I hope Pompeo tries out for Hamlet after all of this, and more in today's ELECTIONS NEWS:
HOUSE
- TN-01: GOP House retirements hit 22, as Rep Phil Roe announced he will not run again. Notably, a fair number of retirees, including Roe, have been ranking members (meaning they would be chair in a GOP majority), indicating that the rank and file see little to no chance of GOP control post-2020. District is Solid R.
- NC-11: The surprise retirement announcement by Rep Mark Meadows (R) right before the NC filing deadline appears to have been a play to funnel the nomination to a friend of his wife. Several other folks were able to file, but he appears to have been able to box out most of the major players.
- CA-50: The long-delayed resignation of Rep Duncan Hunter (R) has finally been set for Jan 13. Hunter, resigning in the wake of his guilty plea to campaign finance charges, had been hanging around for a month not doing anything, in order to get some additional congressional pay.
- TN-05: Conserva-Dem Rep Jim Cooper to get a challenge from his left from public defender Keeda Haynes. Cooper is the classic "way more conservative than his district" Dem, so this could be interesting.
- CA-25: A look at the contentious upcoming special election to fill the Katie Hill seat.
SENATE
- NH: Trump acolyte Corey Lewandowski has decided not to run for Senate after extensively hinting he would. That's undoubtedly a relief for the GOP, as Lewandowski as nominee would have made Sen Shaheen's re-election near certain. She should still have the edge though, even with a more conventional opponent.
- KS: In the umpteenth round of "will he or won't he?" SecState Pompeo has apparently informed Mitch McConnell that he will not be running for Senate. Pompeo was considered a prohibitive favorite in the primary and the general; his absence increases the chance of a Kris Kobach nomination, which would move the race into Lean R to Tossup territory - you will recall he just lost the governor's race in 2018 and not be a whisker, either.
- GA (B): Rep Collins still mulling jumping into the all-party special to fill the Isaakson seat, despite having not been appointed to the vacancy.
- 538 round-up of interesting Senate races.
STATES
- VT gov: Interesting development as Lt Gov Zuckerman (Dem/Progressive) announced plans to run against Gov Phil Scott (GOP). LG/gov match-ups are super rare; aside from the trivia aspect, this is the left's best chance to turf out popular governor Scott and secure a Dem trifecta.
- DKE data for all of the interesting races in the Texas House, where Dems have at least a shot of taking control.
ODDS & ENDS
- A federal judge has blocked enforcement of NC's voter id law for the upcoming primaries while the related court case proceeds.
- An initiative to legalize recreational marijuana will be on the ballot in South Dakota.
- GOP counties in Florida may be shooting themselves in the foot by trying to block ex-felon voter registration.
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