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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In an unexpected move, New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy announced yesterday that she’s suspending her Democratic U.S. Senate campaign, all but assuring that Rep. Andy Kim will win his party’s nomination. The Democratic congressman will also be heavily favored to win the seat in November.
* Donald Trump appeared on Seb Gorka’s podcast over the weekend and insisted — without anything even resembling evidence — that Democrats would try to steal the 2024 elections. The Republican added that if he loses, he believes it’s possible that the United States will cease to exist.
* Republican Rep. Eli Crane appeared at a press conference on Friday, and in a rather unusual move, he suggested he wants his more pragmatic GOP colleagues to lose. “Please, quit sending politicians up here who come to your town, who come to your Lincoln Reagan Day dinner, talking about fiscal responsibility, border security, and then they vote on this crap repeatedly,” the Arizonan said. “You can help us. Quit sending them up here.”
* In California’s 20th congressional district, we now know that Republicans Vince Fong and Mike Boudreaux will compete to fill the vacancy left by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s resignation.
* In Florida, Rep. Laurel Lee was the only member of her state’s congressional delegation to support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Now, Trump wants the Republican congresswoman to be punished with a primary campaign.
* Speaking of the former president, Trump boasted over the weekend that he’d won golf trophies from his own golf club. “Congratulations, Donald. Quite the accomplishment,” President Joe Biden tweeted soon after, with a message that was clearly intended as mockery.
* And just when it seemed GOP politics couldn’t get any weirder, former Rep. George Santos announced late last week that he’s leaving the party and will run for a second term in New York as an independent.