By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* We’ve apparently reached the stage in the 2024 presidential campaign in which primary debates are taking shape: The Republican National Committee has announced that the party’s first debate will be held in August in Milwaukee. This is the same city that will hold the Republicans’ national nominating convention next year.
* Speaking of Wisconsin, a closer look at this week’s state Supreme Court primary races showed voter turnout spiking to a surprising degree, mostly among Democrats. The party will have to hope for comparable totals during the general election in April.
* Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office has announced a boycott of MSNBC (my employer) and NBC News. The Republican’s complaint stems from a recent Andrea Mitchell interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
* In a bit of a surprise, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced this week that he will seek re-election next year. There’s been ample speculation about the Republican eyeing the state’s gubernatorial or U.S. Senate race.
* Policymakers in Minnesota are moving forward with a proposal to restore voting rights to tens of thousands of former felons who’ve been disenfranchised.
* In case Herschel Walker’s failed U.S. Senate campaign in Georgia weren’t already controversial enough, The Daily Beast reported that the Federal Election Commission has contacted the Republican’s operation about a number of possible financial violations.
* And President Joe Biden apparently has a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination: Self-help guru Marianne Williamson is apparently running. This will be Williamson’s second attempt at the nation’s highest office: Following a failed congressional campaign in 2014, Williamson ran for president in 2020. She quit the race in January 2020 and soon after finished in 15th place in the New Hampshire primary.