Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The list of congressional retirements continues to grow, with Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard announcing that her current term in Congress will be her last. The California Democrat is the first Mexican-American woman elected to Capitol Hill.
* On a related note, Democratic Rep. Albio Sires of New Jersey made it official yesterday, saying that he also won’t seek re-election next year. Notably, the retiring congressman expressed support for Sen. Bob Menendez’s son, Rob Menendez, to succeed him.
* The United Mine Workers of America International, the nation’s largest union for domestic coal miners, this week urged Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to change his mind about the Build Back Better package.
* In keeping with the recent trend, officials in Lincoln County, Georgia, are trying to close all but one polling place for the 2022 election cycle, shrinking seven local precincts to one. The move was made possible by a Republican voter-suppression bill approved earlier this year.
* In case Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary weren’t already messy, hedge fund executive David McCormick is expected to kick off his campaign with assistance from members of Donald Trump’s team, including Hope Hicks. * There’s been no official announcement, but The New York Times reported that Senate Minority Whip John Thune is weighing retirement at his family’s urging. The South Dakota Republican is reportedly “frustrated with the capital’s political environment and [Trump’s] loyalty demands.” * And former Disney CEO Bob Iger has apparently given up on his national political ambitions. “Looking back on it, I think I was a little bit too idealistic,” Iger told Variety. “I think I was just really naive and maybe a bit presumptuous about my abilities, but more than that just presumptuous about my chances. And I’m just over it.”
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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