Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With Democratic Sen. Tina Smith retiring in Minnesota, is there a chance Gov. Tim Walz will run for the seat next year? NBC News reports that he’s eyeing the contest, though he also hasn’t ruled out a possible bid for a third term as governor.
* On a related note, Walz isn’t alone: Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s Democratic lieutenant governor, wasted little time announcing that she plans to launch a 2026 Senate campaign.
* As for Minnesota Republicans, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who left office 14 years ago, appears unlikely to run next year. “I look forward to supporting such a candidate and I don’t plan to enter this race,” he told Axios.
* In Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial race, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s finances just got a significant boost: VoteVets, a progressive veterans’ group, announced that it’s sending the likely Democratic nominee $500,000. The New York Times reported that this is the largest donation in the 20-year history of the organization.
* Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, announced this week that former college football coach Jim Tressel is his choice to fill the state’s lieutenant governor vacancy. Now that Tressel has been confirmed by state lawmakers, does this mean he might launch a 2026 campaign of his own, as DeWine steps down? For now, Tressel isn’t ruling out the possibility. * In Louisiana, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy continues to align himself with Donald Trump, but he’s still facing significant partisan headwinds in his home state, and he’s still facing a tough primary fight. * And in California, it’s not yet clear whether former Vice President Kamala Harris will launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign, but if she does, Ric Grenell, Trump’s special missions envoy, apparently wants to run against her. It would be the first attempt at elected office for Grenell, who also recently became the Kennedy Center’s interim executive director.
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."
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