FOCUS ON ONLINE FUNDRAISING. Story here. “After Democrats trounced Republicans in online fundraising in recent cycles, the House GOP’s campaign chief has promised improvements for the party’s digital donor base in 2014.”
SUPER PAC MOVES. Story here. “The super PAC is being informally advised by some longtime Clinton insiders, including her former adviser Harold Ickes, and is looking to create for the former first lady what she lacked in her last campaign – a movement behind her.”
ABRAMS PROFILE. NY1.com. “Floyd Abrams is an ardent defender of free speech and a passionate proponent of the First Amendment. Except for the time that his 12-year-old daughter, now a federal judge, told her dad that she and some friends were going to an R-rated movie.”
INCUMBENT HAULS. Roll Call. “Republican and Democratic House campaigns continued to tout their second-quarter hauls Wednesday, but a handful of Republican incumbents posted striking sums around the half-million dollar mark.”
CA: MANTECA RETAINS FIRM. News here. “The return of federal earmarks such as the one that helped Manteca land $6 million for the Yosemite Avenue and Highway 99 interchange has promoted elected city leaders to continue retaining a federal lobbying firm.”
FL: DO NOT CALL, DO NOT REFUND? Story here. “A liberal veterans group called on Gov. Rick Scott to return a $500,000 campaign check from St. Petersburg mogul (and Vietnam veteran) Bill Edwards, saying Scott should not take the money following news of Edwards’ company being hit with a record fine for violating the ‘Do Not Call’ telemarketing rule.”
MD: GANSLER TESTING THE WATERS. The Post. “By the time they get around to the announcement — the formal announcement — it can feel like an anticlimatic ritual that is full of pomp but largely devoid of surprise, not unlike a national political convention. Timing is often dictated more by strategic calculations than a need to tell voters something that isn’t already obvious.”
MN: LOBBY LEADER. Story here. “Lobbying groups spent more than $11 million at the Minnesota Legislature this past session, according to Minnesota’s Campaign Finance Board. Now, there’s a new player at the top of the spending list.”
NM: VOTE ON ORDINANCE. Story here. “Officials hope that imposing a $2,300 individual contribution limit and implementing a campaign finance reporting schedule will help reign in candidates’ excessive spending on city elections.”
VA: PIVOT TO OFFENSE. RTD. “McDonnell says what he has done is legal. He says he has publicly reported gifts, in accordance with a Virginia law that leaves it entirely to him to decide what, if anything, to disclose. McDonnell is not saying what he has done is right. He may know that’s a tough, if not impossible, sell with a skeptical public.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a nice weekend.