Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As expected, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego kicked off a U.S. Senate campaign in Arizona this morning. It’s not yet clear whether there will be a three-way contest: Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has not yet officially announced her 2024 plans.
* As for Republicans eyeing the Arizona race, The Washington Post reported that failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is “considering” another campaign, as is failed Senate candidate Blake Masters, who conceded he’s “seriously” eyeing another statewide bid. Karrin Taylor Robson, who lost to Lake in a primary last year, is also reportedly “considering“ the contest.
* Sen. Joe Manchin hasn’t yet said whether he’ll seek re-election in West Virginia next year, but for the conservative Democrat, Capitol Hill apparently isn’t his only option. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday, Chuck Todd asked Manchin whether he’d consider a presidential run or a Senate campaign with a different party. “Everything is on the table,” the incumbent replied.
* A Siena College poll released this morning found that 59% of New York voters believe Republican Rep. George Santos should resign. The same survey found 17% of New Yorkers said the scandal-plagued congressman should remain in office, while the rest either did not know or did not have an opinion.
* In the wake of Matt DePerno’s failed campaign for state attorney general, Donald Trump wants the controversial Republican to become the next chairman of the Michigan GOP. As The Detroit News reported, DePerno is currently locked in a competitive and crowded race for the party position.
* We’re at the point in the 2024 process in which ambitious Republicans are fighting over key staffers, and Tim Chapman, who led part of Nikki Haley’s operation, will now lead Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom group.
* And in Kansas, Republican Sen. Jerry Moran’s campaign conceded late last week that a cyber-criminal took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the senator’s campaign coffers last year. A spokesperson for Moran, who was re-elected in a landslide, said the matter is now being investigated by the FBI, and the campaign has consulted with the FEC “on how to transparently report the unauthorized expenditures.”