Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Michigan, former Rep. Justin Amash this morning launched a U.S. Senate campaign. Despite the fact that Amash left the Republican Party in 2019, he’s apparently running as a Republican this year.
* Though a looming Supreme Court ruling will soon render the question moot, it was of interest to see an Illinois judge rule that Donald Trump should be taken off the state’s presidential primary ballot because he’s no longer eligible under the 14th Amendment.
* To the surprise of no one, former Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn has begun telling colleagues that he’s running to succeed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. The Texan is expected to have a variety of intraparty rivals.
* On a related note, McConnell is stepping down as GOP leader at the end of the year, but he reportedly intends to serve the remainder of his current term, which ends in January 2027.
* New York’s Democratic-led state legislature approved a new congressional map, which could’ve been far more ambitious. An NBC News report noted that the new map “shores up a handful of Democratic seats and aids several incumbents, but does not attempt to drive up the party’s seat count the way Democrats tried to do in 2022 before the courts stepped in.”
* Vice President Kamala Harris announced a series of initiatives this week designed to help improve voter access ahead of Election Day 2024.
* In Montana, Rep. Matt Rosendale said he was giving up his U.S. House seat to run for the Senate. After the Republican’s Senate campaign collapsed after just six days, he decided he wants to run for re-election to the House after all. The trouble is, after Rosendale’s initial announcement, several GOP candidates kicked off candidacies, and it’s not yet clear whether they’ll all stand down now that the incumbent has changed his mind.
* And as the Republican National Committee prepares to elect new leaders next week, presidential hopeful Nikki Haley wants party officials to vote on a draft resolution that would curb the RNC’s ability to pay Trump’s legal bills. Whether that will actually happen or not remains to be seen.
