Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Mississippi, Chris McDaniel made it official yesterday, kicking off his Republican primary campaign against incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker. McDaniel called Wicker, who votes with Donald Trump 97% of the time, “one of the most liberal senators.”
* Just as importantly, considering the very real possibility that McDaniel could win the primary and be too extreme for Mississippi, state House Minority Leader David Baria (D) submitted the paperwork for his own Senate campaign.
* In North Carolina, the News & Observer reports, “For the first time in anyone’s memory, nearly all 170 state legislative races in North Carolina will feature both a Republican and Democratic candidate.” The filing deadline ended yesterday, and voters in 169 out of 170 state legislative districts will have at least two candidates to choose from.
* In Illinois’ gubernatorial race, a Southern Illinois University poll points to possible trouble for incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner (R): he trails J.B. Pritzker (D) and Daniel Biss (D) by double digits in hypothetical match-ups. * In Arizona, right-wing Senate hopeful Joe Arpaio (R) believes he may have a supernatural connection with Donald Trump. “I can read his mind without even talking to him. I think he may be reading mine,” Arpaio said. “Is there something that goes through the airwaves? Mental telepathy?” I’ll assume that was a rhetorical question. * And in California, with Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. (R) already facing an FBI investigation, several Republicans are now gearing up to challenge him in a GOP primary, and some of the candidates are quite credible.
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
