calif-36

Nearly every member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program for vulnerable members voted Thursday for a Republican bill that would add bureaucratic security checks for Syrians and Iraqis hoping to enter the U.S. as refugees.  

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, Democratic strategists say the vote was good politics for those 13 Democratic incumbents, who represent competitive districts of varying degrees. The vote gave them an opportunity to appear tough on national security, an issue they often struggle with.  

As 2016 quickly approaches, Republicans are struggling to find top recruits in a trio of competitive House districts in California — a state where the party has suffered defeat at the congressional level for decades.  

The National Republican Congressional Committee sent a staffer out to the Golden State last week to search for and meet with potential candidates and convince them to run in competitive districts in San Diego, Palm Springs and Sacramento, according to a source with knowledge of the visit.  

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will announce Thursday the first 14 members who will join its Frontline program for the party's most vulnerable incumbents, according to an early copy of a news release obtained by CQ Roll Call.  

The incumbents represent competitive districts, making them likely GOP targets in 2016 . The Frontline program,which Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., is chairman of,   provides these members with fundraising and organizational support for their re-elections.  

Meet the cycle’s biggest candidate disappointments.  

They are the congressional hopefuls who just didn't live up to their hype. Once touted as top recruits, these House and Senate candidates are headed for defeat on Election Day in all likelihood. Some of these candidates tanked so early in the cycle, their races never got off the ground.  

It's a story even Hollywood couldn't concoct.  

Once arguably the most vulnerable House Democrat in California, freshman Rep. Raul Ruiz has climbed to safer ground in the final months of the midterms. His position can be chalked up to a series of politically fortunate — albeit grave — events on two separate flights to the Palm Springs-based 36th District.  

The National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved $30 million in television airtime this fall, signaling it is preparing to go on offense in 17 districts and defend nine more.  

The NRCC has put its marker down in many of the same House districts as its counterpart , the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It's a good indicator of which races both parties think will be most competitive in November. But there are a few competitive districts not included in the NRCC's initial reservations, such as Iowa's 3rd District — an open seat currently held by a Republican that is one of this cycle's few Tossup races. Also, the NRCC's television reservations total $13.5 million less  than what the DCCC has already reserved for this fall. The committees will likely shift and add more airtime as individual races develop during the rest of the cycle.   But the DCCC has raised more money than the NRCC this cycle. As of the end of April, the DCCC had $43.3 million in the bank, while the NRCC had $32.3 million. Here are the districts where the NRCC has already reserved airtime for this fall: Offense Arizona's 1st District: $1.95 million on Phoenix broadcast in Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick's district. Republicans will select their nominee in an Aug. 26 primary. (Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call rating: Tilts Democrat )  

The National Republican Congressional Committee has elevated 11 more candidates to "Young Gun" status, moving these prospects to the top tier of of their benchmark program for campaigns in 2014.  

“Candidates that reach ‘Young Gun’ status have met a series of rigorous goals that will put them in position to win on Election Day,” NRCC Chairman Greg Walden said in a Tuesday statement. "Our job as a committee is to help elect Republicans to office that will serve as a check and balance on the Obama administration." All of the following, newly-minted Young Gun candidates have recently won their primaries . The NRCC does not publicly pick sides in primaries.  

Updated 10:33 a.m., 2:15 p.m. | The race for California's coveted 31st District remained too close to call Wednesday morning, with just 390 votes separating the second- and third-place finishers.  

The results will make or break the race for Democrats, who have invested significant resources in this competitive district and named it one of their top targets of the cycle.  

A controversial Republican gubernatorial candidate in California could cause the GOP headaches in down-ballot House races in a state crucial to the party's hopes of increasing its House majority.  

State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly led Neel Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury official and the establishment-preferred candidate, by 5 points in a poll this month from the Public Policy Institute of California. That has top Republican operatives in California and Washington, D.C., concerned that Donnelly’s controversial comments and ties to the California Minutemen , a group that fights illegal immigration on the border, could mobilize Hispanic and other Democratic-base voters who otherwise might fall off in this midterm year.  

Updated 3:09 p.m. | Ring, Ring: It's the voters.

This week, House Democrats have started a round of automated phone calls that allow recipients to connect directly to the campaign offices of their Republican opponents. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will target 16 GOP challengers in competitive districts with the calls, according to a party source.