Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As her presidential platform takes shape, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is proposing a new tax on households with over $50 million in assets. She discussed the idea in some detail last night with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
* New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) yesterday signed into law a major overhaul of the state’s election system, including the introduction of an overdue early-voting period.
* With Rep. Tom Marino (R) resigning for a position in the private sector, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) yesterday scheduled a May 21 special election. Republicans are widely expected to keep the seat.
* The number of Iowa Republicans planning to challenge Rep. Steve King (R) in a primary next year keeps growing. (For King critics, that isn’t necessarily good news: diluting his opposition may help the incumbent prevail.)
* Hoping to discourage a possible primary campaign against the incumbent president, Republican National Committee members are poised to approve an unusual resolution today, committing the RNC to giving Donald Trump its “undivided support” ahead of the 2020 cycle. * After initially saying she’d run for president during a television interview late on a Friday afternoon, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is now officially launching her long-shot candidacy. * And on MSNBC yesterday afternoon, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who generated quite a bit of attention during a floor debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), told Chuck Todd about his 2020 presidential ambitions, “I’m thinking about it, Chuck, like every single other person in this building.”
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
