About last night….
– Former President Donald Trump (R) and President Joe Biden (D) officially unofficially became the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. Biden became the presumptive nominee by wrapping up a majority of delegates around 8PM Eastern after Georgia’s results came in; Trump had to wait about 3 hours until 11PM Eastern when Washington started reporting its all by-mail results.
– As for the specifics of last night’s primaries and caucuses, Trump and Biden swept all contests. Trump won Georgia with about 85%, Hawaii with 97%, Mississippi with about 92%, and Washington State with about 74%. Biden won Georgia with about 95%, Mississippi with about 99% (where he ran unopposed), Washington State with about 86% and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with 94%. Results of the Democrats Abroad caucuses are not yet available.
– In Mississippi, incumbent U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) won his primary outright with a weak 61% of the vote. Second-place Ghannon Burton (R) actually won quite a few Northeastern Mississippi counties. Wicker will face Democratic sacrificial lamb Ty Pinkins (D) in November.
– Incumbent MS-4 Congressman Mike Ezell (R) easily won his primary with about 73%. Ezell will face Craig Raybon (D), who ran unopposed, in November.
– The MS-2 Republican primary will head to a runoff between Ron Eller (R) and Andrew Smith (R). Eller leads Smith 46-36%. The winner will be the sacrificial lamb against Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) in November. Thompson ran unopposed.
– Diane Black (D) handily won the MS-1 Democratic primary with about 84%. She will be the sacrificial lamb against Congressman Trent Kelly (R) in November. Kelly ran unopposed.
-Finally, Gary Richardson (R) defeated CJ Pearson (R) in the GA-HD-125 special election runoff, 60-40%.
Now, for the rest of yesterday’s political news…
President:
RFK ’24: Are you ready for some football (or wrestling or whatever)? Vaccine skeptic and 2024 Independent Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is considering two big names to be his Vice President: Vaccine skeptic and current New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers (I?) and former professional wrestler and Minnesota Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura (I). Rodgers endorsed RFK, Jr. late last year. Rodgers, Ventura and Dwayne Elizondo “Mountain Dew” Herbert Camacho couldn’t be reached for comment.
Curry ’28 or ??: Speaking of sports stars entering the political arena a la Mountain Dew Camacho in the movie Idiocracy, Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry (D?) told CBS Mornings that he’s a “maybe” for running for President in the future – or somehow getting involved in politics. Curry endorsed President Biden (D) in 2020 and got into a spat with Former President Trump (R) in 2017.
No Labels: They’re likely not going to get their man! Mastercard has appointed former U.S. Ambassador and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R) its Vice Chairman and President of Strategic Growth, effective April 15. This likely means Huntsman is out of the running for a No Labels presidential or vice presidential bid.
Congress:
AZ-Sen: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) is up with his first ad, a relatively standard-issue biographical spot. Gallego is the likely Democratic nominee to succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I/D).
CO-4 I: In case you missed it, Congressman Ken Buck (R) announced he will retire from Congress at the end of next week. Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) said he will order the special election to fill Buck’s seat be held on the same day as the regularly scheduled Colorado primary, June 25. As a result of Buck’s resignation, The House majority will likely shrink to 1 for a brief time after the April 30 NY-26 special election, which Democrats are likely to win.
CO-4 II: The Boebert has spoken! Current CO-3 Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R), who is running for CO-4 in the regularly scheduled June 25 primary, addressed the vacancy on an audio podcast-like party line thing called a Space on X (nee Twitter) last night. On the X Space, Boebert expressed a preference that the party officials who will nominate the Republican CO-4 special election candidate appoint “a candidate who is not currently running in the primary” to run in that special. Contrary to those wishes, X Rumor has it that the party apparatchiks will appoint either Jerry Sonnenberg (R) or Deborah Flora (R) to run in the special. Both are currently also running in the June 25 regularly scheduled primary. So stay, tuned, I guess.
GA-10/NY-5/PA-4: In today’s “X (nee Twitter) isn’t the real world until some Congressmen make it so” news, NY-5 Congressman Gregory Meeks (D) criticized GA-10 Congressman Mike Collins (R) for posting “Some might call [Haiti] a sh*thole” on X. Meeks called Collins’ post “insulting,” “ignorant” and “asinine.” Adding insult to injury, PA-4 Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D) also chimed in on this “controversy,” stating “that kind of a comment displays the kind of contrast of how Democrats look at foreign affairs . . . versus those who just want to demean those who are suffering these things.” I’m not sure exactly what Haiti exactly is, but we can all probably agree that a failed state full of roaming packs of cannibals can’t exactly be called paradise, right?
NY-3: The Nassau GOP have named their man! The Nassau GOP, which basically controls the party selection process for NY-3, picked former state Assemblyman Mike LiPetri (R) as their candidate in the upcoming June 25 NY-3 primary. Unlike in the recent special election, picking LiPetri doesn’t guarantee he will be the nominee against newly minted Congressman Tom Suozzi (D): attorney and Air Force veteran Greg Hach (R) and businessman Jim Toes (R) are also gathering petition signatures to run.
NY-16: Fire alarm enthusiast and Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D) is in hot water again, this time for defending a local black history mural that includes noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakahn. I’d say more, but the linked article is behind a paywall (you can read a little more for free just above the fold in the NY-3 item linked above). Bowman is facing Westchester County Executive George Latimer (D) in a heated primary battle, where anti-Semitism has become a major issue.
ND-AL: Veteran and farmer Alex Balazs (R) will join the race for North Dakota’s at-large congressional seat. Balazs joins PSC member Julie Fedorchak (R), ex-State Sen. Tom Campbell (R), and ex-State Rep. Rick Becker (R) in the race for the GOP nomination to succeed gubernatorial candidate Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R).
SD-AL: She’s running! “SD Mom” Sheryl Johnson (D) announced a run for South Dakota’s lone Congressional seat last week. Johnson, who is from Sioux Falls, was last seen losing the SD-HD-11 elections in 2018 and 2020, and SD-SD-11 election in 2022. She will likely be the Democratic sacrificial lamb who loses to Congressman Dusty Johnson (R) in November.
State Offices:
NC-Gov, NC-AG: WRAL-TV has a poll from SurveyUSA showing AG Josh Stein (D) leading LG Mark Robinson (R) 44-42 in the gubernatorial race. For Attorney General, Rep. Jeff Jackson (D) leads Rep. Dan Bishop (R) 41-40.
OR-SoS, OR-Treas: They’re running for (new) offices they are (still) eligible for! State Sens. Dennis Linthicum (R) of the Klamath Falls area and Brian Boquist (R) of the Salem area failed in an attempt to challenge a voter measure restricting them from running for re-election for the State Senate due to “unexcused absence” quorum-busting walkouts. However, both Linthicum and Boquist will still be on the ballot this year as they filed yesterday for SoS and Treasurer respectively. Linthicum and Boquist will be the heavy favorites for the GOP nominations for the open seats; Democrats have contested primaries.
UT-AG: He’s running for an office he’s not (yet) eligible for! 2020 UT-4 congressional candidate Trent Christensen (R) is currently ineligible to hold the office he is seeking, Utah Attorney General, which requires its holder to be a member in good standing of the Utah Bar. Christensen has a law license, but in Massachusetts rather than Utah. Christensen says he will be admitted to the Utah bar before the election through a reciprocality agreement with his Massachusetts law license.
Territorial & Local:
AS-Gov: He’s running! Pula T.I. Nikolau Pula (D?) announced that he will run for American Samoa governor in November 2024. Pula, who worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2022, as well as for Hawaii Senator Inouye (D) and American Samoa’s first Delegate to Congress, Fofo Iosefa Fiti Sunia (D), is the first candidate to enter the 2024 race to head the executive branch of this U.S. territory in the South Pacific. American Samoa governor and lt. governor run together on a ticket; Pula has yet to name his Lt. Governor candidate.
AL-HD-52: He’s pleading guilty – and resigning! The current longest-serving member of the Alabama House of Representatives, State Rep. John Rogers (D) of Birmingham, is stepping down from office after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Rogers allegedly took a kickback from a youth sports organization run by another state legislator implicated in the scheme. In addition to resigning from office, the 83-year-old Rogers will pay restitution and spend 14 months on home confinement.
Jefferson County, WV, WV-Aud: Two county commissioners in Jefferson County, WV have been arrested and indicted for failing to perform their governmental duties. Commissioners Tricia Jackson (R) and Jennifer Krouse (R), the former of whom is also a candidate for State Auditor, were arraigned on charges brought by a special prosecutor. Jackson and Krouse are accused of refusing to attend commission meetings for three months from September to November of last year. The move was to prevent the selection of a fifth commissioner who would fill a vacancy; Jackson and Krouse thus busted a quorum on the county board and grinding county business to a halt. Jackson is running in the primary to succeed State Auditor and AG candidate JB McCuskey (R); she is facing State Reps. Eric Householder (R) and Caleb Hanna (R) and State Sen. Mark Hunt (R) in that race.
Rochester, NY – City Court Judge/WATN: Finally, she’s back, and that’s not so lovely! Former Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren (D), last seen resigning from office after losing the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary and pleading guilty to campaign finance, gun and child endangerment-related misdemeanors, will run for Rochester City Court Judge. Despite the plea deal, Warren has been the Democratic Committee Chair for Monroe County’s 22nd Legislative District since September 2022. Warren, who is running on a “racial equity” platform, will face Michael Geraci (D) in the Democratic primary, assuming both gather enough signatures to appear on the June 25 ballot in the Flour/Flower City. Rochester’s City Court Judges serve 10-year terms.