Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the first official Democratic presidential nominating contest of 2024, President Joe Biden cruised to an overwhelming victory, finishing with roughly 96% of the vote.
* On a related note, Rep. Dean Phillips has argued in recent weeks that his Democratic presidential candidacy would improve as voters got to know him better. In South Carolina’s primary, however, he finished third, trailing self-help author Marianna Williamson.
* With a week remaining before the congressional special election in New York’s 3rd district, former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi has a significant financial advantage over Republican Mazi Pilip, but Democratic officials are increasingly concerned that a local focus on border issues may cost them the race.
* On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about her re-election plans. The Arizona independent, who helped negotiate a pending border deal, replied that she hasn’t been focused on electoral considerations.
* Over the last year or so, Rep. Victoria Spartz has announced her retirement, eyed a possible Senate campaign, and weighed a possible resignation. As of a few hours ago, the Indiana Republican has decided to un-retire, though it’s unclear whether the GOP candidates running for the seat will stand aside now that the incumbent has changed her mind. * VoteVets, a progressive PAC that often supports Democratic veterans running for office, is reportedly poised to spend $45 million in this year’s elections, including backing Biden’s re-election bid. * I’d recommend taking such talk with a grain of salt, but in his latest Fox News interview, Donald Trump mentioned South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as possible running mates. * And in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, businessman Bernie Moreno is running as a Trump acolyte, but between 2016 and 2021, he published some sharp criticisms of the former president to social media. The content has since been deleted.
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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