Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* According to the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) is likely to appoint Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (D) to fill Al Franken’s (D) Senate vacancy. Under the scenario described in the article, Smith would serve until a special election next November, but she wouldn’t run for the seat.
* If Doug Jones (D) has any chance of success in Alabama’s Senate special election, he’s going to need strong support from African-American voters. With that in mind, the Washington Post reports that Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) is organizing a series of events for this weekend featuring Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Sewell, Booker, and Lewis are black.
* Republican strategist John Weaver, who helped run John McCain’s and John Kasich’s presidential campaigns, announced yesterday’s he’s contributed to Doug Jones’ campaign. Mark Salter, another former McCain aide, has done the same thing.
* In Tennessee, former two-term Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) has decided to run for the U.S. Senate next year, hoping to succeed Sen. Bob Corker (R), who’s retiring. Though Tennessee is a red state, Bredesen, who’s also a former Nashville mayor, easily won his gubernatorial campaigns in 2002 and 2006.
* Though Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) isn’t considered vulnerable next year, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) is apparently under pressure from Donald Trump to run against King next year. * In Ohio, Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) has decided to end his gubernatorial campaign and will instead be state Attorney General Mike DeWine’s (R) running mate in 2018. * And in Kentucky, Kim Davis refused to give David Ermold a marriage license because he’s gay. This week, Ermold announced he’s going to run against Davis for her elected position as county clerk.
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
