Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador Nikki Haley will meet in about nine hours for their first one-on-one debate. The CNN-sponsored event will be held in Iowa, which will hold its presidential caucuses next week.
* Donald Trump met the thresholds for the aforementioned event, but since the former president is refusing to participate in these events, he’ll instead appear opposite the debate at a town-hall event on Fox News. According to a New York Times report, this will be the likely GOP nominee’s first live interview on Fox since April 2022.
* The top two members of the Senate Republican leadership team have not made endorsements in the 2024 presidential race, but Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso of Wyoming this week became the highest-ranking GOP senator to endorse Trump’s candidacy.
* The former president also picked up another House endorsement this week, receiving support from Republican Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri.
* The latest Detroit News poll found Trump with a sizable lead over President Joe Biden in a hypothetical general election match-up in Michigan, 47% to 39%. Biden narrowly carried the state four years ago and would likely struggle to win a second term without it.
* Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson wants people to know that he’s still running for the Republican presidential nomination, even if his candidacy no longer gets much attention.
* In Indiana, Rep. Victoria Spartz initially said she wouldn’t seek re-election in the fall, but added soon after that she might yet change her mind. The Republican congresswoman’s latest position, according to comments she made during a recent podcast, is still a little murky. “As of right now, I’m still thinking [I want to] take time off,” Spartz said.
