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A California House hopeful’s plan to reward donors with handguns days after last week's mass shooting in San Bernardino has caused one House member to distance herself from the event.  

Johnny Tacherra, the GOP candidate hoping for a rematch against incumbent Democrat Jim Costa, told Roll Call he cooked up the “2nd Amendment BBQ ” — scheduled to take place within the Full Spectrum Firearms showroom in Fresno on Saturday — after bumping into FSF founder Jon Rains at an NRA dinner earlier this fall. To boost fundraising, FSF agreed to furnish up to a dozen 9mm or .40-caliber pistols to contributors that reserve an entire table, at $2,700 for eight seats.  

Updated 5:40 p.m. | Updated to better define Rob England's job title. The Democrats' battle over trade is not yet over, but unions are already zeroing in on a scapegoat: California Rep. Jim Costa.  

Costa is one of 28 Democrats who voted for Trade Promotion Authority last week — a vote that would give President Barack Obama the power to negotiate a trade agreement with Pacific Rim nations. Unions, which say Obama's plan will cost jobs in the U.S., have frozen campaign contributions to Democrats and threatened to put up candidates in primaries against those who support Obama's trade agenda.  

Updated 7:53 p.m. |  In a boost for California Democrats, Reps. Jim Costa and Ami Bera will return to Congress in January, after The Associated Press called both races Wednesday night.  

Costa, a Central Valley-based Democrat, defeated little-known Republican, Johnny Tacherra, by a 1,319-vote margin.  

Updated Nov. 11, 7:35 a.m. |  A week after Election Day, six races remain too close to call as local officials continue to count mail-in and provisional ballots.  

On Nov. 4, Republicans took control of the Senate by picking up seven seats so far, while House Republicans have picked up a net of 12 seats to date.  

Updated 4:39 p.m. |  Democrats picked up their third House seat late Thursday, stemming the party's losses to 13 seats — for now.  

After more absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Democrat Pete Aguilar maintained a lead over Republican Paul Chabot, 51 percent to 49 percent, in California's 31st District. Aguilar declared victory and Chabot conceded; the seat was open because Republican Rep. Gary G. Miller is retiring.  

This is arguably the most volatile period for the House battleground map, as partisan operatives are making their final ad spending decisions and beginning to move money away from some races to put more resources into other contests.

The Senate map is much less fluid, yet this is the time when some races begin to fade in terms of their competitiveness and others become more so. In recent weeks we've seen the New Mexico Senate contest move to the less competitive category, while Connecticut and Indiana are now fully in play. We are still monitoring developments in Connecticut (and could make another ratings change there soon), but new polling in Indiana confirmed for us that a ratings change was due.

Updated 7:39 p.m. | The Campaign for Primary Accountability plans to launch spending crusades against Reps. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) as part of the super PAC’s growing list of targeted races.

The deep-pocketed super PAC also announced a “Watch List” of more than two dozen veteran Members whom it plans to evaluate and potentially target during the height of primary season during the next three months.