Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the second congressional retirement announcement this week, Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) said yesterday he too is stepping down at the end of this term. Expect Democrats to try to flip the Lone Star State’s increasingly diverse 22nd congressional district.
* In South Carolina, the latest Monmouth University poll found former Vice President Joe Biden (D) leading the Democratic presidential primary pack with 39%, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) with 12%. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) were close behind with 10% and 9%, respectively.
* Speaking of 2020 polling, the latest national Fox News poll found Biden leading the Democratic field with 33%, followed by Sanders at 15%, Warren at 12%, and Harris at 10%.
* The same Fox News poll found Biden leading Donald Trump in a hypothetical match-up, though the president wrote on Twitter this morning that he believes there’s “NO WAY” the poll is accurate.
* It’s generally assumed that Sen. Susan Collins (R) will seek a fifth term in Maine next year, though the only New England Republican in Congress acknowledged yesterday that she hasn’t yet decided on her electoral plans. * After Attorney General Bill Barr announced plans to resume federal executions yesterday, more than a few Democratic presidential candidates expressed their opposition to the new policy. * And Roll Call raised an interesting observation this week: when Trump hosts campaign rallies, he has a curious habit of making unnecessary criticisms of his own campaign team.
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
