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French Hill
Our weekly newsletter on congressional campaigns
Democrats open up about personal medical struggles to talk about health care
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill is just the latest candidate to talk about her own cancer diagnosis in a campaign ad this year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill got personal in a recent ad, talking about something that she’s never addressed in a political spot before: cancer — specifically, her own diagnosis.
“Two years ago, I beat breast cancer,” the two-term Democrat says to camera. “Like thousands of other women in Missouri, I don’t talk about it much.”
Hanoi Hilton survivor taps out a tribute to his late colleague
Sen. John McCain greets fellow Vietnam veteran Rep. Sam Johnson in 2008. The Texas Republican honored his colleague Thursday. (CQ Roll Call file photo)
Retiring Rep. Sam Johnson saluted his fellow former prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain, on the House floor Thursday night.
“John was more than just a colleague in Congress. We were friends, and that friendship was forged in the infamous Hanoi Hilton,” Johnson said. The two shared a cell.
Business trade group is launching ads in four more House races
Reps. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, left, and French Hill, R-Ark., were both highlighted in new TV ads from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hitting the airwaves in four additional House races to defend Republicans in competitive contests.
The television ads, shared first with Roll Call, are part of a slate of positive issue spots boosting GOP incumbents in races from Maine to California.
Much will depend on whether Republicans hold the majority and if so how speaker’s race unfolds
From left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. All three men are looking to move up in leadership next Congress . (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
House Republicans will have a new leader next Congress since Speaker Paul D. Ryan is retiring, but will there be additional changes in their top ranks?
The answer to that question will depend in large part on whether Republicans can hold onto their majority in the November midterms, and if they do, how the speaker’s race unfolds.
State Rep. Clarke Tucker on DCCC's Red to Blue list
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., is airing ads this week attacking his Democratic opponent for ostensible ties to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. French Hill is following the lead of other vulnerable Republicans in 2018 in a new ad targeting his Democratic opponent for supposedly aligning with Hillary Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Hill, who represents Arkansas’ 2nd District, began airing ads on television this week in which a narrator declares that his opponent in the general election, state Rep. Clarke Tucker, is a “Hillary Clinton-supporting Democrat for higher taxes and bigger government.”
State representative will meet GOP Rep. French Hill in November
State Rep. Clarke Tucker won the Democratic nomination for Arkansas’ 2nd District on Tuesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
State Rep. Clarke Tucker won the Democratic primary in Arkansas’ 2nd District on Tuesday, to face Republican Rep. French Hill in November.
Tucker was one of four Democrats vying for the nomination, and he comfortably averted a June 19 runoff.
Outside of Texas runoffs, this week’s action is mostly on the Democratic side
Lexington Mayor Jim Gray is running in Kentucky’s 6 District Democratic primary Tuesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Voters again head to the polls Tuesday, this time in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky.
Texas held its primaries in March, but more than a few of those contests advanced to runoffs since the winners did not surpass 50 percent of the vote. None has received more attention that the Democratic runoff in the 7th District.
In total, 68 GOP-held seats are now rated competitive
New Mexico Democrat Xochitl Torres Small is running for the seat GOP Rep. Steve Pearce is vacating to run for governor. The 2nd District race is now rated Leans Republican. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Despite forecasts of a blue tsunami, it’s still not guaranteed that Democrats will win back the House majority. But the playing field of competitive House races is expanding and shifting to almost exclusively Republican territory.
After the latest round of changes, Inside Elections now has 68 Republican seats rated as vulnerable compared to just 10 vulnerable Democratic seats. And there are at least a couple dozen more GOP-held seats that could develop into competitive races in the months ahead.
The five-figure buy is Winning for Women’s first independent expenditure
Winning for Women is making a five-figure investment in digital ads for state Del. Carol Miller ahead of next week’s GOP primary in the 3rd District. (Screenshot)
Winning for Women Inc., a new group formed to boost Republican female candidates, is making its first independent expenditure of the 2018 cycle for a West Virginia woman facing a competitive congressional primary next week.
Winning for Women is spending five figures on a digital spot supporting state Del. Carol Miller, who is running for the GOP nomination in West Virginia’s 3rd District. Current GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins is running for Senate.
