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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Just hours after his arrest, New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned, and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said Benjamin’s resignation was effective immediately. A New York Times report added, “Ms. Hochul can select a new lieutenant governor in the coming weeks, but it will be far more difficult to replace Mr. Benjamin on the Democratic primary ballot in June. Because he was designated as the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, election rules stipulate that his name can only be removed at this point if he were to move out of the state, die or seek another office.”
* Speaking of resignations, David Dietrich, the Republican chairman of a Virginia electoral board, stepped down this week after publishing a racist Facebook message that called for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to be lynched.
* The Democratic National Committee has launched a new digital ad targeting Republican Sen. Rick Scot’s plan to raise taxes on lower-income Americans. The ad will reportedly target voters in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada — states that will hold key U.S. contests this year.
* While former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows faces a voter-fraud investigation, the former North Carolina congressman has now been removed from North Carolina’s voter rolls.
* In Pennsylvania’s crowded Republican gubernatorial primary, state Senate leader Jake Corman filed a petition in state court yesterday to remove his name from the ballot. Hours later, he changed his mind and said he’d remain a candidate after all.
* At Colorado’s state GOP convention over the weekend, Tina Peters’ secretary of state candidacy received 60 percent backing from her party, which easily qualified her for the primary ballot. As Talking Points Memo noted, Peters, a county clerk, is also “facing federal charges for an alleged conspiracy theory-fueled scheme to breach her county election systems’ security protocols.”
* And in Iowa, where Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is again running for re-election, the incumbent senator told voters this week, “I’m saying I would not — we’re not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act.” Remember when such a comment would’ve sparked fierce pushback from the GOP base?