Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As expected, Julia Letlow (R) won the congressional special election in Louisiana’s 5th district, and will replace her late husband, Luke Letlow, who died late last year of complications from COVID-19. She will, incidentally, be the first Republican woman to ever serve in Congress from Louisiana.
* As for Louisiana’s other congressional special election, no candidate reached the 50% threshold in the 2nd district, and Democratic state Sens. Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson are advancing to an April 24 runoff.
* The controversies surrounding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) continue to intensify, with the governor facing additional harassment allegations from an employee in his office, which coincided with reporting about the FBI investigating whether Cuomo’s administration produced false data on nursing homes last year.
* Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), one of Congress’ most conservative members, this morning launched a primary race against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, Hice has “a history of pushing falsehoods about Georgia’s election system.”
* In retirement news, Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) announced this morning that he’ll step down at the end of his current term. Vela, who is also a vice chair at the Democratic National Committee, has been on Capitol Hill for five terms. * In fundraising news, the Democratic National Committee raised $8.5 million last month, its best-ever February in a non-presidential election year. Similarly, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised more than $11.5 million last month, which is also an off-year record. The Republican counterparts have not yet announced their fundraising hauls. * Late last week, the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office announced that a recall effort targeting Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) fell short of collecting the necessary number of ballot signatures. * And in seven days, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address New Hampshire Republicans at a fundraiser. You get one guess as to why Pompeo is eager to speak to the state that holds the nation’s first presidential primary.
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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