Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Ohio’s crowded U.S. Senate Republican primary, Jane Timken is starting to consolidate GOP establishment support. Retiring Sen. Rob Portman endorsed her last week, and three more sitting senators — Iowa’s Joni Ernst, West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito, and Nebraska’s Deb Fischer — threw their support behind her this week.
* On a related note, Timken’s increased support comes on the heels of her provocative new television ad in which she says, in reference to her male primary rivals, “We all know guys who overcompensate for their inadequacies, and that description fits the guys in the Senate race to a T.” The GOP candidate goes on to describe herself in the ad as “Trump tough.”
* Speaking of the Buckeye State, the Ohio Republican Party’s state central committee voted to endorse Gov. Mike DeWine, but it was close: The GOP members voted 36 to 26 to back the incumbent governor over his primary rivals.
* I’m skeptical that Rep. Madison Cawthorn will be disqualified from running for re-election, but the North Carolina Republican told Fox News last night that his critics are “close” to succeeding.
* In Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, many leading Republicans still haven’t given up hope that incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey will launch a 2022 candidacy. Politico reported, “Three people familiar with Ducey’s thinking said he is unlikely to enter the crowded Republican Senate primary, but has still not completely ruled it out.” * An interesting catch from Bloomberg Politics: Donald Trump’s Save America operation began this month with $108 million in the bank, but the former president’s political action committee “didn’t donate any of it last month to the dozens of candidates he’s backing.” * And in Texas’ closely watched state attorney general primary, the latest Dallas Morning News poll found scandal-ridden state Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead in his GOP primary race, though his support stood at 39 percent, while Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is second with 25 percent. The intra-party election is March 1 — a week from today — and if no one wins a majority, there will be a May 24 runoff.
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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