Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After months of speculation about his 2024 plans, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that he will not seek a fifth term. His announcement comes a month after the Republican passed on a presidential race, and a year after the governor also passed on a possible U.S. Senate race.
* In related news, former state Senate president Chuck Morse, who ran a failed U.S. Senate campaign last year, responded to Sununu’s announcement by launching a gubernatorial campaign of his own, while former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who narrowly lost a re-election bid in 2016, signaled an apparent interest in succeeding the outgoing governor.
* Pennsylvania’s state House is once again facing turmoil as a Democratic legislator’s resignation has left the chamber in a partisan tie amidst a budget stalemate.
* With Kentucky’s gubernatorial race just a few months away, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee, announced his running mate this week: far-right state Sen. Robby Mills.
* In Ohio’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the latest USA Today-Suffolk University poll found incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown with narrow leads over his GOP rivals, even as the Buckeye State solidifies its reputation as a reliably red state. * The latest national Quinnipiac poll found Donald Trump with a 2-to-1 advantage over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the Republicans’ presidential nomination, 54% to 25%. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence were tied for third with 4% support each. * As for the general election, it’s quite early in the process, so I’d recommend approaching the results with caution, but Quinnipiac found President Joe Biden leading Trump in hypothetical match-up, 49% to 44%. * The same Quinnipiac poll found that Democratic voters dislike Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by more than a 2-to-1 margin, while Republican voters like the conspiracy theorist by more than a 2-to-1 margin. That wouldn’t necessarily be much of a problem, except Kennedy is running a Democratic presidential campaign.
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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