Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Republicans made a significant effort to win San Antonio’s mayoral election, but in Texas’ second-largest city, Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, an Iraq war veteran who served as the under secretary of the U.S. Air Force, prevailed with roughly 54% of the vote.
* On a related note, in Mississippi’s largest city, former Democratic state Sen. John Horhn easily won Jackson’s mayoral race last week, finishing with roughly 67% of the vote.
* How difficult have things become inside the Democratic National Committee’s leadership team? According to a new Politico report, DNC Chair Ken Martin told party leaders in a recent private conversation that he’s unsure about his ability to lead the party because of infighting created by Vice Chair David Hogg. “I’ll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” he said in a May 15 online meeting of DNC officials.
* With New Jersey’s gubernatorial primaries just one day away, Donald Trump reiterated his endorsement of former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli, adding, in reference to the other Republican candidates, “I don’t even know who they are!”
* Prominent players in the cryptocurrency industry were heavily involved in boosting some GOP Senate candidates in the 2024 election cycle, and Punchbowl News reported that crypto advocates are already starting to make significant investments into former Rep. Mike Rogers’ Republican candidacy in Michigan. * Unrig Our Economy and Families Over Billionaires are launching a $5 million ad campaign, urging Republican senators to oppose their party’s domestic policy megabill. The initial round of ads began airing late last week in North Carolina, Maine and Iowa, with plans to expand to Alaska, South Carolina, Missouri and Ohio. 🚨NEW AD: Sen. Thom Tillis might vote for a tax scam that would: * In related news, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNBC late last week that he believes Republicans will lose their majority unless they approve their far-right reconciliation package. What he didn’t mention was the likelihood that if the party does approve the legislation, Democrats will spend the next year using it against them.
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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All to line billionaires’ pockets. pic.twitter.com/k1bPJ1jr06
