Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended his Democratic presidential campaign this morning, explaining on MSNBC, “I feel like I have contributed all I can to this primary election. It’s clearly not my time.” There are still 19 candidates vying for the party’s nomination.
* Joe Biden’s presidential campaign picked up three notable congressional endorsements yesterday, receiving support from Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), and Charlie Crist (D-Fla.). Both Cleaver and Butterfield have served as chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus.
* Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign announced an impressive milestone yesterday: the Vermont senator became the first 2020 candidate to reach 1 million individual donors. Then-candidate Barack Obama also topped the million-donor mark in his 2008 race, but Sanders reached the threshold even faster.
* There’s been increased speculation in recent weeks about whether Rep. Lucy McBath (D) would run in one of Georgia’s two U.S. Senate races next year, but the first-term lawmaker announced yesterday that she would instead run for re-election to her U.S. House seat.
* The latest Monmouth University poll in New Jersey shows Sen. Cory Booker (D) popular in his home state, but that’s not translating into strong support for his presidential campaign. Biden leads the Democratic field in the Garden State with 26%, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 20%, and Sanders at 18%. Booker is fourth in New Jersey with 9%. * A notable tidbit from this week’s Fox News poll: it not only shows Donald Trump trailing each of the top Democratic contenders in hypothetical general election match-ups, it also shows Democrats with an enthusiasm edge over Republicans. * And in New Hampshire, where Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, appears to be gearing up for a U.S. Senate race, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced yesterday that he’s supporting former state House Speaker Bill O’Brien for the GOP nomination. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D), meanwhile, is generally seen as the favorite to win re-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
