The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing new Spanish-language radio ads criticizing House Republicans for voting to deport qualified children of undocumented immigrants.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is hitting GOP candidates on paycheck fairness in releases set to go out today in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. In one release targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), DSCC spokeswoman Regan Page says:  "You would think equal pay for equal work would be a no brainer but that’s clearly not the case for Republicans like Mitch McConnell...Equal pay is not just about fairness and equality for women, it also has a serious consequences for the Kentucky economy." Similar releases will also hit candidates and potential candidates in other top Senate races, including Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), North Carolina state House Speaker Thom Tillis, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). 

ILLINOIS: Former Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley has launched an exploratory committee to run for governor. Another Obama ex-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is mayor of Chicago. Daley comes from a famous Illinois political family.

MASSACHUSETTS: “Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey are gearing up for their second debate as President Barack Obama prepares to visit Massachusetts to whip up support for Markey in Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election,” the AP writes. “The one-hour Springfield debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the studios of WGBY-TV and will be broadcast live. It’s expected to include questions important to the western part of the state.”

NEW JERSEY: “Now the speculation ends and the race begins,” the Star-Ledger reports. “Six candidates — four Democrats and two Republicans — Monday officially filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg.”

The two Republicans running: Dr. Alieta Eck and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, who is seen as “the lone major Republican candidate.”

There’s “a growing list of Democrats who have endorsed Christie instead of state Sen. Barbara Buono,” the Star-Ledger writes.

VIRGINIA: Beth Reinhard: “Business leaders in Virginia aren't thrilled with their choices for governor, but Democrat Terry McAuliffe is beginning to capitalize on their dissatisfaction with the deeply conservative tenor of the Republican ticket. McAuliffe has raised substantially more money than Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli from nearly every business sector except for the energy industry, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Virginia Public Access Project. A handful of McDonnell's top donors in the business world are still on the sidelines or have donated to McAuliffe.”

Three debates worth having regarding the leaked NSA story -- and the leaker… Obama on the programs on Friday: “They help us prevent terrorist attacks”… Clapper: “Transparency has a doubled-edged sword”… Rand Paul’s libertarianism becomes mainstream?... Getting 60 Senate votes for the immigration bill is relatively easy… But getting 70 is more difficult… The current conflict: More border security vs. not undermining the path to citizenship… McCain on closing Gitmo… And Democratic field for NJ SEN is getting crowded.

Handout / Reuters

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is seen in this still image taken from a video during an interview with the Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong June 6, 2013.

*** Three debates worth having: The story that’s once again dominating Washington and the political conversation is the leak of the secret National Security Agency programs, especially now that the leaker -- Edward Snowden, 29 -- has come forward and revealed himself. But the odds are that the political conversation will turn to another story later this week: immigration, as the reform legislation begins its long march toward a vote in the Senate. But we’ll start with the NSA story… There are three debates now taking place. One, is Snowden a hero who exposed this secret program, or a criminal who revealed classified secrets (and is now hiding in Hong Kong)? Two, what exactly should be classified? The intelligence community, more or less, shrugged its shoulders at the release of the phone-records story; after all, USA Today had reported on it back in 2006. But it’s apoplectic about the disclosure of the PRISM program (which gathers foreign intelligence through information from electronic sources, including major Internet companies). And three, why is much of our national security infrastructure being outsourced to private companies? As the New York Times writes, “Edward J. Snowden’s employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, has become one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the United States almost exclusively by serving a single client: the government of the United States. Over the last decade, much of the company’s growth has come from selling expertise, technology and manpower to the National Security Agency and other federal intelligence agencies.” If something is so important and classified, then why is it outsourced?

*** Obama on the programs: “They help us prevent terrorist attacks”: Answering a reporter’s question on Friday, President Obama came across as sympathetic to having a debate over the NSA program, but he also strongly defended the tactics. “I came in with a healthy skepticism about these programs. My team evaluated them. We scrubbed them thoroughly. We actually expanded some of the oversight, increased some of the safeguards,” he said. “But my assessment and my team’s assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks. And the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers or duration without a name attached and not looking at content — that on, you know, net, it was worth us doing.” And he stressed oversight: “It’s important to understand that your duly elected representatives have been consistently informed on exactly what we’re doing.”

*** Clapper: “Transparency has a double-edged sword”: In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the leaks have been harmful to the United States, and that the NSA has “filed a crimes report” on the matter. “Transparency has a double-edged sword. And that our adversaries -- whether a nation state adversaries or nefarious groups -- benefit from that same transparency.” Also in the interview, Clapper said much of the discussion of the massive phone-records database was hyperbole. “So the notion that we're trolling through everyone's emails and voyeuristically reading them, or listening to everyone's phone calls is on its face absurd. We couldn't do it even if we wanted to. And I assure you, we don't want to.” Clapper also said that at least two terror plots had been foiled by the government surveillance program. But he admitted to NBC’s Mitchell that it could be abused by a different administration. “That's a valid concern, I think. You know, people come and go, presidents come and go, administrations come and go, D.N.I.'s will come and go. But what is, I think-- important about our system is our system of laws, our checks and balances.” But our questions: Who has oversight over the FISA court? And does Congress really have oversight or is there only so much information they receive in briefings?

*** Clapper on allegedly misleading Congress: Yet also in the interview, Clapper didn’t have a good response why he seemed to mislead Congress about the program. “First-- as I said, I have great respect for Senator Wyden. I thought, though in retrospect, I was asked—‘When are you going to start-- stop beating your wife’ kind of question, which is meaning not-- answerable necessarily by a simple yes or no. So I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful manner by saying no.” Clapper went on to say that his answer to Wyden was about the content of the phone conversations, not simply archiving the phone records. Clapper is VERY popular inside the Obama administration, but no one will ever mistake him for a good communicator.

*** Rand Paul’s libertarianism becomes mainstream? Politically, what’s interesting is that Rand Paul’s libertarian positions are becoming more and more mainstream. The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: “Give Sen. Rand Paul this: He very rarely misses a political pitch slung his way. The latest evidence is Paul’s (R-Ky.) plan to launch a class action lawsuit against the government for the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records and monitoring of Internet data. “If we get 10 million Americans saying we don’t want our phone records looked at, then somebody will wake up and say things will change in Washington,” Paul argued during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” The question, however, is whether Paul’s positions are mainstream inside the Republican Party.

*** Getting 60 votes for the immigration bill is easy… : As we mentioned above, the issue that’s likely to dominate the rest of the week is immigration, with the Senate holding a cloture vote (requiring 60 votes) on the motion to proceed on the “Gang of Eight” legislation at 2:15 pm ET on Tuesday. And here’s something to keep in mind: There are AT LEAST 60 votes for the bill, especially after Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) announced she was supporting it. According to our math, you take all 54 Democratic votes, add the four GOP “Gang of Eight” members (Flake, Graham, McCain, Rubio), add Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) who voted for the measure out of committee, and then add Ayotte. That’s 60 votes, and we’re not even counting likely “yes” votes from folks like Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), or Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). But the name of the game has never been about getting just 60 votes; it’s been about getting close to 70. And we can list at least five other GOP senators who MIGHT vote the legislation: Roy Blunt (R-MO), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mike Johanns (R-NE), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

*** Getting 70 is a bit more difficult: But it’s not going to be easy. One of the reasons that immigration reform has been politically possible is that BOTH parties have had an incentive to pass reform -- Democrats want to follow through on a campaign promise, while Republicans want to improve their standing with Latino voters. Yet immigration reform supporters are now biting their fingernails because those incentives are beginning to fray a bit, particularly when it comes to the issue of additional border security. More and more Republicans are arguing that the legislation is flawed and that passing a bill won’t solve their problems with Latinos. Meanwhile, Democrats say they won’t back watered-down legislation that makes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants virtually unattainable.

*** More border security vs. not undermining the path to citizenship: NBC’s Carrie Dann sums up this conflict: “All eyes this week will be -- again -- on Marco Rubio, who's indicated he'll need more stringent border security amendments included to support the bill -- and bring more conservative votes with him. But measures he's publicly backed (like the inclusion of "triggers" proposed by Texas Sen. John Cornyn and the shifting of more plan-making authority to Congress) are non-starters with Democratic leaders on the legislation. In an interview with Univision, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the Cornyn amendment a "poison pill" and said he won't accept "big changes" to the bill on the floor. “I mean, we have a senator from Texas, Senator Cornyn who wants to change border security, a trigger, saying that it has to be a 100% border security, or they’ll be no bill. That’s a poison pill. If people have suggestions like they did in the judiciary committee to change the bill a little bit, I’ll be happy to take a look at that. But we’re not going to have big changes in this legislation." The Washington Post’s Sargent also reports that Democrats see the Cornyn amendment as too onerous and therefore unacceptable to them.

*** McCain on closing Gitmo: Also over the weekend, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said “there is increasing public support for closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and moving detainees to a facility on the U.S. mainland,” Reuters writes. “‘There's renewed impetus. And I think that most Americans are more ready,’ McCain, who went to Guantanamo last week with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, told CNN's ‘State of the Union’ program.” More: “Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday there is increasing public support for closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and moving detainees to a facility on the U.S. mainland. ‘There's renewed impetus. And I think that most Americans are more ready,’ McCain, who went to Guantanamo last week with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, told CNN's "State of the Union" program.”

*** Three’s Company? As expected, the Democratic primary for special Senate election in New Jersey is beginning to get crowded. After Newark Mayor Cory Booker officially announced his Senate bid on Saturday, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) followed suit a day later. “U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone said Sunday that he’s officially in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Frank Lautenberg and can win the Democratic primary against better-known Newark Mayor Cory Booker by running on his progressive congressional record,” the AP says. “Pallone, (D-6th Dist.) planned to hold a news conference Monday announcing his intentions. He spoke exclusively to The Associated Press on Sunday night.” Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) is the third Democrat to announce his candidacy, and there could be a fourth. “Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) told fellow Democrats at a meeting Sunday night she was planning to run. Her boss, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, was in Booker’s cheering section at his campaign kickoff in Newark.”

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Joe Biden will speak at the Virginia Jefferson-Jackson dinner June 29. It’s yet another speech at a fundraising event in an early state. He spoke in Michigan April 20^th and South Carolina May 3^rd.

MASSACHUSETTS: Ed Markey (D) and Gabriel Gomez (R) debate Tuesday in Springfield, Mass. Their final debate will be June 18, a week before the June 25^th special election.

Former Gov. Paul Cellucci died Saturday of ALS. He was 65.

NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker made it official Saturday and jumped into the Senate special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Ex-Sen. Bill Bradley introduced Booker.

But Democrats don’t plan to make his life easy. Buzzfeed: “New Jersey Democrats involved in and following the race to fill the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg say the Newark mayor is the clear favorite, but that his opponents will work to expose a number of weak points in his narrative to take down the national political celebrity.”

(But here’s the thing: They have ONLY two months to do this, given that the Dem primary will take place in August.)

Star Ledger: “Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) [Sunday night] became the fourth major Democrat to throw herself into the race for U.S. Senate.”

VIRGINIA: The investigation into Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) expands. “A Virginia state delegate has confirmed that he’s been called to appear next month as a witness before a federal grand jury as part of an investigation related to Gov. Robert F. McDonnell,” The Washington Post reports. 

ARIZONA: Coming around… “Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has become an unlikely warrior for Obamacare,” Politico writes. “Brewer is a conservative Republican who sued to topple the health law, refused to set up a health insurance exchange and memorably wagged her finger at President Barack Obama on a Phoenix airport tarmac. But now she’s so determined to put the Obamacare Medicaid expansion in place in her state that she’s vetoing any legislation that reaches her desk until the Republican Legislature caves. … It’s a posture that’s confounding conservatives who once embraced her for signing a toughest-in-the-nation crackdown on illegal immigrants and for defying the Obama White House. Brewer says it’s been quite the firestorm, but she insists that expansion saves money and saves lives — and that everybody would realize that if they weren’t so ‘hung up on the fact’ that it was part of Obama’s health law.”

FLORIDA: Beth Reinhard: “Risking a Hispanic backlash in favor of his conservative base, Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday rebuked President Obama's immigration policy by vetoing a bill intended to help children of illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses. The governor’s action is largely symbolic since the state already provides driving permits to young people whose deportation has been deferred by the Obama administration. The bill quietly sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature without the governor’s office raising any objections, sponsors said.”

More: “The last-minute block and tackle suggests Scott’s sensitivity toward conservative activists, who were aghast when the onetime crusader against Obama’s health care law embraced in February the administration’s proposed expansion of Medicaid.” 

MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Globe: “Democrat Edward Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez clashed in their first debate in Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election Wednesday, sparring on abortion, national security and gun issues. A recurring theme of the one-hour matchup at the WBZ-TV studios was Gomez’s claim that Markey is representative of old-style Washington politics while Markey suggested that Gomez would be another Republican vote for gridlock in Congress.”

The Globe’s Jim O’Sullivan details the awkwardness of both candidates in last night’s debate: “Neither Gomez nor Markey demonstrated himself as a forceful, effective debater, in line with expectations for many who observed the Republican and Democratic primary debates.” 

Gomez is out with a new ad, a positive bio piece, labeling him a “new kind of Republican.” Rudy Giuliani is stumping with Gomez today and they’re visiting the Boston marathon bombing site. Markey’s going across the country to raise money in Beverly Hills.

VIRGINIA: National Journal: “Can a white, wealthy political operative and businessman emulate President Obama's historic success at turning out voters who don't regularly participate in elections? Terry McAuliffe is betting on it. Even the most optimistic Democrat knows that for McAuliffe, ginning up turnout to presidential levels in an off-year election is near impossible. Behind the scenes, however, the Democratic frontrunner has been trying to build an Obama-style, technologically savvy, grassroots campaign to crank out voters who helped the president carry the state twice but don't normally vote in gubernatorial elections.”

And then there’s this… In a 2008 book by E.W. Jackson, per Politico and first posted by National Review, he said yoga leads to Satan and said “most people are dead spirits.”

“When one hears the word meditation, it conjures an image of Maharishi Yoga talking about finding a mantra and striving for nirvana. … The purpose of such meditation is to empty oneself. … [Satan] is happy to invade the empty vacuum of your soul and possess it. That is why people serve Satan without ever knowing it or deciding to, but no one can be a child of God without making a decision to surrender to him. Beware of systems of spirituality which tell you to empty yourself. You will end up filled with something you probably do not want.” …

“[M]ost people are dead spirits. As such they have the nature of Satan who does not want to have anything to do with God or anyone related to Him. Of course they are not aware that they are imbued with the nature of Satan. They would be mortified by the idea of becoming Satanists or devil worshippers. Satan benefits far more from people who do not know they serve him than from those who knowingly bow to him. Your spirit was made for attachment. It is either attached to God or to Satan, but it is not neutral, no matter how much people think themselves to be.”

NBC/WSJ poll shows Obama has absorbed the punch from the trio of controversies… But it also contains warning signs for him -- he can’t afford any more punches… What’s keeping his overall numbers steady… Good news, bad news on the economy… Down on American institutions… On Chris Christie, bipartisanship, and that NJ special election… Obama to tap Susan Rice as national security adviser… And Mr. Smith does go to Washington.

*** Warning signs for Obama: One of Barack Obama’s best attributes as a politician has been his ability to take a punch -- or several. Think of Jeremiah Wright and the Hillary-McCain tag team during the spring of ’08. Or the debt-ceiling debacle in the summer of ‘11. Or the reaction to the president’s first debate in the ’12 race. According to our new NBC/WSJ poll, President Obama has absorbed the political punch from the trio of controversies (IRS/Benghazi/leak investigations) that have hit his administration in the last few weeks. His overall job-approval rating stands at 48%, up 1 point since April, and his fav/unfav rating is at 47%-40%, which is essentially unchanged since that last poll. But there are also warning signs that he’s gone a bit wobbly from the punch and can’t afford any more missteps; that job rating is not as strong or steady as it looks when you lift the hood. For example, Obama’s numbers among independent respondents have declined -- just 28% approve of his job, which is down from 41% in February and 37% in April. What’s more, he’s also seen an erosion in his numbers on presidential qualities (like being a strong leader, being honest and straightforward, and changing business as usual in Washington), although they’re above where they were after the debt-ceiling fight in 2011. The president’s ability to push Congress publicly to get some of his agenda passed will be curtailed if he can’t improve those numbers with political independents. 

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama walks across the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, June 4, 2013

*** What’s keeping his numbers steady: However, two things have appeared to keep his overall numbers steady. One, his base is still with him: 88% of African Americans, 63% of Latinos, 57% of 18 to 34 year olds, and 52% of women approve of his job. Two, most Americans don’t DIRECTLY fault the president for the controversies. Just 41% hold Obama “totally” or “mainly” responsible for the Benghazi attack; 37% say the same of his culpability in the Justice Department’s subpoena of reporters’ phone records; and only 33% directly blame him for the IRS’s targeting of conservative-sounding groups. And there’s a partisan divide to these numbers: Fewer than one-quarter of Democrats hold Obama directly responsible for these three controversies, versus a majority of Republicans who do so -- including 68% for the Benghazi attack. That said, 50% of Americans -- including half of independents -- believe that Republicans in Congress are justified in their investigations into the Obama administration; 42% disagree, arguing that GOP inquiries are simply partisan attacks. For the most part, hard-core supporters and opponents of the president are viewing the controversies through their own political beliefs.

*** Good news, bad news on the economy: The NBC/WSJ poll also contains some brighter news for the administration when it comes to the economy. While only 36% say they’re satisfied with the state of the U.S. economy, that’s the highest number on this question since 2006. What’s more, the percentage believing the United States is still mired in an economic recession is at its lowest level since Obama became president. (Technically, the recession ended in 2009.) But if the public has a slightly brighter outlook about the economy, it doesn’t appear to be giving Obama any credit. Just 33% say they are either “extremely” or “quite” confident that the president has the right set of goals and policies to improve the economy. What’s more, nearly seven-in-10 respondents say that the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting new highs is an indication that corporations and the wealthy are doing better -- but not the economy overall. By the way, it’s worth nothing that, for the 42^nd straight survey, more folks tell us the country is headed in the WRONG direction than those who believe the country is on the RIGHT track.  

*** Down on American institutions: And the public continues to sour on many of America’s largest institutions. A combined 67% have either a “great deal” or “quite of bit” of confidence in the U.S. military, which is currently under fire for allegations of sexual assault against females. But that percentage is down from 76% in May 2012. In addition, 29% have a lot of confidence in the automobile industry (up 1 point from May 2012); just 17% have confidence in the federal government (up 1 point); only 16% have confidence in the national news media (up 1 point); and 12% have confidence in large corporations (down five points from May ’12). And just 10% of the public has confidence in the IRS.

*** On Chris Christie, bipartisanship, and that NJ special election: Given this pessimism about American institutions and the government itself, here is perhaps the most striking finding from the entire poll: Bipartisanship does get rewarded. Per the poll, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie enjoys nearly equal appeal among Democrats, Republicans and even independents: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: 40% of Republicans, 41% of indies, and 43% of Democrats say they view the Republican governor in a positive light. By comparison, 84% of Democrats in the same poll view Obama favorably, versus just 11% of Republicans who do. Even Hillary Clinton is seen as a polarizing figure -- 83% of Democrats view her positively, compared with just 15% of Republicans. The potential warning sign for Christie and 2016, however, is that Republicans view someone like Jeb Bush more favorably (48%-7%) than Christie (40%-16%). As far as yesterday’s news of Christie setting an Oct. 2013 date for the special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the decision angered national Republicans (who wanted the interim Senate pick to remain through 2014) and New Jersey Democrats (who wanted the GOV and SEN contest to be on the same ballot). But it pleased Senate Majority Harry Reid (who likely gets a Democratic senator back after October) and New Jersey Republicans (who want strong coattails from Christie in the Nov. 2013 election). Make no mistake: Christie’s decision yesterday was in the best interest of Chris Christie, and that interest is in having LARGE coattails to win down the ballot in New Jersey.  

*** Obama to tap Susan Rice as national security adviser: At 2:15 pm ET, we’ve learned, President Obama will announce that national security adviser Tom Donilon is stepping down, and that he’s replacing Donilon with UN Ambassador Susan Rice. And NBC’s Peter Alexander reports that Obama will nominate former foreign-policy adviser Samantha Power to be UN ambassador. Obama tapping Rice as national security adviser -- a position that doesn’t need Senate confirmation -- will ruffle some Republicans who will shout, “Benghazi!!!” But those released Benghazi talking-points emails make it clear that Rice wasn’t responsible for crafting them. Also, Rice’s loudest Benghazi critics often forget that she’s closer to John McCain and Lindsey Graham when it comes to the use of American power. And folks, don’t calls this a shakeup: That Donilon was going to step down in the second term and that Rice was going to replace him was perhaps the worst-kept secret in Washington. As for Power, she does face Senate confirmation, but she should have a fairly easy time, as she has quietly been reaching out to key Senate Republicans for months. One thing Power will have to deal with today: Everyone bringing up her infamous “monster” comment about Hillary Clinton during the ‘08 campaign. The two patched things up a long time ago, but the two aren’t exactly close. 

*** Mr. Smith does go to Washington: As expected, Republicans easily triumphed in the contest to fill the congressional seat that ex-Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) vacated. Roll Call: “State Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith won the special election in Missouri’s 8th District on Tuesday night, keeping the conservative territory in GOP hands. Smith defeated state Rep. Steve Hodges, 68 percent to 27 percent.” 

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RNC Chair Reince Priebus tapped Facebook engineer Andy Barkett to be the RNC’s chief technology officer. “I am excited to announce that Andy Barkett will be leading the effort to expand our data and digital capabilities as our chief technology officer,” Priebus said in a statement. “I am confident that with Andy’s experience and our continued efforts to build meaningful relationships with experts in Silicon Valley, we'll see the changes to this part of our operation that we all agree are both important and necessary to winning elections in the future." 

MASSACHUSETTS:  Ed Markey (D) and Gabriel Gomez (R) debate tonight. Markey leads Gomez in a New England College poll 52%-40%. President Obama goes to Boston next Wednesday to raise money for Markey. Markey’s out with a new ad slamming Gomez’s claim to be a “new kind of Republican.” Rubio sent out a fundraising solicitation for Gomez.

MISSOURI: The Kansas City Star: “Republican state Rep. Jason Smith won a special election Tuesday for a vacant congressional seat in southeast Missouri that had been held by the same political family for the past 32 years.” He won 67%-28%.

NEW JERSEY: Rep. Frank Pallone’s (D) getting into the special election to replace Frank Lautenberg. 

Aaron Blake points out that Cory Booker (D) will have to break his pledge to finish out his full term as Newark mayor. Said Booker in a video earlier this year: “Let there be no doubt: I will complete my full second term as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.”

And what does the accelerated election mean? How about this from NJ Politicker: “Petition signatures are due in 15 days.”

NORTH CAROLINA: Per Jessica Taylor, Thom Tillis has hired On Message Inc., for media & polling in his bid for NC SEN.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will cruise to the GOP nomination Tuesday for governor, but the Republican isn’t winning plaudits on either side of the aisle for his controversial decision to hold an October 2013 special election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Christie made clear in his announcement he wasn’t concerned with politics behind his choice to hold a costly race that didn’t coincide with his own November re-election just three weeks later.

But Democrats are immediately zeroing in on his comments about the expensive primary and general election, after the Republican said in his Tuesday press conference he didn’t know how much the non-regularly scheduled election would cost the state -- and he didn’t care.

The cost, as estimated by the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, could be upwards of $24 million, with the primary and general elections each costing nearly $12 million.

“I don’t know what the cost would is, and quite frankly I don’t care,” Christie said. “The cost cannot be measured against the value of having an elected representative in the United States Senate when so many important issues are being debated this year."

Christie is still the heavy favorite for re-election this November against Democrat Barbara Buono, but Democrats now see an opening to criticize the popular Republican, who’s made his tight spending in office a key campaign point, that they didn’t have before.

"Earlier this year, the Governor cited money as to why he vetoed early voting. However, despite costing millions of dollars, Governor Christie made the cynical and arrogant decision to call a special election in October. His choice made it clear that he does not care about wasting taxpayer money,” Buono spokesman David Turner said in a statement. “Moreover, by holding two elections within weeks of each other, the Governor will needlessly disenfranchise voters. He should change his decision and hold the election on November 5."

The Democratic Governors Association also piled on, with Executive Director Colm O’Comartun slamming Christie as ambivalent toward the cost.

"Governor Christie might not know or care how many millions of taxpayer dollars his special election gambit will waste, but the people of New Jersey certainly do,” O’Comartun said. “Christie should do the right thing, protect New Jersey taxpayer dollars instead of his own political career, and hold the Senate election on the same day as his own.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seemed to not get the messaging memo, though, and told reporters he was “happy with” Christie’s decision.

“I have never met Governor Christie," Reid said, "but I have to say that this, what he has done, keeps the people of New Jersey involved in who is going serve them in the Senate. I think that it’s the right thing to do." 

The Senate’s top Democrat added, "An election this year, he could have tried to play around with it and done it in 2014; I think, in this regard, he did the right thing." 

Senate Republicans didn’t publicly rebuke of Christie’s pick, choosing instead to highlight the Democratic discord that’s likely brewing. But they didn’t issue a ringing endorsement of his timeline, either, with the GOP clearly preferring a November 2014 election.

“Governor Christie has always made decisions based upon what he feels is best for New Jersey,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring. “Democrats will now face an ugly primary sprint between Cory Booker, Frank Pallone, and others -- all with substantial war chests and a healthy dislike for each other. Cory Booker did not want to have to wrap this up in two months against two well-funded Democratic opponents."

Senate Democrats actually sounded the happiest with Christie’s decision, pointing to the state’s blue tilt, and gleefully noting the disdain of their GOP counterparts.

“Republicans have not won a Senate race in New Jersey in more than 40 years. Their only shot was an appointee who had a year and a half to establish themselves before an election in 2014,” the DSCC’s Matt Canter said. “With this news I assume operatives at the NRSC are busy planning Christie’s defeat in Iowa and NH right now.”

Hillary Clinton continues to lead the 2016 field. Quinnipiac has her beating Jeb Bush 48%-40%, and Rand Paul 49%-41%. But some of the sheen is already starting to come off Clinton’s favorability rating. She goes from 61%/38% in February to 52% /40% now after the Benghazi hearings and attacks from Republicans. (Her drop off is mostly with Republicans but also with independents.)

And regarding Joe Biden, he loses to both Bush (44%-38%) and Paul (43%-39%). And Biden is a net-negative – 37%/44%. Paul is a net-positive – 32%-24% and Bush is 29%/29%.

Mitt Romney is looking to get back on the national stage: “The former Republican presidential nominee plans to welcome 200 friends and supporters to a three-day summit next week that he will host at a Utah mountain resort. He is considering writing a book and a series of opinion pieces, and has plans to campaign for 2014 candidates. But he is wary of overdoing it." But, he added, “I'm not going to be bothering the airwaves with a constant series of speeches."

ARKANSAS: NBC’s Kasie Hunt reports: Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor - arguably the most endangered Democrat who's up for reelection in 2014 - has started airing TV ads defending himself against attacks from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control group.  It's his first ad of the 2014 cycle - and begins airing today, about 18 months before Election Day. "The mayor of New York City is running ads against me because I opposed President Obama's gun control legislation. Nothing in the Obama plan would have prevented tragedies like Newtown Aurora, Tucson or even Jonesboro," Pryor says in an ad straight to the camera. "I'm Mark Pryor, I approved this message because no one from New York or Washington tells me what to do. I listen to Arkansas," he says.

MASSACHUSETTS: Gabriel Gomez (R) still won’t say if he would have voted for the Blunt Amendment, which would have given employers the option to not pay for their workers’ birth control.

Is Gomez having trouble raising money?

NEW MEXICO: “Jamie Estrada, fired campaign manager to Susana Martinez, was indicted today on computer intrusion and false statement charges,” KOB TV reports. “The charges stem from the interception of emails between Martinez and members of her staff between July 2011 and June 2012.” Martinez said in a statement: “The federal felony indictment today vindicates what I have been saying for almost a full year – that the personal and political emails of dozens of people, including my own, were hijacked, stolen, and never received by the intended recipients.”

NEW YORK: Ouch. The New York Times on Christine Quinn’s forthcoming memoir: "Ms. Quinn's candor about her personal life is as notable as her vagueness about politics. There is not a single reference to the slush-fund scandal that has been her lowest point as speaker. She says little about her relationship with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whom she calls 'my colleague.' The battle over term limits is disposed of in two pages, while thousands of words are devoted to her wedding last year." (h/t Political Wire.)

NORTH CAROLINA: State House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) is throwing his hat in the ring against Kay Hagan (D). He’s considered by Republicans to be a “very serious” candidate.

The News & Observer: “Tillis could face a crowded primary. Others named as possible contenders include U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk and Renee Ellmers of Dunn; state Sen. Phil Berger; and former ambassador Jim Cain. So far, however, Dr. Greg Bannon, a Cary OB-GYN, is the only Republican Senate candidate who has announced.”

VIRGINIA: Terry McAuliffe (D) claimed some measure of credit for the transportation bill in the state passing, despite holding no elective office. In a recent ad, an announcer says, “...(T)ea party Republicans refuse to support the plan, but Terry McAuliffe thinks this is too important a time for partisan politics. McAuliffe reaches out to Democrats and urges them to support the bill, and the bill passes.”

AP fact checks that today: “As a high-profile booster, McAuliffe certainly did no harm. But to imply a role much beyond that is like hailing a team mascot for a decisive buzzer-beating 3-point basket. Far more credit is owed to House and Senate Democratic leaders who kept their caucuses together and worked quietly for weeks alongside McDonnell and select Republicans to keep the bill afloat in turbulent and treacherous seas.”

Buzzfeed dug up a McAuliffe CSPAN bite in which he blames Bush for his father’s death. “There are many reasons why people thought Jack had died. He was 83 years old. And I said the main reason is that he could not go into a new year knowing that a Republican was actually moving into the White House. I just don’t think he could’ve handled that. He had eight great years. President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were so nice to my mother and father, they’d come down all the time. So he had a great eight years when President Clinton and Vice President Gore were in office, and he just wasn’t going into a new year with a Democrat not being in the White House Steve, he just couldn’t handle it.”

Endorsements, tax returns, fundraisers and name-calling -- this week has no doubt been active in the Ed Markey (D) vs. Gabriel Gomez (R) special election to fill Secretary of State John Kerry’s Senate seat in Massachusetts, which takes place on June 25. 

Before Michelle Obama’s fundraiser on Wednesday for Markey, plus Markey’s suggestion he could have given more to charity over the years, here’s what you may have missed this past week in the race.

Attack mode
Where to begin? Tuesday, May 28: Gomez’s campaign issues a press release charging that Markey has voted for higher taxes almost 300 times. The campaign cites the Democrat’s votes to increase the federal gas tax in 1993 and to keep the popular child tax credit from doubling in 2001 and keep it temporary in 2004 (among others).

The latest line of argument comes as Gomez seeks to push the narrative of his private-sector record.

“Ed Markey is doing things the old way, trying to run the economy from the top-down in Washington because he’s never had a real job in the real world,” Gomez said in the release. “We need a fresh, new approach. It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom-up.”

Wednesday, May 29: Markey responds with his own tax policy TV ad. “Gomez thinks the rich already pay enough,” a narrator says in the ad. “He refuses to ask millionaires – like himself – to pay their fair share.”

Last Tuesday, the Gomez campaign continued a similar push with its own TV ad aimed to cast Markey as spoiled by Washington, a dirty politician.

Enter “pond scum.”

The spot starts out challenging the Markey campaign for its recent pieces that split-screen Gomez and Osama bin Laden and that argue that Gomez is against banning the weapons and high-capacity magazines used in Newtown. (The bin Laden image was in reference to Gomez’s involvement with a conservative Super PAC that criticized the way Obama handled information about bin Laden’s death.)

“Thirty-seven years in Congress, dirty Ed Markey,” a narrator said in the Gomez ad.

Gomez himself followed up, telling a reporter, “For him [Markey] to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to put me up there next to bin Laden, he’s just got to be called what he is.”

Just as in the tax debate, the Republican candidate focused on his outside-the-Beltway background -- including his Navy career and time at Advent International -- as a resume point for the job of “cleaning up Washington.”

Heavyweight Dems endorse
Tuesday, May 28: Markey picks up the endorsement of President Barack Obama. The support is no big surprise in deep-blue Massachusetts – and it may not matter. Obama also endorsed Martha Coakley in the 2010 special election, which the attorney general ultimately lost to Scott Brown.

Friday, May 24: Boston Mayor Tom Menino endorsed Markey as well, according to a press release.

Addressing women
Thursday, May 23: Markey’s Senate campaign, in a new Web video, makes good on its early promise to go after opponent Gomez on women’s issues, hitting him on contraception. The spot focuses on Gomez’s comment to the Boston Globe and, a week later, the New England Cable News, that he does not know the details of the failed Blunt Amendment, so, in turn, does not want to take a position.

The amendment, if passed, would have allowed any employer -- religiously affiliated or not -- to opt out of the federal health-care law’s requirement to pay for employees’ birth control because of moral reasons. Scott Brown voted for Blunt before losing re-election to Elizabeth Warren -- hence, the measure’s continued play post-mortem.

When asked whether he would have cast the same way to expand the conscience exemption, last week, Gomez said, “Contraception, you should take the politics out of it. That’s the problem that all of this should be taken out of it. Contraception should be available over the counter.”

On abortion, Gomez makes clear on his campaign website that he is “pro-life,” but he adds that Roe v. Wade is “settled.”

“Gabriel Gomez is a pro-life Republican who can’t be trusted to protect a woman’s right to choose, and his weeks-long refusal to even learn about the eight-page Blunt Amendment that would restrict women’s access to contraception should give women across the Commonwealth great concern,” said Markey campaign spokesman Andrew Zucker.

Tax time
Friday, May 24: Per an analysis by the Boston Globe, Markey released tax returns for the past eight years showing that he paid a rate of less than 20 percent due to large deductions, including those for his mortgage and travel expenses.

According to the federal and state returns, the congressman earned an annual paycheck ranging from $140,000 to just more than $160,000 since 2005. His itemized deductions fell between $38,000 and $50,000 per year and, according to the campaign, were calculated using the alternative minimum tax provision.

The Gomez campaign had been calling on Markey to release his returns for more than a week. Upon releasing his, the Republican came under attack for an obscure $280,000 break he took for promising not to make changes to the façade of his historic home, changes already prevented by local bylaws.

Wednesday, May 29: Markey tells the Associated Press that he “probably could have done better” with charitable donations, after the returns show an average of about $2,300 per year.

ALASKA: Joe Miller’s back… Politico: “It looks like it’s time to stop calling Joe Miller a former Senate candidate. The Alaska conservative activist who lost a 2010 bid for the Senate after besting incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in a GOP primary, has filed a form indicating he intends to run for Senate again in 2014, according to documentation from the office of the Secretary of the Senate.”

ARKANSAS: More Politico: “The Senate Conservatives Action super PAC is launching a $320,000 television ad campaign Wednesday against Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor. The first of three 30-second spots features 11 voters describing the incumbent as a liberal who voted for the stimulus and bank bailout bills as well as Obamacare.”

COLORADO: The Denver Post: “One of Colorado's most competitive and viable Republicans in office decided Tuesday he was not going to run against Democratic Sen. Mark Udall next year. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said had decided against the race, which currently fields no Republican candidates.”

KENTUCKY: Mitch McConnell (R) is invoking Nixon, and comparing Obama to him, in his latest video. It uses footage from Nixon saying, “When the president does it that means it is not illegal.”

MASSACHUSETTS: First Lady Michelle Obama holds a fundraiser for Rep. Ed Markey (D) in Boston today. (She will also meet with Boston marathon bombing victims.) It’s her first fundraiser since the 2012 election. As is to be expected, President Obama officially endorsed Markey yesterday.

Markey’s up with a new ad hitting Gabriel Gomez (R) on tax policy.

But that comes as Markey is admitting that he should have given more money to charity. AP headline: “Dem. Markey: I could have given more to charity.” From the story: “In 2012, Markey reported giving $3,500 to charity. That was a jump from 2011, when he reported giving $1,900. As a member of the U.S. House or Representatives, Markey makes about $150,000 annually. Asked while campaigning Tuesday if he could have given more, Markey said he ‘probably could have done better.’”

And Gomez went after Markey “Tuesday for voting nearly 300 times in favor of higher taxes,” the Boston Globe writes.

MINNESOTA: NBC’s Jessica Taylor: “Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday morning in a she won’t seek reelection in 2014 -- a decision that will likely help the GOP hold her seat next year. … The controversial and often outspoken politician was the only reason her seat was a concern for 2014, and without the one-time presidential candidate on the ballot, Republicans’ chances of holding the seat skyrocket.”

Hotline’s Reid Wilson: “Bachmann may have been the loudest member of the class of 2006, the one who inspired the most heated arguments. But she will hardly be the most consequential; her enduring legacy may be the lessons she taught in how to lose friends and become completely uninfluential. With her exit, Democrats lose a potent fundraising tool. Republicans lose a headache they would just as soon do without.”

WASHINGTON: An interesting story from National Journal’s Coral Davenport: “A local election—the race for four seats on the Whatcom County Council—is shaping up to have a profound national, even global, impact. The outcome could affect the U.S. coal industry, trade relations with China, and the planet’s changing climate. Already, the county race is on the radar of the coal industry, which campaigned against President Obama in 2012 on the charge that he’s waged a ‘war on coal,’ and of national advocacy groups such as the League of Conservation Voters, which spent $14 million nationally to influence the 2012 elections.”