Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Nebraska, Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts was asked yesterday about Charles Herbster, the frontrunner in the GOP race to replace him, who’s been accused of groping eight women. Ricketts, who is term-limited and can’t run again, told reporters, “I think he needs to apologize to the women, then I think he should seek help, then he should step out of the race.”
* On a related note, Donald Trump’s political operation announced this morning that the former president will hold a rally in Nebraska on April 29. Despite the seriousness of the accusations against him, Herbster will apparently be a special guest speaker at Trump’s event.
* In 2016, J.D. Vance expressed concern in a private message to an old law school classmate that Donald Trump might be “America’s Hitler.” Late last week, the Republican Senate hopeful in Ohio welcomed the former president’s endorsement.
* A federal judge in Georgia yesterday agreed to allow a lawsuit challenging Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s qualifications to run for re-election to proceed. Free Speech for People, a political reform organization, filed the litigation last month, alleging the right-wing congresswoman helped facilitate the Jan. 6 attack, and is therefore ineligible.
* The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is buying $141 million worth of advertising airtime in the fall, investing in seven states. Of particular interest: the SLF is putting millions of dollars into Alaska to help protect incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski — not from a Democratic opponent, but rather, from a Trump-backed Republican challenger. * According to an Axios report, Run for Something, which recruits young, progressive candidates who want to run for elected office, is launching a plan “to recruit more than 5,000 candidates for local offices in charge of election administration.” The report added, “The group hopes to raise $80 million over the next three years and recruit candidates in 35 states — where election administrators are elected by voters — who will run to become county election board members, county clerks and other election-related positions.” * And CNBC reported that conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin headlined a fundraiser in Florida last month at the sprawling estate of Wall Street billionaire Nelson Peltz. The West Virginian reportedly told attendees he plans to run for re-election in 2024, while publicly, he’s made no commitments about his future electoral plans.
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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