Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* I’m going to hope you know that the first Democratic presidential primary is tonight in Miami.
* On the eve of the first debate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) unveiled her plan for electoral reforms, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote an op-ed fleshing out his foreign-policy principles.
* The Pennsylvania Republican Party was already facing troubles, but things took a turn for the worse this week when state GOP chair Val DiGiorgio resigned in the wake of a lurid scandal.
* In Arizona, appointed Sen. Martha McSally (R) is apparently concerned about a primary rival ahead of her 2020 election, so Donald Trump endorsed her via Twitter yesterday.
* In North Carolina, a very similar dynamic is unfolding: Sen. Thom Tillis (R) is already facing a primary challenge, so the Republican president endorsed him, too. * Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) will be among the handful of Democratic candidates not participating in this week’s debates, but he has bought airtime for commercials during the events’ commercial breaks. The congressman’s ads are reportedly slated to run in states with early voting contests: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. * In New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race, Republicans couldn’t convince Gov. Chris Sununu (R) to take on incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D), but retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc (R) threw his hat into the ring this week. * And in Montana, where state Auditor Matt Rosendale (R) recently lost a U.S. Senate race, the Republican is trying again next year, this time running for his state’s at-large House seat. That seat is currently held by Rep. Greg Gianforte (R), who’s giving it up to run for governor.
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
