Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas announced over the weekend that she will retire next year, ending her 30-year congressional career at the end of this Congress.
* Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, formally approved his state’s partisan congressional district map on Saturday. Thanks to GOP abuses, Republican state policymakers are likely to win 12 of Ohio’s 15 seats — 80 percent of the power — despite receiving roughly 54 percent of the statewide vote.
* In Vermont, Democratic Rep. Peter Welch announced this morning that he is running for the U.S. Senate and hopes to succeed Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy, who announced his retirement last week.
* On a related note, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont quickly endorsed Welch’s candidacy, which seems likely to discourage would-be progressive challengers.
* Just as an aside, Welch, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2006, will be 75 years old on Election Day 2022. If elected, would the Vermonter be the oldest freshman senator in American history? Sort of. * In Texas, incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott leads former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, 45 percent to 39 percent, in a new Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll. * In Alabama, former ambassador Lynda Blanchard is running for the U.S. Senate, but Donald Trump has reportedly tried to convince her to instead launch a Republican primary campaign against Gov. Kay Ivey. The Wall Street Journal reported that the former president wanted to hold a political rally at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, and a state commission declined. Trump blames Ivey, though the incumbent governor said she had nothing to do with the decision. The former president nevertheless holds a grudge. * And in New York, where former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t ruled out the possibility of running again, the New York State Assembly released a new report this morning that found “overwhelming evidence that the former governor engaged in sexual harassment.”
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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