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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the immediate aftermath of the presidential election, Donald Trump’s spokesperson said he won a second term by “a resounding margin.” According to the latest vote tallies, however, the actual margin was 1.55%, one of the narrowest margins for a winning candidate in American history.
* Votes are still being tallied in Republican Rep. John Duarte’s re-election race against Democrat Adam Gray, but as of last week, the revised totals showed Gray ahead. This, of course, led Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, among others on the far-right, to claim election irregularities that don’t appear to exist.
* Who’ll replace outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison? Politico reports that Ken Martin, head of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, appears to have an early advantage, claiming to have locked down “nearly half of the needed endorsements to win the contest.”
* On a related note, the DNC’s field is still growing, and Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin Democratic chairman, kicked off his candidacy over the holiday weekend. James Skoufis, a state senator in New York, has also thrown his hat into the ring.
* After losing her gubernatorial race in Arizona two years ago, Republican Kari Lake pretended she actually won. This year, after losing a U.S. Senate race, Lake acknowledges the fact that she came up short, but she’s blaming Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for her defeat.
* In case there were any doubts about Sen. Susan Collins’ future electoral plans, the Maine Republican is reportedly planning to run for a sixth term in the 2026 election cycle. When Collins first sought the office in 1996, she vowed to step down after two terms.