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The Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with further contributions from the Every day Kos Elections crew.
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● SC-01: Former state cupboard official Catherine Templeton kicked off a main problem in opposition to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday, citing the congresswoman’s vote to oust Kevin McCarthy as Home speaker as an indication of her lack of health for the job. Mace lashed again by calling Templeton “McCarthy’s puppet,” although each candidates try to place themselves because the true Donald Trump loyalist.
Templeton’s pledge of allegiance to Trump—she tells the Publish and Courier’s Caitlin Byrd she’ll vote for him in South Carolina’s Feb. 24 presidential main—is made barely awkward by the truth that she was appointed to function director of the state’s Division of Well being and Environmental Management by none apart from Nikki Haley, who can be working for the White Home.
Trump’s resolution to faucet Haley for the publish of United Nations ambassador additionally derailed Templeton’s personal profession plans. Templeton had deliberate to run for governor in 2018 after Haley was set to be termed out, however Haley’s early departure led to Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster’s elevation to the highest job.
Templeton cast forward together with her bid anyway however fared poorly: McMaster, who had Trump’s backing, defeated businessman John Warren 54-46 in a runoff, after Templeton completed a distant third within the main.
Nothing, nonetheless, might be cringier than Mace’s try to show her fealty to Trump in 2022, when she flew to New York Metropolis instantly after Trump endorsed her opponent in that yr’s main, former state Rep. Katie Arrington. Standing in entrance of Trump Tower, Mace recorded a video of herself by which she nonetheless reaffirmed her devotion to Trump, who had simply crapped throughout her as “a completely horrible candidate.”
Mace nonetheless turned again Arrington 53-45 within the main, and he or she could survive as soon as once more even with out Trump’s help. However this time, she may additionally really feel the wrath of McCarthy, who’s reportedly embarking on a “revenge tour” with the intention of unseating the eight Republicans who voted to terminate his speakership.
As a part of her launch, Templeton additionally introduced an endorsement from Arrington, who had thought-about a second bid in opposition to Mace. However it’s nonetheless doable we may see the sector develop: The congresswoman’s former chief of workers, Dan Hanlon, has filed paperwork forward of a doable bid, whereas state Rep. Sylleste Davis hasn’t dominated out working both.
If no candidate wins a majority within the June 11 main, the highest two vote-getters would face off in a runoff two weeks later.
Senate
● MT-Sen: Final Greatest Place, a Democratic-affiliated tremendous PAC that has been spending closely to spice up far-right Rep. Matt Rosendale forward of the GOP main, has now reserved $5.8 million in TV time for the autumn, per AdImpact. Final month, HuffPost’s Liz Skalka reported that the group was funded by the Senate Majority PAC, the highest Democratic tremendous PAC concerned in Senate races. SMP itself just lately booked $27 million for the overall election, whereas its Republican counterparts additionally introduced main reservations.
Governors
● NC-Gov: A brand new ballot from Meredith Faculty finds Legal professional Normal Josh Stein with a 31-5 lead over Tryon Metropolis Councilor Chrelle Booker in North Carolina’s March 5 Democratic main for governor, whereas former state Supreme Courtroom Justice Mike Morgan takes simply 4% and half of all voters have but to make up their minds.
On the GOP facet, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson holds a 34-9 edge over rich businessman Invoice Graham with 42% undecided. In a basic election matchup, Stein leads Robinson 39-35 with a pattern that favors Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a 44-39 margin.
● UT-Gov: The gubernatorial portion of Dan Jones & Associates’ current GOP main ballot for the Desert Information and the College of Utah finds Gov. Spencer Cox with a large 50-5 lead over little-known challenger Scott Robbins, whereas 37% are undecided.
Home
● CA-47: Inside Politics’ Jacob Rubashkin reviews that the United Democracy Mission, a brilliant PAC affiliated with the hawkish pro-Israel group AIPAC, is spending $260,000 on cable TV promoting in California’s forty seventh Congressional District. Whereas a duplicate of the advert just isn’t but accessible, the PAC simply reported spending $47,000 on unsolicited mail focusing on Democratic state Sen. Dave Min. UDP’s entry follows an identical transfer by EMILY’s Record, which just lately launched a $1 million marketing campaign on behalf of legal professional Joanna Weiss, Min’s primary intra-party rival.
● IN-05: A yr and two days after her shock retirement announcement—and with simply 5 days to go earlier than the candidate submitting deadline—second-term Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz reversed herself and mentioned she’d search reelection in spite of everything. However Spartz, who first publicly started rethinking her resolution in September after a public spat with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was not greeted warmly by the opposite Republicans who stepped as much as run for her seat within the interim.
One among them so occurs to be a former McCarthy aide, Max Engling, who slammed Spartz for her “well-documented historical past of waffling on the problem” and mentioned her about-face “makes me extra dedicated than ever to remain on this race.”
Equally, state Rep. Chuck Goodrich attacked Spartz for “flip-flopping and placing America final” and rolled out endorsements from two mayors in Indiana’s fifth District, a conservative seat within the Indianapolis suburbs. And a 3rd candidate, businessman Raju Chinthala, additionally reportedly pledged to remain put after launching his first TV advert the identical day as Spartz’s announcement.
Spartz additionally faces a severe monetary deficit. She raised not a penny in the course of the fourth quarter of 2023 and entered the brand new yr with simply $313,000 in her coffers. Goodrich, in contrast, has self-funded $1 million and had $699,0000 within the financial institution forward of the Might 7 main.
● NC-13: Whereas 14 Republicans are working to succeed Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel after the GOP’s current gerrymander of North Carolina’s 13 District, WRAL’s Paul Specht reviews that get together strategists say solely 4 of them “have a sensible shot” at victory.
Based on the half dozen operatives Specht spoke with, the names to look at belong to businessman DeVan Barbour, rich legal professional Kelly Daughtry, businessman Fred Von Canon, and former federal prosecutor Brad Knott. Barbour and Daughtry completed second and third, respectively, in final cycle’s main for the earlier model of this seat, which was gained by Bo Hines. (Hines finally misplaced to Nickel and is now working within the sixth District, one other goal of the GOP’s new gerrymander.)
Daughtry self-funded closely final time and can doubtless accomplish that once more, suggests Specht. Von Canon, in the meantime, has already fueled his marketing campaign with greater than $700,000 of his personal cash after shedding bids for the state Home in each 2020 and 2022. As for Knott, he is a first-time office-seeker and does not stay within the district, however his household is funding a brilliant PAC on his behalf that has spent virtually $800,000 thus far.
That PAC, often known as the American Foundations Committee, simply began airing a brand new TV advert touting Knott’s stance on immigration, with a narrator promising the candidate will “make our border tight as a … knot.”
One doable wildcard emerged on Monday, although, due to a slightly surprising growth. The North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon reviews that doctor and Air Drive veteran Josh McConkey simply gained the state lottery, incomes a prize of $757,777. McConkey did not say whether or not he’d spend the proceeds on his marketing campaign, however he beforehand self-funded $250,000.
“We’re centered on doing every part we will to get out the vote forward of the March fifth main and hoping lightning strikes twice!” he instructed Dillon.
● NY-03: The Democratic-aligned Home Majority PAC introduced on Monday that it is placing one other $1.25 million onto the airwaves forward of the Feb. 13 particular election in New York’s third Congressional District and can begin airing three new adverts. One spot highlights Republican Mazi Pilip’s repeated makes an attempt to evade reporters’ questions, the second focuses on her views on abortion, and a 3rd makes an attempt to shore up Democrat Tom Suozzi on immigration.
Republicans have sought to make that challenge the central theme of their marketing campaign, and Pilip herself simply launched a brand new advert hitting Suozzi on the subject.
● TX-26: The unconventional anti-tax Membership for Progress has endorsed conservative media determine Brandon Gill within the GOP main for Texas’ open twenty sixth Congressional District. Gil is the son-in-law of Dinesh D’Souza, one other conservative media presence who in 2018 was pardoned by Donald Trump 4 years after pleading responsible to a felony cost for making an unlawful straw donation to a federal candidate.
Attorneys Normal
● PA-AG: Peter Corridor of the Pennsylvania Capital Star has rounded up new fundraising numbers for candidates in each events working for Pennsylvania’s open legal professional basic’s publish and finds Democrats have vastly outraised their Republican counterparts.
Nevertheless, regardless that the main GOP candidate, York County District Legal professional Dave Sunday, had simply $51,000 available, he can depend on help from the Republican Attorneys Normal Affiliation and the state Republican Social gathering, each of which have endorsed him over state Rep. Craig Williams, who reported simply $42,000 within the financial institution.
The 5 Democratic contenders, in the meantime, are all sitting on rather more money, led by state Rep. Jared Solomon with $1 million within the financial institution. The Pennsylvania Democratic Social gathering and the Democratic Attorneys Normal Affiliation haven’t taken sides within the main, which is on April 23.
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