Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Nearly two months after his impeachment, South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has reportedly decided not to run for re-election this year. The Republican is perhaps best known for his involvement in a fatal 2020 crash in which Ravnsborg hit and killed a pedestrian, and then drove away after the collision.
* Perry Johnson, a wealthy Michigan businessman considered to be a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, was one of the GOP hopefuls kicked off the ballot after the recent petition-signature controversy. Johnson sued, and yesterday, he lost. NBC News noted that it was “the first key court decision” as part of this mess, and the decision “could also apply to three other candidates.”
* Though statewide Democratic candidates generally avoid talking about social issues, especially in competitive states, Stacey Abrams’ newest ad in Georgia targeting Republican Gov. Brian Kemp specifically focuses on guns and abortion.
* Early voting is now underway in Nevada, where the marquee race is the Republicans’ U.S. Senate primary. Former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt appears to be the frontrunner.
* In New York, if former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was going to launch a third-party gubernatorial comeback bid, his filing deadline was yesterday. Evidently, despite the chatter, he’s not running — at least not in 2022.
* In Kentucky, Republican Sen. Rand Paul has blocked a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime. This week, his Democratic rival, Charles Booker, released a provocative ad focused specifically on this issue.
* And in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman still hasn’t returned to the campaign trail following his recent hospitalization. The Democratic nominee’s wife, Gisele Fetterman, said yesterday that his physicians haven’t said when he can resume his schedule, but “the campaign will have an announcement for that soon.”