Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After a Virginia court yesterday rejected a legal challenge from the Democratic candidate, the commonwealth’s undecided House of Delegates race was settled this morning by choosing a name out of a bowl. The Republican won, which means there will be a GOP majority — even though most Virginia voters voted Democratic.
* As Donald Trump and Steve Bannon effectively go to war, some Republican candidates who touted Bannon’s support are suddenly running in the opposite direction. That includes former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who saw Bannon as a key part of his comeback bid.
* In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) seems like a safe bet for re-election, but he’ll first have to withstand a primary challenge. Jan Morgan, perhaps best known for owning a gun range that excludes religious minorities she doesn’t like, kicked off a Republican gubernatorial campaign on New Year’s Eve.
* Those of us who’ve grown accustomed to reading Gallup’s daily tracking poll will have to go without: the longtime pollster is discontinuing its daily tracking poll. Going forward, it will, however, report on presidential approval ratings once per week.
* The American Action Network, a group with close ties to Congress’ Republican leadership, is reportedly investing $2 million in television ads to promote the GOP tax plan. The Washington Post reports the ad buy is “the first salvo in a $10 million campaign.” * Ahead of her re-election campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) already has $12.8 million in her campaign coffers. Politico reports that’s more than “nearly any other incumbent senator ever has at this point in an election cycle.” * And in Miami, where Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is retiring, the expectation was that the race in her 27th congressional district would be one of the nation’s more interesting open races. Now it appears Republicans are quietly giving up on the contest. Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in this district by 20 points in 2016.
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
