It’s here—election year! And that means the Insider will be in your inbox twice a month. Expect a shorter, more digestible … digest, plus additional announcements and analysis.
To kick off the year, we have the first Q4 fundraising numbers for the top US Senate and House raises. Plus, good abortion news from Florida and a preview of primary season, which kicked off on Tuesday in Iowa.
US Senate: First Fundraising
The final quarterly reports for 2023 aren’t due until Jan. 31, so these numbers aren’t complete, but we can already see a disparity between the most competitive races featuring women versus men.
Candidates who’ve released numbers in the races we’re watching most closely:
- Jacky Rosen (NV), $3.2 million
- Tammy Baldwin (WI), $3 million
- Elissa Slotkin (MI), $2.8 million
- Sherrod Brown (OH), $6.6 million
- Adam Schiff (CA), $6.3 million
- Reuben Gallego (AZ), $3.3 million
Nevada and Ohio are consistently ranked among the top five most competitive Senate races—yet incumbent Sherrod Brown has raised nearly double the amount as Jacky Rosen. We are keeping track of all Senate and House fundraising at the link below. Be sure to bookmark it and check it weekly to see what has changed.
🔖Bookmark: FEC Report Tracking – Tab 1: Senate [Electing Women]
Headlines
Tammy Murphy raises behemoth $3.2 million for U.S. Senate bid [NJ Globe]
POLITICO to host first California US Senate debate on Jan. 22 [Politico]
Can this Miami Latina prove that Florida isn’t out of reach for Democrats? [WLRN]
Slotkin posts nearly $3M haul for U.S. Senate bid in fourth quarter [The Detroit News]
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race starts as a ‘toss-up,’ poll finds [The Detroit News]
Sen. Jacky Rosen’s speech crashed by pro-Palestine protesters [Nevada Independent]
What to know about the likely candidate to challenge Sen. Baldwin [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
US House: Few Numbers—Yet
Here are the early Q4 numbers that have caught our eye in some of the most competitive races:
- NY-22: Rep. Brian Williams raised $1.75 million in this district that is a top target for taking back the House. DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood is the top Democratic fundraiser in this race, having raised a little over a half a million all of last year.
- NJ-7: Democratic challenger and primary frontrunner, former Working Families Party chair Sue Altman raised $275,000 last quarter and $780,000 total. Incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Kean has $1.8 million cash on hand.
🔖Bookmark: FEC Report Tracking – House: Tab 2 [Electing Women]
Headlines
Democrats to spend $35M targeting voters of color in House races [NBC News]
New Year, New House Ratings [Inside Elections] (Mary Peltola shifts right)
2024 CPR House Race Ratings Map [Cook Political Report]
So far, New York’s 2024 races for Congress have a lot of familiar faces [Spectrum 1]
Looming 2024 election poses big questions for Oregon voters [Oregon Capitol Chronicle]
How This MAGA Extremist Hides His Campaign Spending [The Daily Beast]
GOP lawmaker Heidi Kasama drops out of race against Susie Lee [NV Independent]
Kiggans to kick off 2024 re-election run Sunday [Shore Daily]
State & Local: Abortion Dispatch
With ballot measures popping up in at least 11 states, until Election Day you can consider this section of the newsletter to be the Abortion Dispatch. The big news this month? As of January 5, the Florida Division of Elections has verified 910,946 petitions submitted by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the local campaign supporting the state’s pro-abortion initiative. That’s above and beyond the 891,523 they needed by February 1. The amendment must still be approved by the conservative-leaning Florida Supreme Court.
🔖Bookmark: 2023 and 2024 abortion-related ballot measures [Ballotpedia]
Headlines
Florida abortion amendment gets enough signatures for 2024 ballot [Tampa Bay Times]
Abortion could be on the ballot in 11 states [MI Advance]
Abortion campaigns could see millions in funding from familiar players [Colorado Newsline]
Why Democrats can’t rely on abortion ballot initiatives to help them win [Politico]
Giving Governors’ Races Their Due [Cook Political Report]
Spanberger reports hot start with $3.6 million in bank for governor’s race [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
State Democrats (DLCC) break off-year fundraising record [CNN]
National & Women: The Primaries Begin
Primary season is here! We kicked it off Monday with the presidential caucuses in Iowa. Donald Trump won decisively with 51 percent of the vote—more than 20 points more than the runner up, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis. Next up: The New Hampshire primary on January 23.
The Democrats held caucuses on Tuesday too, but because of changes to the primary calendar, they won’t be announced until Super Tuesday, March 5. And there will be no New Hampshire primary on the Democratic side. The first Congressional primaries, in Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas, are also on that date.
🔖Bookmark: 2024 Presidential & State Primary Election Dates [National Conference of State Legislatures]
Headlines
Democratic National Convention makes one of first major planning reveals [Axios]
5 ways to make 2024 politically powerful for women [NBC News]
How to watch the Iowa caucuses like an expert [Politico]
Kamala Watch
Readout: Vice President Harris’s Convening With Voting Rights Leaders [The White House]
Harris calls on Black South Carolina voters to defend rights [Reuters]
It’s time for women to lead the world to peace [The Advocate]
14 of Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff’s beloved L.A. spots [LA Times]