By Madison Fernandez

Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown over the weekend. But don’t expect Democratic attacks about it to go away just yet.

After a chaotic week of failed attempts to fund the government with just Republican votes in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday called up a bill that dropped items he’s been advocating for, including border policy changes and spending cuts. The stopgap funding bill saw bipartisan support, passing 335-91 with just one Democrat in opposition.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pauses as he addresses reporters about efforts to pass appropriations bills and avert a looming government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 29, 2023. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Of the 90 House Republicans who voted against the bill, a handful are Running in competitive races next year. Three Republicans running in DCCC-targeted districts voted no: Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and David Schweikert (Ariz.), the latter of whom represents a district that President Joe Biden won in 2020. Some are running for higher offices, including Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), who’s competing for the Senate, and Rep. Dan Bishop (N.C.), an attorney general candidate. Rep. Matt Rosendale (Mont.), a potential Senate contender, also voted against the bill.

In the Senate, nine Republicans voted against the bill, three of whom are up for reelection next year: Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mike Braun (Ind.) and Ted Cruz (Texas). Of these, Cruz faces the steepest challenge next year, as a crowded field of Democrats has lined up to unseat him. The DSCC already went for him after the vote, saying in a statement that “his vote to shut down the government and his refusal to do his job will give Texas voters another reason to fire Cruz.”

In the leadup to the shutdown deadline, Democrats targeted vulnerable Republicans nationwide, seeking to tie them to Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Boebert, who have been outspoken about the shutdown. One campaign from the League of Conservation Voters, Climate Power and House Majority Forward accused these representatives of siding “with MAGA Republicans who have threatened to shut down the government.” (Those targeted Republicans did end up voting in support of the bill.)

Democrats running against vulnerable Republicans, including Boebert, Schweikert and Perry, also made sure to hammer their opponents on their positions on the shutdown. Over in Ohio, the state Democratic Party went after GOP candidates Bernie Moreno and Frank LaRose for supporting efforts to shut down the government.

It’s a line of attack that Democrats are likely to continue to deploy, especially as the shutdown fight rages on. Congress will be doing this all over again, as government funding now runs out on Nov. 17. An effort to oust McCarthy from his speakership could also emerge in the coming days, another inflection point that Democrats are sure to pounce on while going after House GOP leadership as “disastrous and incompetent,” as DNC Chair Jaime Harrison put it in a statement on Saturday night.

It’s Monday. Reach me at [email protected] and @madfernandez616.

Days until the Louisiana primary: 12

Days until the 2023 election: 36

Days until the Republican National Convention: 287

Days until the Democratic National Convention: 322

Days until the 2024 election: 400

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UP NEXT IN CALIFORNIA — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who died last week at the age of 90, POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago reports.

In a reversal from his previous stance, Newsom said that whoever he appoints would be able to run for the full term in 2024. Allies of Rep. Barbara Lee, who has been lagging in recent polling behind Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter in next year's Senate race, put increased pressure on Newsom over the weekend to appoint her, to no avail.

Californians are in for a busy couple of months. They’ll be taking part in four elections — a primary and general for the special to finish Feinstein’s term, and a primary and general for the regular — in the space of eight months, POLITICO's Jeremy B. White notes. And “thanks to an arcane provision of federal law,” POLITICO’s Steve Shepard and Jessica Piper write, “doubling the number of elections means doubling the amount of money a candidate can raise from individual donors — from $6,600 to $13,200 — for the very same seat in the very same year.”

2024 WATCH — Ohio Republican J.R. Majewski is running for OH-09 again. Majewski lost in the general election to Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur last year and was planning to challenge her again in 2024. He suspended his campaign in May to take care of his mother, but he has had second thoughts about not running since then.

… Indiana Republican Randy Niemeyer, a trucking company owner and county GOP chair, is running against Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan. Niemeyer “said he was not necessarily seeking a higher office but the opportunity presented itself while he was in talks with state and federal Republican leaders about fielding a candidate … after it became clear Jennifer-Ruth Green was not going to run again,” the Chicago Tribune’s Carrie Napoleon writes. Mrvan’s district, IN-01, is a top target for national Republicans.

IT’S A NO FROM ME — Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) said she isn’t running for Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) seat next year, per Punchbowl News. Sherrill is widely expected to run for governor in 2025, when Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is termed out.

ENDORSEMENT CORNER — Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick was endorsed by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. It’s the latest sign of Republicans in the state coalescing around a candidate early after last year’s loss against now-Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.

PRESIDENTIAL PIVOT? — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s running for president as a Democrat, is planning to announce that he’s switching to an independent run, Mediaite’s Diana Falzone reports. Kennedy shared a video after that story published on Friday touting a “major announcement” on Oct. 9 in Philadelphia. “I’m not going to tell you right now exactly what that announcement will be,” he said in the video, which later goes on to show clips of Biden, former President Donald Trump, Menendez, Harrison and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell when Kennedy mentions corruption “in both political parties.”

When asked about an independent run, a Kennedy spokesperson pointed to his video. Dennis Kucinich, Kennedy’s campaign manager, recently told The New York Times that the campaign has “not sought the favor of any other political party” amid a report of a potential Libertarian Party bid.

HALEY HEATING UP — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is “drawing a second look from donors” following her performance in last week’s GOP presidential debate, POLITICO’s Natalie Allison and Meridith McGraw report. Haley’s campaign has been “relatively lean” thus far, “leaving all the TV to her aligned super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., and keeping her early state staffing footprint to a minimum. Internally, officials on Haley’s super PAC believe the early bet they made on framing her as a steady figure on the world stage has paid off, and has dovetailed — as planned — with her debate performances.”

STEPPING DOWN — Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who has called for a challenge to Biden and is even considering one himself, will step down from his Democratic leadership position, but “will remain in his congressional seat representing MN-03 and will remain a part of the Democratic Caucus,” per POLITICO’s Kelly Garrity.

PARTY PROBLEMS — “The Michigan Republican Party had about $35,000 in its bank accounts in August, according to internal records that flash new warning signs about the dire state of the GOP's finances and raise questions about whether the organization is complying with campaign finance laws,” The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger writes. “Earlier this year, [Chair Kristina Karamo’s] 2022 secretary of state campaign loaned the party's federal account $15,000 after that account's balance turned negative. The transaction wasn't reported in disclosures from the campaign or the party's federal committee.”

Q3 TABS — Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) has raised more than $1 million in the quarter, including “close to” $1 million raised in the first seven days of his bid for Senate, he told the New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein. Kim announced that he’s running for Senate after Menendez said he wouldn’t step down, despite calls for him to do so when he was charged with taking bribes.

DELAWARE DONATIONS — Democratic Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who’s running to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Carney when his term expires in 2025, “is not currently taking donations” while she works with “independent campaign finance experts and forensic accountants” to conduct an "audit of her past campaign finance reports after possible issues have been raised,” the Delaware News Journal’s Meredith Newman reports. Hall-Long, who earned Carney’s endorsement shortly after she launched her bid, has not suspended her campaign.

DOWN-BALLOT DOLLARS — The DLCC has invested more than $2 million in this year’s Virginia legislative elections. Democrats hold a slim majority in the state Senate, and the GOP has narrow control of the state House.

PRESIDENTIAL — Biden’s campaign launched an ad directed at Black viewers during Saturday’s Colorado-University of Southern California game in markets in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. The spot touts the work Biden has done for “Black America” on the economy, cost of living and jobs.

… SFA Fund Inc., the super PAC boosting Haley’s presidential bid, is running an ad in Iowa and New Hampshire about her proposed policy to impose congressional term limits and mental competency tests for politicians over 75.

… Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is going after China in an Iowa spot, promising to “strengthen American manufacturing.”

LA GOV — Republican Louisiana state Treasurer John Schroder is shutting the “party” down, continuing with his message of fighting corruption and cronyism during the final days of the Louisiana gubernatorial primary campaign. Schroder has dropped over $2 million on ads for this race, per ad tracker AdImpact.

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— Jessica Post is leaving the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee at the end of the year. Post was president of the group and most recently a senior adviser. The committee is launching a search for its next president this week.

— Shannon Geison will be campaign manager for Mondaire Jones’ campaign in NY-17. She previously was chief of staff for Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.).

CODA: QUOTE OF THE DAY — "I’m gonna do a football podcast." — Newsom to Semafor.

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