Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) announced last night that he, too, is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. By my count, he’s the 16th elected official to enter the contest, and the fifth current or former member of the U.S. House. (Swalwell will also be on the show tomorrow night.)
* As first-quarter fundraising totals continue to come in, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced that she collected more than $5.2 million for her 2020 bid, which was a little better than Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) haul, but short of several other Democratic presidential contenders.
* Speaking of Booker, the New Jersey Democrat, who’s doing pretty well on the endorsement front, yesterday picked up support from Jon Morgan, a prominent Democratic state senator in New Hampshire.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised a few eyebrows the other day when he endorsed voting rights for felons currently behind bars, but for what it’s worth, two states — Vermont and Maine — already allow those behind bars to cast ballots.
* Over the weekend, Democrats in the state of Washington agreed to drop its presidential caucus system, replacing it with a statewide primary. (Thanks to reader D.N. for the heads-up on this.) * On a related note, Alaska Democrats may soon do the same thing. * And in Texas, former gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis (D) has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate in 2020, but the former state senator said she’s “looking very seriously” at possibly taking on Rep. Chip Roy (R) in Texas’ 21st congressional district.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
