many conservative groups have endorsed.

This district would have given Obama just 37 percent of its vote under the new lines, and will be a tough seat for Democrats to hold.

The lack of a strong candidate here hurts their chances at retaking control of the House, which they need 26 seats to win.

They had better success recruiting against freshman Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), with a few potentially strong recruits including state Rep. Clark Hall (D). While this district is also GOP-leaning, this might be their best shot at winning one of the four seats in the state: Polls have shown Crawford may be vulnerable to a challenge here, and the district has a large number of African Americans who are likely to come out to vote because of President Obama's presence on the ticket.

This post was updated at 10:40 a.m.

A Texas court has ordered the state's primaries to be moved from April 25 to May 29, making it less likely its Republican presidential contest will impact who the GOP nominee is.

This is the second time Texas has had to move its primaries back: It was initially slotted for March 6, Super Tuesday, and would have played a major role in the Republican nomination process.

Both moves were forced because of repeated delays in the redistricting process and complicated candidate filings for local and congressional races — filing isn't allowed in districts with borders still in flux.

The date change comes on the heels of a drawn-out battle over redistricting that has yet to conclude, though the court has put out an interim map that is likely to be used this election.