Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As the Democratic presidential nominating process continues to get underway in earnest, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign continues to look like a financial juggernaut: it took in $30 million in the first quarter and now has more than $40 million cash on hand. That doesn’t include the tens of millions of dollars the RNC has raised, which will further benefit the president.
* South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg formally kicked off his Democratic presidential campaign yesterday, and he’ll be on the show with Rachel tonight. (According to the mayor’s campaign, the candidate wrote his own announcement speech.)
* More than two months after launching his presidential campaign, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) also held a formal kick-off event in his hometown of Newark over the weekend.
* And in case that weren’t quite enough, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who announced his candidacy last week, held a formal launch event of his own yesterday in his hometown of Dublin, Calif.
* Late last week, Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) announced he’ll retire at the end of his term, creating a pick-up opportunity for Republicans: Iowa’s 2nd congressional district switched from supporting Barack Obama in 2012 to supporting Donald Trump in 2016. * As part of her presidential campaign, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) released 15 years’ worth of tax returns over the weekend. * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has gone on the offensive against the Center for American Progress, a prominent think tank. The Vermont senator’s presidential campaign yesterday also sent a fundraising pitch to supporters yesterday afternoon with a subject line that read, “Make CAP pay a price for this attack.” * Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced her first-quarter fundraising over the weekend, noting that she raised $3 million in the first three months of the year. The haul puts her on the low end among the officeholders seeing the Democratic presidential nomination.
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
