Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is the latest Republican to decline an invitation to next month's Conservative Political Action Conference.

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has pegged its first GOP targets of the 2012 cycle, launching radio and Web ads in the districts of 19 House Republicans this week.

Democrats need to pick up 25 House seats to win back the majority in 2012. 

It's the first media salvo of the cycle for the DCCC, predominantly targeting GOP freshmen in Democratic-leaning districts.

The ads hit the new Republican majority in the House for having tunnel vision on spending cuts and backing "a partisan plan that costs jobs." Among the targets is Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), who hails from a district that voted for President Obama in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. 

"Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle supports a plan in Congress that would cut education by 40 percent," the ad says. "And her plan would cut science and technology research by 40 percent, too. Research and development is how we get the new products that create new jobs. How does cutting that help us compete with China and India?"

The same spot is running against Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), and similar spots are up in the districts of GOP Reps. Lou Barletta (Pa.), Charlie Bass (N.H.), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Chip Cravaack (Minn.), Robert Dold (Ill.), Blake Farenthold (Texas), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Nan Hayworth (N.Y.), Joe Heck (Nev.), Robert Hurt (Va.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Pat Meehan (Pa.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), David Rivera (Fla.), Jon Runyan (N.J.), Joe Walsh (Ill.) and Allen West (Fla.).

Ten of the districts in which the DCCC is up with early radio and Web ads are among the 14 Republican-held House districts won by both Obama and Kerry. DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) told The Hill in an interview last week that those 14 districts will form the core of the party's plan to win back the House majority.

"We start with those 14 seats," Israel said. "It doesn’t matter whether you’re a [committee] chairman or not. We’re not going to be distracted by personalities. It’s going to be driven by the numbers, driven by our message, driven by our ability to mobilize."

A spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) responded to the new DCCC ads by slamming House Dems for trying to stand in the way of the GOP's efforts to lower the deficit.   

"As soon as they got here, House Republicans worked to fulfill their campaign promise to cut spending and lower debt, so that government can get out of the way of job creators," said NRCC spokeswoman Joanna Burgos. "Clearly, Democrats don't know how to create jobs or keep a promise."

The DCCC is also trying to take early advantage of Rivera's troubles, referencing the investigation surrounding his finances.

"Did you know Congressman David Rivera is under criminal investigation for receiving secret payments from his mother's company?" the radio ad running in Rivera's district says. "Tell Rivera to come clean so he can finally get to work for us." 

Along with Web and radio ads, which will start running during drive time Monday in the selected districts, the early media blitz will include robo-calls and e-mails. 

— Updated at 9:14 a.m.

Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.) was one of several Democrats who faced an aggressive primary challenge from the left in 2010.

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Michael Williams will need the time to get ahead of David Dewhurst – the expected frontrunner in the GOP primary.

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Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) has drawn his first Democratic challenger.

Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman (D) has filed papers to seek the Democratic nomination to face Reichert, the Seattle Times reported Friday. Goodman, an environmental lawyer, already has a campaign website.

"I’ve proven to be a leader who can do that for you here in our own state, and I hope for the opportunity to do that for you in the other Washington," Goodman said on his website.

Goodman faces a formidable opponent in Reichert. Although Democrats have won the 8th district in the last two presidential elections, Reichert has managed to keep his seat since he won it in 2004.

One of the nation's leading gun violence reduction advocates, Reichert has taken liberal positions on the environment and been praised by the League of Conservation Voters, which has probably helped him keep the district.

Reichert has not said whether he will seek reelection in 2012. He won reelection to a fourth term in November, defeating Democrat Suzan Delbene by a six-point margin.

Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) did not sufficiently explain some $60,000 in campaign expenditures during his eight years in the Florida state legislature, according to a review of his filings by The Associated Press. 

It's just the latest bad news for Rivera, who already faces a criminal investigation into allegations of secret payments made to a company that he has ties to.

More from the AP:

Serving as his own campaign treasurer, the Miami Republican didn't report any details for more than a third of the roughly $160,000 in expenses for which he reimbursed himself, other than simply calling them campaign expenses, according to the records.

The AP review also shows his total reimbursements far exceeded those claimed by 12 other top Florida state legislators who served with him. Those lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — usually gave at least some explanation of how the money had been spent, as required by Florida law. Rivera denies wrongdoing.

Responding to questions about the unexplained payments, Rivera insists he followed state and federal law and never took money that wasn't a legitimate reimbursement. It would be against state law to divert campaign donations to personal use.

"Reimbursements were for campaign-related expenditures such as travel, meals, and supplies. The campaign reports speak for themselves. All information provided was accurate and all expenses properly reported," he said in a statement Thursday through his campaign.

The investigation is proving to be an early headache for House Republicans. 

Earlier this week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) declined to address the Rivera investigation that is already ongoing, telling reporters that he is withholding judgment, but that Republican leaders are watching the situation.

"We're waiting to see how this plays out," Boehner said.   

Democrats have jumped on the Rivera story, pointing to GOP promises that the new Republican majority would impose a "zero tolerance" policy with regard to ethics violations. 

During the 2010 midterm cycle, Republicans cited the ethics woes of Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) as evidence that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn't follow through on her promise to "drain the swamp."

Rivera won an open seat race this past cycle against Democrat Joe Garcia, and Florida Democrats are already talking to potential candidates ahead of 2012.  

—Jordan Fabian contributed.

Gay marriage could become a thorny issue for Republican presidential candidates.

New Hampshire and Iowa allow same-sex marriage, and in both states there is a drive by conservative groups such as the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) to restrict marriage to the union of one man and one woman.

That's prompted a pro-gay-marriage group headed by Fred Karger, a possible GOP White House candidate, to release a TV ad Friday accusing NOM of wanting to "hurt and demean people."

NOM President Brian Brown dismissed Karger as "way out in left field," but said his group will press the Republican presidential candidates on specific marriage policies.

"It won't just be, 'Do you agree with us?' " Brown told The Ballot Box. "We don't want candidates who will just do lip service to marriage. We will have very specific policy positions that we hope the candidates will take."

Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis, who's weighing a bid for Senate next year, says he's encouraged by Sen. Debbie Stabenow's (D-Mich.) slumping poll numbers. 

"Her numbers are well below 50 percent," Anuzis told The Ballot Box. "That's why you see a number of people looking so seriously at this race."

Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), former Gov. John Engler (R), former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) and GOP businessman Tim Leuliette are also rumored contenders for the seat. 

A poll released earlier this week by GOP pollster Wilson Research Strategies showed Stabenow would start out with just a narrow edge over either Hoekstra or Land. The poll also found just 33 percent of voters said they would vote to reelect Stabenow. 

A December poll from Democratic-leaning Public Policy also showed trouble for Stabenow, measuring a job approval rating of just 41 percent. 

Anuzis, who is fresh off a second-place finish in his run for chairman of the Republican National Committee, plans to push his name out more aggressively in the coming weeks, talking up a potential bid with party insiders and activists this weekend at the party's state convention in Michigan to "gauge support."   

"I'm making the rounds, doing my due diligence," Anuzis said. "This is not a small undertaking, so you have to be prepared for it." 

Anuzis held a series of meetings with party strategists in Washington this week and had dinner with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday night. 

Anuzis said he realizes he has some real work to do should he decide to jump into the contest, but said he's confident the organization he has built as head of the state party and during his two runs for RNC chairman, would serve him well in a bid.

Republican Rick Santorum will be in Massachusetts next week to headline a fundraiser for a Catholic advocacy group.

The former Pennsylvania senator was booked as the guest speaker at a benefit for Catholic Citizenship Tuesday in Newton, according to The Associated Press.

The former two-term senator is a staunch Catholic and has courted religious conservatives while preparing for a possible presidential bid. 

Santorum was in Boston in December for a speech rebutting the late President John F. Kennedy's call for the separation of church and state to be "absolute."

Meanwhile, Santorum's camp announced Friday it's hired Nick Ryan, who worked for former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), and Jill Latham, a former staffer on Mitt Romney's 2008 Iowa campaign.

In a statement, Santorum said the two "will play a critical role in helping determine if we are able to build the necessary support to embark on a possible run."

--Updated at 1:05 p.m.