The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading OFF
● IA-04, IA-Sen: White supremacist Rep. Steve King picked up a Republican primary foe this week in the form of Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra, but if you think that'll change King's behavior, well, you don't know Steve King. We're betting, however, that you do. On Thursday, the New York Times published an interview where King actually asked, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?" King also responded with derision to the diversity of House Democratic caucus by saying, "You could look over there and think the Democratic Party is no country for white men."
Campaign Action
A few hours later, King made a token effort to distance himself from white supremacy. Like Donald Trump, the congressman said in a statement, "Under any fair political definition, I am simply a Nationalist." He also said of white supremacy, an ideology he had just characterized as inoffensive, "This conviction does not make me a white nationalist or a white supremacist. Once again, I reject those labels and the ideology that they define."
King also added, "I condemn anyone that supports this evil and bigoted ideology which saw in its ultimate expression the systematic murder of 6 million innocent Jewish lives." Oh, does he now? Last August, King took a meeting with far-right Austrian Freedom Party—which has historical ties to the Nazi Party—during a trip to eastern Europe that was, gallingly, paid for by a Holocaust memorial group.
We doubt King did much condemning on that trip, especially since he gave an interview to a website allied with the Freedom Party where he said, "We have a lot of diversity within the U.S. already," and called Jewish philanthropist George Soros a force behind the so-called "Great Replacement," a conspiracy theory prevalent on the far-right that white Europeans are being deliberately "replaced" by people of color in a scheme fomented by Jews.
It seems, though, that some of King's former allies have finally gotten tired of him.
On Wednesday, before King's Times interview went to print, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that she wouldn't take sides in the congressman's brewing primary. But Reynolds made it clear that she's not wishing much success for King, who was a co-chair of her 2018 re-election campaign. The governor said of King's 50-47 win over Democrat J.D. Scholten in what's usually a safely red seat, "The last election was a wake-up call for it to be that close," adding, "That indicates that it does open the door for other individuals to take a look at that."
The radical anti-tax Club for Growth is also not exactly circling the wagons around King. The group tweeted on Thursday that his rating in their scorecard had "steadily dropped" in recent years, falling from 100 percent in 2010 to just 74 percent in 2017. When Politico asked a Club spokesperson if this meant they were interested in endorsing Feenstra, she responded, "It's fair to say we are certainly watching this race closely due to King's declining score on our scorecard."
However, King may have gotten one bit of more welcome news this week when Army veteran Bret Richards also announced on Wednesday that he was joining Feenstra in the primary. It's not clear, though, whether Richards is capable of running a serious bid: The Des Moines Register writes that, other than a stint as mayor of the tiny community of Irwin (pop. 334), which the paper called "almost an obligation in a town that size," Richards' political experience has consisted "mostly of efforts to influence public policy through the Petroleum Marketers of Iowa," and his role as a member of the board of the community hospital in Manning.
However, if Richards can just take a few anti-King votes away from Feenstra, he could end up helping the incumbent win renomination with just a plurality of the vote. And the GOP clown-car could end up getting even more crowded before too long. Story County Supervisor Rick Sanders told the progressive Iowa blog Bleeding Heartland that he considering getting in despite Feenstra's candidacy. Sanders added that, while he's in no hurry to decide, he'd likely make up his mind in "weeks, not months."
Iowa's 4th District backed Trump 61-37, and Democrats probably only have a shot at it if King is the nominee. Scholten, who came close to beating the congressman last year, seems to agree, since he retweeted Iowa Press host David Yepsen declaring that if King "gets beat or doesn't even run again, the 4th CD reverts to safe R status." Yepsen added that Scholten "may as well challenge" GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, who's up for re-election in 2020.
Scholten himself later gave an interview to the Iowa Informer in which he was asked if he was in fact interested in a Senate bid. Scholten responded, "I am keeping everything open. I'm not sure yet." He added, "If the Senate thing happens to work out, I would make sure whoever's running in the 4th's well-prepared."
Scholten also didn't rule out a second run for the 4th District, saying that, "If somebody comes up to me and says, hey, I'm interested in running in the 4th, I'd be more than willing to be honest with them and say, hey, you know, I'm going to do it, or I'm not going to do it, or give me till this date, or something like that." He also said he of a future run for office, "I need a few months of work in before I make that decision."
Senate
● KS-Sen: On Wednesday, state Senate President Susan Wagle announced that she planned to form an exploratory committee for a possible GOP primary bid to succeed retiring Sen. Pat Roberts. (Ah yes, our favorite type of announcement: A politician says they'll later form a committee at some point in the future to raise money for a campaign that may or may not happen.) Wagle, whom the Wichita Eagle writes has a "reputation as a hardline conservative," considered running for governor or in a primary against Rep. Ron Estes last year, but she didn't end up going for either. Wagle said she did not have a timeline for when she expects to decide if she'll run.
Another Republican, wealthy businessman Wink Hartman, also said that his own timeline for making up his mind would depend on how fast others made their own decisions, adding, "There's no hurry." He also predicted that if he ran for the Senate, he'd likely do some substantial self-funding. Hartman who ran for governor last cycle before dropping out and becoming Secretary of State Kris Kobach's running mate on their unsuccessful ticket, estimates that he spent a total of $2.5 million of his own money on the whole effort.
Gubernatorial
● KY-Gov: On Thursday, GOP Gov. Matt Bevin once again said that he would indeed file for re-election by the Jan. 29 deadline, though he still did not explain why he hasn't yet formed a fundraising committee. However, Bevin did offer that he remains undecided about who would be his running mate. Kentucky requires gubernatorial candidates to select a number two when they file, and Bevin doesn't look eager to run with Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton again.
Republicans have openly wondered over the last few weeks if the unpopular Bevin will actually run for a second term, and the speculation will probably continue until he actually files, and perhaps even until the filing deadline passes. Rep. James Comer, who lost the 2015 primary to Bevin by 83 votes, even said last week that he wants to run for governor this year if, but only if, Bevin retires ahead of the deadline. However, we can't figure out this new tweet from Comer, which he posted on Thursday shortly before Bevin's latest pronouncement.
In his social media message, Comer told his followers, "Lots of talk about who would be a good Governor...I think Republicans should also consider Ambassador Kelly Craft!" Craft and her husband, coal billionaire Joe Craft, are both prolific Kentucky GOP donors. Kelly Craft is the current ambassador to Canada, and this is the first time we've heard her even mentioned as a possible candidate. As for Joe Craft, a 2012 Lexington Herald-Leader article declared that he "may be Kentucky's most powerful non-elected individual."
So what's going on here? Is Comer just flattering a powerful donor family to try and generate some goodwill ahead of his possible gubernatorial bid? Does Comer think that Kelly Craft is actually interested in resigning her ambassadorship and challenging Bevin? Is Comer just trolling us? We'll know a lot more by Jan. 29.
House
● CA-22: 2018 Democratic nominee Andrew Janz recently told The Hill that he was "absolutely considering" seeking a rematch against GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, and that he expects to decide closer to 2020.
Nunes was accustomed to uncompetitive re-election campaigns in his conservative Central Valley seat, but Janz held him to a 53-47 win last year. Janz raised a massive $9.2 million for his effort to oust Nunes, who had inflamed progressives everywhere because of his scurrilous handling of his lead role in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. However, Nunes took in an even larger $12.7 million, thanks in large part to the ardor of Trump fans. This seat backed Trump 52-43.
● CO-04: GOP Rep. Ken Buck still hasn't responded to multiple media reports saying that he plans to run for state party chair, but an unnamed source close to him tells Colorado Politics that the congressman doesn't plan to step down from his safely red seat if he wins the post on March 30.
