Morning Digest: Valerie Ervin will replace deceased running mate in primary for Maryland governor

The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.

Leading Off

● MD-Gov: On Thursday, former Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin announced that she would run for governor in the June 26 Democratic primary in place of her running mate Kevin Kamenetz, who died last week.

State law allowed Ervin to either take Kamenetz's spot at the top of the primary ballot and choose a new candidate for lieutenant governor; alternatively, she could have picked someone else to run at the top of the ticket while she stayed in the second spot.

However, state election officials have not said if Ervin is entitled to the money in Kamenetz's war chest, and Ervin says she's still looking at her legal options. She also argued that she could raise money from national donors because, other than Georgia's Stacey Abrams, she's the only black woman in the nation running for governor.

Ervin also says she's in contact with EMILY's List about a potential endorsement. The group had been backing consultant Maya Rockeymoore Cummings before she dropped out of the race, and they didn't switch their support to former Michelle Obama staffer Krish Vignarajah during the months when she was the only woman in the race.

Senate

● RI-Sen: Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee says he's commissioning a poll to test his chances in a September Democratic primary with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, but Whitehouse's team has oh-so-kindly released their own survey first to save him the trouble. The poll from the Democratic firm Anzalone Liszt Grove finds Whitehouse demolishing Chafee 72-14, and shows Chafee with a horrible 32-46 unfavorable score with primary voters. We can't imagine why that would be.

Gubernatorial

● CA-Gov: Democratic state Treasurer John Chiang is out with a spot that's entirely in Mandarin, making this a very rare example of an American political ad that's aired on TV entirely or mostly in a language other than English or Spanish. About 4 percent of California households speak Chinese, though that figure includes Cantonese as well as Mandarin.

Meanwhile, former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, a fellow Democrat, is up with her first TV spot. It features several clips of her rivals saying they agree with Eastin, before the onscreen text implores the audience to "Cut out the middle men." The campaign says the ad is airing across multiple media markets but didn't say how much they were spending; Eastin hasn't raised much money in this very expensive state, so it's unlikely many people will see it on TV.

● CO-Gov: Democratic Rep. Jared Polis' new spot features him suited up in baseball gear on the diamond as he tells the audience, "To be governor, you got to play a lot of positions." As a game takes place around him, Polis says, "We have to help every child get on base" by offering pre-school and kindergarten to every community, and "block Donald Trump" from destroying public lands. He also describes renewable energy as a "double play" and concludes there's "too much at stake to strike out." We can't wait for a campaign ad based around croquet.

● CT-Gov: The once-crowded Democratic primary got even smaller on Thursday when former Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Sean Connolly announced he was dropping out and endorsing businessman Ned Lamont. Connolly's departure leaves Lamont, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, and businessman Guy Smith as the only major candidates still in the running.

● GA-Gov: With days before Tuesday's Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. Former state Rep. Stacey Evans, who has trailed Abrams in the few polls we've seen, is also out with a closing spot where she pledges to restore the promise of the HOPE Scholarship to the students who don't have access to it.

● IA-Gov: Local SEIU president Cathy Glasson's new spot ahead of the June 5 Democratic primary features several teenagers saying they won't show up on Election Day. They add that they can't vote for universal background checks, an assault rifle ban, gun violence restraining orders, or a 72-hour waiting period because they're not old enough to cast a ballot, but they conclude by telling the viewer that they can and should vote for Glasson.

● ME-Gov: Former state cabinet official Mary Mayhew is up with what the National Journal says is her first ad ahead of the June 12 GOP primary. Mayhew tells the audience that "[T]he liberals" don't want to help people get jobs and would rather just throw money at problems. She then declares she wants "to help someone earn their first paycheck, not give them their first welfare check."  

● MI-Gov: Well, this is not what you expect a seemingly competitive candidate for governor to do three months ahead of the primary: Businessman Shri Thanedar's campaign, which has flooded the airwaves for months, says it's issuing a "temporary pause" on more TV ads, claiming it has achieved its "first phase" goals. Thanedar came out of nowhere to shoot toward the top of the polls by using his personal wealth to advertise heavily, so letting up right when his two main rivals for the Democratic nod are poised to start spending themselves seems like a bizarre decision.

Thanedar's campaign, however, has faced some serious adversity lately, all of the candidate's own making, and coinciding with this "pause" is yet another new negative story about his business career. According to HuffPost, in 2009 the USDA charged Thanedar's chemical testing lab with mistreating its animals, including depriving monkeys of necessary social interaction and using expired medication. This is the same lab where Thanedar abandoned hundreds of animals after his company went bankrupt, yet falsely claimed it was the fault of the bank that repossessed the facility.

Thanedar's aloofness and reflexive blame-passing whenever accused of wrongdoing don't exactly suggest he's the sort of candidate who'd decide that a few bad headlines should cause him to wind down his own political campaign. But that just makes this "pause" all the more strange, so we'll have to wait and see if it is in fact temporary after all.

On the GOP side, the group Calley Continues Comeback is out with a spot that concludes by imploring the audience to call up Attorney General Bill Schuette, who is Lt. Gov. Brian Calley's main primary foe, and tell him to resign. And what does CCC think Schuette has done to deserve this message from tens of angry callers?

The narrator declares that Schuette lied when he told voters that his assets from a "Virgin Islands real estate empire" were in a blind trust. The spot insists that Schuette has "just been caught selling millions of that land, making his taxpayer-funded staff help," so he should do the honorable thing and quit his post. The ad cited a Crain's Detroit Business article, which says that one of Schuette's staffers notarized two of his land transactions and that others signed his property deeds as witnesses to the land sales.

● NM-Gov: With three weeks to go before the June 5 Democratic primary, state Sen. Joe Cervantes is up with his first negative TV spot against Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The narrator argues that Lujan Grisham has "made a bundle off government contacts," has "been bankrolled by $2.7 million in out of state contributions," and "even voted with Republicans to repeal part of Obamacare and benefit the wealthy," and the spot concludes with an animated Democratic donkey kicking her out of the state.

Cervantes won't lack the money he needs to air this commercial. While he raised just $15,000 from donors from April 3 to May 7, he self-funded another $500,000, and he had a small $1.65 million to $1.6 million cash-on-hand edge over Lujan Grisham. However, businessman Jeff Apodaca had only $265,000 in the bank. The only poll we've seen this year was a February Lujan Grisham internal that gave her a lopsided 72-13 edge over Apodaca, with Cervantes at 6. The winner will take on GOP Rep. Steve Pearce, who had almost $2 million on-hand.

● SC-Gov: With a month to go before the June 12 Democratic primary, both state Rep. James Smith and attorney Marguerite Willis are spending more than $100,000 on their first TV ads.

Smith's commercial features a narrator touting his service in Afghanistan and praising him for fighting for "early childhood education, affordable healthcare, equal pay for women, and to hold power companies accountable." The ad also reminds viewers he has the support of former Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Willis stars in her spot, which begins her walking along a dirt path and telling the audience, "We all walk our own roads in life." Willis continues by saying she "became a nationally respected attorney in a business biased against women because I refused to back down," and describes the state's challenges with education, healthcare, and poverty. Her running mate, state Sen. John Scott, then walks onto the path (though he never speaks, so his appearance feels a little awkward) as Willis concludes by introducing him and saying this is their ticket.

On the GOP side, a group called Palmetto PAC that supports Gov. Henry McMaster recently launched an ad against former state cabinet official Catherine Templeton. However, the Associated Press reports that a number of TV stations owned by the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group have taken the spot down.

Templeton's attorney sent a cease-and-desist order, arguing that the commercial inaccurately claimed she had been fired by then-Gov. Nikki Haley from both the state health agency and revenue department. That commercial cited an article in The Post and Courier that relied on multiple unnamed sources, but Haley put out a statement in response denying Templeton had been fired and saying that she had instead "offered her resignation voluntarily."

● TN-Gov: Businessman and former state Higher Education Commission member Bill Lee is out with what the National Journal says is his second TV spot ahead of the August GOP primary. As pictures flash by of Lee in Mexico, Haiti, and Africa, he argues that he's answered Jesus' call to serve. The candidate the audience that while he hasn't done it perfectly, "I do try to serve my family, my neighbors, and 1,200 employees everyday," and pledges to serve the state as governor.

● WI-Gov: The state AFL-CIO has endorsed Mahlon Mitchell, the head of the state firefighter's union, ahead of the August Democratic primary.

House

● IA-03: Businesswoman Cindy Axne is up with a TV spot ahead of the June 5 Democratic primary that begins with her saying how women have fought for their rights and broken glass ceilings so the next generation of girls will have brighter futures "only to see Donald Trump try to pull us backwards." The narrator then says Axne will fight for equal pay and every woman's "right to make her own healthcare decisions."

● MI-13: On Wednesday, the elections staff of the Wayne County clerk's office said that hedge fund partner John Conyers III had not turned in enough valid petitions to make the crowded August Democratic primary ballot to succeed his father, former Rep. John Conyers. The ruling is not final, and County Clerk Cathy Garrett will reportedly make her decision on Conyers' eligibility by Friday.

Michigan congressional candidates need 1,000 valid signatures to qualify for their primary, and Conyers submitted 1,914 petitions before last month's deadline. However, primary rival state Sen. Ian Conyers, who is a cousin of Conyers III, challenged his signatures. A staff review from the county Elections Division said only 905 of them were valid and the rest were mostly from voters from outside this seat or duplicates, or had "miscellaneous identification issues." A separate Wayne County Elections Division review reported that only 880 of Conyers III's petitions were valid.

● NM-01: VoteVets, which is backing former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez in the June 5 Democratic primary, is out with a survey from the Democratic firm Lake Research. They show retired University of New Mexico law school professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez edging Martinez 25-23, while former state party chair Deb Haaland takes 20; 27 percent are undecided, while 5 percent opt for "someone else."

The only other primary poll we've seen was an April PPP survey for Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis that showed Haaland and Sedillo Lopez tied 15-15, while Davis and Martinez took 11 and 7, respectively. That poll was taken before many ads were run, however, so it makes sense if the race looks a bit different now than it did a month ago.

Sedillo Lopez and Martinez also each have a new spot. The narrator in Sedillo Lopez's commercial praises her for "using her legal expertise to advance social justice for women, immigrants, and all New Mexico families," and touts her support for Medicare-for-All.

The mother of a University of New Mexico college student who was sexually assaulted (both their names are left out of the spot to protect their identities) narrates Martinez's ad, and says that he believed her daughter when so many others didn't. The mother goes on to say Martinez forced UNM to "reform their policies, support survivors, and educate students about their rights."    

● NM-02: The NRA has endorsed state Rep. Yvette Herrell in the June 5 GOP primary.

● NY-11: Rep. Dan Donovan is up with his first TV spot ahead of the June 26 GOP primary. The commercial is not available yet, but NY1 says Donovan declares he's "working with Donald Trump to deport dangerous illegal aliens, build the wall, and end sanctuary cities" and does not mention former Rep. Mike Grimm, his primary foe.

● PA-01: On Wednesday, just a day after philanthropist Scott Wallace handily won the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District, the Forward reported that Wallace's charitable foundation had given $300,000 to several groups that support the controversial "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions" movement against Israel, commonly known as "BDS."

The donations from the $140 million Wallace Global Fund, which Wallace ran for 15 years until leaving the organization to run for Congress earlier this year, include grants to Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the most prominent BDS advocates, and to the parent company of a publishing house in support of a speaking tour for George Galloway, a notorious British anti-Semite and former member of Parliament.

Wallace responded by saying he "unequivocally disavows the BDS movement" and pretty much tried to disavow the grants, too, claiming they were "made by a member of the Wallace Global Fund's leadership from a discretionary fund that other leadership did not exercise authority over." That puts Wallace in a bit of a sticky position, though, because during the primary, he touted his fund's work on environmental issues as a campaign credential.

Wallace also lashed out at the NRCC, accusing the committee of being behind this unusually well-timed deployment of opposition research. Oddly, a Jewish Democratic activist in Pennsylvania says that Wallace's main primary opponent, Rachel Reddick, told her that she'd been aware of these donations, but if that's so, Reddick doesn't appear to have sought to publicize them. And ultimately, there's still the question of whether an issue like this will actually matter, or whether it's the kind of thing that only extremely plugged-in politicos care about. For what it's worth, Fitzpatrick does not yet appear to have commented on the matter.

● TN-02: Like Abe Simpson, Rep. Jimmy Duncan likes himself some Matlock. The retiring congressman has endorsed state Rep. Jimmy Matlock in the August GOP primary to succeed him in this safely red seat. Duncan made it very clear last year that he would be opposing Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, who was preparing to challenge him just before Duncan announced he wouldn't seen another term. Businessman and Young Republicans National Federation chairman Jason Emert is also running.

Duncan has represented this seat since 1988, but it's not clear if his endorsement will be an asset. Last month, the Office of Congressional Ethics announced that the congressman may have inappropriately used at least $100,000 in campaign donations to benefit himself, as well as his family and friends. Duncan has denied it, but the whole matter could make his support less than useful for Matlock at home.