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Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* If former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke is going to defeat incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the fall, O'Rourke has a lot of ground to make up: A new Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll found Abbott ahead by double digits, 47 percent to 36 percent.
* The National Republican Congressional Committee all but begged John James to run in Michigan's newly created 10th district, and the NRCC got its wish: James, who narrowly lost two U.S. Senate campaigns in recent cycles, kicked off his U.S. House candidacy this morning.
* Pennsylvania's Democratic Party committee members gathered over the weekend to consider whether to issue an official endorsement in this year's Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Rep. Conor Lamb fared well, but he needed two-thirds of the party's roughly 350 committee members, and as the Associated Press reported, he fell a little short.
* After a federal court rejected Alabama Republicans' new congressional district map, state officials made an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, noting that absentee voting is set to begin in the state in just over two months.
* Speaking of gerrymandering, New York Democrats are moving forward with a new district map designed to give the party an advantage in 22 of the state's 26 U.S. House districts.
* The Democratic National Committee and its joint fundraising arm raised $10.7 million in December, which is a record for an off-year December. The Republican National Committee has not yet released its monthly haul.
* Asked about Donald Trump's possible 2024 candidacy, Sen. Susan Collins told ABC News yesterday that it's "unlikely" she'll support the former president, but the Maine Republican wouldn't completely rule out the possibility.