Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With a year remaining before Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial primary, the race is apparently already over: Dave Yost, who has years of experience serving as state auditor and state attorney general, suspended his candidacy late last week, clearing the way of Vivek Ramaswamy to win the GOP nomination, despite never having held public office.
* Donald Trump on Friday endorsed Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s re-election bid in West Virginia, which is only notable because the incumbent senator is facing a primary challenge from former state Rep. Derrick Evans, who served three months in prison for participating in the Jan. 6 riot.
* Last fall, voters in Missouri approved an abortion rights amendment to the state constitution. Now, Republican policymakers in the state have approved a new referendum that would repeal the measure the state’s electorate just endorsed.
* With about a month remaining before Primary Day in New Jersey, Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey found Rep. Mikie Sherrill with a growing lead in the crowded Democratic field. Sherrill’s 28% support outpaced Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who were tied for second with each garnering 11% support. (Click the link for more information on the poll’s methodology and margin of error.)
* Mike Pence’s 2024 presidential campaign will apparently be his last: The former Republican vice president appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and told Kristen Welker, in reference to national races, “I don’t see that in my future.”
* In Texas, where Sen. John Cornyn is facing a tough primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican incumbent kicked off a “Crooked Ken Paxton” campaign last week. Their primary election is still 10 months away.
* And according to The Wall Street Journal, Trump was directly involved in convincing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene not to run for the Senate in Georgia next year. The president apparently showed her a polling report that suggested she could win a primary, but she’d lose to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff by 18 points.
