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Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Texas state Sen. Carol Alvarado (D), wearing a back brace and running shoes, mounted a 15-hour filibuster overnight, unable to sit, lean, drink, or take a bathroom break. But when her extraordinary effort came to an end, the Republican-led state Senate approved the anti-voting proposal Alvarado had hoped to defeat.
* Many eyes will be on the Census Bureau today because it's poised to release district-level population data today. Once it does, the work of states drawing legislative district boundaries can begin in earnest, which will in turn touch off fierce gerrymandering fights and litigation.
* New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), ahead of her elevation to the governor's office in two weeks, held a press conference yesterday and vowed to change the culture in Albany once outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) exits. Hochul also told NBC's Savannah Guthrie this morning that she "fully expects" to run for a term of her own next year.
* On a related note, the incoming governor isn't the only prominent New York Democrat looking anew at the state's 2022 gubernatorial race.
* In Wisconsin, one of the nation's most important battleground states, a new Marquette Law School poll found President Biden with a 49% approval rating, a point below Gov. Tony Evers' (D) 50% rating. Sen. Ron Johnson (R), meanwhile, has a 35% favorability rating, which is slightly worse than Donald Trump's 37% standing in the state.
* In Missouri's U.S. Senate campaign, which has a crowded field of Republican contenders, new Saint Louis University poll found disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens (R) with a higher favorability rating than any of his GOP rivals.
* Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown resigned from his law school gig this week, saying he's looking forward to "re-engaging in the political arena." Brown lost a U.S. Senate race in 2012 in Massachusetts, then lost another U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire in 2014. He also served as an ambassador in the Trump administration.