Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a bit of a surprise, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) announced this morning that she’ll seek another term in California next year. At 84, the Democratic senator, first elected in 1992, is currently the chamber’s oldest member, and it’s not yet clear whether she’ll face a primary rival.
* Virginia’s gubernatorial election is five weeks from tomorrow, a new Wason Center poll shows Ralph Northam (D) with a seven-point advantage over Ed Gillespie (R), 49% to 42%.
* Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign sent a solicitation to donors using the Las Vegas mass shooting as the basis for a pitch.
* On a related note, some House Democrats, including Ohio’s Tim Ryan and Minnesota’s Tim Walz, have decided to donate previous contributions they received from the NRA to charity.
* And speaking of returned donations, a variety of prominent congressional Democrats are starting to “give charities thousands of dollars in donations they had received from disgraced Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein.” * In New Hampshire, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) announced late last week she won’t seek re-election in 2018. Her competitive district is likely to be a hard-fought battleground in the midterms. * In Arizona, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D) was rumored to be interested in next year’s Senate race, but he’ll instead run for Rep. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D) House seat, now that Sinema has launched her Senate bid. * And in an interesting sign of the times, Erik Prince, the founder of the security contractor Blackwater, is reportedly eyeing a Republican primary campaign in Wyoming next year against incumbent Sen. John Barrasso, a member of the Senate GOP leadership. Prince has reportedly received encouragement from … wait for it … Breitbart’s Steve Bannon.
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." Recommended
