Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Donald Trump is hosting an event in Missouri this week on tax policy, and over the weekend, he took the opportunity to brag about winning the state 10 months ago, while slamming Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) for opposing a tax-cut plan that does not currently exist.
* On a related note, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R), a top contender to take on McCaskill next year, announced that he’ll be on vacation this week and will not attend the president’s event.
* Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday and told NBC News’ Chuck Todd that he isn’t planning to run as an independent in 2020 with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) as his running mate, despite a report on this last week. “The answer is no,” the Republican governor said yesterday.
* Some supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) apparently filed a lawsuit against the DNC last year, accusing the party of fraud. On Friday afternoon, a federal court dismissed the litigation, saying the plaintiffs “have not presented a case that is cognizable in federal court.”
* Though Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) hasn’t officially said whether she plans to run for a full term of her own, the Republican governor recently filed campaign finance paperwork that suggests Ivey will run next year. * In Georgia, state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D) is stepping down from the legislature this week in order to run for governor full-time. The Democratic gubernatorial primary isn’t until May 22, 2018. * And in Pennsylvania, state Sen. Scott Wagner, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, clashed with a Democratic tracker late last week, and for some reason thought it’d be a good idea to complain on camera that George Soros is a “Hungarian Jew.” Three months ago, Wagner was accused of assaulting a tracker from American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic super PAC.
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
