Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) yesterday appointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) to fill Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D) Senate vacancy. Padilla will be California’s first Latino U.S. senator, though Harris’ departure means the number of Black women in the chamber will go from one to zero.
* In related news, Newsom also announced yesterday that he’s appointing Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D) to succeed Padilla as California secretary of state. Weber, a retired professor, will be the first Black woman to serve in the office.
* Hoping to counter Democratic messaging in Georgia, Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue launched ads yesterday touting the new economic relief package — right before Donald Trump denounced the agreement as a “disgrace.”
* As Team Trump’s anti-election antics reach dangerous levels, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows traveled to Georgia yesterday to “observe Georgia’s audit of absentee ballot envelope signatures and ask questions about the process.”
* In the unresolved congressional race in New York’s 22nd congressional district, newly counted affidavit ballots has narrowed the race between Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D) and former Rep. Claudia Tenney (R) to “three to five votes.” * After acknowledging electoral realities this week, Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) drew a sharp rebuke from Donald Trump who called for him to face a primary challenge in 2022 and for the senator’s political career to end. * On a related note, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said soon after that she would not challenge Thune in a GOP primary. Presidential hysterics aside, few expect the incumbent senator to face a credible intra-party rival in the midterm cycle.
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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