Senate races

Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond (D) opted to attend President Obama's Atlanta fundraising event Monday despite not getting an initial invite. 

Thurmond, the Democratic nominee for Senate, joined Atlanta-area Reps. David Scott (D-Ga.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.), as well as southeastern Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) at the event, according to the pool report. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who represents the nearby 4th district and was endorsed by the president during his primary, did not attend.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes (D) also skipped the event, opting to campaign on his own instead.

There had been some confusion surround the visit. Lewis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he learned second-hand of the trip. "They [White House officials] usually inform us," he said. "It was unreal."

A spokesman for Thurmond, at the time, said he too was overlooked when the fundraiser was first announced.

The event raised some $500,000 for the Democratic National Committee, according to the report.

One other interesting point from Obama's Georgia visit: He's traveling with Patrick Gaspard, the White House director of political affairs.
 

As President Obama prepares to travel to Chicago for a fundraiser for Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois Senate candidate faces renewed questions about his family's bank.

New records show jailed developer Tony Rezko held an ownership stake in a development project that received a previously undisclosed loan from Giannoulias's Broadway Bank. In February 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, the bank made a $22.75 million loan to Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners included Rezko.

The Giannoulias camp denied he knew about the loan. "Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made," a spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the president is set for an Aug. 5 fundraiser for Giannoulias in Chicago.

Giannoulias previously has been on the receiving end of fundraising help from Vice President Joe Biden and other top administration officials. Raising money has been a problem for the Democrat since Broadway Bank's collapse in April, his most recent Federal Election Commission filings show.

Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) is now in a dead heat with Sen. Michael Bennet (D) in the state's Democratic primary, according to new numbers from Survey USA.

The latest polling shows the race has tightened considerably in the past few weeks. A Denver Post poll released Sunday (conducted by Survey USA) has Romanoff leading 48 percent to 45 — within the margin of error.

Just two months ago, Romanoff was ahead of Bennet by more than 15 points. The senator has countered with his own internal numbers, but in a danger sign for Bennet they only have him ahead by four points.

Romanoff, who sold his house last week to aid his campaign, still faces an opponent who was sitting on more than $2.5 million as of his last Federal Election Commission filing. Bennet is poised to spend that money aggressively during the final stretch before the Aug. 10 primary.

Romanoff is trying to continue the trend of knocking off incumbent senators in primaries this cycle. Sens. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah) have already lost, while Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) narrowly survived her primary challenge.  

Colorado Republicans Jane Norton and Ken Buck are both spending heavily on ads in the run-up to the state's August 10 primary. 

The Denver Post reports that Norton has raised $93,636 since July 1 to Buck's $80,966 during that same time.

From the Post:

Norton had slightly more cash on hand with $459,628 to Buck's $437,529 as of July 21. Both campaigns have ads up, Buck's camp is getting significant help from outside groups buying radio and television ads for him.

Much of Norton's $418,000 in expenditures in July is going to ad buys, said spokeswoman Cinamon Watson. Buck has spent $307,585 through July 21.

...Americans for Job Security has doled out more than $1.6 million on Buck's behalf, with almost $500,000 going out for negative Jane Norton television and radio through Aug. 2. The group is a “trade organization” that doesn't have to disclose its donor lists.

In addition, the Senate Conservatives Fund — a political-action committee started by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint — has spent $139,000 so far to help Buck.

Republican primary rivals Clint Didier and Paul Akers are teaming up in the race for Sen. Patty Murray's (D-Wash.) seat. The two have been fighting for oxygen in a Republican primary against leading candidate Dino Rossi (R). 

Didier and Akers are planning to use joint forums and radio ads in an attempt to gain some traction against Rossi, who has the backing of most of the state and national Republican establishment. 

Their message: the party establishment is trying to dictate the Republican nominee. 

A major stumbling bloc for that message is the endorsement Rossi won Thursday from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). DeMint has inserted himself in a number of Republican primaries this campaign season and has not made a habit of backing the so-called establishment pick. 

"Dino Rossi is a principled conservative who will help us take our country back. He will fight to stop the massive spending, bailouts, and debt that are bankrupting our country," DeMint said in a statement. "The Senate Conservatives Fund will do everything it can to help Dino Rossi. We're going to make sure voters in Washington hear his message and that freedom-loving Americans across the country support his campaign."

DeMint is backing Republican Ken Buck in Colorado's Senate primary. He's also backed Rand Paul in Kentucky, Mike Lee in Utah and Sharron Angle in Nevada this primary season. 

Didier is backed by Tea Party forces in the state and has the endorsement of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) has donated the money his Senate campaign received from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) to charity.

Sestak campaign spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said the campaign had donated $12,000 it had received from Rangel to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for pediatric cancer.

"He always said he would take action when appropriate and given the reports today, he decided it was the right thing to do," Dworkin said of the donations.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) is holding onto a five-point lead in a three-way Florida Senate race in a new poll, but the numbers show the former Republican-turned-independent has upped his support among Democratic voters over the past several weeks.

The Quinnipiac poll out Friday gives Crist 37 percent of the vote to Republican Marco Rubio's 32 percent. 

Democrat Jeff Greene is a distant third, polling at 17 percent in a three-way matchup, though he does outperform Rep. Kendrick Meek (D), who polls just 14 percent in a race against Crist and Rubio.

In a three-way race with Rubio and Meek, it's Crist who leads Meek among Democrats — 42 percent to 33 percent. When Quinnipiac last polled the general election June 9, Meek led among Dems — 44 percent to Crist's 37 percent.

With self-funder Jeff Greene as the Democratic nominee, the split among Democrats is closer, but Crist still leads 41 percent to 39 percent. 

On the heels of Thursday's Democratic primary poll, which had Greene up 10 points over Meek, Friday's numbers suggest Greene has made some inroads with Democrats over the past month, while Meek has slipped. 

But the Democratic primary is still marked by indecision, with a plurality of Democratic voters undecided. Friday's poll also found a full 64 percent of respondents said they don't know enough about either Meek or Greene to offer an opinion on them.

Meek is expecting some campaign help from President Obama in the coming weeks. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is hosting a fundraiser for Meek in Washington on Monday. 

Meek said Wednesday that Florida Democrats are looking for some direction in the Senate primary and that White House involvement in his campaign will offer that.

According to Quinnipiac, Obama's approval in the state stands at just 46 percent.

The White House press secretary had previously cautioned that Republicans could be successful in their midterm efforts.

A new TV ad from former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) prompted a sharp reaction from Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) campaign. 

Romanoff, who's challenging Bennet for the Senate nod, went up statewide with a TV ad Thursday that accuses Bennet of "Wall Street greed."

"Bennet worked for right-wing billionaire Phil Anschutz. In a corporate takeover they pushed companies into bankruptcy and looted a billion dollars," the announcer says in the ad. "Workers lost their jobs. Bennet made $11 million."

The ad, Romanoff's fourth of the primary, is airing on cable and broadcast. It was produced by Joe Trippi's firm.

Bennet's campaign immediately shot back.

"When people are desperate, they will often say or do anything to get ahead that's exactly what we're seeing here from Speaker Romanoff," said Trevor Kincaid, a spokesman for Bennet, said in a statement. "It's disappointing that Speaker Romanoff is spending the last two weeks of the campaign running commercials that lie to the voters."

The Bennet camp also released a statement detailing his involvement with Anschutz. See it after the jump.

Read more...

The Missouri Democratic Party is preparing to file a Federal Election Commission complaint against Joe the Plumber for "illegally advertising" on behalf of state Sen. Chuck Purgason (R).

Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher recently purchased a statewide ad supporting Purgason, who is Rep. Roy Blunt's (Mo.) top rival for the Republican Senate nomination.

The Missouri Democrats plan to file an FEC complaint on Friday against Wurzelbacher on the ground his advertising campaign "committed numerous violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act."

In a release, the party cited, "potential illegal in-kind contributions" and "failure to comply with disclaimer requirements" as two possible violations.

"If Joe The Plumber wants to meddle in Missouri politics, the least he can do is follow the law," party spokesman Ryan Hobart said in a statement.