Anne Northup

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) race for the 3rd Congressional District is still the only U.S. House campaign in Kentucky on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's list for targeted television ad buys, even after the list was expanded by 20 in recent days.

Yarmuth's re-election effort against former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) was included in the DCCC's initial target list of 31 races, for which the organization aims to buy ad time in September and October. The DCCC reportedly allocated $659,000 for ad buys in the 3rd District.

The liberal news outlet Talking Points Memo reported yesterday that the DCCC had expanded their list to include 20 more races, but none of the additions are in Kentucky.

According to reports, the DCCC has now allocated a total of $53 million towards ad buys for the 51 targeted races.

A new public poll of Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District race shows former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) digging into U.S. Rep John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) advantage. While an early June poll gave Yarmuth a seventeen point cushion in the race, the newest numbers from SurveyUSA/WHAS find the incumbent's lead cut to ten points.

Yarmuth leads 53 to 43 percent over Northup among 621 "likely voters" according to the poll conducted from July 18 to July 20. Three percent of respondents indicated they were "undecided."

The margin of error on the new poll is plus or minus four percent.

Northup's numbers have boosted upwards since a poll conducted from June 6 to June 8 found her down to Yarmuth, 57 to 40 percent. Three percent were "undecided" then as well.

U.S. Rep. John YarmuthConservative advocacy group Freedom's Watch is targeting U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) with another round of robocalls, targeting the freshman incumbent on gas prices yet again.

"In the short time he’s been in Congress, John Yarmuth opposed efforts to increase domestic production 18 times," say the pre-recorded calls. "That's right, John Yarmuth sided with Nancy Pelosi and liberals in Congress instead of us 18 times."

This is the third burst of calls against Yarmuth, who is facing former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) in Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District in a rematch of the 2006 election, when Yarmuth unseated Northup.

The political picture in Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District will likely be getting a bit more complex in the coming days, as a still-anonymous Libertarian candidate is expected to enter the campaign fray as early as Friday.

As reported by PolitickerKY.com in late June, the candidate has been collecting signatures in the district to gain ballot access, per state election law.

Today, Party chair Ken Moellman said the candidate had secured the requisite 400 signatures to gain ballot access in the district and would announce his campaign via press release very soon.

Earlier, Moellman indicated the candidate asked that his name not be disclosed until the announcement. Aside from the hint of the candidate's gender ("him"), Moellman notes he is a business owner in the community.

As today's filing deadline for the second fundraising quarter passes, PolitickerKY.com has provided updates as numbers from candidates across the state become available. Below are links to our complete coverage, arranged by races.

US Senate:

Lunsford brings in $600K; $1.3M on hand

$3 million quarter and $9 million on hand for McConnell 

KY-1:

Whitfield stays over $1 million into 3Q

KY-2:

Drastically different financial pictures in KY-2 as Guthrie holds large cash-on-hand advantage 

U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) will enter the third fundraising quarter of 2008 with an advantage in cash-on-hand over his opponent, former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville). Yarmuth's campaign announced today its candidate has just over $1 million on-hand, compared to Northup's $819,000.

Northup, however, outraised the freshman Rep. in the second quarter, collecting $625,000 to Yarmuth's $363,000.

The fundraising race in Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District remains relatively close between the candidates, with each topping a total of a million dollars raised for the total election cycle.

Northup, who entered the campaign in late January, has accumulated over $1.1 million in funds since then. Yarmuth raised over $1.4 million through this entire cycle.

The campaign of former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) will report it raised $625,000 in the second fundraising quarter of 2008 to end the period with $819,000 on hand, according to a spokesman for the campaign.

Since Northup jumped in the 3rd Congressional District race in January, she has raised a total of $1.1 million.

Her campaign has been bolstered by out-of-state fundraising help on at least one occasion, when GOPAC chairman and former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele appeared in Louisville at an event on her behalf.

U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) launched a new website today emphasizing the use of social networking media to inform and connect supporters and potential voters.

Located at yarmuthforcongress.com, the updated site includes now-political standard links to the candidate's profiles and networks on heavily-trafficked social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. In addition, visitors can track the Congressman via a site called "Twitter", which provides frequent, yet brief updates about a subject's daily routine.

For example, Yarmuth's "Twitter" page currently states the freshman U.S. Rep is "in D.C." Earlier updates tell visitors Yarmuth was "on the House floor" or "at the PGA charity golf event."

State Sen. Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green) has jumped on the air with a new radio ad blasting so-called “brain dead politics” as a contributor to high gas prices in the United States.

The candidate for the open 2nd Congressional District is up “across the district” with the ad, according to a campaign release.

During the ad – which clocks in at over a minute long – Guthrie targets “Washington” for failing to solve the gas price issue.

(Listen to the ad here, on Guthrie's campaign web site)

U.S. Rep John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) first re-election bid may be helped by television ad buys funded the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Associated Press is reporting.

The AP has obtained a list of 31 races being targeted by the DCCC, where a total of $35 million in advertising time in September and October has been reserved.

Yarmuth's bid to win a rematch against the woman he unseated in 2006 - former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) - is included among the races of incumbents the DCCC appears most interested in protecting.

Yarmuth was initially on the DCCC's initial list of 90 seats targeted for pick-up or defense.