As the Republican presidential field jockeys not only for positioning heading into the home stretch before the primary season but also attempts to pad their campaign coffers for that run, you might catch them crack a smile on Wednesdays. A Smart Politics review of the tens of millions of dollars that have flowed into the campaigns of the Republican field in 2011 finds that a plurality of money - 19.7 percent - has come in on Wednesday. That is slightly higher than Monday (18.8 percent), Tuesday (18.4 percent), Thursday (18.1 percent), and Friday (17.8 percent). Only a small fraction of campaign contributions are received on Saturday (3.8 percent) and Sunday (3.5 percent). This data excludes the last day of the quarterly fundraising cycles (March 31, June 30, September 30 etc.), in which contributions skyrocket in a last minute attempt to boost numbers. (Contributions on such days can be 10 to 20 times that of an average day).
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The Longest-Held Republican US Senate Seats
Curse of the '4'?
Big-name Republicans are not coming out of the woodwork yet to challenge Al Franken in Minnesota's 2014 U.S. Senate race, and there is not much chatter of the GOP picking off one of the five DFL-held U.S. House seats either. Over the last century, Minnesota Republican U.S. House candidates have not fared all that well in cycles ending in '4' - losing seats in five of these cycles (1914, 1924, 1944, 1954, 1974), holding serve in four others (1964, 1984, 1994, 2004), and gaining seats just one time (1934, after redistricting had been delayed one cycle with all nine seats voted at-large in 1932). Perhaps the Republican Party's best chance for a pick up in the Gopher State in 2014 is if 12-term Democrat Collin Peterson retires after nearly a quarter century on Capitol Hill. The 7th CD has the second largest GOP lean in the state.
Seasoned Senators in Wisconsin
Of the 15 men and women that have served in the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin since popular vote elections were introduced a century ago, Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin rank among the oldest upon first entering the chamber. Johnson began his tenure at the age of 55 years, 8 months, and 26 days in January 2011, which is the oldest of any elected Wisconsin Senator during this popular vote era. The next oldest, Alexander Wiley, was more than one year younger when he took his seat in 1939 (54 years, 7 months, 8 days). Tammy Baldwin comes in at #6 being 50 years, 10 months, and 23 days when she took office in January of this year. The youngest elected Senator from the Badger State was Robert La Follette, Jr. at 30 years, 7 months, and 24 days (1925) when he took the seat of his legendary deceased father.
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