Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After striking out at the Colorado Supreme Court, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) is back on the primary ballot, thanks to a federal court ruling yesterday. A district court judge agreed that the state law requiring ballot-petition circulators to be in-state residents is “likely unconstitutional.”
* Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, is facing criticism after launching a campaign ad in which he points a shotgun at a teenager, featured in the commercial as one of his daughter’s suitors.
* In California, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) is seeking re-election, the longtime senator has changed her position on marijuana laws and now wants federal law enforcement not to interfere in California’s legal marijuana market.
* With Donald Trump suddenly eager to destroy Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short apparently called into a Montana radio show yesterday to complain about Tester’s scrutiny of Ronny Jackson, the president’s former nominee to lead the VA.
* To the disappointment of Democratic leaders, former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has decided to launch a primary challenge against Rep. Darren Michael Soto (D-Fla.). Soto, a freshman, succeeded Grayson in Florida’s 9th district. * To no one’s surprise given his health issues, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) acknowledges in his new book that he’s in his final term in the Senate and will not seek re-election when his current term ends in 2022. * And because politics can sometimes be amusing, Anthony Scaramucci, who didn’t quite make it two weeks as Donald Trump’s White House communications director, is now poised to headline a fundraiser for former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who’s launching a political comeback after recently being released from federal prison.
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
