Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Confirming weeks of rumors, Rep. Elissa Slotkin this morning launched a Democratic U.S. Senate campaign in Michigan. While it’s not yet clear whether she’ll face a primary rival, the congresswoman is seen as a top-tier contender to succeed incumbent Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who’s retiring next year.
* On a related note, as Slotkin gets into Michigan’s Senate race, others are bowing out: Republican Rep. John James and Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced separately on Friday that they will not join next year’s statewide contest.
* Chicago’s nine-way mayoral election is tomorrow, and it seems unlikely that any candidate will reach the 50% threshold. A two-candidate runoff is set for April 4.
* As the Republican National Committee schedules its first debate for the party’s presidential contenders, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told CNN yesterday that in order to participate in the event, candidates will have to sign a pledge to support the party’s 2024 ticket.
* Speaking of the race for the GOP nomination, a new national Fox News poll found Donald Trump leading the field with 43% support, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 28%. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President were tied for third place in the survey with 7% each, and no other candidate reached 3% support.
* The Florida Democratic Party has suffered a series of embarrassing defeats in recent years, and become something of a mess. It was against this backdrop that party members chose former state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried as their new party chair over the weekend.
* In related news, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign successfully won control of the Nevada Democratic Party a couple of years ago, and as NBC News noted, the divisions within the party apparatus have become quite “ugly.”
* And in Colorado, state Republican officials are in the process of choosing their new chair, and of the six contenders, not one has been willing to say that the results of the 2020 presidential election were legitimate. Among the candidates is Tina Peters, a prominent election denier, failed secretary of state candidate, and someone who has already been indicted for election crimes.