Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Apparently trying to get a rise out of critics, Donald Trump said at a Florida campaign rally last night that he could remain in office for “10 or 14” years.
* As Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signals interest in a possible primary challenge to Trump, the latest statewide poll in Maryland found the governor trailing the president by a two-to-one margin among Republican voters in Hogan’s own home state.
* With Sen. Mike Enzi (R) retiring in Wyoming, Senate Republican leaders are urging Rep. Liz Cheney (R) to run for Enzi’s seat. House Republicans, meanwhile, are lobbying Cheney to remain in the lower chamber, where she’s currently the #3 member of the GOP leadership.
* Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) may not be leading the fundraising race among 2020 presidential hopefuls, but has raised more than her rivals in communities of color.
* Speaking of Harris, the Californian apparently won’t have the support of her Golden State colleague: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) reiterated her support for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign this week, though she added that she “loves” and “appreciates” Harris. * Remember former CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose identity was leaked by the Bush/Cheney White House? She announced this morning that she’s running for Congress in New Mexico’s 3rd district, which is currently held by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D), who’s now running for the U.S. Senate. * Would former Attorney General Jeff Sessions seek a political comeback? The former Republican senator said yesterday he hasn’t ruled out a race against Sen. Doug Jones (D) in Alabama next year. Jones currently holds the seat Sessions held before joining Trump’s cabinet. * And workers on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign ratified their union contract yesterday. As far as anyone can tell, this is a first in a major-party presidential campaign.
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
