Vice President Joe Biden will make a fundraising stop in Ohio next week on behalf of Democratic Senate candidate Lee Fisher who is locked in a tight race with former Rep. Rob Portman (R) in Ohio's open seat Senate contest.
The Fisher campaign said Biden will campaign and headline a fundraiser for Fisher in Cleveland June 30. "We're excited to have Vice President Biden's support and to be able to work with him to create good-paying jobs in Ohio and re-build our middle class."
The National Republican Congressional Committee is using the news to tie Fisher to the Obama administration. In a statement, NRSC press secretary Amber Marchand said "It's not surprising that President Obama and Vice President Biden want to reward Lee Fisher after he enthusiastically endorsed their failed economic agenda."
The latest poll numbers in the race had Fisher and Portman tied 43-43.
Sarah Palin has weighed into another contested Republican primary — announcing Thursday she's backing Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R) for the Kansas GOP Senate nod.
"Todd is a protector of our Constitution, a pro-family, pro-Second Amendment commonsense conservative who has never voted for a tax increase and has fought to end the wasteful spending coming out of Washington," Palin wrote on her Facebook page Thursday. "He didn't just stand on the sidelines complacently, but instead actually battled against the bailouts, the debt-ridden stimulus spending, the cap-and-tax energy schemes, and Obamacare."
She called on her supporters to help support Tiahrt's campaign. There are currently no plans for Palin to campaign with the eight-term congressman.
"We are very excited about the endorsement, and Todd is certainly open to having Gov. Palin return to Kansas to campaign with him any time," Sam Sackett, a Tiahrt spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Tiahrt faces Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in the August primary. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is running for governor.
The former Alaska governor's had some luck picking the winners of recent primaries.
She endorsed gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R) in South Carolina and also backed Tim Scott against Paul Thurmond in the state's 1st congressional district GOP primary.
She'll be in California Friday for a fundraiser at for the 50th anniversary of California State University, Stanislaus.
In Connecticut, Republican Senate candidate and former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon references her past as head of WWE in a new campaign ad.
"Before I decided to run for the Senate, I had a regular job," McMahon joked in a 60-second spot released by the campaign Thursday. The ad features shots of McMahon inside the ropes at WWE events.
McMahon does not address any of the criticisms that have emerged over her time as CEO. Her role has come under scrutiny in various news reports and has become fodder for her political opponents.
Earlier this week, the widow of former professional wrestler Owen Hart filed a lawsuit against WWE and McMahon. It alleges WWE has used Hart's image without the consent of his family. The McMahon campaign has said it will make no official comment on the suit.
McMahon is facing Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in November's general election.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney's (D-N.Y.) primary challenger is hitting her for raising campaign cash from "lobbyists" as the conference committee puts the finishing touches on the Wall Street reform bill.
New York attorney Reshma Saujani (D) released a Web video using a James Taylor song to highlight Maloney's Wednesday night fundraiser as work on the financial reform legislation wraps up.
Maloney was one of at least six Democrats who fundraised at Taylor and Carole King's Troubadour Reunion Tour concert at Washington's Verizon Center on Wednesday.
"The Maloney campaign doesn't see anything wrong with giving lobbyists in-depth face time with the chair of the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the conference committee," the Saujani camp said in a statement.
The Maloney campaign said the fundraiser was organized before the conference committee was scheduled.
"This political attack marks the height of hypocrisy: Our opponent, a former hedge fund employee, is being bankrolled by the financial services industry while Maloney has a consistent record standing up to the special interests," Maloney spokeswoman Alix Anfang said in statement.
"Saujani has failed to gain traction because New Yorkers recognize Maloney's strong record of accomplishments. With no record of her own to run on, our opponent continues to run a desperate campaign."
Saujani's campaign said she doesn't accept money "from the special interest corporate PACs" but records show she has raised tens of thousands from contributors who work on Wall Street.
Democrats in West Virginia are making House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-Ohio) record on trade an issue in the race for the state's 1st Congressional District.
Boehner will headline a fundraiser for Republican nominee David McKinley this Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va. McKinley faces state Sen. Mike Oliverio (D) in November in the race to fill the seat of Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan. Oliverio defeated Mollohan in a May primary.
A release blasted out Thursday by state Democrats calls Boehner "a long-time advocate for companies outsourcing jobs including supporting NAFTA and CAFTA."
Outsourcing has already cost the state 17,800 jobs, state party executive director Derek Scarbro said in the release. “John Boehner has been leading the charge to make it easier for companies to send West Virginia jobs to China and India."
The Republicans' House campaign committee enlisted Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to help meet its quarterly fundraising targets.
Bachmann wrote supporters of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to ask for donations ahead of the June 30th end-of-quarter deadline.
"In a few weeks, this money will start flowing into targeted districts to attack Republicans and spread phony propaganda against our candidates," Bachmann wrote in the fundraising e-mail. "The NRCC needs your help NOW to make sure Republican House candidates have the resources they need to fight back!
"The NRCC is THE official campaign support organization of Republicans running for Congress, exclusively dedicated to electing enough Republicans to end Nancy Pelosi’s reign as Speaker," she wrote. "No other organization is doing as much to help elect Republicans to Congress!"
Republicans have been looking to stock their campaign accounts before this fall's midterm elections, in which they hope to make inroads into Democrats' majority in the House, if not take control of the chamber for themselves.
Contributing to that effort on Wednesday was House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who pledged $1 million from his own campaign funds to the NRCC.
A beneficiary of those funds might be Bachmann herself. A lightning rod for critics, Bachmann is facing a tough reelection challenge from Democrat Tarryl Clark. Bachmann beat Democrat El Tinklenberg in 2008, 47-43 percent.
President Barack Obama will host a July fundraiser in Kansas City for Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan (D).
Obama will be in the state July 8 for the event, according to local media reports.
The last time Obama was in Missouri for a fundraiser, Carnahan was absent. In March, when Obama was in St. Louis for a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event, Carnahan was in Washington.
But she did join Obama in April when he toured an ethanol plant in Macon, Mo.
Carnahan is in a tough Senate campaign with Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) for retiring Sen. Kit Bond's (R-Mo.) seat.
Republicans criticized Carnahan for holding a "swanky fundraiser."
“Swanky fundraisers with
Democrat heavyweights won’t convince Missouri voters that Robin
Carnahan’s unwavering loyalty to Barack Obama’s big-government
agenda will result in anything but perpetually high unemployment and a
skyrocketing national debt. Instead of asking Barack Obama to show
her the money, Robin Carnahan would be better off if he could show her the
jobs," Republican National Committee spokesman Bill Rigggs said in a statement.
Polling has shown the candidates stay within a few points of one another, and the race is considered a toss-up.
Both candidates come into the race with famous last names. Blunt served as the state secretary of state for two terms and unsuccessfully ran for governor. His son Matt Blunt served one term as governor of the state. Carnahan is the daughter of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former Sen. Jean Carnahan. Her brother Russ Carnahan is a member of the House of Representatives.
A new Rasmussen poll out Thursday gives Republican candidate Sharron Angle a seven-point edge over Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Angle leads 48 percent to 41 percent. Eight percent of respondents prefer some other candidate and just two percent are undecided. The automated poll surveyed 500 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
One area of concern for Republicans is that the poll shows both candidates with unfavorable ratings near 50 percent. Reid's favorables stand at 48-49, while Angle's are 48-47.
The campaign of Reid and national Democrats have hit Angle hard over the past two weeks in an attempt to focus attention on what Reid's campaign has called Angle's history of "extreme statements."
Rasmussen's last poll, taken just after Angle captured the Republican nomination, gave her a 50-39 lead over Reid.
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