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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After four largely unremarkable years in the Senate, Republican Sen. Mike Braun has filed the paperwork to run for governor in Indiana in 2024, rather than seek another term on Capitol Hill. Incumbent Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb is term-limited and cannot seek a third term.
* With just six days remaining before the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia, Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock’s newest ad features regular people commenting on how embarrassing Republican Herschel Walker’s rhetoric has been in recent months.
* For his part, Walker complained on Fox News last night that Warnock is receiving support from “celebrities” like Barack Obama. Left unsaid is that Walker was a celebrity athlete, who was pushed into the race by Donald Trump, another celebrity.
* And speaking of the closely watched Georgia race, Trump yesterday used his social media platform to promote an article questioning whether “anyone can trust” the state’s vote tallies. That’s pretty much the opposite of the message Georgia GOP officials want voters to hear.
* On Capitol Hill this morning, House Democrats elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as their lead for the next Congress. The New York congressman will be the first Black person to lead either party in Congress, and he was chosen with unanimous support.
* As for Jeffries’ counterpart on the other side of the aisle, incumbent House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy conceded yesterday he doesn’t yet have the support he needs to become House speaker, but he told reporters that he will not drop out of contention.
* An important report in today’s New York Times: “There was a lot of good news — or at least news that felt good — for Democrats this election cycle, from holding the Senate to remaining stubbornly competitive in the House. But as more data becomes final, it’s clear that Black turnout is not one of those feel-good stories for the party.”
* And in Kentucky, it was widely assumed that Republican state Sen. Ralph Alvarado would run for governor next year. Instead, Alvarado announced this week that he’ll soon become the commissioner of the Department of Health — in neighboring Tennessee.