Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Virginia Democrats will hold their statewide primaries tomorrow, and while public polling is sparse, a new Roanoke College Poll shows former Gov. Terry McAuliffe with a big lead in his bid for a second, non-consecutive term.
* Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) spoke at his state party’s annual convention on Saturday, and heard audible “jeers and boos” from Republican activists on hand for the gathering. Donald Trump has blasted the first-term governor as an enemy for having certified President Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia.
* Speaking of Georgia, state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black became the highest-profile Republican to date to launch a 2022 campaign against incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) late last week.
* In a bit of a surprise, Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter in law, announced over the weekend that she will not be a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina next year. “I am saying no for now, not no forever,” she said.
* On a related note, Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Ted Budd (R) in North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate contest. Former Gov. Pat McCrory (R), Budd’s primary rival, blamed Trump’s staff for giving him “bad advice.” * In Missouri, State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) announced Friday that she won’t seek re-election, or run for any other elected office, in 2022. Galloway, who ran an unsuccessful bid for governor last year, is the last remaining statewide elected Democrat in Missouri. * And in Ohio’s 15th congressional district, which will soon have a special election to fill former Rep. Steve Stivers’ (R) vacancy, state Rep. Brian Stewart (R) suspended his candidacy on Friday after Stivers launched a television ad campaign in support of state Rep. Jeff LaRe (R). Trump World, however, has been rallying behind Mike Carvey, raising the prospect for an interesting August primary.
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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