Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Orlando this morning, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) launched his U.S. Senate campaign against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). While I think Nelson is probably a slight favorite, the problem for Democrats is that advertising in Florida is expensive, and investing in this race will mean far fewer resources for other competitive contests.
* A variety of Republican candidates have embraced a curious election tactic: telling voters that Democrats will impeach Donald Trump if they’re in the majority. Dems tried a similar tack in 2014, but it didn’t have much of an effect.
* There are two state legislative special elections this week, a state Senate race in Florida and another in Iowa.
* An interesting New York Times analysis the other day found that there are “far more” Democratic congressional candidates this year “than at any time in the last quarter-century.” The piece added, “Notably, there are even more Democrats running for the House this year than there were Republican hopefuls in 2010, when the Tea Party uprising against Mr. Obama helped sweep in 63 new House Republicans.”
* On the comeback trail, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), seeking his old job, has unveiled his 2018 pitch: “Putting Minnesotans in the middle first is a better way forward.” That is one very awkward sentence. * California is moving forward with a plan to get 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. The L.A. Times reported that, according to information released on Friday by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the effort has now enlisted 100,000 teenagers. * And former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, fired by Donald Trump soon after his inauguration, is often touted as a possible candidate for elected office, but she told the New York Times the other day she “can’t see” ever running for anything. That said, Yates added that her husband would like to see her run.
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
