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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t yet launched his presidential campaign, but a super PAC supporting former Donald Trump is nevertheless hitting the airwaves, investing $1.3 million in an attack ad targeting the Florida Republican.
* With time running out in Kentucky’s GOP gubernatorial primary, a group supporting state Attorney General Daniel Cameron is launching its first ad campaign, as former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft continues to hammer Cameron with a series of critical commercials.
* California Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to take an interest in political development far from the Golden State: The Democratic governor’s newest endeavor is an organization called the “Campaign for Democracy” committee that will focus on organizing progressive activism in red states.
* In the wake of No Labels becoming a recognized political party in Arizona, the state Democratic Party has filed a new lawsuit, challenging the validity of the group’s legal filings.
* On the heels of a deadly mass shooting at a school in Nashville, DeSantis traveled to Georgia and held an event at a popular gun store, where he complained about “wokeness.”
* As former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie eyes another presidential campaign, the Republican told Axios this week that he won’t support Trump in 2024, even if the former president wins the GOP nomination. “Look, I just can’t,” Christie said. “When you have the Jan. 6 choir at a rally and you show video of it — I just don’t think that person is appropriate for the presidency.”
* Republican Sen. Thom Tillis scheduled some events in early primary states, but his office insisted that the North Carolinian will not be a presidential candidate.
* After Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska expressed public support for conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s re-election campaign in West Virginia, Sen. Rick Scott made his dissatisfaction with his fellow Republicans known.
* And finally, a random tidbit from the Quinnipiac poll released this week: 72% of Republican voters believe Trump has had a positive impact on their party. I’m just noting this without comment.