2014 Elections

Congressman Tom Price, a Republican, has said he will not announce a decision about running next year for the Senate in Georgia until May, but a pair of fundraising emails obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD indicate the GOP congressman may be leaning toward getting in the race. Here's an excerpt from Price's first email to donors, sent Thursday:

Dear Friends:

The first quarter FEC reporting deadline is fast approaching on March 31st! We are off to a strong start with fundraising this year, and we are extremely close to reaching our first quarter goal.

Senator Tim Johnson will retire, Politico reports:

Republican Karen Handel, the former Georgia secretary of state, gubernatorial candidate, and vice president for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, is moving closer to running for the Senate next year to succeed Republican Saxby Chambliss. Georgia political blog Peach Pundit reports:

Freshman Republican congressman Tom Cotton may have only served in Congress for a few months, but conservative groups are already considering him for a 2014 Senate run in his native Arkansas against vulnerable Democrat Mark Pryor. The Washington Post reports on a new poll showing Cotton, an Army veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, leading Pryor by eight points:

Despite Hollywood actress Ashley Judd’s high-profile political rollout, national Democrats appear to be looking for an alternative Senate candidate in Kentucky to challenge Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell next year. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, for instance, has remained cool to a Judd candidacy.

What’s the purpose of Barack Obama’s “charm offensive?” And who is the target?

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is indicating that freshman Republican congressman Tom Cotton of Arkansas is on the group's radar. From Politico's Alexander Burns:

DSCC call slams Tom Cotton -- not an announced Senate candidate -- for supporting Ryan-style budget

I doubt John Boehner has read much feminist theory, but it’s never too late for him to start. He and other GOP leaders, not to mention the Republicans who want to run for president in 2016, might want to familiarize themselves with the concept of the double bind. They are in the middle of one, and it will be difficult for them to escape.

Louisiana’s showing up a lot on cable TV these days. There’s the History Channel’s Swamp People, a hit series documenting the lives of Cajun alligator hunters in the swamps of coastal Louisiana. Over on A&E, you can watch Duck Dynasty, which features a self-professed family of rednecks who turned their northeast Louisiana-based duck call business into a multi-million dollar company. Tune into Country Music Television to catch one of three Louisiana-themed shows: Bayou Billionaires, My Big Redneck Vacation, and CMT’s newest program, Swamp Pawn, which is not to be confused with History’s Cajun Pawn Stars, a creole-flavored spinoff of the popular parent series. Sons of Guns, filmed in Baton Rouge, is the Discovery Channel’s second Louisiana show after the now-cancelled Ragin Cajuns. And this spring, A&E has a new reality series, The Governor’s Wife, which focuses on the third (much younger) wife of Louisiana’s 85-year-old convicted ex-governor Edwin Edwards.

Democratic representative Bruce Braley is running for the Iowa Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Harkin, but he might want to learn how the upper body functions first. In an interview on a local news station, Braley was asked about why the Senate has not passed a budget in nearly four years.

"How is that possible? One word," Braley replied. "The filibuster."

Nebraska senator Mike Johanns, a Republican elected in 2008, will not seek reelection in 2014. Kasie Hunt of NBC News has the scoop:

Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns has informed Republicans in his home state that he will retire at the end of his current Senate term, GOP sources tell NBC News.

“I have some discomfort with all Republican primaries because they’re all family squabbles,” said Tom Price, the 58-year-old Republican House member from north of Atlanta. “My brother and I used to fight almost daily,” Price, the middle child among five brothers and sisters, said. “My mom’s only prayer was, ‘Don’t hurt each other.’”