State by State

National

The Republican National Committee (RNC) said Thursday that it will report $31 million cash on hand through the end of March in its next filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The RNC and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) last filed with the FEC in March, when the RNC reported $25 million cash on hand to the DNC’s $4.8 million, an advantage of over $20.2 million for the RNC.

{mosads}According to those reports, the RNC outraised the DNC $10.3 million to $6 million in February.

The RNC said it has raised more than $36 million this year, and an RNC official said its March take was more than $14.6 million.

DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton said the DNC’s cash on hand at the end of March was about $5 million.

— Chris Good

Idaho

Former Senate candidate Walt Minnick was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) Red to Blue program Thursday, signifying Democrats’ growing confidence that they can compete in freshman Rep. Bill Sali’s (R) ruby red district.

Democrat Larry Grant, who fell to Sali by five points in 2006, dropped out of the race last week. His exit paved the way for Minnick, who had raised much more money than Grant and outraised Sali.

Minnick has raised $640,000 this cycle and had $330,000 on hand at the end of March, while Sali has raised $430,000 and has banked $120,000.

Minnick was the second Democrat in as many days added to Red to Blue after becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

In Minnesota, Iraq veteran Ashwin Madia saw his top opponent drop out of the race after Madia won the party’s endorsement over the weekend. He was added to the program Wednesday.

— Aaron Blake

New York

Iraq veteran Jon Powers (D) will reimburse his campaign for expenses he charged it for renting part of his house, an apparent violation of Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules.

An FEC candidate guide says a campaign “may not pay for mortgage, rent or utilities for the personal residence of the candidate or the candidate’s family even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign.”

Powers’s financial reports show four separate payments of $500 to the candidate between October and January for “office rental reimbursement.” Campaign Manager John Gerken said the campaign was operating “in good faith” and that fair market value was charged.

“To ensure that he and the campaign are in full compliance with federal election laws, Jon has decided to immediately reimburse the campaign for this expense,” Gerken said. “This reimbursement will be reflected in our June FEC filing, and the campaign believes this concludes the matter.”

Powers is facing wealthy businessman Jack Davis and attorney Alice Kryzan in the Democratic primary for retiring Rep. Tom Reynolds’s (R) seat.

— A.B.

Oregon

A spokesman for state Rep. Jeff Merkley (D) on Thursday backed off his boss’s blog comments advocating independence for Tibet.

Writing on a pro-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) blog on Wednesday, the Senate candidate appeared to advocate independence for Tibet, which is seen as an affront in China.

“It is incumbent on the international community to do all they can to stand with the people of Tibet for their independence and freedom,” Merkley said on the blog.

Spokesman Matt Canter said Thursday that Merkley agrees with the Dalai Lama’s “vision for Tibetan independence” but not a completely separate state.

But the Dalai Lama has made it clear that he wants autonomy within China for Tibet, not independence, which he has termed “out of the question.”

The Merkley campaign did not provide examples of the Dalai Lama referring to his current vision for the region as “independence.”

Portland includes a large Tibetan community. Merkley brought up the situation in Tibet during a debate Tuesday.

“Jeff shares the view of the Dalai Lama that Tibetans should be able to determine their own destiny,” Canter said. “He took the opportunity in both the live debate and in the blog conversation to pledge his support for the Tibetan people and their freedom and urged other leaders to do the same.”

Tibet is a hot-button issue during the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but politicians generally don’t make it a campaign issue.

Merkley faces a tough primary with activist Steve Novick for the right to face Sen. Gordon Smith (R) in November.

— A.B.

Maryland

A top aide to Rep. Wayne Gilchrest’s (R) campaign has jumped to Democrat Frank Kratovil’s campaign in an effort to defeat state Sen. Andy Harris (R) in November’s general election.

Harris defeated Gilchrest in a primary in February in a race that left many hard feelings. His campaign and finance director, Lynn Caligiuri, will now take over Kratovil’s finance operation.

Caligiuri is the wife of Gilchrest’s longtime chief of staff, Tony Caligiuri.

“Obviously, many of us were disappointed in the Republican primary results, but we now have an opportunity to send someone to Washington to continue to represent our values and end the partisan attacks and divisiveness that has rendered Congress ineffective and unresponsive,” Lynn Caligiuri said. “Frank Kratovil is the right choice.”

— A.B.