The Senate is in recess, but Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) is in Washington working with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis) on a budget deal.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a field hearing in Apache Junction, Arizona on Friday to determine the effect of the Obama administration's broken promise on people retaining their health insurance plans.
An Update on Female Congressional Candidates:
NFRW will be keeping tabs on the women who are running for Congress in 2014. Below are some highlights:
Arizona: Martha McSally, District 2. Martha is an Air Force veteran who ran for Congress and lost in 2012 to Rep. Ron Barber by less than a percentage point. This is Rep. Gabby Gifford's previous seat. Martha will likely win the Republican primary on August 26, 2014 and has a decent chance of snatching the seat from Barber considering how close she came last time.
Arizona: Wendy Rogers, District 9. This district tends Democratic and Wendy will be fighting Democrat incumbent Kyrsten Sinema if she wins the primary. To do this, Wendy would have to win the primary over Vernon Parker, who was the 2012 Republican nominee for Congress in Arizona 9. Former NFL quarterback Andrew Walter is also a contender in the Republican primary.
California: Elizabeth Emken, District 7. Elizabeth is campaigning against Democrat incumbent Ami Bera. Before Bera won this seat in 2012, Republican Congressman Dan Lungren represented this district. Emken is an underdog in a contested primary against former Republican Congressman Doug Ose, and the former Chief of Staff for Rep. Tom McClintock, Igor Birman.
California: Mimi Walters, District 45. Mimi is the front-runner in this race and a current state senator. She has personal wealth and name recognition--she ran for state treasurer a few years ago. Despite these advantages, she may come under scrutiny for an apparent flip-flop on raising taxes.
Georgia: Donna Sheldon, District 10. In the Republican primary, Donna is racing against Jody Hice, a socially conservative Baptist preacher. Donna is seen as the establishment choice.
Georgia: Tricia Pridemore, District 11. Tricia recently lost a race for state party chair, but she enjoys a close relationship with Governor Deal. The runoff to the Republican primary for this seat is where most people are anticipating a fight between Tricia and Bob Barr.
Illinois: Darlene Senger, District 11. Darlene is the likely Republican front-runner in the primary. District 11 is heavily populated with minority communities.
Minnesota: Rhonda Sivarajah, District 6. This is Rep. Bachmann's seat, and the field is crowded to replace her. Tom Emmer, a Republican who won the GOP nomination in the Governor's race, will be Rhonda's top rival in the primary.
New York: Nan Hayworth, District 18. So far former Rep. Hayworth is unchallenged by another Republican for a primary. This district has changed parties three times in the past four elections.
New York: Elise Stefanik, District 21. Elise is a Bush administration alumnus who worked on economic policy, and is Harvard educated.
West Virginia: Charlotte Lane, District 2. Charlotte is running in a crowded GOP field for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's seat (Capito is running for Sen. Rockefeller's empty Senate seat). It is difficult to tell right now who will emerge the winner in the Republican primary for district 2.
Utah: Mia Love, District 4. So far Mia is the only Republican challenging Rep. Matheson for this seat. Mia lost in 2012 by 768 votes, and Matheson won even though Romney took the district with 65% of the vote.
This is not an exhaustive list. Information on these races came from the Cook Political Report.
Budget Deal Deadline Looming
Yesterday, December 2, was the date by which appropriators wanted a budget deal number from the budget panel headed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis). No budget number has been agreed upon, although ◼ Politico reported that Sen. Murray proposed $1.058 trillion in spending while Rep. Ryan proposed $967 billion in spending for next year. The budget panel is heading for a December 13th deadline to come up with a budget agreement. As ◼ The Hill reported, appropriators wanted a budget deal number yesterday, however, so that an omnibus bill with 12 parts could be written and voted on before January 16.
In the event that a budget proposal does not emerge from the budget panel, The Hill reports that House Speaker Boehner is "prepared to pass a bill next week that would fund the government past Jan. 15 at $967 billion if no deal is reached between Murray and Ryan."
◼ National Federation of Republican Women
