House

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.

Three of Kentucky's four Republican U.S. Reps joined sixty-seven of their colleagues by signing a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asking her to work to allow floor votes on legislation they say would lower gas prices.

U.S. Reps Hal Rogers (R-Somerset), Geoff Davis (R-Ft. Mitchell), and Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) all signed the letter which calls for votes on bills that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the outer continental shelf, among other policies.

"Kentuckians know that in order to bring down record high fuel costs, we need to increase our domestic energy production," Whitfield said in a statement. "Yet, leaders in the House of Representatives continue to block consideration of any sensible, productive legislation that would aid American consumers trying to fill up their tanks this summer. The time for action is now."

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.

While some national political analysts seem to be taking longer looks at Kentucky's U.S. Senate race between incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville), others are speculating another potentially competitive race in the Commonwealth may be done before it has really started.

In an article posted on Roll Call today, political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District race "is over," unless state Senator David Boswell's (D-Owensboro) effort receives a major financial boost.

"Kentucky 2nd district hopeful David Boswell was promoted by some Democrats as a strong contender for retiring Rep. Ron Lewis' (R) open seat. Yes, said Democrats about the Owensboro-Bowling Green district, it's conservative, but the Democratic state Senator is a good fit for it," wrote Rothenberg today. "Well, Boswell's June 30 cash-on-hand total of $45,000 should end that talk. Republican nominee Brett Guthrie's $661,000 in the bank means that, barring a total turnaround of finances, this race is over."

U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ft. Mitchell): Getty Images Photo A recent poll conducted on Kentucky's 4th Congressional District race showed numbers very similar to the results from election night in 2006. In a late-June SurveyUSA poll, incumbent U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ft. Mitchell) was shown leading his Democratic opponent, physician Michael Kelley of Lagrange, 54 to 41 percent among 550 likely voters.

Similarly, Davis was re-elected to the 4th District seat in 2006 by only a slightly slimmer margin, 52 to 43 percent.

The difference this year is that Davis faces a much lower-profile candidate than in 2006, when he beat former 4th District U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas (D-Richwood) in a campaign that cost the two candidates over $5 million.

For Kelley and his supporters, the new poll numbers are encouraging given their similarities to 2006 - and the fact that Kelley has spent almost nothing in the race.

"It's a lot smaller gap than most people would have believed possible," Kelley told PolitickerKY.com.

The race in the 3rd Congressional District yields a pair of Winners & Losers this week, and Gov. Steve Beshear's stock took a hit after a bone-headed appointment. Find out who's up and who's down this week. | CLICK HERE

After funding requested by U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) for a new Veteran's Administration hospital was approved in a Senate subcommitee today, Yarmuth praised an unlikely ally on the other side of the aisle -Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

"This is great news," said Yarmuth in a statement. "I was happy to have secured funding in the House for a new VA hospital in Louisville, and with the Senate now on board, we can confidently say that Louisville's veterans will have a new, state-of-the-art hospital very soon. I thank Senator McConnell for working with me to make sure that the veterans in our community get the care and treatment they deserve."

$75 million in funding for a hospital in Louisville - hometown to both Yarmuth and McConnell - was approved by the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, upon which McConnell sits.

Yarmuth had initially secured $45 million for the project in the House, but the amount passed by the Senate was raised to "maximum the VA can obligate in 2009," according to a release from McConnell's Senate office.

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