OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: GOP looks to stay out of its own way

Congressional Republicans have a simple mantra as they take a brief break from the campaign trail and return to Washington: Do no harm. 

Republicans believe they are on the cusp of capturing full control of Congress for the first time since 2006. They don’t want to squander the opportunity.

{mosads}GOP insiders hope the next two weeks in Washington will be remembered for being, well, fairly unmemorable. The House leadership’s game plan is to play prevent defense: Keep the government open, temporarily renew some federal programs, pass bills that can buttress their message for the midterms and sprint back to the campaign trail.

SENATE SHOWDOWN

KY-SEN (MCCONNELL), GA-SEN (OPEN): Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) and Georgia Senate candidate Michelle Nunn (D) are both heading back to Hollywood for big-name fundraisers this month. Grimes’s backers include DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg and director James Cameron.

CO-SEN (UDALL): Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) invoked two journalists killed by ISIS in his argument against taking hasty action in Iraq in comments that could haunt him. “Steve Sotloff and James Foley would tell us, don’t be impulsive. Horrible and barbarous as those executions were, don’t be impulsive, come up with a plan to knock ISIL back,” he said.

MI-SEN (OPEN): Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is planning to debate an empty chair tonight to highlight what he says is former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land’s (R) refusal to debate, a call-back to Clint Eastwood’s 2012 Republican National Convention speech.

CA-SEN 2016 (BOXER): The San Francisco Chronicle details signs that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) may be eyeing retirement at the end of her term in 2016. 

OUTSIDE GROUPS: The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund said it has raised $4 million this election cycle as part of its “GiveGreen” program, which allows users to donate to federal and state candidates who support policies to fight climate change.

The National Rifle Association endorsed seven GOP Senate candidates, including Senate Minority Leader MItch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) and North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis (R).

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE

NRCC: The National Republican Congressional Committee added nine new candidates to its Young Guns program for top-tier races. Additions include Andy Tobin, the newly minted GOP nominee to take on Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.); Wendy Rogers, who was just nominated to face Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.); former Rep. Charles Djou, running for Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s (D-Hawaii) seat; Bruce Poliquin, the GOP nominee for Rep. Mike Michaud’s (D-Maine) seat; John Moolenaar, the likely successor to retiring Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.); Mike Bishop, the GOP nominee for retiring Rep. Mike Rogers’s (R-Mich.) seat; and Glenn Grothman, likely to succeed retiring Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) this fall.

VA-10 (OPEN): Virginia Delegate and former lobbyist Barbara Comstock (R) failed to disclose $85,000 her company took in for work for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign.

CA-33 (OPEN): Mitt Romney endorsed Elan Carr’s (R) long-shot bid to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in a heavily Democratic district.

AD WATCH

AK-SEN (BEGICH): Sen. Mark Begich’s (D-Alaska) campaign takes aim at Republican nominee Dan Sullivan’s tenure as attorney general, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee is attacking Begich’s time as Anchorage mayor in new ads.

MS-SEN (COCHRAN): Former Rep. Travis Childers (D) is hearkening back to a famous 1984 Mitch McConnell ad, literally turning to bloodhounds to try to find his opponent. 

A voice-over says, “We can’t find him anywhere in Mississippi, but we’re looking. Sir, sir, have you seen Thad Cochran?”

MI-SEN (OPEN): The GOP-aligned Crossroads GPS is out with an ad hitting Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) on his opposition to building the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

GA-12 (BARROW): The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee attacks Republican Rick Allen for taking government money in a new ad.

NY-18 (MALONEY): The Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC hits former Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) as a “doctor putting big insurance companies before patients” in a new ad.

NV-3 (HECK): Democrat Erin Bilbray released her first ad, a positive spot featuring her daughter. 

POLL POSITION

IA-SEN (OPEN): Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) has a 45 percent to 40 percent lead over Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), according to a new live-caller poll conducted by Loras College. 

NH-SEN (SHAHEEN): Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) leads former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) 50 percent to 42 percent in an internal poll for Shaheen’s campaign.

NC-SEN (HAGAN): Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis (R) are tied at 44 percent apiece in a new internal poll from Tillis’s campaign.

MA-06 (TIERNEY): A trio of new polls find a tight race between Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) and challenger Seth Moulton (D) heading into Tuesday’s primary.

2016 RUMBLINGS

GILLIBRAND: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is denying any interest in running for president. “I feel so lucky I get to do my job in the Senate,” she said. Few think she will run if Hillary Clinton runs for president, as is expected.

CARSON: Dr. Ben Carson (R) warned against “demonizing” former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after he was cut from the team for domestic abuse. “And let’s not all jump on the bandwagon of demonizing this guy,” Carson said. “He obviously has some real problems, and his wife obviously knows that, because she subsequently married him. So they both need some help. So rather than just jumping on a punitive bandwagon, let’s just see if we can get some help for these people.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY 

“You know what I like about you Bruce? You’re tough. You attack the special interests. Bam! Hit them right in the mouth,” former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka to Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (R) in Rauner’s latest ad