Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) yesterday conceded that he’d voted for spending bills that included the Hyde Amendment, but explained, “Well, look, sometimes in a large bill you have to vote for things you don’t like. But I think my record as being literally 100 percent ‘pro-choice’ is absolutely correct.”
* Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, is reportedly preparing to step down from his post, and he’s eyeing a race for his old job: governor of Utah. Huntsman, who also served as the Obama administration’s ambassador to China, ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2012.
* Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s Democratic presidential campaign picked up its first U.S. Senate endorsement over the weekend: Montana’s Jon Tester (D) threw his support behind his home-state ally.
* Fresh off her success championing Georgia’s controversial new abortion ban, state Sen. Renee Unterman (R) is running to succeed Rep. Rob Woodall (R) in Georgia’s 7th congressional district.
* Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) conceded the other day that he isn’t going to qualify for the first round of debates for the Democratic presidential candidates. * Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D), who’s currently the only Democratic official holding statewide office in Missouri, is reportedly moving closer to a gubernatorial campaign next year, fueled in part by her opposition to Missouri’s newly passed abortion ban. * And in Virginia, it appears former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) is very likely to seek his old job in two years. (Virginia is the only state in the nation that does not allow governors to run for re-election, but there’s nothing stopping former governors from trying to serve non-consecutive terms.)
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
