Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* A federal judge in Louisiana yesterday struck down the state’s new congressional map as racially discriminatory and ordered the Republican-led legislature to create fairer district lines. The ruling isn’t likely to last too long: Louisiana is appealing the case to the 5th Circuit, which is among the nation’s most conservative.
* In Texas’ 28th congressional district, where Jessica Cisneros appears to have narrowly fallen short again in her primary challenge against Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, the progressive lawyer yesterday announced plans to file for a recount.
* Five Republicans in Michigan’s gubernatorial race have been removed from the ballot due to petition-signature problems, and they’ve just about exhausted their legal options. That said, one of the five, businessman Perry Johnson, asked a federal judge yesterday to order the state to “immediately cease the printing of August 2022 primary ballots,” hoping to still find a way to clean up the GOP’s mess.
* In Alabama’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, now that Rep. Mo Brooks has made it to a runoff election, he’s begging Donald Trump to re-endorse him. The far-right congressman will face Katie Britt in a June 21 primary runoff. The winner will be overwhelmingly favored to succeed incumbent Sen. Richard Shelby, who’s retiring.
* In Florida, Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo is ending her gubernatorial campaign and will instead take on Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in Miami. Her decision leaves Rep. Charlie Crist and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried as the top contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
* In Ohio, the latest poll from Suffolk University shows Gov. Mike DeWine well positioned to win re-election: The Republican incumbent leads Nan Whaley, Dayton’s former Democratic mayor, 45 percent to 30 percent.
* And in Wisconsin’s GOP gubernatorial primary, now that Tim Michels has picked up Trump’s endorsement, the Republican businessman claims “we don’t know” whether the results of the 2020 presidential race were legitimate. (The results were, in reality, legitimate.)