Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a bit of a surprise, Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, announced he’ll retire at the end of this Congress. So far this year, however, Republican congressional retirements heavily outnumber Democratic retirements.
* In California, the latest poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found Bernie Sanders leading the Democrats’ 2020 field with 24%, followed closely by Elizabeth Warren with 22%. The survey shows Joe Biden third in the Golden State with 14%, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 12%. (Note, the poll, which showed Kamala Harris with 7%, was conducted before the senator’s withdrawal from the race.)
* The National Republican Congressional Committee is cutting aid to George Buck Jr. (R), Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D-Fla.) rival, following a recent email in which Buck appears to have made death threats toward Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib. Buck denied having written the email, which was sent along with his signature.
* Apparently trying to make up for lost time, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is investing “tens of millions of more dollars” in a new television ad campaign in support of his Democratic presidential bid that will air in all 50 states.
* Norm Sterzenbach, an Iowa political veteran who served as the state director for Beto O’Rourke’s ill-fated presidential campaign, this week joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s operation in the Hawkeye State. * Outgoing Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) yesterday offered a new explanation for his recent defeat. “The left, those who think of a different ideological bent, they are getting so good at harvesting votes in the urban communities,” the Republican told 55KRC in Cincinnati. “They were able to go into urban communities where people are densely populated on college campuses and public housing projects.” * Some notable figures from Barack Obama’s team, including former special assistant Reggie Love, former Council of Economic Advisers Chair Austan Goolsbee, and Linda Douglass, the former director of communications for the White House Office of Health Reform, are endorsing Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. * And Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) appears to be focusing her presidential campaign on New Hampshire, to the point that she’s now renting a home in Manchester.
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
