Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* During a CPAC appearance, Kari Lake boasted that she’s driving “a stake through the heart of the McCain Machine.” The same day, the Republicans’ gubernatorial nominee in Arizona picked up an endorsement from her state’s outgoing GOP governor, Doug Ducey, who had supported her primary rival.
* In the state of Washington, Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse has won his primary, despite supporting Donald Trump’s impeachment early last year, defeating a Trump-backed rival, Loren Culp. The incumbent is heavily favored to win in the general election.
* The good news for Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan is that he’s proven to be an even stronger Senate candidate than expected, and both parties’ polls show him in contention in Ohio’s open-seat race. The bad news for Ryan is that he’s doing so well, Republicans are now investing heavily in new attack ads in the hopes of tearing him down.
* Tennessee’s Democratic gubernatorial primary was close, but Nashville physician Jason Martin narrowly defeated Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr. Martin, a first-time candidate, advances to a general election against incumbent Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who’s expected to win a second term.
* If Donald Trump lashes out against Joe O’Dea, the Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado, at least we’ll know why: O’Dea said on Friday, “As far as Trump’s concerned, I hope he doesn’t run. I don’t want to see him as president.” * Speaking of the former president, Trump held a rally in Wisconsin on Friday night and devoted quite a bit of time to condemning Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly Speaker, Robin Vos, for not decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Tomorrow, Vos will face a far-right primary rival, Adam Steen, who enjoys Trump’s backing. * And speaking of Wisconsin, the Republican National Committee on Friday officially announced that Milwaukee will host the party’s 2024 national convention. Milwaukee was also chosen to host the Democrats’ national convention in 2020, though the event was ultimately turned into a virtual convention due to the pandemic.
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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