Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Arizona, Sen. Jon Kyl (R), appointed to fill the late Sen. John McCain’s (R) seat, announced this morning that he will retire from Congress, effective Dec. 31. Gov. Doug Ducey (R), recently re-elected to a second term, will fill the vacancy, but his choice will have to run to keep the seat in a 2020 special election.
* The conventional wisdom was that former Rep. Martha McSally (R), who lost a competitive Senate race in Arizona this year, would be top contender to replace Kyl, but by some accounts, McSally has fallen out of favor in the governor’s office.
* As if the scandal in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district weren’t already serious enough, the Washington Post reports that Mark Harris (R) ignored warnings about Leslie McCrae Dowless — the Republican operative at the center of the alleged election fraud — and directed his campaign to hire Dowless anyway.
* Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) met privately this week to discuss their respective plans for the 2020 presidential campaign. The New York Times reported that the two “did not reach any accord about coordinating” their dueling ambitions.
* Donald Trump said yesterday he hopes Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) runs against him in a 2020 presidential primary. Kasich’s chief political strategist responded soon after, “Be careful what you wish for.” * Because I’m always interested in officials who switch parties, it’s worth noting that Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, has reportedly given up on her affiliation with the Republican Party. She pointed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as part of her rationale. * And because I’m equally fascinated in elections that end in exact ties, I also wanted to highlight the city council race in Arkansas that ended yesterday after a dice roll. The losing candidate, Cliff Farmer, failed to vote for himself in the general election.
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
