Photograph by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., arrives in the Senate Reception Room before the ‘Vote-A-Rama’ on amendments to the budget resolution on March 22, 2013.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller isn’t seeking re-election next year, though the wealthy West Virginia Democrat is still using some of his personal fortune to help his party’s prospects in the midterm election.

Rockefeller donated the maximum $32,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in April, when the group raised $3.54 million, according to a report it filed this week to the Senate public records office.

DSCC donors matching Rockefeller’s donation included Adam Aron, the chief executive officer of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team; Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team; billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian; Bill Campbell, the non-executive chairman of Intuit Inc.; and Andrew T. Feldstein, the CEO of the hedge-fund firm BlueMountain Capital Management LLC.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and his wife, lobbyist Linda Hall Daschle, each gave $10,000 to the DSCC.

The DSCC began this month with $8.6 million cash-on-hand and $13.8 million in debts. In the 2014 election, Democrats presently are defending 21 Senate seats, including the one in West Virginia that Rockefeller is leaving open to retire. Democrats control 55 of the 100 Senate seats.

Original post is Rockefeller, Kerkorian Help DSCC Raise $3.54 Million by Political Capital.

Photograph by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Jon Bon Jovi attend the Overdose Prevention Act Bill signing at Barnert Medical Arts Complex on May 2, 2013 in Paterson, New Jersey.

Gov. Chris Christie, the New Jersey Republican who took political shots for embracing President Barack Obama days after Hurricane Sandy, brought in a little star power today as rocker Jon Bon Jovi co-headlined a bill-signing ceremony.

The event, at which Christie enacted a measure exempting those at the scene of a drug overdose from prosecution if they call 911, is the latest event at which he’s joined with prominent Democrats and their supporters. The governor said Bon Jovi, who partnered with Democratic predecessor Jon Corzine and has hosted fundraisers for Al Gore, was influential in reversing his veto of an earlier version of the measure.

“I have always been willing to accept support from anyone who’s willing to give that support I good will and an honest way. If a Democrat is willing to offer that support I’ll accept it,” Christie told reporters. “I don’t think that would diminish my base.”

Republican critics accused Christie of aiding the enemy last fall when he complimented Obama’s handling of Sandy days before the election after spending a year stumping for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. This week Christie said Obama as “kept every promise” following the storm.

Earlier this week, Christie appeared with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to announce the approval of $1.8 billion in federal Sandy aid. Yesterday, he joined Democratic lawmakers and the mayor of Camden to announce a new county-level police force. His professed “friends” across the aisle also include Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who’s endorsed his rival in the November election.

Christie held a 32 percentage point lead over his lone challenger for re-election ahead of the November contest, state Sen. Barbara Buono of Metuchen, an April 24 poll from Quinnipiac Universityl found. Bon Jovi offered no endorsement, though a group of Democratic mayors and local leaders in Harrison and Chesilhurst have done so.

Original post is Chris Christie’s Bon Jovi Gig — Latest in Long Parade of Democrats by Political Capital.

Hayworth filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission last week to lay the groundwork for a 2014 campaign in New York’s 18^th District, a politically competitive area north of New York City.

“Since the beginning of the year Nan has been contacted by hundreds of friends, community leaders and contributors who have asked her to consider running for Congress in 2014,” Rob DiFrancesco, a spokesman for Hayworth, said in an e-mail to Political Capital. “Given the encouragement she is receiving, a new committee has been filed with the Federal Election Commission and Nan is now raising funds in anticipation of running.”

Hayworth was elected in 2010, a good Republican year, and lost to Maloney in 2012 by 51.9 percent to 48.0 percent — close to the 51.4 percent to 47.1 percent margin by which President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to data compiled by Political Capital.

New York’s 18^th District (map) takes in all of Orange and Putnam Counties and parts of Dutchess and Westchester Counties.

Original post is Ex-N.Y. Rep. Hayworth Readies Rematch With Maloney by Political Capital.

Early this morning, a bipartisan group of eight senators who have been working behind closed doors for months on the sort of comprehensive immigration overhaul that President Barack Obama has been seeking filed their bill in the Senate.

Later this morning, a bipartisan group of eight House members who have been talking behind the scenes for years issued a statement:

“Americans want to see the nation’s broken immigration system fixed, and they know it will take bipartisanship to solve this problem in a sensible and rational way. This week, a bipartisan group of senators stepped forward to introduce their proposal, and we applaud their effort. We are also working on a good faith, bipartisan effort in the House. We believe we will soon agree on a reasonable, common-sense plan to finally secure our borders and strengthen our economy with a tough but fair process that respects the rule of law so immigrants can contribute to our country.”

Later today, it looks like the Democratic-run Senate will fail to muster the votes to adopt even the slimmest, stripped-down version of the gun controls that the Obama White House proposed in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings.

More bipartisan groups, of sorts, are in the spotlight:

– Democrats Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Max Baucus of Montana, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota — five from red states, including four seeking reelection next year — unwilling to support a bipartisan bill advanced by Republican Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia expanding background checks for gun-buyers.

– Republicans Mark Kirk of Illinois, Susan Collins of Maine and maybe John McCain of Arizona may be willing to support it — few of the 16 Republicans who voted to advance it to debate last week. So there the bill may die.

What makes the proponents of immigration in both parties so confident of success this year, on a measure that has been impossible to move for the better part of the last decade? And prospects for a simple gun bill — supported by nine in 10 of all Americans surveyed — so dim?

2014 and 2016.

It’s good for the Republican Party in 2016, most agree, to tackle immigration reform following the drubbing the party took in 2012.

It’s bad for the senators facing reelection in 2014 in red states — Democrats and Republicans alike — to support a bill that the National Rifle Association so strenuously opposes. Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who tried to get McCain elected president in 2008, said this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that those senators simply are not willing to risk it.

Republicans who are risking the support of their party’s base on either issue figure they get “one hall pass” this year, said David Axelrod, who helped get Obama elected in ’08 and ’12, appearing on the same morning show, where he is now a contributor. They’re taking that pass on immigration, but not guns: because one’s good for their party, they figure, the other bad for themselves.

Original post is Republican Immigration ‘Hall Pass’ — 2016 and 2014 Explain it All by Political Capital.

Photograph by Glen Stubbe/The Star Tribune/AP Photo

Jim Graves, CEO of the Graves Hospitality hotel company, is applauded as he enters the room with his wife Julie, right, on April 10, 2012 in St. Cloud, Minn.

‘Tis the season for would-be members of Congress to announce rematches of close losses last November.

Minnesota businessman Jim Graves, a Democrat who came within 1.2 percentage points of unseating Republican Michele Bachmann in 2012, said today he’d try again in 2014.

Their 2012 race was the eighth-closest in terms of percentage point margin, according to data compiled by Political Capital.

The Republicans who lost the two closest House races of 2012 also are giving it another shot.

David Rouzer, a former North Carolina state senator, said this week he’ll run against Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre, who won their 2012 race by 0.2 points and 654 votes.

Mia Love of Utah, who lost to Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson by 0.3 points and 768 votes, filed paperwork lat month to initiate a 2014 race, Political Capital first reported.

In Indiana, Democratic officials want Brendan Mullen to challenge Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski, who won their 2012 showdown by 1.4 points, the 10th-smallest margin of victory in a House race.

Original post is Losers of Close 2012 Races Seek 2014 Rematches by Political Capital.

Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Mia Love, mayor of Saratoga Springs, speaks at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa.

Mia Love, a Republican Utah mayor who almost unseated Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson last November, has filed paperwork that paves the way for her to seek a rematch in 2014.

Love filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission yesterday to run again in Utah’s 4^th District, which takes in part of Salt Lake City and territory to the south, including Love’s hometown of Saratoga Springs.

She lost to Matheson last year by 768 votes and 0.3 percentage points, the second-closest outcome among the 435 House races. Love just missed becoming the first black Republican woman to serve in Congress.

Matheson, who won a seventh term, demonstrated crossover appeal in hanging on to a district that backed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama by 67 percent to 30 percent, according to data compiled by Political Capital.

Love spoke at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, last year, and at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week near Washington.  At the CPAC gathering, Love told the Salt Lake Tribune’s Tommy Burr and CQ Roll Call’s Kyle Trygstad that she had hired former Utah Republican chairman Dave Hansen and was “seriously looking” at a 2014 rematch with Matheson. She appeared earlier this month on ABC’s “This Week” program.

Love hasn’t formally announced her political plans. Hansen didn’t return a phone message yesterday.

House Republican strategists have encouraged candidates weighing rematches to analyze why they fell short in 2012 before making decisions on running again in 2014.

“There are a lot of things to do differently and there are a lot of things we did that worked,” Love told Burr. “I get to start from a completely different place.”

Original post is Utah Republican Mia Love Files Papers for Matheson Rematch by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mark Kauzlarich/The Janesville Gazette/AP Photo

Wisconsin Congressional candidate Rob Zerban speaking at campaign event in Janesvilles, Wis., on Oct. 3, 2012.

The Wisconsin Democrat who tried to unseat Rep. Paul Ryan in 2012 is eyeing a rematch with the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

Rob Zerban, a former county supervisor, filed paperwork establishing an “exploratory” bid in Wisconsin’s 1^st District, which includes Kenosha, Racine and other territory in the southeastern part of the state.

“Since the election, I have been inundated with phone calls and emails from people all over the First District urging me to come forward again to give the people of Southeast Wisconsin a viable alternative to Paul Ryan,” Zerban said in a statement first shared with Political Capital today announcing an exploratory committee, often a precursor to a full-fledged campaign.

Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, beat Zerban by 55 percent to 43 percent in 2012, when Ryan was Mitt Romney’s running mate and closely linked to the national Republican Party. The Romney-Ryan ticket carried Wisconsin’s 1^st by 52 percent to 47 percent in the 2012 election, according to Political Capital calculations.

Unseating Ryan may be more difficult in 2014, when voter turnout will dip at the midpoint of President Barack Obama’s second term. The White House’s party rarely gains ground in Congress in midterm elections.

Democrats including Zerban have attacked Ryan’s fiscal blueprint, which calls for balancing the budget through about $4.6 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years.

“My hope is that, over the next few months, we will begin to have a conversation about what the people of Wisconsin’s First District really want: a secure future, not federal austerity,” Zerban said.

Balancing the budget “helps us get a healthier economy, stronger growth,” Ryan  said yesterday on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.”

Original post is Paul Ryan’s Wisconsin Opponent Explores 2014 Rematch by Political Capital.

Photograph by Chris Carlson/AP Photo

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, center, and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, right, look over their birds with guide Justin Hillman during a hunt at Doc’s Hunt Club in Adel, Iowa, in this file photo.

U.S. Rep. Steve King has said Americans should pick immigrants as they would a hunting dog and equated maintenance workers installing energy-efficient light bulbs to an oppressive police force. Some Republicans worry he’ll also be the U.S. Senate nominee in Iowa in 2014.

Democrats are already leveraging King’s sometimes incendiary statements to raise money for their candidate in the race, even though the congressman is just contemplating a bid.

The situation reflects Republican tensions nationally over whether the party will embrace candidates with better chances of winning general elections or those closer to the anti-government spending Tea Party movement that’s provided fresh energy.

“In a lot of ways, Iowa is microcosm of the national party when it comes to this senate race,” said Doug Gross, a Des Moines lawyer and Republican activist who was once chief of staff to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com here.

Original post is Republican Tensions Displayed in Iowa Race to Replace Harkin by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Representative Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota and former GOP presidential candidate, left, is prepped for an interview in Washington.

A leading Democratic super-political action committee is identifying 10 House Republicans whom it will target for defeat in the 2014 midterm elections.

House Majority PAC said in a statement today that it would seek to unseat Michele Bachmann and John Kline of Minnesota, Mike Coffman of Colorado, Gary Miller of California, Rodney Davis of Illinois, Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Michael Grimm of New York, Joe Heck of Nevada, David Joyce of Ohio and Steve Southerland of Florida.

Most of the districts featured a close race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney in November. Obama carried districts that also re-elected Kline, Coffman, Miller, Grimm and Heck, according to data compiled by Political Capital. The president won Kline’s district by 226 votes and lost Fitzpatrick’s suburban Philadelphia district by 255 votes.

Bachmann represents a strongly Republican district, though she was re-elected by 1.2 percentage points after pursuing a failed campaign for the presidency.

Democrats had poor candidate recruitment or execution in some of the districts last year. In Miller’s California district, which takes in San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga, Democrats were shut out of the general election after Miller and another Republican were the top vote-getters in California’s unusual ‘top two’ primary election. Obama won 57 percent in Miller’s district.

House Majority PAC raised $36 million for the 2012 elections through Nov. 26, helping Democrats make a net gain of eight seats to 201 in the 435-member House. Its donors included Fred Eychaner, a Chicago media executive who gave $4 million. Super-PACs can raise money in unlimited amounts.

Original post is Democratic Super-PAC Targets 10 House Republicans by Political Capital.

Photograph by Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

Maryland politicians and community leaders held a rally in front of the Maryland State House to “fight secret spending in our democracy” by supporting the “DISCLOSE Act.” The act would increase disclosure and transparency of campaign donations.

Coming out of the most expensive campaign in history, more boom-town news:

Donors can now give more money to federal candidates and committees active in the 2014 elections.

Individuals may give $2,600 to a federal candidate for a primary election and another $2,600 for the general election, according to an updated chart from the Federal Election Commission. That’s up from $2,500 per election. The contribution limits are indexed for inflation at the beginning of odd-numbered years.

Individuals may now give $32,400 to a national party committee per calendar year, up from $30,800.

Individuals may give a total of $123,200 to federal candidates and federal political committees over the next two years. Of that total, $48,600 may go to candidates and $74,600 may go to political action committees and party committees. The previous biennial limit was $117,000.

There aren’t limits on donations to super-political action committees, which raise money for so-called independent expenditures that expressly advocate the election or defeat of candidates without coordinating operations with them.

Original post is Inflation Plays in the Price of Politics by Political Capital.