Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, the only 2020 Democratic candidate to have won a statewide election in a red state, ended his presidential campaign this morning. His departure means that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is the only current or former governor in the race.
* Speaking of presidential hopefuls exiting the stage, former Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania ended his Democratic campaign yesterday. As things stand, the party’s 2020 field now stands at 16 candidates.
* The Associated Press reported over the holiday weekend that a super PAC formed to support Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) presidential campaign is shutting down. The report added, “The group’s founder, San Francisco lawyer Steve Phillips, indicated in a news release Wednesday that Dream United had struggled to raise money.”
* Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) presidential campaign picked up a new congressional supporter over the weekend with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) endorsing the senator.
* Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose Democratic presidential bid has struggled badly to earn support from minority communities, worshiped yesterday at North Carolina’s Greenleaf Christian Church, which is pastored by the Rev. William J. Barber II. * The New York Times took a deep dive over the holiday weekend into some of the internal problems plaguing Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-Calif.) presidential campaign. The article quoted Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), one of Harris’ top congressional backers, calling on the senator to fire her campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez. * On a related note, Politico reported the other day that Kelly Mehlenbacher, who served as the treasury manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, has resigned as Harris’ state operations director. Mehlenbacher has instead joined Michael Bloomberg’s campaign and will serve as deputy chief operating officer.
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
