Wednesday's Campaign Round-Up, 5.24.17

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.* For the first time this year, Democrats flipped a Republican seat in a legislative special election, narrowly winning a GOP seat yesterday in New Hampshire's state House.* On a related note, about an hour later, we learned that Democrats also flipped a Republican seat in a New York special election, unexpectedly winning a state legislative seat on Long Island that voted heavily for Donald Trump in November.* Montana's congressional special election is tomorrow, and Vice President Mike Pence has recorded a robo-call for Republicans in support of Greg Gianforte.* Reflecting on the special election races, DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján told reporters yesterday that the party faces "a tough road in Montana," though Rob Quist "continues to run a strong, Montana-focused campaign." Moments later, Lujan announced a $2 million investment in support of Jon Ossoff's campaign in Georgia.* Despite the popularity of Maine's ranked-choice voting system -- better known as instant-runoff balloting -- the state Supreme Court yesterday unanimously struck down the voter-approved policy.* Undeterred by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's (R) approval ratings, Newton Mayor Setti Warren (D), an Iraq War veteran, launched his 2018 gubernatorial campaign the other day.* And if you're waiting for Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to run for president in 2020, it looks like you can stop. "Yeah, I'm not going to do that," he told People magazine.