By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Today is a busy day for election watchers, with closely watched primary races in Colorado, New York, and Utah. There will also be several primary runoff elections in South Carolina.
* The board of the Commission on Presidential Debates appears to be throwing in the towel, at least for the remainder of the 2024 election cycle. NBC News reported that CPD officials announced yesterday “that it will no longer hold debates at four sites that were contracted to host them in the fall.”
* Think Big America, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s super PAC, this week released a new ad focused on abortion rights. On-screen text in the ad reads, “MAGA extremists want to enforce a national abortion ban, putting millions of lives at risk. Only we can stop them.”
* In related news, Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the reproductive health care organization, announced plans to invest $40 million during the 2024 election cycle, in support of aligned candidates and abortion-rights ballot measures.
* Remember Kristina Karamo, the ousted far-right chair of the Michigan Republican Party? The Detroit News reported she’s asking a state appeals court to reinstall her to the position she lost earlier this year.
* Former Vice President Mike Pence’s presidential campaign obviously didn’t work out, but the Indiana Republican still has a political organization, and it will reportedly spend $10 million on a campaign to preserve corporate tax breaks that are poised to expire.
* And both major party presidential candidates have announced plans for post-debate campaign rallies this week: Incumbent President Joe Biden will hold an event on Friday afternoon in North Carolina, while Trump will headline an event in Virginia.