Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With only a few days remaining before Florida’s congressional special elections, Republican officials are scrambling to boost state Sen. Randy Fine’s candidacy in White House national security advisor Mike Waltz’s former district, fearing a tougher-than-expected race in one of the state’s GOP strongholds.
* On a related note, a super PAC tied to Elon Musk has started investing in both of the April 1 congressional special elections in Florida, both of which were expected to be easy wins for the Republican candidates.
* In a bit of a surprise, Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan announced this week that she’s passing on the state’s open U.S. Senate race. The incumbent congresswoman will instead seek a third term in the U.S. House next year.
* While Utah has operated a problem-free vote-by-mail system for years, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox nevertheless signed a sweeping overhaul of the system. Going forward, Utahns will no longer automatically receive ballots through the mail and will no longer have a grace period for postmarked ballots that arrive after Election Day.
* While the special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner has not yet been set, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee kicked off his Democratic candidacy in Texas last week. * Though there was some scuttlebutt that Rep. Clay Higgins might take on Sen. Bill Cassidy in a Republican primary next year, the Louisiana congressman decided to stick with the U.S. House. * While Election Day 2026 is still a year and a half away, Donald Trump used his social media platform to issue a series of endorsements this week, including support for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, as well as Republican Rep. John McGuire of Virginia.
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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