Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With 11 contenders, the Republican Party’s presidential field probably didn’t need another candidate, but former Rep. Will Hurd nevertheless kicked off his national candidacy this morning. The Texan, a former CIA official, served three terms in the House before retiring nearly three years ago.
* Rep. Adam Schiff isn’t just a Republican target — the Californian was censured yesterday for telling inconvenient truths — he’s also a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in California who’s eagerly taking advantage of the fact that the GOP appears desperate to destroy him.
* In Virginia this week, three Republicans who were at the U.S. Capitol for Jan. 6 appeared on legislative primary ballots. All three lost.
* Former Vice President Mike Pence hasn’t received a lot of high-profile endorsements, so he was no doubt delighted to pick up support yesterday from Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb from Pence’s home state of Indiana.
* To get a sense of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ priorities, consider the message in the new TV ad launched by the Never Back Down super PAC: It focuses on accusing Disney of pushing “secret sexual content,” and lamenting the “extreme liberal agendas” of Target and Bud Light. * Quick quiz: As the race for the Republican presidential nomination intensifies, who’s currently spending more money than any other candidate or outside group? If you said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, give yourself a gold star. * As West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice moves forward with his Republican U.S. Senate campaign, he’s trying to hide financial records that are supposed to be publicly available. A federal judge ruled this week that the governor has to follow transparency laws, even as Democrats press Justice on assorted “unpaid fines, fees, legal settlements or defaulted loans.” * The first debate for GOP presidential candidates is two months from tomorrow, and Fox News announced this week that Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum will host the event. What’s less clear is whether Donald Trump will agree to participate — and whether the debate will have much of an impact if he doesn’t.
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."
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