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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As the vote for the next Democratic National Committee draws closer, the Association of State Democratic Committees met with the candidates in the hopes of uniting local chairs and vice chairs behind one candidate. It didn’t work as planned: The group remained divided after the forum. The party’s winter meeting, where DNC members will choose their next chair, is still scheduled for Feb. 1.
* On a related note, the news wasn’t all bad for Ken Martin, who chairs the state party in Minnesota: Martin, considered a top contender for the DNC job, picked up an endorsement from his home state’s governor, Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for vice president.
* In Florida, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has reportedly hired Donald Trump’s most prominent pollster, Tony Fabrizio, adding fuel to the rumors that the congressman is planning to run for governor in 2026.
* Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab this week became the first prominent Republican to launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign, though he’s unlikely to run opposed. Term limits will prevent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly from running again.
* Though New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu flirted with a possible U.S. Senate candidacy a few years ago, the Republican governor has ruled out the possibility of running against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen next year. If he launched such a campaign, Sununu joked on CNN, “I’ll have no family left.”