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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington now appears likely to become the next chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The congresswoman previously led the New Democrat Coalition on Capitol Hill.
* In the race to replace the late Rep. Don McEachin in Virginia, Democrats in the 4th congressional district will vote today on the party’s nominee for the upcoming special election. Four Democrats qualified for the ballot, though state Sen. Jennifer McClellan appears to be the favorite. If McClellan succeeds, she’ll be the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia.
* Most of Republican Kari Lake’s lawsuit challenging the results of her recent defeat in Arizona was thrown out of court yesterday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, however, allowed two counts to move forward.
* On a related note, Lake used unsettling language during an appearance at a far-right event over the weekend, calling the Maricopa County elections system a “house of cards” that she promised to take down. “I’m not just going to knock that house of cards over. We’re going to burn it to the ground,” she said. “They messed with the wrong woman. They messed with the wrong movement, of ‘we the people.’ And we’re not going to take it anymore. ... “You do not steal our vote and get away with it. You don’t.”
* In the wake of Rep.-elect George Santos’ scandal, the Democrat who lost to the New York Republican, Robert Zimmerman, is now insisting that he tried to warn people that Santos “was running a scam.”
* In case House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy didn’t have enough problems, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert said yesterday she won’t support his bid to become House speaker unless he agrees to a procedural move called the “motion to vacate.” It would allow GOP members to try to strip McCarthy of his speaker’s gavel during the next Congress.
* Former Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly been encouraged to consider a U.S. Senate race in Indiana in 2024 now that incumbent Sen. Mike Braun is giving up his seat for a GOP gubernatorial campaign. Pressed yesterday on whether he’s open to a Senate race, Pence was evasive before ultimately suggesting he has his eyes on “national office.”