Tuesday's Campaign Round-Up, 5.2.17

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.* In France's presidential election, it sure looks like Marine Le Pen has been caught plagiarizing a speech delivered by Francois Fillon, her conservative former opponent.* Today is primary day in South Carolina's 5th congressional district, where locals will choose a successor to Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. If necessary, there will be a primary runoff in two weeks, ahead of a general election on June 20. (Yep, that's three rounds of balloting over the course of seven weeks.)* New Jersey's Democratic-led legislature recently passed a bill that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the state's ballot. Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed the bill.* In Texas, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) considered taking on Sen. Ted Cruz (R) next year, but announced yesterday that he's skipping the race. Castro's decision clears the field for Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D), who kicked off his Senate campaign in late March.* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is the subject of frequent presidential chatter, but she told reporters yesterday she's "focused entirely" on running for re-election to the Senate next year. What about possible 2020 ambitions? "I'm ruling it out," the New York Democrat added.* Haley Stevens helped run the Obama administration's rescue of the U.S. auto industry, and now she's running for Congress, taking on Rep. Dave Trott (R) in Michigan. Trott represents Michigan's 11th, one of the state's most competitive districts.* And Philip Rucker, the Washington Post's White House bureau chief, told MSNBC's Chris Hayes the other day that Donald Trump asked the Post to publish the 2016 election map on the front page on his 100th day as president. The newspaper declined, though the larger point seems clear: Trump believes the most impressive development of his presidency happened more than three months before he became president.