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Congressional Leadership Fund to stump for Brian Mast, Carlos Curbelo

in 2017/Top Headlines by

More national help is on the way to promote Republican U.S. Reps. Brian Mast of the Treasure Coast and Carlos Curbelo of Miami, with the launch this weekend of “Super Saturday” grassroots efforts organized by The Congressional Leadership Fund.

That organization has opened up field offices in Mast’s 18th Congressional District and in Curbelo’s 26th Congressional District. And from there, CLF intends to use paid staff and volunteers Saturday to run phone banks and door-to-door canvassing to help the pair a year out from their next re-elections in their swing districts.

The Fund is putting similar efforts in 15 other congressional districts across the country, vowing to reach 100,000 voters between them on Saturday.

The CLF expects to have 30 volunteers at its CD 18 office in Port St. Lucie, and 40 in its CD 26 office in Miami.

On Thursday another group, the American Action Network, announced a $2 million national television advertising campaign to assist 28 Republican members of Congress, including Mast and Curbelo.

Both Mast and Curbelo face significant Democratic challenges this year. Pam Keith and Lauren Baer have emerged in CD 18. Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has come to the forefront in challenging Curbelo in CD 26.

“The fact that our team will personally contact 100,000 voters in one day, across 17 districts over a year out from the midterm elections, is a testament to CLF’s seriousness and commitment to protecting the House Republican majority in 2018,” CLF Executive Director Corry Bliss stated in a news release.

Bliss continued: “With a data-driven field program, CLF is engaging voters early and often on the issues they care about most and sharing how their member of Congress is working on their behalf. By investing in data and a ground game, CLF has time to build real relationships and earn voters’ trust, both of which will pay dividends a year from now.”

CLF contends it is the first super PAC to invest and launch a data-driven national field operation targeting congressional districts. Since February, the organization has been opening field offices and implementing unique, full-fledged campaigns with the goal of building relationships with voters. Each field office is led by a full-time staffer.

CLF has pledged to raise and spend $100 million to protect the House Republican majority in the 2018 midterms.

Scott Powers is an Orlando-based political journalist with 30+ years’ experience, mostly at newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel and the Columbus Dispatch. He covers local, state and federal politics and space news across much of Central Florida. His career earned numerous journalism awards for stories ranging from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster to presidential elections to misplaced nuclear waste. He and his wife Connie have three grown children. Besides them, he’s into mystery and suspense books and movies, rock, blues, basketball, baseball, writing unpublished novels, and being amused. Email him at [email protected]

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