Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign officially begins, we now know his campaign manager will be Julie Chávez Rodríguez, who’s served as the White House director of intergovernmental affairs, and who was also the deputy campaign manager for Biden’s 2020 race. Quentin Fulks, who managed Sen. Raphael Warnock’s re-election campaign in Georgia last year, will be the president’s principal deputy campaign manager.
* On a related note, Team Biden unveiled its first television ad this morning, which is part of a two-week, seven-figure buy. The commercial is set to air in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
* The incumbent Democratic president also picked up some union support yesterday, receiving endorsements from the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers (IW).
* Donald Trump released a video yesterday responding to the launch of Biden’s re-election campaign. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but the claims from the former president weren’t true.
* As part of her Republican presidential campaign, former Ambassador Nikki Haley delivered remarks yesterday on abortion policy, vowing to address the issue “directly and openly.” The South Carolinian then gave her speech, which carefully avoided any specifics. * GOP megadonor Peter Thiel has reportedly told associates that he’s planning to keep his wallet closed in the 2024 election cycle. Reuters reported, “Thiel is unhappy with the Republican Party’s focus on hot-button U.S. cultural issues, said one of the sources, a business associate, citing abortion and restrictions on which bathrooms transgender students can use in schools as two examples.” * Under Florida’s “resign-to-run” law, if incumbent officials want to run for a different office, they have to resign the office they currently hold. Under a new Republican plan in the state, the GOP-led legislature is poised to create an exception for Gov. Ron DeSantis, allowing him to run for president while remaining governor. * And in case there were any doubts about Sen. Bernie Sanders’ ambitions, the Vermont independent told the Associated Press yesterday that he won’t be a presidential candidate in 2024, and he will support Biden’s re-election effort. Sanders has not yet made an announcement about whether he’ll seek another Senate term next year.
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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