Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The Movement for Black Lives launched a voter-registration campaign over the weekend, tied to the national release of the “Black Panther” film. This strikes me as a very smart move.
* Al Hoffman Jr., a prominent Republican donor in Florida, told GOP leaders over the weekend he intends to keep his wallet closed until the party passes new measures to restrict gun access.
* With Sen. Bob Corker (R) weighing whether to reverse course on his upcoming retirement in Tennessee, far-right Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) has made clear she’s staying in the Senate race, whether Corker runs again or not.
* After downplaying connections between the state party and the online Maine Examiner outlet, Jason Savage, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party, has finally admitted “to a state ethics panel that he is the owner and operator” of the secretive website.
* Sixteen months after the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump asked over the weekend, “[W]asn’t I a great candidate?” (The answer, for what it’s worth, is that great candidates generally don’t lose the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots.) * In New York late last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) formally accepted the state party’s re-nomination for a second term. Asked if she intends to serve a full six-year term, the New Yorker, rumored to be interested in the 2020 presidential race, said, “I do…. I really want to serve in the U.S. Senate.” * And in California, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) gubernatorial candidacy is poised to get a boost: Sen. Kamala Harris (D) plans to endorse him.
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
