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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Under a new bill approved by Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature, the Bluegrass State’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, would have no role in filling a U.S. Senate vacancy in the event that one of the state’s two Republican senators can no longer serve.
* In the wake of Nikki Haley’s failed Republican presidential bid, Donald Trump isn’t doing much to reach out to the former ambassador or her supporters, but President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is taking the opposite tack. This new ad from the incumbent Democrat’s operation was released a couple of hours ago:
* In the race to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Ken Buck, Republican officials in Colorado have chosen Greg Lopez to be the party’s nominee. Lopez is perhaps best known for having run failed gubernatorial campaigns in the Rocky Mountain State in 2018 and 2022.
* South Carolina’s existing congressional district map has been deemed unconstitutional. Thanks to a new federal court ruling, the map will nevertheless be used in this year’s election cycle.
* A recent effort in Wisconsin to recall Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos fell short, but the legislator’s far-right critics apparently intend to give it another try.
* Former Sen. Joe Lieberman’s unexpected passing this week has created new challenges for the No Labels operation, which relied on the former Connecticut lawmaker as one of the controversial group’s most high-profile champions.
* And as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign continues, the public is just now being introduced in earnest to his new running mate, Nicole Shanahan. Politico reports that the wealthy California lawyer, among other things, “has been a harsh critic of in vitro fertilization,” which is proving to be an unexpectedly relevant campaign issue this year.