Bridget Bowman

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has canceled its television ad reservation in the race against Republican Rep. Rod Blum in Iowa’s 1st District, according to a media tracking firm, which could signal that Democrats are confident about flipping the seat.

Blum faces state Rep. Abby Finkenauer, whom Democrats tout as a top recruit. The DCCC’s decision, reported by the firm Medium Buying, signals Finkenauer might not need as much help, and the committee wants to spend its resources elsewhere. The DCCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Texas Senate race has been grabbing headlines lately, but Democrats hoping for good news in November from the Lone Star State might want to focus further down the ballot, where several contests could be critical to House control.

Both parties have ramped up their activities in a handful of competitive Texas districts, with the Republican and Democratic campaign committees launching television ads in key races last week.

Indicted Republican Rep. Chris Collins wrote in an email to supporters Wednesday that he would continue to serve in Congress if re-elected. 

The New York Republican had previously suspended his campaign after being indicted on charges of insider trading, but he reversed course Tuesday after GOP leaders attempted for weeks to find a way to remove Collins from the ballot. Local GOP leaders were reportedly blindsided by his decision to remain on the ballot.

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to Nevada on Thursday, outside Republican groups are ramping up their spending in the 3rd District to help GOP nominee Danny Tarkanian in one of the party’s few pickup opportunities. 

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House GOP leadership, made a new ad reservation in the district in the Las Vegas media market that starts Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the media buy. CLF spokeswoman Courtney Alexander confirmed the $2.5 million reservation to Roll Call. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is boasting its best August fundraising numbers ever, raking in more than $15.4 million last month, according to figures provided first to Roll Call.

That’s $4.5 million more than the committee’s fundraising total in August 2016, and $5.1 million more than the committee raised in August 2014.  Nearly $7 million of last month’s total came from online donations, with an average donation of $20.

The Congressional Leadership Fund is launching a new television ad knocking Democrat Kara Eastman over her support for a Medicare-for-All proposal, a sign Republicans view the attack as a salient one in the competitive Nebraska district. 

The 30-second ad, which launches in the Omaha media market Tuesday, will run for roughly two weeks. Eastman is taking on Republican freshman Don Bacon in the 2nd District, which President Donald Trump carried by by 3 points in 2016. 

Updated 4:04 p.m. | EMILY’s List, a group that backs female Democrats who support abortion rights, said it expects to spend more than $37 million this election cycle, which includes the $14 million it already spent in Democratic primaries. 

Stephanie Schriock, the president of EMILY’s List, told reporters in a briefing Monday that the group plans to play in more than 30 House districts to help Democrats net the 23 seats needed to win a chamber majority. 

Indicted GOP Rep. Chris Collins will remain on the ballot in November, The Buffalo News reported Monday, setting up a potentially competitive race in a deep red district in Western New York.

Collins will face Democratic Grand Island Town Supervisor Nate McMurray in November in a district President Donald Trump won by 24 points in 2016. Collins’ recent indictment for charges relating to insider trading have shaken up the race. Collins initially said he would run for re-election, but reversed course under pressure from local and national party leaders. 

North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer is taking to the airwaves to combat Democratic ads that spotlight the Republican Senate candidate’s health care positions.

The new Cramer ad features images of three Democratic spots — two of them from outside Democratic groups and one from Democratic incumbent Heidi Hetikamp’s campaign. Cramer has been calling on Heitkamp to take down her own campaign’s ad, saying she is citing inaccurate information about how his health care votes would have affected people with pre-existing conditions.

Welcome to At the Races! You can keep track of House and Senate races with this weekly newsletter by subscribing here. We want to hear what you think. Email us at attheraces@cqrollcall.com with your questions, tips or candidate sightings. — Simone Pathé, Bridget Bowman and Stephanie Akin

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján expressed confidence Thursday his party will take control of the House, but he remains concerned about the impact of outside Republican money and gerrymandered districts.

“As far as what keeps me up at night, Republicans have committed what seems like unlimited amounts of money to these elections,” the New Mexico Democrat told reporters Thursday. “We’re seeing Super PAC after Super PAC on the Republican side continue to tear in.”

Missouri Republican Senate nominee Josh Hawley is calling on Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill to release her family’s tax returns, after both released their own returns Wednesday. 

Hawley, the state attorney general, released nearly 60 pages of his and his wife’s tax returns since they file jointly. McCaskill released two pages of her own return (she and her husband file their taxes separately), but Hawley said that wasn’t enough.

The Congressional Leadership Fund is launching a new ad aimed at Democrat Katie Porter in California’s 45th District — this time targeting her on health care. 

Porter is challenging two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in the Orange County district, which Hillary Clinton carried by 5 points in 2016. Democrats are hoping to repeat Clinton’s success in this part of Southern California, which has traditionally been a conservative stronghold. 

Welcome to At the Races! You can keep track of House and Senate races with this weekly newsletter by subscribing here. We want to hear what you think. Email us at attheraces@cqrollcall.com with your questions, tips or candidate sightings. — Simone Pathé, Bridget Bowman and Stephanie Akin

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — When it comes to battlegrounds for the midterm elections, Kansas might not be the first place that comes to mind. But the fight for control of the House is well underway in the Kansas City suburbs. 

Rep. Kevin Yoder was confronted with his re-election dilemma here while crisscrossing the street as the sun beat down on the Tiblow Days parade one Saturday last month.

A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll showed a close race in California’s 45th District, with Democrat Katie Porter slightly ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters.

The survey, paid for by the DCCC’s independent expenditure arm, found that 49 percent of respondents backed Porter while 46 percent backed Walters. Five percent were undecided, according to a polling memo obtained first by Roll Call. The poll had a 4.38 point margin of error.

Democrats continue to dominate the latest list of the most vulnerable Senate incumbents two months out from Election Day, with North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp moving into the top spot.

Heitkamp displaces Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, who nevertheless remains the most vulnerable incumbent on the Republican side and the only GOP senator running in a state Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

With Election Day two months away, all 10 of the most vulnerable House members are Republicans, with one new addition.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida has been replaced on the list by Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder, who even some Republicans acknowledge is in a more tenuous position given his district, voting record and Democratic challenger.

With only three states left to hold primaries this year, the battle lines have firmed up for a midterm election that could also determine the future for President Donald Trump.

Democrats need to net 23 seats to take control of the House, which would give them a platform to block the president’s agenda and launch their own investigations of his finances and the 2016 election that could rival those already underway at the Justice Department.

Say this for Arizona: Its politics are rarely boring.

Add to it now former Sen. Jon Kyl’s appointment to the Senate, the latest chapter in a period of political uncertainty that’s nevertheless a new experience for most Arizonans — at least when it comes to the relative stability of its senators.