Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Texas Republicans signaled an end to their special session, devoted largely to mid-decade redistricting, which was derailed by Democratic legislators fleeing the state. But GOP officials also said a second special session would immediately follow, at which point the party would try again to rig the state’s district map.
* Democratic officials have hoped for months that former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was narrowly defeated in a re-election bid last year, would launch a comeback bid in Ohio next year. The former senator now appears poised to do exactly that, improving the party’s odds of winning the seat.
* In Alabama, with Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville giving up his Senate seat to run for governor, Republican Rep. Barry Moore is launching a bid to succeed him in the chamber. Ten years ago, Moore — at the time, a state legislator — had the distinction of becoming the first elected official in the nation to endorse Donald Trump’s candidacy.
* In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, the president this week formally endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in his upcoming GOP primary, to the disappointment of state Attorney General Chris Carr, who’d made multiple trips to the White House in recent months in the hopes of currying favor with Trump.
* In New York, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik hasn’t formally launched her gubernatorial candidacy, but the latest Siena Poll suggests she’ll start as an underdog: Incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul leads the congresswoman in the survey by 14 points, 45% to 31%. * Speaking of New York, the latest Siena poll also found Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani with 44% support in New York City’s mayoral race, followed by former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s running as an independent, with 25%. * And in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the market for a new lieutenant governor, and this week, he tapped Republican state Sen. Jay Collins for the job. Whether Collins will run for governor next year against Rep. Byron Donalds is not yet clear.
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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