Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Up until a few days ago, attorney Chris Madel was a Republican gubernatorial candidate who was providing legal assistance to the federal agent who shot and killed Renee Good. On Monday morning, Madel ended his candidacy and started to distance himself from the GOP, denouncing federal “retribution” against his home state.
“I can’t look my daughters in the eye and say I’m running as a Republican, when they’re pulling over Hispanics and Asians because of the color of the skin and what they look like,” Madel told The Wall Street Journal. “I did not sign up for that.”
* Speaking of Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar hasn’t officially launched a Democratic gubernatorial campaign, but she’s filed the paperwork and is reportedly taking steps toward this year’s contest.
* In New York last week, a judge struck down the state’s 11th District, agreeing that its current boundaries disenfranchise minority communities. The ruling, which affects Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ district, will be appealed.
* Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Nancy Lacore, a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve. Now, Lacore is starting a new career path: She’s running for Congress as a Democrat in South Carolina, hoping to succeed Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who’s giving up her seat to run for governor.
* After a lengthy career on Capitol Hill, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton is set to retire at the end of her current term, stepping down as the nonvoting delegate for Washington, D.C.
* While it’s difficult to imagine how the party would find time to organize and prepare for such an event, Republican National Committee members approved a rule change late last week that would allow the party to hold a midterm convention.
* And in Indiana, Republican state Sen. Greg Walker, a vocal opponent of the White House’s redistricting gambit late last year, had announced his retirement. On Friday, he announced that he’s changed his mind and will instead seek another term. “I felt like it was important for me to continue to stand for Indiana issues instead of Washington politics,” he explained.
