Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, the State Board of Elections heard testimony from Mark Harris’ (R) son, John Harris, who said he’d warned his father about the candidate’s consultants and their history of illegal tactics. The son testified that his father ignored the warnings.
* Dashing the hopes of Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told NBC News this morning that he’s ruled out running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas next year.
* As Rachel noted on the show last night, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential campaign raised nearly $6 million, mostly through small donors, in its first 24 hours, which is extraordinarily impressive.
* In related news, the senator is reportedly poised to sign a DNC pledge, in which the Vermont independent will agree to “run for president as a Democrat in 2020 and serve as one if elected.” This would apparently rule out the possibility of a third-party campaign in the event Sanders fails to earn the Democratic nomination.
* Rep. Bradley Byrne (R) has launched a U.S. Senate bid in Alabama, which means incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D) is likely to have a tough re-election bid in 2020. That said, Byrne will probably not run unopposed in a GOP primary. * In South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, Jaime Harrison (D) is still in the exploratory-committee phase, but he met with Democratic leaders in D.C. last week, and shored up party support ahead of his likely race against incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R). * The White House has made no secret of the fact that it’s worried about a possible primary challenge from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). With this in mind, it probably didn’t sooth anxieties inside Trump World that the Maryland Republican told CBS News this week, in reference to the 2020 race, “I’m being approached by a lot of different people, and I guess the best way to put it is I haven’t thrown them out of my office.”
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
