Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* We’ve reached the point at which early voting in Democratic presidential primaries is getting underway, with Minnesotans able to cast ballots staring today. Vermont begins its early-voting phase tomorrow.
* Advancing an ongoing story, Politico reported late yesterday, “A Georgia election server contains evidence that it was possibly hacked before the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 vote that gave Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp a narrow victory over Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams, according to an election security expert.”
* When Iowa Democrats participate in presidential caucuses on Feb. 3, they may not produce a single winner. As the Associated Press reported yesterday, “There will be three sets of results: tallies of the ‘first alignment’ of caucus-goers, their ‘final alignment’ and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.”
* As Robert Hyde, a controversial Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut, finds himself in the national spotlight, GOP leaders have been quick to distance themselves from him.
* In North Carolina, Public Policy Polling released a poll this week showing Joe Biden leading his party’s 2020 field with 31%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 18%. Elizabeth Warren is a close third with 15%, followed by Michael Bloomberg at 8%, and Pete Buttigieg at 6%. * Former President Barack Obama is remaining neutral in the Democratic presidential primary, but the Biden campaign’s newest ad is made up entirely of praise Obama offered the former vice president in 2016. * In New Jersey, Josh Roesch was set to serve as Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s campaign manager this fall, but now that the Garden State congressman has become a Republican, Roesch is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against him. * And CNN reported this week that political network affiliated with billionaire Charles Koch “intends to launch its widest election effort in 2020 and could engage in nearly 200 federal and state races this year.” That’s a lot of races.
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
