Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) PAC doled out thousands in donations to South Carolina Republicans while the governor was visiting the state this week.

Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC lent a hand to GOP candidates running for the House in the Palmetto State, and gave to the campaigns of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R).

Haley's campaign got $3,500 and DeMint's received $3,000, while the candidates in the first through fourth congressional districts each got $2,000.

The Minnesota governor is a potential candidate for president in 2012 and was in South Carolina on Tuesday. He is meeting Wednesday with Republican candidates and helping with fundraisers. The trip could help build political support for Pawlenty in the state, which plays host to the third presidential nominating contest in the primary calendar.

Perhaps most notably, Pawlenty met Tuesday night with Haley, a rising star in the GOP who'd been dogged in a bruising Republican primary with allegations of marital infidelity.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Wednesday sent out a fundraising e-mail to his donor list on behalf of his Senate colleague Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who faces a primary challenge. 

The mailer comes one day after Bennet's primary opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, received the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton. The endorsement drove a wedge between Clinton and President Barack Obama, who has backed Bennet. 

The mailer makes no reference to Romanoff, but touts Bennet's achievements in the Senate and attacks Republicans. 

"Since arriving in the Senate last year, Michael fought along with me to pass health care reform, and he even led the charge for a public option. From reforming Wall St. to protecting our environment, I've been impressed with Michael's commitment to setting partisan games aside and getting to work on solving real problems," Dodd wrote. "But while Michael has been fighting for all of us, his Republican opponents have staked out extreme positions, far outside the mainstream in an attempt to win Tea Party support."

The Connecticut senator's letter could be an indicator that the primary race is heating up. It's already been tinged by Romanoff's claim that the White House invited him to apply for a job so that he would exit the race. 

Clinton's endorsement brought up memories of the 2008 presidential campaign; Romanoff endorsed Hillary Clinton, while Bennet — an appointed senator — backed Obama. 

Dodd endorsed Obama in February 2008 after dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary in January. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee now has 39 challengers who it considers "Young Guns." The committee's candidate training and promotion program added 16 members to its top echelon Wednesday.

Not coincidentally, it's the number needed for the GOP retake control of the House. 

"The latest Young Guns class is a testament to the strength of our candidates this year," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a statement. "When these 16 Young Guns come to Washington as new members of Congress, they'll join our fight to change the culture of spending that the Democrat majority has forced on our country."

There were three candidates from Illinois promoted, including state Sen. Randy Hultgren (R), who defeated the NRCC-backed Ethan Hastert in the February primary and will face Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) in November.

An official with the committee told The Ballot Box this won't be its last round of candidates elevated to full Young Gun status.

See the full list after the jump.

-Updated at 11:54 a.m.

Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii) praised President Barack Obama on the House floor Tuesday for pressing ahead with negotiations on a trade deal with South Korea.

In a floor speech, Djou said he was "encouraged by the opportunity which has happened this past weekend and compliment President Obama for committing to a free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea."

Noting that his congressional district "lies within the flight arc of North Korea's ballistic missiles," Djou said it was time for the U.S. to "further cement our bonds and our relationships" with South Korea "and make sure that we change the dictatorship in North Korea for the benefit of our nation and the world as a whole."

In May, Djou won a special election in the president's hometown congressional district. Colleen Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case split the Democratic vote, which helped Djou to a win with less than 40 percent.

In November, Djou faces a tough race against Hanabusa in the heavily Democratic district now that Case has opted out of the race.

After weeks spent on the defensive, Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk (R) targeted his Democratic opponent in two new TV ads released Wednesday.

One of the spots, titled "Risky," brings up Democrat Alexi Giannoulias's service in his father's bank and his age – 34. "But what a 34 years it's been,” the announcer says. "At his father's bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then the bank collapsed."

In "Stand," the announcer says Giannoulias's "top aide was a long-time BP lobbyist" whereas Kirk "won praise for helping stop BP when it tried to pollute Lake Michigan." The ad tries to bolster Kirk's green credentials after he was passed over for an endorsement this cycle by two key environmental groups.

The ads are Kirk's second move this week as he has fought to regain control of the campaign's narrative. They're airing on broadcast and cable stations in the Chicago media market, and were produced by Larry McCarthy.

Watch the two after the jump.

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Second-quarter fundraising has ended, which means a flurry of last-minute appeals from campaigns and political parties.

Republicans argue they’re due for a comeback in the Northeast after seeing their House numbers from that area fall.

Former President Bill Clinton broke with the White House Tuesday and endorsed Andrew Romanoff (D) for Senate.

A new Reuters poll shows Republican Carly Fiorina just four points behind Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in California's Senate race. 

Boxer leads with 45 percent of the vote to Fiorina's 41 percent with 13 percent of respondents undecided. It's a poll of 600 registered California voters. 

The new numbers suggest there hasn't been much movement in the race during the past month. In early June, Rasmussen gave Boxer a five-point lead. And in late May, an L.A. Times poll had Boxer up six points. 

In Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Fiorina told reporters she wanted to keep the focus on jobs and the economy in her race with Boxer. But she also backed the idea of repealing the recently enacted healthcare law.