Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* USA Today reports that leading outside groups backing Senate Republicans, including the Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation, “raised $31.6 million last year — a record amount for the organizations in a non-election year.”
* After Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight, there will be an official Democratic Party response, an official Democratic Party Spanish-language response, a Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) response, and a handful of others.
* Trump’s re-election campaign will broadcast the president’s speech online tonight, and for those willing to pay at least $35, donor names will appear on screen during the address.
* With Republicans increasingly concerned about Rick Saccone’s candidacy in Pennsylvania’s congressional special election, the NRCC has reserved “more than $1 million on ads on broadcast and cable TV stations” to give him a hand.
* After less than a year on the job, Jess O’Connell is stepping down as CEO of the Democratic National Committee. * Though Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is still favored to win a second term in November, his Democratic rival, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, continues to put up impressive fundraising numbers. * And I was glad to see the Washington Post publish this great piece over the weekend about changing voting laws to allow Americans to vote from home. (It’s co-authored by my friend and former boss Paul Glastris, the editor in chief at the Washington Monthly.)
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
