Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In New Hampshire, Republican officials had hoped to convince former Gov. Chris Sununu to run for the Senate next year, but he passed on the race this week, saying that spending several years in Washington, D.C., was “just not right for me or my family.”
* Now that Ken Paxton, Texas’ controversial attorney general, has launched a Republican U.S. Senate campaign, the race is on to succeed him. John Bash — perhaps best known as Elon Musk’s lawyer — was among the candidates who kicked off statewide bids following Paxton’s announcement.
* On a related note, incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who’s now facing a primary challenge from Paxton, called the scandal-plagued state attorney general a “conman and a fraud.”
* In North Carolina, Democratic leaders are still waiting to see whether former Gov. Roy Cooper will launch a U.S. Senate campaign. In the meantime, former Rep. Wiley Nickel isn’t waiting: The former Democratic congressman launched a campaign this week, hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
* In Nevada, a local NBC affiliate reported this week on a leaked audio featuring Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo speaking to supporters at a private dinner. Referring to recent “Hands Off” protests, the governor called the demonstrations “stupid” and insisted that protestors had been “paid by the Democratic Party.” The governor and his office did not dispute the authenticity of the recordings, and Lombardo said his message to his critics was “f— you.” * Following the collapse of her ambassadorship nomination, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik has been welcomed back into the House GOP leadership. She’ll now serve as the chair of the House Republican Leadership, which is a newly made-up post. * And in St. Louis this week, incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones lost her re-election bid, coming up far short against Alderwoman Cara Spencer. Both candidates are Democrats.
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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