Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Mississippi, one of three states holding statewide elections this year, a new Magnolia Tribune/Mason-Dixon Poll found incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves ahead of Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, but not by an overwhelming margin: The Republican leads his Democratic challenger, 46% to 39%, among likely voters.
* Speaking of new survey data, the latest national Quinnipiac poll found Donald Trump with a sizable advantage over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, 46% to 32%. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley was a distant third in the poll with 5%, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence with 3%.
* That same poll, for what it’s worth, showed President Joe Biden with narrow leads over both Trump and DeSantis in hypothetical general-election match-ups.
* The former president, meanwhile, continues to go after his principal GOP rival, publishing a new missive last night slamming DeSantis over Florida’s insurance industry crisis. Unlike many of Trump’s other lines of attack, this one actually has some legitimacy.
* That said, while DeSantis hasn’t yet launched his 2024 campaign, he has already picked up his first congressional endorsement: Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas threw his support behind the Florida governor. * To the relief of some GOP officials in Pennsylvania, commentator Kathy Barnette has decided not to launch another Republican Senate campaign in the Keystone State in 2024. Barnette finished a competitive third in a Senate primary last year, despite raising very little money. * Marianne Williamson’s Democratic presidential campaign already faced long odds, and a new Politico report on her allegedly abusive behavior toward her staff probably won’t help. From the article: “Williamson would throw her phone at staffers, according to three of those former staffers. Her outbursts could be so loud that two former aides recounted at least four occasions when hotel staff knocked on her door to check on the situation. In one instance, Williamson got so angry about the logistics of a campaign trip to South Carolina that she felt was poorly planned that she pounded a car door until her hand started to swell, according to four former staffers.” The candidate denied the claims.
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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