Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a bit of a surprise, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the House Republican Conference chair, announced this morning that she’ll run for re-election instead of seeking Wyoming’s open U.S. Senate seat.
* Less than a month before New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary, Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D), one of the state’s two U.S. House representatives, is throwing her support behind Pete Buttigieg’s campaign.
* In Wisconsin, widely seen as one of the nation’s key 2020 battlegrounds, a new Marquette University Law School poll found Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in a hypothetical match-up by four points, while Bernie Sanders leads the incumbent president by one point. Trump, however, had modest leads over Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.
* CNN released the audio late yesterday of the post-debate exchange between Warren and Sanders immediately after Tuesday night’s event in Iowa.
* Missouri’s Supreme Court this week issued a 5-2 ruling gutting the state’s voter-ID law. As the Kansas City Star reported, “Voters can once again bring non-photo identification — like a voter ID card, a college ID or a utility bill — to the polls without having to sign an affidavit stating they don’t have ‘a form of personal identification approved for voting.’” * Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) announced yesterday that she’s taking a leave of absence from Congress for alcoholism treatment, but she nevertheless intends to run for re-election in November. Kirkpatrick represents Arizona’s 2nd congressional district, which is the state’s most competitive district, and which tends to lean “red.” * Kimberly Guilfoyle became the latest Fox News veteran to join Team Trump, announcing yesterday that she’ll lead the joint fundraising effort between the president’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.
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
