Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial continues to unfold, the New Jersey Democrat is also making plans for a post-trial re-election campaign. NBC News reported this morning that the indicted incumbent has apparently “collected the necessary signatures to run for re-election to the Senate as an independent.”
* The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found President Joe Biden with a narrow national advantage over Donald Trump, 50% to 48%, in a head-to-head match-up. This survey found that the incumbent Democrat would be in a far greater position were it not for his difficulties with younger voters.
* While Trump and his allies failed to derail Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan in a GOP primary this week, far-right Texas Republicans made significant gains in this year’s primaries, which will likely shift the state House in an even more extreme direction.
* Speaking of the Lone Star State, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was recently indicted in a federal bribery case, and this week, his troubles got a little worse: The House Ethics Committee is now investigating Cuellar, too.
* Despite recent chatter about Sen. Joe Manchin possibly running for governor in West Virginia in the fall, the retiring Democratic incumbent announced this morning that he’s passing on the race. * While Virginia isn’t generally thought of as a 2024 battleground, the latest Roanoke College Poll found Biden and Trump tied in the commonwealth with 42% support each. * And the Associated Press reported that Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen invited a primary rival into the race in order to raise more money for his general election effort. “I do technically have a primary,” the Republican said earlier this month in response to a question about his ostensible intraparty ally. “However, he is a young man who I asked to run against me because our campaign laws are ridiculous.”
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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