Washington Examiner: McCaskill to Iowa for EMILY’S List Event August 7, 2013

Washington Examiner:

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, famous for her homey tweets and bruising and initially unexpected 2012 reelection victory, is heading to Iowa this week for a 2016 presidential event, the first Democrat to play in the state that hosts the critical first-in-the-nation presidential caucus.

McCaskill, who on Sunday tweeted out a cute black and white photo of her holding her baby grandson, is the featured Washington lawmaker in Emily’s List’s “Madam President” townhall in Iowa on Friday morning. It takes place at the Temple for Performing Arts in Des Moines.

Emily’s List is the nation’s leading Democratic political action committee for women and has moved heavily into the presidential space with its new “Madam President” effort to elect a woman to the White House in 2016.

While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the leading woman Democratic candidate eyeing the race, McCaskill has a political base of her own in the Midwest and she has strong ties to Emily’s List, which helped her overcome Tea Party Republican Rep. Todd Akin in her reelection race.

Emily’s List said the Iowa event will feature discussions by women candidates, like Staci Appel, a candidate for Congress in Iowa’s third district, political operatives and the group’s president, Stephanie Schriock.

It should give McCaskill a chance to test the waters in neighboring Iowa.

A week later, another potential Democratic candidate, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, will be the keynote speaker for the 10th Anniversary North Iowa Wing Ding Fundraiser.

McCaskill & EMILY’S List Spike the Ball November 14, 2012

Claire McCaskill campaigning in Kansas City earlier this month

ABC News:

With a record-breaking 20 women headed to the U.S. Senate next year, and with 80 percent of its endorsed candidates winning in 2012, Emily’s List, a group dedicated to electing Democratic women to office, had a lot to celebrate.

And celebrate it did: As Washington-based political organizations hold their post-election events, the foremost Democratic women’s group took its turn on the “victory lap” circuit Wednesday. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz addressed a handful of supporters and journalists at a briefing in downtown D.C.

Its message: In 2012 women turned out for Democrats – voting 55 percent for President Obama – because an atavistic GOP agenda turned them off, not simply because a few Republican candidates made epic mistakes with comments about rape.

“After the election was over, and we were all exhausted from high-fiving and drinking too much, what was surprising to me was the reaction from the Republican establishment,” McCaskill said, noting that Republicans had acknowledged their demographic shortcomings among Latino voters, with a few prominent GOP voices calling for immigration reform as an answer. “We haven’t heard yet any kind of acknowledgement that women are rejecting their agenda in record numbers.”

McCaskill called herself “the senator who brought you Todd Akin” – an apt title, given that McCaskill aired ostensible attack ads against Akin, unsubtly designed to boost him in the three-way GOP Senate primary, which he won. McCaskill went on to beat him in the general election. But Akin’s primary victory turned out to be a boon for female Democratic candidates everywhere, McCaskill said, because it “crystallized” something about Republicans in “so many races across the country.”

Women Vote Super PAC buys $500,000 of airtime against Akin September 27, 2012

Midwest Democracy Project, KC Star:
A super PAC associated with Emily’s List, a well-known group supporting largely Democratic women candidates, has bought nearly $500,000 in TV ad time to oppose Rep. Todd Akin, Federal Election Commission records show.
Women Vote! spent $494,217 for TV time Thursday, according to a filing with the FEC. It appears to be the largest single third-party expenditure in the race to date.
And it may drain the PAC’s bank account. Open Secrets says Women Vote! had $737,565 on hand at the end of August.

Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/women-vote-super-pac-buys-500000-airtime-against-akin/#storylink=cpy

Claire & EMILY are Good Friends July 20, 2012

Missouri News Horizon:
ST. LOUIS – EMILY’s List has made its choice, picking Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who has received $177,000 from the group and its supporters this election cycle.
The PAC, which supports pro-choice Democrats, is her biggest contributor, campaign finance reports show.
EMILY’s List, whose name is an acronym for Early Money is Like Yeast, has mobilized its 1.5 million members to donate more than $1.6 million to female congressional candidates in the past two years. Only Massachusetts senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren has received more money from the group than McCaskill.
The Washington, D.C. -based political action committee culls its rolls for donations of $10, $20, $50 or more to candidates it supports. EMILY’s List’s key issue is abortion rights, but it has expanded its agenda to include more social and economic issues, such as education funding.
The Washington D.C.- based think tank Center for Responsible Politics says the group “has turned the bundling of campaign contributions into an art form.

Emily’s List Puts Mo-4 Democrat Hensley on “the List” May 15, 2012

The Democratic leaning ‘EMILY’s List’, is now backing likely Mo-4 Democratic challenger Teresa Hensley.
Hensley is the Cass County prosecutor. She running against freshman Republican Vicky Hartzler in the district that covers much of western and south-central Missouri.
Hartzler defeated former House Armed services Chairman ike Skelton in 2010.
In a news release, the organization states, “On the List” is a new way for EMILY’s List members to engage with and support promising candidates early in an election cycle. By putting Hensley “On the List,” EMILY’s List is ensuring that she has access to this powerful network of supporters.”
EMILY’s List claims to have a million people on the list network. It says it raised more than $38 million dollars in 2009-10 election cycle for the candidates EMILY’s list supported.