Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* To the relief of his party, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey announced this morning that he will, in fact, be running for re-election in Pennsylvania next year. He’s likely to be among the Republican Party’s 2024 targets.
* In Tennessee, the state GOP launched a fundraising appeal late last week, asking donors to support the party’s move to expel two Black Democratic legislators.
* At a White House event this morning, NBC’s Al Roker asked President Joe Biden about his re-election plans. “I plan on running, Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet,” the Democrat replied.
* NBC News reported that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is — I kid you not — trying to “show some bipartisan credentials” as he prepares for his re-election campaign in Texas next year.
* The New York Times reported on Friday that Donald Trump was prepared to add white nationalist Laura Loomer to his 2024 campaign team. When this generated some pushback — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene described Loomer as “mentally unstable” — the former president backed off and rescinded the directions he’d given to his team. * Speaking of Trump, Axios reported that the Republican “released a dramatic campaign video on Friday, featuring footage of his widely watched arrest” last week in Manhattan. The report added, “In the 56-second ad, posted to Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter page and emailed to supporters by the campaign, sleek footage of the former president traveling to court is played over cinematic music and Trump’s voiceover.” * As part of an effort that might help shape which party controls the U.S. House in 2025, two of New York’s top Democratic officeholders, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Tish James, submitted a court brief last week, asking that the Empire State’s district lines be redrawn. The map in place in 2022 was drawn by a judge, and led to Republican gains. * And in news that probably won’t surprise anyone, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is preparing to run for re-election in Arizona next year as an independent. The likelihood of a three-way race is a near certainty, as Democrats rally behind Rep. Ruben Gallego, and several Republicans eye the same race, including Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who’s expected to launch his statewide bid this week.
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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