Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced plans yesterday to veto a new “election overhaul” bill championed by the Republican-led legislature. The proposal would, among other things, impose stricter voter-ID requirements, curtail ballot drop boxes, and make it harder for Pennsylvanians to vote by mail. There were no meaningful problems with the Keystone State’s 2020 elections.
* In a Washington Post op-ed pleading for new federal voting rights laws, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), calls out Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) by name. Hobbs, a 2022 gubernatorial candidate, wrote, “Sinema and I serve the same state. We both know that if we do nothing now, Arizonans’ access to the ballot will be stripped away by Republican legislators. If Republicans want to make the right to vote a partisan issue, that’s their problem. I know — and I believe that U.S. senators know, too — that access to the ballot isn’t a red or blue policy but a basic American value.”
* Roll Call reports that the Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), following allegations that he “misspent campaign funds on personal pursuits and failed to properly report required information in his Federal Election Commission filings.”
* In Iowa, state Rep. Ras Smith (D) launched a gubernatorial campaign yesterday, becoming the first Democrat to join the 2022 race. If elected, the 33-year-old legislator would be Iowa’s first-ever Black governor. It’s not yet clear whether incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will seek another term.
* In Florida, GOP congressional hopeful Anna Paulina Luna (R), who’s been described as an “up-and-coming Republican,” is now claiming that her local Republican rivals have conspired to kill her and are working to “take me out.” Luna ran a competitive race against Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) last fall, losing by about six points. * Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is launching a new political operation, called Champion American Values PAC, ahead of a likely 2024 presidential bid. * And in Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported that former Gov. Paul LePage (R) is planning to run for a third term next year, and “his launch is widely expected this summer.” The article added that the Maine Republican Party “has worked to clear a path for his nomination.”
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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