Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Donald Trump’s re-election campaign will host a fundraiser tonight at D.C. hotel the president still owns and profits from.
* The pro-Trump group that planned to run negative ads against Sen. Dean Heller (R) in Nevada over his health care vote has changed course, pulling back from scheduled commercials.
* On a related note, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) communicated to Team Trump that he saw the ads against Heller, a vulnerable Republican incumbent in a swing state, as “beyond stupid.” That said, the New York Times reported that the move against Heller “had the blessing of the White House.”
* The Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republican leadership’s super PAC, is making known “its plans to spend millions tying Democratic House candidates to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2018.”
* In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker (R) appears well positioned in a new WBUR/MassINC poll, leading each of his likely Democratic challengers ahead of his 2018 re-election bid. Of the leading Dem contenders, state Attorney General Maura Healey (D) was the only one to keep the incumbent governor below 50%, but she still trails by 12 points. * In a sign of the times, Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Ed Gillespie, was asked this week for his take on his party’s health care overhaul pending on Congress. Gillespie was reluctant to talk about it. * Speaking of the commonwealth, Virginia Republicans have agreed to choose Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D) challenger next year through a primary, rather than at a party convention. This is widely seen as a move that will help find a candidate with broader statewide appeal. * Despite the recent buzz, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said this week she doesn’t expect to launch a political campaign for any office. “I don’t really see running for office,” Yates said at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do next. I’m taking some time with my family now and starting to talk to some folks. And I want to be able to find an avenue where I can continue to have an impact on issues that I care about. But running for office has never been anything I could picture myself doing.”
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
