Senate:
MD-Sen: Here’s an interesting longread from Politico on the Maryland Senate race focusing on how Rep. David Trone (D) is trying to get to the left of his main primary rival, Prince George’s CE Angela Alsobrooks (D). Trone is trying to spin his prior experience being indicted for violating Pennsylvania’s liquor laws in the 1990s to his favor. Trone and his family were indicted for registering a chain of liquor stores in the names of separate family and friends to avoid the state’s liquor laws; he later beat the charges. Trone is using the story in an attempt to blunt his well-deserved plutocrat image from his immense wealth and to attack Alsobrooks, a former DA, on a soft-on-crime platform. Trone is branding himself as “justice impacted” (which to me sounds like you got constipated from eating too much at the courthouse cafeteria). The winner of the Trone-Alsobrooks primary will likely face ex-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in the general for the seat of retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D).
NJ-Sen: New details have been publicized of TV news reporter Alex Zdan’s (R) 2020 DUI arrest, which he disclosed upon entering the race earlier this year. The incident report shows that Zdan swerved into oncoming traffic and grazed another car, causing minor damage, and then left the scene. He was found by police sleeping in his car with a breathalyzer of 0.25 and an open bottle of wine in his cupholder. Zdan is considered one of three major Republican contenders in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Bob Menendez (D), along with real estate developer Curtis Bashaw (R) and Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano-Glassner (R). Rep. Andy Kim (D) and State First Lady Tammy Murphy (D) are in the race for Democrats.
Governor:
DE-Gov: National Wildlife Foundation chair and former state cabinet official Collin O’Mara (D) has officially kicked off his expected bid for Governor of Delaware. O’Mara will face LG Bethany Hall-Long (D) and New Castle CE Matt Meyer (D) in the primary, and appears to be staking out a position to the left of his rivals. Retired cop Jerry Price (R) is the only Republican in the race so far. Termed-out incumbent John Carney (D) is running for Mayor of Wilmington.
MT-Gov, MT-LG: State Rep. Tanner Smith (R), who is running a long-shot challenge to Gov. Greg Gianforte (R), has named Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci (R) as his running mate. Pinocci, who represents the northeast part of the state on the 5-member elected board, had previously been exploring a run for Congress in the open MT-2 seat. However, he quietly abandoned that run after a string of scandals, including multiple arrests last year and an indictment for witness tampering. Gianforte is running for re-election with incumbent LG Kristen Juras (R), while likely Dem nominee Ryan Busse (D) is running with 2020 AG nominee Ralph Graybill (D) as his LG running mate.
House:
MI-8: The UAW has endorsed State Sen. Kristen McDonald-Rivet (D) in the crowded primary for this purple Flint and Saginaw area seat. McDonald-Rivet is facing Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley (D), ex-Flint Mayor Matt Collier (D), elected state school board chair Pamela Pugh (D), and nonprofit exec Dan Moilanen (D) in the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Dan Kildee (D). 2022 nominee Paul Junge (R) is the likely GOP nominee.
MO-2: Journalist Ray Hartmann (D), founder of St. Louis’s alternative weekly newspaper Riverfront Times, will run for Congress. Hartmann is the first notable Democrat into the race to challenge Rep. Ann Wagner (R) in this medium-red seat covering most of St. Louis’s southern and western suburbs and some rural areas to the west.
OH-1: Prosecutor Orlando Sonza (R), who is the GOP nominee to take on Rep. Greg Landsman (D) in this light-blue Cincinnati-based seat, is reversing positions he took in a 2022 State Senate run. As the sacrificial-lamb nominee in a deep-blue seat, Sonza responded to a pro-life group’s questionnaire by indicating support for a ban on abortion without exceptions as well as embryo-protection legislation similar to the kind that has effectively outlawed IVF in Alabama. Sonza says he has changed his mind on those positions in the two years since.
State Offices:
GA-Lab: Our thoughts are with Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson (R), who was abruptly diagnosed last week with pancreatic cancer metastatic to his liver. Thompson has said he will stay in office while he undergoes treatment for the extremely aggressive cancer.
PA-Treas: Unclaimed property is traditionally one of the least-controversial functions of government agencies (and specifically State Treasurers’ Offices), but it is getting significant play in this year’s race for Pennsylvania Treasurer. Incumbent Stacy Garrity (R) is hitting her likely rival, State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D), for voting to curtail a measure Garrity supported to return unclaimed property without the owner filing a claim. The amendment Bizzarro supported cut the maximum value of accounts that could be automatically returned from $5K to just $100. Bizzarro has hit back by saying Garrity has been exaggerating her improvements in the efficiency of the unclaimed property program. Bizzarro’s primary rival, 2014/2016 congressional nominee Erin McClelland (D), has largely backed Garrity’s position on the issues.
WA-SD-15, WA-Redistrict: In today’s game of Redistricting Calvinball, a judge has enacted a remedial legislative map altering 13 legislative districts in the Yakima and Tri-Cities areas due to a ruling that the prior commission-drawn map discriminated against Latinos by drawing a Latino-majority district that also favored Republicans. The ruling eliminates the seat of State Sen. Nikki Torres (R), who is Latina, in favor of a new Democratic-leaning district.
Local Offices:
Sacramento-Mayor: Epidemiologist Flo Cofer (D) has been pulling out to a small lead in the chaotic four-way race for Mayor of Sacramento as California’s interminable counting continues. Cofer is up to 28% of the vote and has likely secured a general election spot. However, her rival is still a mystery as her three major rivals, ex-State Sen. Richard Pan (D), State Rep. Kevin McCarty (D), and ex-councilman Steve Hansen (D), are in a 3-way pileup at 21% with only 531 votes separating second from fourth. It seems likely it will be weeks before the matchup is known.
Raleigh-Mayor: 2022 candidate and professor Terrance Ruth (D) will mount a second run for Mayor of Raleigh in this fall’s race. Ruth lost 46-40 to incumbent Mary-Ann Baldwin (D) two years ago. Councilman Corey Branch (D) is also taking on Baldwin this year. The one-round winner-take-all race will be held on Election Day in November.
Imperial County, CA: Postal worker Diahna Garcia-Ruiz says she was offered a $500K bribe to drop her run for a county commissioner seat in Imperial County, CA. Garcia-Ruiz says a friend came to her house with the money, but it is unclear who was behind the bribe, and all other sources are being tight-lipped about the ongoing investigation. Garcia-Ruiz came in second for the seat and is heading on to a November runoff for the seat covering most of the city of El Centro and the southwest part of the heavily Hispanic and poor county along the Mexican border.