Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After quite a bit of hedging, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said yesterday he’ll release a decade’s worth of tax returns by Monday. The senator also acknowledged that he’s now a millionaire, thanks to the success of his recent book.
* On a related note, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released her most recent tax return this morning.
* Though I haven’t seen this confirmed by other news outlets, Axios, quoting Joe Biden’s friends, reported this morning that the former vice president will kick off his presidential campaign later this month, probably after Easter.
* Ahead of her 2020 re-election campaign, Sen. Susan Collins (R) is raising a fair amount of money, but according to Roll Call, more than 99% of the funds the senator has raised has come from outside her home state of Maine.
* Quinnipiac released a new poll this morning of California Democrats and their presidential preferences, and Biden leads the 2020 field with 26% support. Sanders is second with 18%, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) at 17%. Since the poll was in Harris’ home state, her third-place showing isn’t ideal. * Last year, after his criminal indictment, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) briefly tried to end his re-election campaign, but ended up running and winning anyway. Looking ahead to 2020, the New York Republican, whose criminal trial has not yet begun, said he’s still “debating” whether to seek another term. * And in Mississippi, Andy Taggart, a Republican candidate for state attorney general, raised a few eyebrows last week by calling for his home state to adopt a new flag — which, he said, should no longer include the Confederate battle flag. Taggart, a longtime fixture of GOP Mississippi politics, is running in a primary against two other Republicans. (Statewide elections in Mississippi are this year, not in 2020.)
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
