Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As of now, Roy Moore still hasn’t conceded Alabama’s Senate special election, and the right-wing candidate apparently thinks he still might win by way of a recount. This probably won’t work out well for him.
* Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) is appointing Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (D) to replace Sen. Al Franken (D), and in a notable twist, Smith won’t just be a placeholder — she reportedly intends to run again next November. Whether Smith will face primary rivals is unclear.
* On a related note, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the vice chair of the DNC, has decided not to run for the Senate seat in Minnesota next year.
* The new national Quinnipiac poll, released yesterday, showed Donald Trump with an approval rating of 37%.
* An interesting tidbit out of Texas: for the first time in 25 years, there will be a Democratic candidate running in literally every congressional district in the Lone Star State. * As Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) gets ready to wrap up his tenure, state Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R) is eager to replace him. In an interview with the Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston, however, the incumbent governor seemed to have some concerns about his would-be GOP successor. * In Illinois’ gubernatorial race, the Democratic establishment appears to be closing ranks behind billionaire venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker: he picked up endorsements this week from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). * And in Virginia, on the heels of his gubernatorial defeat, Ed Gillespie (R) was asked this week about his racially charged campaign message, which ended up not working. Gillespie said, “Are those the issues I would have chosen to run on as opposed to the tax cuts and frankly even the criminal justice reform innovative proposals I put forward? That’s what I’d rather the race had been about, but those weren’t what was indicating was going to move numbers and help me win.” He lost anyway.
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
