Since 2011

Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief

wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com ● wakeuptopolitics.com ● @WakeUp2Politics

THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL

Election Central

Senate First Quarter Fundraising: Vulnerable Dems Down, Democratic

Recruits Up Fundraising numbers from the first quarter are in, but what do

they mean in the race to control the Senate?

In the staging of war – approximately the same thing as a Senate race

(there’s a reason military efforts are called “campaigns”) – a war chest is

very important. When running for U.S. Senate, even at this early(ish) stage

in the election season, you are only as viable as your dollars are deep – so

what do we know from first quarter fundraising? Pretty much what we knew

the day before:

Democrats are in trouble. Especially quite a few Democratic incumbents.

Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) was outraised by his likely Republican opponent,

former state attorney general Dan Sullivan, $1 million to $1.3 million. And

Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor was outraised once again by his GOP

challenger, Congressman Tom Cotton, $1.2 million to $1.4 million. Begich

and Pryor are widely seen as two of the most vulnerable Democrats in the

Senate, and these fundraising reports spell good news for Republicans as we

inch towards Election Day.

Other Democratic Senate candidates, however, did pretty well. Prime

recruits for the party, such as Georgian Michelle Nunn and Natalie Tenant of

West Virginia, had fairly good quarters. Nunn’s intake of $2.4 million gave

her a lead on all three of her possible Republican opponents, and Tenant

found herself within $17,000 of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito – who still

remains the frontrunner in the race.

And then, of course, there’s Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergran

Grimes, whose report showed her raising more than $2.7 million, compared

to the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, who hauled in $2.4

million. But don’t be fooled: Grimes still has an uphill climb to unseating

McConnell, who still has twice as much cash in the bank as Grimes, despite

a weak first quarter.

Question of the Day

Yesterday’s Answer Tuesday was, I’m sure, your favorite day of the year:

Tax Day, embedded in many heads as April 15. But it wasn’t always that

way.

After passing the 16th Amendment, establishing the income tax, Congress

designated March 1, 1914 as the first Tax Day. The deadline would be

pushed back once more, to March 15 in 1918, before becoming April 15 in

1955. Officially, the IRS moved to the April date to “spread the workload”

of employees, although many have guessed it was so the government had

more time to pay refunds.

GREAT JOB to three regulars at Wake Up To Politics trivia answers: Joe

Bookman, Marlee Millman, and Rick Isserman!

Sorry for the shorter Wake Ups the past few days – much like April

15, Passover Seders are taxing!