Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* Despite all of the post-election chatter about the progressive base feeling defeated and demoralized, massive “Hands Off” protests held in events across the country focused on pushing back against Donald Trump and his agenda.

* The Virginia Republican Party announced over the weekend that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears will be the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee in the fall, scrapping the planned primary. She faced some intraparty rivals, but they failed to meet the eligibility thresholds.

* In North Carolina, Republicans on the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday that more than 65,000 votes cast in the contested race for the state Supreme Court in 2024 must be recounted and verified. It was the outcome the GOP was hoping for.

* In New Hampshire, Trump is on record saying former Gov. Chris Sununu is “unelectable in his own state,” a “RINO” whom the state’s voters “no longer like or respect,” and a “loser“ whom the president “never liked.” Trump nevertheless endorsed Sununu’s unannounced Senate bid over the weekend.

* Last year, former labor leader Dan Osborn ran a surprisingly strong U.S. Senate campaign, and he’s apparently gearing up for a second effort: Last week, the independent launched an exploratory committee, lining up a possible race against incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

* In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is now arguing that he’s delayed a special election to fill the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner’s vacancy because he doesn’t like the way Harris County administers elections.

* Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has launched a new initiative, which includes a new “war room” to counter the White House, and a shadow cabinet of sorts to offer counterarguments to Republican claims.