Tim Walz

MN-01 (Map)

MN-1 – Southern portion of the state including Rochester. The reddie incumbent, Gil Gutknecht, won this race with 60% of the vote, although Kerry carried 47%, making this a very purple district. Our guy, Tim Walz, was formerly the Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard. Yes “the”. As I understand it, there’s only one Command Sergeant Major. That means that this guy has serious leadership qualities. He did pretty well with fundraising, garnering about 60% of the incumbent’s dollars, but only has about 1/3 the COH that the reddie does. Still, he’s been working the hell out of this race, and has moved it to a Top-50 race, and, while I haven’t seen a lot of polling, there’s at least one where he’s in the MoE. The reddie still has this one, but time is on our side.
MN-1: MMmmmmmaybe.

Raised on this page: 4 330
Raised across ActBlue: 2,385 53,306

David Loebsack

IA-02 (Map)

This is the second most Democratic district in the country with a Republican congressman. This race should be getting all sorts of attention from the DCCC, but they’re not paying a lot of attention, namely because the incumbent has been in place 30 years, and it’s hard to dislodge someone after that long. But we’ve got a guy with a lot of fight in him who’s taking it to the streets. Literally! Dave is walking and biking his way across the District, some 397 miles to meet and greet the voters. Let’s help him out!
UPDATE: LOESBACK IS UP BY 1! Let’s keep up the help!

Raised on this page: 4 200
Raised across ActBlue: 568 58,471

Tim Mahoney

FL-16 (Map)

Running for Foley’s seat. This one is ours for the taking.

Raised on this page: 1 50
Raised across ActBlue: 1,449 507,553

Joe Donnelly

IN-02 (Map)

Running against Chris Chocola, Joe is outpolling Chris and this is very likely a blue pick-up, but Chris has way more moolah than Joe does, which means nasty ads at the end that we need to help Joe combat.

Raised on this page: 6 435
Raised across ActBlue: 479 39,436

Christine Jennings

FL-13 (Map)

FL-13 – Sarasota. This is Katherine Harris’ district, but there’s a nice jazz scene, so it’s not as bad as it could be. With Katiepoo running for Senate, this becomes an open seat with a pink tinge as Bush carried the district with 56%. Since this is an open seat, I will begin by talking about our gal, Christine Jennings. Christine started out as a bank teller and worked her way up to being the president of the bank. She went on to become the Preident, CEO and Chariman of the Board and Director of Sarasota Bank. She serves as President or Member of the Board of things like the Sarasota Film Festival, the Comunnity AIDS Network, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Sarasota Ballet, the Florida West Coast Symphony and the Mental Health Association of Sarasota County. And More. A Lot More. I don’t know how she has time to run for Congress, but, for Heaven’s Sake, she probably knows every man, woman and child in the District. Her opponent, Vernon Buchanan, has raised just a phenomenal amount of money. Just phenomenal. He owns a car dealership and he has pumped a lot of his own money into the game such that, at this time, he has collected more than any other congressional candidate in Florida (in fact, there are no congressional candidates in California with more contributions than this guy). It’s not helping him. Right now, Jennings is up by 12. Of course, he has the money for all the attack ads in the world, but geez, against Ms. Big Brothers, come on.
FL-13: I smell a flipped seat here. Baaaa-LLLUUUUUEEE, Baby!

Raised on this page: 5 440
Raised across ActBlue: 1,925 335,759

Ed Perlmutter

CO-07 (Map)

Running against Rick O’Donnell for the seat that Bob Beauprez is vacating to run for governor. While the district itself is fairly evenly divided (there are slightly more registered Democrats than Republicans, but more Independents than either), this is not a fight between two centrists. Ed is a progressive candidate that we can rally behind.

Raised on this page: 3 35
Raised across ActBlue: 384 22,250

Patty Wetterling

MN-06 (Map)

MN-6 – North and East Twin Cities suburbs. The incumbent reddie, Mark Kennedy is abandoning his seat for a Senate run, which he will lose. This leaves this seat open in a district that gave Bush 57% last time. This is the infamous Patty Wetterling district, the 18th most competitive race in the country. Patty Wetterling is outraising Michelle Bachmann, but COH is about even. Bachmann is slightly ahead in the polls, and Republicans seem to be supporting her more than Democrats are supporting Wetterling. More details here. Still, this is a Democratic year, and there’s going to be a lot of money poured into this race. The AFL-CIO is vowing to put boots on the ground. Will it be enough?
MN-6: Tossup.

Raised on this page: 4 290
Raised across ActBlue: 491 24,239

Steve Kagen

WI-08 (Map)

WI-8 The incumbent, Mark Green, is stepping down to run for governor. Steve Kagen is our guy, and it looks like he’s a fighter. As of right now, and it’s early yet as the primary was yesterday, it looks like Kagen is leading the reddie by 10. One thing’s for sure… this race is going to have all sorts of money throw at it.
WI-8: This one’s gonna be ours.

Raised on this page: 3 175
Raised across ActBlue: 729 10,757

Darcy Burner

WA-08 (Map)

WA-8 – Eastern Seattle suburbs including Bellevue. Reddie Dave Reichert won the last election with 52%, although Kerry carried the district with 51%. Burner is raising impressive dollars, she’s getting people like Senator Boxer to speak at her rallies, and, as of the last poll, she was up by 3. Anything can happen in the next 6 weeks, but for now…
WA-8: Another Blue pickup!

Raised on this page: 1 12
Raised across ActBlue: 6,584 223,553

Patricia Madrid

NM-01 (Map)

NM-1 is the Central district of the state and includes Albuquerque. This is one of those districts that votes for Republicans for Congress that Kerry carried. By a hair. Patricia Madrid, the challenger, is a term-limited Attorney General (her predecessor was Tom Udall, the Congressman in NM-3). She has been in a dead-heat with Heather Wilson since February. There’s a lot going on here. This district is far to the Left of the four-term incumbent, the first female military academy graduate to serve in Congress, but Patsy has won statewide elections twice. There’s gonna be a shitload of money in this race, and, right now, Wilson’s got the lion’s share of it. Nonetheless, there are articles out there that say this will be the closest race in the country. I can see that.
NM-1: Stay up late on 11/7 and stick some champagne in the freezer. Madrid by 540 votes!

Raised on this page: 4 230
Raised across ActBlue: 604 34,833

Baron Hill

IN-09 (Map)

Running against Michael Sodrel in a rematch of the 2004 which Baron Hill lost by some 1500 votes, this is going to be close no matter which way you cut it. The blue tide may be enough to help Hill back into his seat, but, in Southeast Indiana, I wouldn’t count on it.

Raised on this page: 2 400
Raised across ActBlue: 309 20,444

Nancy Boyda

KS-02 (Map)

KS-2, Eastern portion of the state, but excluding KC, includes Topeka, Manhattan, Leavenworth. Can’t you just feel the red? This year features a rematch between the Republican incumbent Jim Ryun and the Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda, and Ryun has raised twice what Boyda has and has nearly three times the COH. Boyda was endorsed by the KC Star. I don’t know… I think there’s something weird about this race. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe someone here can.
KS-2: leans red but not as red as CW has it… could be interesting…
UPDATE: SHE’S UP BY 2!

Raised on this page: 5 420
Raised across ActBlue: 126 3,633

Jill Derby

NV-02 (Map)

Since the district was created in 1982, a Democrat has never ever won there. Never. Not once. So. Why does CQPolitics have it shaded that little-girl pink? Jill Derby ran unopposed in her primary against five Republicans who just beat the crap out of eachother. Three of these guys got 25% of the vote or better. So, Jill comes out of this unscathed and with twice the cash on hand of Dean Heller, the Republican nominee, and zero debt. Heller says that the floodgates are going to open for the Republican candidate, and, surely he’s right. But, from what I’ve seen, the uberreddies don’t like him… he’s too liberal for them… he’s more liberal than Harry Reid. Who knows? Maybe they’ll sit this one out. In the meantime, Jill Derby has strong name recognition with both a dam and an airport named for people in her family, and incredible credentials on education. She’s not counting on Reno to deliver, she’s going out of her way to tour the rural districts. Plus, gotta tell you. A dollar in rural Nevada goes an awfully long way.
UPDATE! TIE SCORE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH! Derby 40; Heller 40; other parties 5; 15% UNDECIDED!

Raised on this page: 6 580
Raised across ActBlue: 861 50,192

Victoria Wulsin

OH-02 (Map)

OH-2 – The infamous second district is Eastern Cincinnati and suburbs. The red incumbent, Jean Schmidt (boo!, hiss!), won this one over Paul Hackett (cheeeeer!) in an insanely close election , but the election before was 72r/28d, and Bush trounced Kerry here 64/26. Our gal is Dr. Vic Wulsin, a doctor who has practiced medicine in both rural and urban settings in the District. Truth to tell, though, as great as Vic is, and she is, this is all about Jean Schmidt, the woman who came out right away, almost as soon as she assumed her seat in Congress, and called John Murtha a coward. Murtha stumped for Wulsin last weekend. But it wasn’t personal. Uh-huh. Wulsin will likely win this seat (she’s up by 3 now), but she’ll have a fight in ‘08 as this really is a dark red district.
OH-2: Blue Pickup.

Raised on this page: 2 40
Raised across ActBlue: 3,874 127,512

Ron Klein

FL-22 (Map)

FL-22 – Southeastern seaboard including parts of Ft Lauderdale, Boca Raton and the Palm Beaches. This is a Democratic district, being largely Jewish, but has a Republican representative. Clay Shaw, the reddie, carried 63% of the vote last time around, whereas Kerry carried 51%. This is also the area that had the screwed up ballots which gave us W in the first place. I have been saying since the beginning of this cycle that it’s a sin against nature that this district is red, and that Ron Klein was our best bet to take down Shaw. This is one of the wealthiest districts in the United States, and both candidates have raised extraordinary amounts of money, largely keeping parity both in terms of cash raised and spent. The ad war has been going on since July or August and is going to continue till the bitter end. One thing’s for sure. Win or lose, neither candidate is going to come out of this with a huge warchest. As of 9/28, Klein was up by 1. Maybe Foley will help push that up a bit, but this is gonna be mega-close.
FL-22: Make popcorn and plan to stay up late on Election Night, but when it’s all said and done, this one’s gonna be Blue.

Raised on this page: 2 300
Raised across ActBlue: 568 35,977

John Yarmuth

KY-03 (Map)

KY-3 – Louisville and suburbs. The red incumbent, Anne Northrup won this district with 60% of the vote, but Kerry carried with 51%, so it’s not as red as it may look. Our guy, John Yarmuth, is a media guy being the founder and editor of the Louisville Eccentric Observer, a free weekly with a circulation of about 150,000 plus various other publications. It’s a 6 point race, and momentum is on his side.
UPDATE: It’s a tie game!

Raised on this page: 4 340
Raised across ActBlue: 216 4,311

Jay Fawcett

CO-05 (Map)

CO-5, one of the reddest districts in the country including the Air Force Academy, NORAD, Peterson and Schriever Air Force Bases and the Colorado Springs Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America and on and on. I never EVER thought this race would be competitive, but, with a great candidate in Jay Fawcett and a lousy alternative in Lamborn who is so lousy that even the retiring Congressman from his own party won’t endorse him, Jay is now polling even at 37-37. Neither candidate has a lot of money in this race and media buys are generally cheap, making this a great place to throw a 20.

Raised on this page: 5 150
Raised across ActBlue: 3,539 63,946

Joe Courtney

CT-02 (Map)

CT-2 is the Eastern third of the state including New London. In 2004, this district split its vote giving the Republican incumbent, Rob Simmons, and John Kerry 54%. This is considered the most Democratic district in the country held by a Republican. Ah, the things you learn when you’re doing something like this. Anyway. Our guy is Joe Courtney, represented the District in the State House for four terms, and, while I wouldn’t brag about it, was named Connecticut’s “Democrat Most Admired by Republicans”. The AFL-CIO rates this as the sixth closest race in the country. With the AFL-CIO willing to put dollars and feet on the ground in the close races, and this year being what it is, Joe Courtney is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 455 29,064

Brad Ellsworth

IN-08 (Map)

Running against John Hostettler in a red district, Brad is currently leading in both polls and fundraising. This is a race the reddies don’t want to lose, so expect last minute dollars and high-profile visits in this race. Best to fight them now.

Raised on this page: 2 65
Raised across ActBlue: 315 16,847

Larry Kissell

NC-08 (Map)

Running against Robin Hayes in a very red district, Larry seems to be surprising everyone. A netroots candidate, he was up by 8 against Hayes in April. Since then, he has offered gas to voters for $1.22/gal, the price it was when Hayes took over. An expensive stunt, but one that will do him well in November. For those of you tracking these things, this is considered the 47th most vulnerable Republican seat.

Raised on this page: 8 365
Raised across ActBlue: 5,076 178,169

Bruce Braley

IA-01 (Map)

Incumbent Representative Nussle has tossed his hat in the ring to be governor. This gives us a good opportunity, as we have Bruce Braley, former president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, running against Mike Whalen. Whalen is slightly ahead of Braley in dollars; Braley is slightly ahead of Whalen in polls. I think it’s going to come down to the debates, and, I trust a trial lawyer to be able to deliver.

Raised on this page: 2 45
Raised across ActBlue: 1,911 81,075

Dan Seals

IL-10 (Map)

IL10 – North Suburbs – very affluent – Represented by the reddie Mark Kirk. When Rahm was getting Tammy to run against Christine Cegelis in IL-6, I suggested to him that he run her in IL-10 instead because it’s a sin against nature that IL10 is represented by a Reddie. It’s a Blue district, but worse, it’s a Jewish Blue district, and, it is a personal affront to me that IL-10 and FL-22 are held by reddies. Kirk won this seat originally by pretending that he and Lauren Beth Gash, his Democratic opponent, were largely twins and that he was a huuuuuge moderate. He isn’t. And our guy, Dan Seals, isn’t letting him pretend he is. Seals has his work cut out for him, but if he doesn’t do it, Rahm, if you’re reading this, I still think Tammy would have beaten him.
IL-10: I don’t know… mmmmmmmmmmmaybe….
UPDATE!! SEALS IS NOW WITHIN 2!!

Raised on this page: 2 40
Raised across ActBlue: 4,739 538,659

Ellen Simon

AZ-01 (Map)

AZ-1 – The Northern and Eastern portions of the state including Flagstaff, Prescott, and the Navajo Reservation, plus an awful lot of rural land. The red incumbent, Rick Renzi, won this district with 59% of the vote or 5 better than W. Our gal is Ellen Simon, a civil rights attorney who has made a career of fighting discrimination in its various and sundry forms. In the latest poll, she is leading Renzi 50-46, up from a 13 point deficit last month.
AZ-1: Leans Blue

Raised on this page: 4 390
Raised across ActBlue: 219 17,026

Heath Shuler

NC-11 (Map)

Running against Charles Taylor in a 55/45 district. This is an interesting race. Taylor is an extraordinarily wealthy guy who can whip out his checkbook at any time, and his constituents have largely given him a pass on past scandals. But this time, he’s got Abramoff around his neck and for whatever reason, put up a big fight against giving the heros of Flight 93 a memorial. Enter Heath Shuler, a UT Quarterback and finalist for the Heisman Trophy, and Redskins QB, and you have a race. Shuler is currently edging out Taylor in the polls, well within the margin of error, but this fight is just beginning.

Raised on this page: 2 100
Raised across ActBlue: 287 14,702

Harry Mitchell

AZ-05 (Map)

AZ-5 – Eastern Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale. This just “feels” bluer than it looks. The red incumbent Hayworth, won this with 59%, but Bush carried only 54%. Our guy is Harry Mitchell, the former mayor of Tempe they liked so much they put up a statue of the guy, and the Arizona Republic named him “a living legend”. After being Mayor, he spent eight years in the State Senate, and an adjunct professor at Arizona State University. Recent polling puts Mitchell up by 3 with a hefty 23% undecided. Earlier polls put him behind as much as 12. Like AZ-1, it looks like there’s a shift going on in Arizona.
AZ-5: Leans Blue
UPDATE: THIS IS A ONE POINT RACE!

Raised on this page: 3 150
Raised across ActBlue: 515 23,042

Tammy Duckworth

IL-06 (Map)

IL6 – This race is for the seat being vacated by Henry Hyde, the guy whose held the seat since the late 1600s. Tammy Duckworth is a Iraq war vet who lost both legs in a helicopter crash. She’s running against a guy who is just way to far to the right for Illinois. This race is neck and neck and is going to come down to the wire. Advertising is expensive here, so your dollars are going to be appreciated.

Raised on this page: 8 335
Raised across ActBlue: 1,719 74,037

Jim Marcinkowski

MI-08 (Map)

MI-8 – Middle portion of the state including Lansing. The incumbent, Mike Rogers, won this last time around with 61%, in a 54/46 red district. With Bush’s decline, we’re probably looking at the same numbers but our way. Our guy, Jim Marcinkowski, served in the FBI, the Navy and finally the CIA, where he was a classmate of Valerie Plame. Jim joined two other former CIA agents in testifying at a Senate Hearing on the serious consequences of the leak. After leaving the CIA, he joined the Prosecutor’s Office in Oakland County, establishing the first special prosecution unit for domestic violence in Michign. He’s an A+ candidate and he’s getting no attention from Rahm and the gang. CQ marks this as our best pick up opporunity in Michigan. Let’s do it!
MI-8: If we want it, we’re gonna have to get this guy’s back.

Raised on this page: 4 310
Raised across ActBlue: 1,544 20,138

Tom Hayhurst

IN-03 (Map)

Tom Hayhurst is running against Mark Souder who won this district by 38. You’d figure that Hayhurst was just gonna die in this one. But you’d be wrong. Hayhurst outraised Souder and has nearly twice the cash on hand! This guy is no neophyte. He’s been on Fort Wayne’s City Council for ten years and won his last reelection with 2/3 of votes cast. I don’t think anyone’s watching this race, but they should be.

Raised on this page: 1 10
Raised across ActBlue: 19 434

Danny Stover

IL-19 (Map)

Running against the soon-to-be-humiliated John Shimkus, the leader of the Page System, also tied up in the Foley case. This was a close race anyway and a cheap district to advertise in.

Raised on this page: 2 40
Raised across ActBlue: 418 12,259

Brad Miller

NC-13 (Map)

The first incumbent so far to be put on this list, Brad’s challenger in this race is a homophobic-drape-yourself-in-the-flag-fundamentalist with an insane ability to raise money from the “moral majority” people. The ads are constant and dreadful, and, sooner or later, they’re going to take. The only way to keep Brad in place is to make sure he has the dollars to keep beating back Robinson’s attacks.

Raised on this page: 3 80
Raised across ActBlue: 47 1,470

Diane Farrell

CT-04 (Map)

Diane Farrell just concluded her second term as the first selectwoman of the town of Westport, Connecticut. She was elected in 1997 by 59% of the vote and by 71% in 2001. Significantly, Ms. Farrell was elected to office on both occasions with the support not only of her fellow Democrats, but also a large group of independents and Republicans, which is important as this is a Republican district which has never elected a Democrat. As of right now, this is a four point race (MoE 3%) with 16% undecided.
UPDATE: THIS RACE IS TIED!

Raised on this page: 5 600
Raised across ActBlue: 563 23,347

Paul Hodes

NH-02 (Map)

NH-2 – Western portion of the state, including Nashua and Concord. The red incumbent carried this district with 58% last time, although Kerry carried it at 52/47. This is a blue district with even polling and momentum is on our side!

Raised on this page: 1 25
Raised across ActBlue: 3,850 87,260

Phil Kellam

VA-02 (Map)

VA-2 Southeast seaboard including Virginia Beach. The reddie incumbent, Thelma Drake, took this seat with 55% of the vote, or 3% less in the district than Bush got. Our guy is Phil Kellam has raised money well and has husbanded his resources while the incumbent has not been quite so careful, so, where she once had a 2:1 advantage, Phil now has about 3/4 of Thelma’s COH. Kellam is holding onto a lead in various polls and momentum is going his way.
VA-2: Blue Pickup

Raised on this page: 3 320
Raised across ActBlue: 145 9,683

Jason Altmire

PA-04 (Map)

PA-4: Suburbs of Pittsburgh. The red incumbent, Melissa Hart, carried 63% to Ws 54. Our guy is Jason Altmire, a 38-year-old dynamo. His latest job, now remember, he’s 38, is the Acting Vice President for Government Relations and Community Health for a hospital system with 40,000 employees. He previously worked as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Pete Peterson of Florida, helping to draft legislation for health care policy. When he was only 25, 25!, he was appointed to a working group for President Clinton’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform. He’s done an awful lot since then, both business wise and community wise, so I don’t want you to think of the guy as a slacker or anything. He’s racking up endorsements and the money’s not bad at $573k. But Hart’s raised 1.8m. Altmire has moved to within 4 (and this was a month ago) and there’s all sorts of chatter in this race.

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 186 6,018

Mary Jo Kilroy

OH-15 (Map)

OH-15 – Western Columbus and its suburbs, and the district of the embattled reddie Deborah Pryce, who won this district with 60% of the vote in a district that Bush beat Kerry 50/49. Our gal is Mary Jo Kilroy, the County Commissioner of Franklin County, which includes the City of Columbus and many of its suburbs. In case you haven’t been watching, this is one of the hottest races of the season, and Kilroy keeps taking it to Pryce, and, for her part, Pryce can’t seem to get a break what with all this Foley stuff and all. Polls consistently show Kilroy up by a good margin, but Pryce is a fighter and has 2m COH to Kilroy’s 800k.
OH-15: Blue Pickup, but needs lovin.

Raised on this page: 3 215
Raised across ActBlue: 1,333 133,551

Zachary Space

OH-18 (Map)

OH-18 – A large district in the East Central portion of the state. The indicted red incumbent, Bob Net, won this one with 66% of the vote or 9% better than W. Our guy is Zack Space, the Law Director and City Attorney of Dover. He is running against State Senator Joy Padgett, the woman who, infamously, used a picture of long-time hostage Terry Anderson with his captors, as a campaign tool to say that Anderson was a member of the “Blame America crowd”, and, astoundingly, beat him 54/46. She claimed bankruptcy this past June, a mere two months before winning the special election which would name her the red nominee for Ney’s seat, claiming 1.16m in debts versus assets of $202k, and while I don’t want to use someone’s personal tragedies against them like, oh, some people might, it is worth mentioning because the bankruptcy was blamed on a failing business of which she was the treasurer. It might be perfect for a lawmaker in Ws world, but not for the real world. The latest poll has Zack up 9 but trailing in COH.
OH-18: Pickup, but needs lovin.

Raised on this page: 1 150
Raised across ActBlue: 1,432 190,003

Angie Paccione

CO-04 (Map)

CO-4 is the Eastern portion of the state and is, in all honesty, a pretty dang red place to be. But even CO-4 isn’t red enough to make roaring homphobe Marilyn Musgrave safe, and especially not against Angie Paccione. Angie is the Chair of the State Majority Democratic Caucus, a Ph.D. former teacher and former pro-basketball player who grew up in the Bronx. Surprise! This lady wants to compete, this lady wants to win, and you know what? She’s kicking Musgrave’s red little butt all over the map. Despite a recent dip in the polls, I think Angie’s gonna take this one all the way, and she’s been on my ActBlue page since the beginning.
UPDATE: INTERNAL POLLING HAS ANGIE UP 2!

Raised on this page: 4 196
Raised across ActBlue: 2,390 74,090

Coleen Rowley

MN-02 (Map)

MN-2 – South Twin Cities suburbs, generally affluent. The reddie incumbent, John Kline, won this district with 56% of the vote. Our candidate is Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent was forced to retired after warning her superiors about lapses in the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui. There’s a lot of great narrative about Coleen, but she’s in desperate need of cash to get the message out. In the meantime, the reddie incumbent has gone negative. Why attack a no-name challenger with no money? Um, how does 45-42 sound? Yep, with bupkes in the bank, Coleen still has this at a 3 point race. If you have money to throw her way, throw it.
MN-2: Here’s hoping!

Raised on this page: 6 80
Raised across ActBlue: 1,260 28,178

Scott Kleeb

NE-03 (Map)

NE-3 Western 2/3 of state including North Platte. The reddie incumbent, Tom Osborne, won this district with 87% of the vote. He decided to run for governor, but lost the primary, so Adrian Smith is running in his stead, making this, for all intents and purposes, an open seat. Our guy is Scott Kleeb. Kleeb’s fundraising might not have been so hot, but he’s husbanded his resources well and currently has over double the COH that Smith does. There have been some great diaries about Kleeb and why he’s gonna win. He’s got momentum on his side and he’s picking up percentages in the polls.
NE-3: This is going down to the wire!

Raised on this page: 8 730
Raised across ActBlue: 625 32,576

Ken Lucas

KY-04 (Map)

KY-4 – The northernmost portion of the state including Covington. The red incumbent, Geoff Davis, won this one with 54%, but was 9 points less popular than Bush, who carried the district with 63%. OK. Get your mind around this one. The incumbent.is.9.points.less.favorable.than.Bush. Is it any wonder that this race is listed as the 11th hottest race by the AFL-CIO? Our guy, Ken Lucas, served the district three terms in Congress, and is out to take the seat that was his until he left it last go-round. This race, like IN-9, is going to be the return of the previous occupant. Right now, Lucas is up by nearly 15 points.
KY-4: Blue Pickup!

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 236 6,386

Robert Shamansky

OH-12 (Map)

OH-12 – The Central portion of the state including Eastern Columbus and its suburbs. The red incumbent, Pat Tiberi, won this one with 62%, but it was a 51/49 split for Bush/Kerry. Our guy is Bob Shamansky, an active duty Korean War veteran, and Special Agent in the Army’s Counter-Intelligence Corps, he attended Harvard Law School and became a partner in his firm. In 1980, he was the first Democrat elected to represent Ohio’s 12th Congressional District since 1937/ In the so-called “Reagan Revolution”, Bob was the only Democratic Congressional candidate in the nation to defeat an incumbent Republican. He raised largely the same amount as the reddie did and popped in a million of his own money. The guy’s a firebrand, and I don’t care what the pundits say. This is going to be a close one. And don’t be surprised if Bob pulls it off.
OH-12: You heard it here first. Tossup leaning Blue.

Raised on this page: 2 200
Raised across ActBlue: 150 14,253

Chris Carney

PA-10 (Map)

PA-10: Northeast potion of the state, the Central Susquehanna Valley. This is a very rural district, and the red incumbent, Don Sherwood, ran unopposed last time. But Bush did well here with 60%. Our guy is Chris Carney, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reseves, Senior Terrorism and Intelligence Advisor at the Pentagon, Professor of Political Science, husband and father. Now, Chris has done a great job raising $875k, which may sound like a drop in the bucket to next to Sherwood’s 1.5m. But, really, if it was a drop in the bucket, there’d be no reason for Sherwood to pull out his checkbook yesterday and write his campaign a check for $200k. Really, if a $600k differential isn’t enough, I don’t see what difference another $200k is going to make. But, then, I’m not an incumbent down by 9.

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 1,797 94,575

Joseph Sestak Jr

PA-07 (Map)

PA-7: Suburban Philly. The red incumbent, Curt Weldon, carried this district with 59% of the vote to Ws 47. One popular incumbent. Yeah. In the meantime, we are running one of the strongest candidates on either side in this election, Joe Sestak. If you don’t know about Joe, you haven’t been here very long. But, what the hell. Here’s a snippet. In 31 years in the Navy, and reaching the rank of Vice Admiral (3 Stars), he served six tours in the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, finally being named to the Joint Chiefs and Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council. Oh. And he’s gonna KICK WELDON’S BUTT.

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 9,300 868,287

Lois Murphy

PA-06 (Map)

PA-6: Suburban Philly. The red incumbent,Jim Gerlach, carried this district 51/49 switching the Kerry/Bush 51/48. Our gal is Lois Murphy, an attorney and working mom, who ran against Gerlach last time and came within 2 points of beating him. Strong on women’s rights and a deficit hawk, Murphy has become one of the highest ranked challengers in the country. Go, go, go, go!!

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 2,541 84,328

Tessa Hafen

NV-03 (Map)

Running against Jon Porter the old fashioned way: by registering more voters. This was a 55/40 red district, but Tessa is a smart politician. As of just before the primary, there were 1600 more Democrats than Republicans. Go Tessa!!
UPDATE: Tessa’s within 2!

Raised on this page: 7 480
Raised across ActBlue: 338 12,113

Christopher Murphy

CT-05 (Map)

Via OurCongress.org… Ten years ago, a 22 year old young man named Chris Murphy managed the campaign of little known Charlotte Koskoff in her race against Nancy Johnson. Without the money to run one TV commercial, Murphy turned the race into a heartbreaking near miss, with only seven tenths of a percent seperating Johnson and Koskoff. Now, with seven years of experience as a State Representative and State Senator, the last three as Senate Chairman of the Public Health Committee, Murphy has decided to finish what he started in 1996 by running against Johnson for the 5th CD. His record in the Senate is impressive, having authored and passed Connecticut stem cell investment act and the law establishing the state’s new Child Protection Office. Which, of course, should give him a lot of mileage what with the Foley scandal and all.

Raised on this page: 4 450
Raised across ActBlue: 424 42,351

Jim Esch

NE-02 (Map)

NE-2 Omaha and surrounding area. The reddie, Lee Terry, took this last time with 61%. Our guy is Jim Esch, a young lawyer from Omaha who seems to be just bursting with idealism. Esch raised about half of what Terry did, but has already spent a good deal of it, so he’s taken to walking his district to get to know people. Now he’s airing commercials and turning up the heat. This might be an upset.

Raised on this page: 1 125
Raised across ActBlue: 14 527

John Cranley

OH-01 (Map)

OH-1 – Western Cincinnati and suburbs. The red incumbent, Steve Chabot, won this one last time with 60% of the vote, but the Bush/Kerry race went 50/49 in this district. Our guy is John Cranley, the top vote getter in his 2005 City Council re-election campaign. He os a visiting professor in the University of Cincinnati Law School and co-director of the Urban Justice Institute and the Ohio Innocence Project. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a Masters Degree in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, quite a plus in this district. This is a rematch of 2000 when he lost 53/45 despite being outspent $1.1M v $465k. This time around, he has more name recognition, an elected office under his belt, and nearly equal fund-raising. A few months ago, this race was tied at 45 apiece, but, a more recent poll gives the reddie a 49-40 lead. Still, the this race has generated enough attention that big names on both sides are pimping for their guy. Big names like Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton, plus lots of others.
OH-1: This one is closer than it looks, and the big guys know it.

Raised on this page: 1 150
Raised across ActBlue: 797 32,061

Patrick Murphy

PA-08 (Map)

PA-8: Northern Philly suburbs. The red incumbent, Michael Fitzpatrick, took with district with 55% of the vote, but Kerry squeaked by Bush with 51%. our guy is Patrick Murphy, a veteran of the Iraq Debaqcle, West Point professor, and holder of a Bronze Star. He is now an attorney in private practice. In a recent poll, Murphy was up by 4, in others he’s down by 9. One way or the other, this is a winnable district, and it’s GOTV time!
PA-8: Trending Blue

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 6,066 165,931

Gabrielle Giffords

AZ-08 (Map)

AZ-8 – Southeastern portion of the state including the other parts of Tucson. The incumbent, Jim Kolbe, won this with 60%, but it was a 53/46 split with Bush on top in the last election. Since Kolbe is retiring, this becomes an open seat between our own Gabrielle Giffords and the uberreddie Randy Graf. The Republican strategist have pulled their money out of the race basically conceding it to former State Senator Giffords, and, barring a catastrophe, Giffords is just going to walk away with it.
AZ-8: Turning Blue
NOTE: This lower position is not a reflection on her chances, only a reflection of how much money various candidates need for their race.

Raised on this page: 1 5
Raised across ActBlue: 291 6,127

Judy Feder

VA-10 (Map)

VA-10 The part of Fairfax County that’s not in VA-8. As alluded to earlier, VA-8 was redrawn to get as many Democrats as possible out of VA-10. The result is that the red incumbent, Frank Wolf, won this district with 64%, though Kerry did take 44%. Nevertheless, our gal, Judy Feder is the Dean of Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute, and one of the nation’s leading experts on health policy, while her husband has spent over 20 years in the Intelligence community, which, in that part of Virginia, is a strong plus. She has done an impressive job of fundraising and is currently sitting on about 2/3 the COH of the incumbent. In the meantime, the incumbent’s polling numbers suck, with only 40% expressing a desire to reelect. If she can get her name out, and I think she can, and if Webb can kick butt in NOVA, and I think he will, this one will be a race to watch.
VA-10: Keep your fingers crossed!

Raised on this page: 4 310
Raised across ActBlue: 1,452 312,454

Clint Curtis

FL-24 (Map)

FL-24 – Northeastern coast including the suburbs of Orlando. The reddie, Tom Feeney, ran unopposed last time, but Bush got 56%. Our guy, Clint Curtis, a computer programmer with a background in law enforcement. He is a life-long Republican turned Democrat to take Feeney down. This is an interesting race, and it seems to be getting local media. Our guy has very little money and is trying to make this race about Feeney and corruption, since, evidently, and according to Curtis, Feeney asked him to write a program that would rig the votes in electronic voting machines without being detected. Feeney claims bitter grapes by an angry ex-employee. If you want election-reform front and center, this is the race you want to throw your $20 into. Clint Curtis: very loud very determined whistle-blower. Feeney is simply not going to come out of this unscathed, and the more money Curtis has to yell from the rooftops, the more injured Feeney’s going to get.
FL-24: Very very likely red but with a hobbled incumbent

Raised on this page: 1 50
Raised across ActBlue: 2,068 26,544

Melissa Bean

IL-08 (Map)

IL8 – Northwest Suburbs including Schaumburg, Mundelein and Zion. Melissa Bean snagged this district last time around in a stunning victory over Phil Crane who had served the district for 33 years. The Reddies are mad and they want “their” district back, but Illinois has gotten awfully blue in the past 35 years, and Melissa is no screaming liberal. I think, in the end, they are going to throw a ton of money against her and they’re going to loss it. Couldn’t happen to nicer people.
IL-8: Ours. Nannynannybooboo!

Raised on this page: 1 10
Raised across ActBlue: 122 4,372

Gary Trauner

WY-01 (Map)

Wyoming – I lived in Wyoming for awhile and found that the largest minority there were brown-eyed people. Honestly. Blacks, Hispanics, Indians, Jews, Asians, they all have brown eyes. And they don’t make a dent in the blue-eyed population. In a state that gave Bush 69% and is one of three that still likes the guy, you have to give props to Gary Trauner, our guy in WY-AL. He has tremendous fundraising, and a cheap media market. He’s running against an incumbent who is weak in the state and who came out of a primary where she didn’t carry the major population centers (such as they are). In April, Trauner was only trailing by 4. Momentum is on his side, and, as I say, every dollar you give in Wyoming is gonna go a long way.

Raised on this page: 4 141
Raised across ActBlue: 3,999 275,780

Bill Winter

CO-06 (Map)

CO-6: Littleton, Castle Rock, Jefferson County. I nevereverevereverever would have thought that this was going to be a race, but in steps Bill Winter to take on anti-immigration Tom Tancredo. Bill is absolutely and positively the right guy to run in CO-6. He’s a veteran twice over and coached football. He’s a man’s man, and, for all that, as progressive as we could hope for. And this isn’t just throwing good money after bad, no sir. Bill is outpolling the reddie in question, but he’s lagging behind in dollars and you can count on Tancredo mounting a spirited last minute tour de force.

Raised on this page: 2 260
Raised across ActBlue: 752 20,239

Larry Grant

ID-01 (Map)

ID-01 – Western portion of the state including parts of Boise. This is the Grant-Sali race that has been garnering so much attention. Preaching bipartisanship and against winner-take-all one-party-rule, Larry Grant is going to be a lot more conservative than we would like, but nowhere near as conservative as his opponent. And the good news is that Grant is currently leading in the polls. The bad news is that, that’s not quite right… “undecided” is leading in the polls. So the best thing I can do for Grant is say “boo, bad guy, Daily Kos hates him”. Now, go to My ActBlue page and give the guy some money.
ID-01: Blue to be!

Raised on this page: 6 435
Raised across ActBlue: 2,955 72,103

Nancy Skinner

MI-09 (Map)

MI-9 – Suburban Detroit, mostly Oakland County. The red incumbent, Joe Knollenberg, won this seat with 58%, but it was a 50/49 district for Bush. CNN called it “the real battleground” in 2000 as a confluence of affluence and liberalism. With Ws popularity going down, this can’t help but move the district more blue, which is all to the good, because we have a great candidate here in the incredibly media-savvy Nancy Skinner, local radio show host later syndicated to over 400 stations, and a regular commentator on CNN, MSNBC and Fox. Nancy’s kind of a hands-on type. Here’s an example:

After witnessing first-hand the devastation of natural disasters and dangerous environmental practices that were previously unquestioned, Nancy persuaded the White House to assemble a team of ten federal agencies, and the nations’ leading architects and engineers, to prevent future tragedies. She did this by rebuilding two entire towns away from the floodplain using the principles of sustainable development.

Raised on this page: 4 240
Raised across ActBlue: 1,479 118,560

Roger Sharpe

NC-05 (Map)

If any race is a litmus test for Bush’s future this one might be. Roger Sharpe has been in politics a long time, having served in both the Carter and Reagan administrations. He’s got a strong calling to civil rights. This is going to be a tight race, so let’s help the guy out!

Raised on this page: 0 0
Raised across ActBlue: 522 6,073

Sharon Marie Renier

MI-07 (Map)

MI-7 – South central portion of the state, including Jackson. The red incumbent, Joe Schwarz won this seat last time with 58% of the vote, or 4 better than W, but was beat in a messy and expensive primary by an uberreddie named Tim Walberg who rallied support from the Club for Growth and the Right to Life crowd. CQ Politics says that it’s so clear he’s going to go all the way he should just start packing his bags now. Our gal is Sharon Renier, an organic farmer and Executive Director for the Great Lakes Bioregional Land Conservancy, Vice President of the Organic Crop Improvement Association and other organic foods groups. She was invited by USAid as their keynote speaker at the First Annual Organic Coffee Producers meeting in San Salvador. She was also a paralegal for quite some time working for the University of Michigan, Chrysler, and Michigan’s largest law firm. Both Renier and Walberg won their primaries with 53% of the vote. Renier in a four-way race, Walberg in a two-way race. But Walberg won in a way to be sure to alienate moderates and social liberals. Who knows?
UPDATE: Recent polling puts her within 8, and Cheney is now raising funds for her opponent, so maybe they know something we don’t. GO SHARON!

Raised on this page: 1 150
Raised across ActBlue: 15 862

Vivian Beckerle

AL-01 (Map)

AL-1 – Southwest portion of the state, including Mobile. The red incumbent, Jo Bonner, won this one with 63%. Our gal is Vivan Beckerle, served as Mobile County Treasurer for 12 years, so she has great name recognition in the area; she earned her JD just a few years ago; and, most importantly for the region, she is a convert from the Republican party who served on the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee and served as Secretary of the Alabama GOP. It certainly doesn’t hurt anything, either, that she retired from the military after 20 years, earning the rank of Major, and she’s running on the shameful way that the Republicans have been treating our service members in uniform and our veterans. She’s a perfect candidate for this race but she has next to no money. Of all the challengers I’ve se