Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) announced this morning that he’s retiring at the end of the year, despite saying last year that he’d run again. This is a Republican pick-up opportunity for the midterms: Nolan’s Minnesota district backed Donald Trump in 2016.
* In related news, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) announced yesterday he will seek another term, despite rumors to the contrary. Roe had promised local voters that he’d leave the House after 10 years of service. Now that he’s been in the job for 10 years, Roe is apparently willing to break that promise.
* With Missouri Republicans feeling buyers’ remorse about state Attorney General Josh Hawley’s (R) Senate candidacy, GOP officials are reportedly turning to Rep. Ann Wagner (R), asking her to reconsider her decision not to run — and the latest reports suggest she’s open to the possibility.
* An odd campaign story out of Alabama: Bobby Bright was a Democratic congressman who lost to Republican Rep. Martha Roby in 2010. Now Bright has decided to run against Roby again, except this time, he’s switched parties, become a Republican, and will take on Roby in a GOP primary.
* In Iowa, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll shows Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) leading each of her Democratic contenders in hypothetical head-to-head match-ups, though state Sen. Nate Boulton and retired businessman Fred Hubbell are both within five points of the incumbent. * The same poll found Donald Trump with a 34% approval rating in Iowa, and just 26% of Iowans say they definitely intend to vote for him in 2020. In 2016, Trump won the state by 10 points. * And in Illinois, is Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) starting to worry about his Republican primary challenge from state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R)? After initially planning to ignore her, Rauner’s re-election campaign this week launched an attack ad against Ives.
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
