Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger has announced that she’ll retire at the end of the current Congress. The Texas Republican was first elected in 1996.
* The Republican Accountability Project has unveiled a new television ad focused on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The spot will reportedly air in several battleground states.
* In South Carolina, the latest CNN poll found Donald Trump leading the Republicans’ presidential field with 53% support, followed by former Ambassador Nikki Haley — who also served as South Carolina’s governor — with 22%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is third in the survey with 11%, followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott with 6%.
* While the poll wasn’t good news for the only GOP senator in the party’s 2024 field, Scott’s campaign announced this week that he’s qualified for next week’s presidential primary debate. Trump, DeSantis, Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have also qualified, though the former president will not participate.
* As for Scott’s strategy, Scott suggested to Hugh Hewitt this week that his candidacy likely wouldn’t survive a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. “We have made the decision that it’s Iowa or bust for us,” he said. * Joe Lombardo, Nevada’s Republican governor, isn’t exactly pleased that his state will hold a caucus and a primary election on the same week, which seems likely to confuse local voters. “It’s unfortunate,” Lombardo said this week. “I’ve had numerous conversations, both with the state party and other individuals involved. And it’s falling on deaf ears.” * And I’ve been meaning to mention that Gabrielle Hanson lost a mayoral race in Franklin, Tennessee, last week by a wide margin. As an Associated Press report noted, the far-right candidate generated national attention after refusing to “denounce her white supremacist supporters,” some of whom self-identified as Nazis.
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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