Bridget Bowman

A group backing Democratic scientists running for office is launching a mail campaign to boost stem cell researcher Hans Keirstead ahead of California’s June 5 primary.

314 Action will spend $280,000 on a mail campaign to educate voters about Keirstead, a neuroscientist and CEO of a biomedical company, according to an announcement provided first to Roll Call. The mailers will drop eight times throughout May and target more than 57,000 likely voters. The campaign will also attack Realtor Harley Rouda, one of the other top Democrats in the race.

Two House Democrats are considering running for New York attorney general following Eric Schneiderman’s swift resignation Tuesday night.

Four women came forward in a New Yorker article accusing Schneiderman of physically abusing them. He denied the allegations but resigned hours after the story published. 

National Democrats came dangerously close to losing their preferred candidate in a key New York race — even in an election cycle where they’re sensing a blue wave.

But a divisive primary remains, where local Democrats are already fuming at meddling from operatives in the nation’s capital.

A coalition of liberal groups is releasing new polling to show that health care could be a key issue in the midterms,  and that a vote for the Republican health care plan last year could come back to hurt  GOP incumbents. 

The polls, commissioned by the Health Care Voter coalition, were conducted in seven House districts and statewide in Nevada and Tennessee. The results, shared first with Roll Call, come one year after House Republicans and President Donald Trump celebrated passing the GOP health care bill, which would have dismantled parts of the 2010 health care law. That effort stalled in the Senate and the bill did not become law.

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 and Bridget Bowman

Rep. Lois Frankel was surprised this week when she received a text with a picture from a campaign mailer promoting Democrat Scott Wallace that showed her picture among 75 other members of Congress. 

“The Congressional Progressive Caucus Endorses Scott Wallace,” read the text above the picture. The only problem was Frankel had endorsed Wallace’s opponent in Pennsylvania’s 1st District — Navy veteran and attorney Rachel Reddick.

NextGen America is going negative in a House race in Pennsylvania, less than one week before the Democratic primary. The group is backed by billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer and focused on mobilizing young voters.

The digital ads launched Wednesday target North Hampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, who is running in a competitive Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 7th District. It’s the group’s first action in a primary in the 2018 cycle, and the first time since 2013 that the group has launched negative ads in a Democratic primary.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has set the special election to replace Republican Rep. Patrick Meehan for Nov. 6, the same day as the general election.

“Given the calendar and timing of these announcements, it makes the most fiscal and practical sense for our county elections office to schedule these special elections on the same day as the November general election,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

Updated 6:37 p.m. | A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn should be placed on the primary ballot, overturning a state Supreme Court ruling that he violated state law when collecting signatures for his nomination. 

Colorado requires petition circulators to be state residents. The state high court ruled last week that one of Lamborn’s circulators was not a resident, thus invalidating some of his signatures and leaving him 58 short of the 1,000 required to qualify for the 5th District ballot. 

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s campaign circulated a memo Monday morning showing he is locked in a tight race with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, and amid concerns from some Republicans that Hawley needs to step up his campaign.

The memo, first reported by the Washington Examiner and later shared by Hawley’s campaign, detailed the results from a poll conducted last week. Hawley had support from 47 percent of respondents, while McCaskill had garnered 46 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The poll had a 4 point margin of error.

Rep. Patrick Meehan announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress to end the Ethics Committee’s investigation into allegations he sexually harassed a former staffer.

The Pennsylvania Republican said he intends to repay the $39,000 in taxpayer dollars used to settle the harassment case with the staffer within the next 30 days. He had already announced he would not run for re-election following the allegations.

Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer defended his role in urging a Democratic candidate to drop out of a primary in Colorado, arguing the party needs to back candidates who can win the general election.

The Maryland Democrat faced sharp criticism from liberal groups Thursday after The Intercept reported Hoyer encouraged Levi Tillemann, who worked in President Barack Obama’s Energy Department, to drop out of the race in Colorado’s 6th District. Hoyer told Tillemann the party was backing attorney and Iraq War veteran Jason Crow. 

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 and Bridget Bowman

EMILY’s List is looking to bolster its candidates in California as the crowded primaries threaten Democratic chances in key pickup opportunities.

The group’s independent expenditure arm, Women Vote!, announced Thursday that it was launching a new initiative to educate voters about former Riverbank mayor Virginia Madueño, who is running in the 10th District in the Central Valley. The program is similar to one launched for Sara Jacobs last month, who is running in the 49th District in southern California.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is highlighting her family in her first television ad of the 2018 election cycle. The North Dakota Democrat is looking to stress her ties to the state as she bids for a second term.

Heitkamp is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election this year, running in a state President Donald Trump carried by 36 points in 2016. Watch: Will the Chambers Flip? Redditors Want to Know

Updated Wednesday, 12:04 a.m. | Former Republican state Sen. Debbie Lesko won the special election in Arizona’s 8th District on Tuesday night, but her victory margin for a seat that President Donald Trump easily carried in 2016 appeared to be relatively slim.

The Associated Press called the race with Lesko leading Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, 53 percent to 47 percent in early ballots, which accounted for an estimated 75 percent of the total votes cast, according to the Arizona secretary of state’s office. The seat opened up after former GOP Rep. Trent Franks resigned in December amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The special election in Arizona’s 8th District will set the stage for a hotly contested Senate race and a handful of competitive House races in the Grand Canyon State. And both parties are watching for indications of what’s to come in November.

More than 150,000 people have already voted in the contest to replace Republican Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in December amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Democrats are hopeful they can make the race close even though President Donald Trump carried the suburban Phoenix-based district by 21 points in 2016. And Republicans know analysts will be looking at the outcome for signs of a potential blue wave.

Updated 7:27 p.m. | The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that GOP Rep. Doug Lamborn has not qualified for the GOP primary ballot.

The court ruled Lamborn violated state rules when collecting the 1,000 GOP signatures needed to qualify for the primary ballot. State law says the signature collectors must be Colorado residents, and the state Supreme Court determined one of the collectors was not, reversing a lower court decision.