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
● KS-Sen: On Monday, former Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach announced he would run to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas, but he'll have to overcome a record of failure that has left the national party deeply skeptical of his ability to win—and Democrats cautiously optimistic about the chance to put this race in play against an opponent with a long record of voter suppression and anti-immigrant activism.
Campaign Action
Kobach was Team Red's gubernatorial nominee lost year, but he lost in an upset to Democrat Laura Kelly despite Kansas' heavy Republican tilt. Thanks to an endorsement from Trump, Kobach won his primary over Gov. Jeff Colyer by just a microscopic 40.6-40.5 margin. However, his lackadaisical approach to campaigning in the general election—which one prominent GOP operative called "the most dysfunctional thing I've ever seen in my life"—resulted in a taint of loserdom that prompted the NRSC's spokesperson to swiftly bash Kobach on Monday as someone who would risk handing Democrats victory in 2020.
Kobach's poor performance in his last campaign, which focused heavily on immigration even though school funding was the dominant issue Kansans were concerned about, isn't the only mark against him. Kobach has a long history of anti-immigrant xenophobia and reported ties to avowed white supremacists, the latter of which even the Trump administration identified as a "red flag" that could pose a problem if he were to be nominated for a government job.
Both prior to becoming secretary of state and during his tenure in office, Kobach pushed state and local governments across the country to adopt xenophobic policies. Those efforts included Arizona's notorious SB 1070, which required law enforcement to attempt to determine a person's immigration status when stopped or arrested.
That evangelism for anti-immigrant measures also earned Kobach serious scrutiny when it was reported that his activism also served as a scam. Kobach would sell cash-strapped local governments on passing restrictive laws, then rake in legal fees defending the measures in court, which often led to legal defeats that left taxpayers holding the bag for Kobach's profits.
Kobach's anti-immigrant hysteria also manifested in an eternal crusade to suppress lawful voting. Most notoriously, he led Trump's "voter fraud" commission that pushed bogus notions of widespread fraud as a pretext for legitimizing new voting restrictions. That plan fell apart after Kobach requested individual voter registration data from all 50 states, leading to widespread bipartisan rebuke by state election administrators. (Trump ultimately dissolved the commission in the face of multiple lawsuits that threatened to expose the GOP's real motives.)
Kobach was also a driving force behind the attempt to add question on citizenship status to the census, which could be weaponized against Democrats and Latinos in redistricting. That question is subject of ongoing litigation, where Kobach's role may help lead to the administration's defeat.
Kobach spent a great deal of time in office concerned with states other than Kansas, which gave him a reputation as a grandstander chiefly concerned with his own reputation. But as his state's top election official, Kobach did manage to convince GOP legislators to adopt a law that required voters to provide documents proving their citizenship rather than simply swear under penalty of perjury that they are eligible as required by federal law. That restriction led to the suspension of one in seven new voter registrations, disproportionately among younger voters and Latinos, and made voter registration drives all but impossible.
But just like Kobach's anti-immigrant laws, these restrictions were also blocked in a lawsuit that saw Kobach thoroughly humiliate himself by representing himself in federal court last year. Kobach's team provided flimsy data that was easily debunked by voting experts, and District Court Judge Julie Robinson, who was appointed by George W. Bush, berated Kobach's experts as "misleading." Robinson furthermore dealt a crippling blow to Kobach's own credibility by holding him personally in contempt of a prior court order and ordered him to take six hours of legal education courses after his team failed to follow basic courtroom rules.
That sloppiness and failure to follow the correct procedures were on display on Monday, too, when Kobach initially filed paperwork with the FEC listing his name as "Chris Kobach." One commentator quipped that this was the type of error Kobach would have tried to suspend someone's voter registration over.
Kobach might be a celebrity in certain circles on the right, but he won't face an easy path to the nomination. Already in the running are state Treasurer Jake LaTurner and Kansas Turnpike Authority chair Dave Lindstrom, but the field could expand from there. Rep. Roger Marshall and state Senate President Susan Wagle are both considering and appear likely to get in, while Mitch McConnell and national Republicans are still trying to convince U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to run in order to stop Kobach. However, if the field becomes too crowded, Kobach could prevail with a plurality like he did in the 2018 primary.
If McConnell has his way, Trump won't endorse Kobach again, but when people try to tell Trump what to do, it usually doesn't go the way they hope. Whatever Trump does, though, what remains of the GOP establishment will try to prevent Kobach from becoming the Republican nominee, since he could once again give Democrats an opening in a state that otherwise leans heavily to the right.
Former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom kicked off his campaign for the Democratic nomination last week, and he announced that he raised $185,000 on the first day in the race. Grissom may not have the field to himself, though, and other Democrats are actively considering the contest. With the prospect of a bogeyman like Kobach to run against, Kansas' Senate race is suddenly looking much more interesting.
2Q Fundraising
● GA-Sen: David Perdue (R-inc): $1.9 million raised, $4.9 million cash-on-hand; Teresa Tomlinson (D): $520,000 raised, additional $30,000 self-funded, $330,000 cash-on-hand
● MI-Sen: Gary Peters (D-inc): $2.4 million raised, $4.7 million cash-on-hand
● NC-Sen: Cal Cunningham (D): $520,000 raised (in two weeks), $200,000 self-loaned, $700,000 cash-on-hand
● VA-Sen: Mark Warner (D-inc): $1.8 million raised, $5.4 million cash-on-hand
● FL-13: Charlie Crist (D-inc): $432,000 raised, $2.28 million cash-on-hand
● IA-02: Rita Hart (D): $278,000 raised (in six weeks), $268,000 cash-on-hand
● IL-03: Marie Newman (D): $328,000 raised
● IL-06: Sean Casten (D-inc): $700,000 raised, $900,000 cash-on-hand
● NJ-07: Tom Kean Jr. (R): $500,000 raised
● NY-11: Max Rose (D-inc): $800,000 raised, $1 million cash-on-hand
● PA-01: Brian Fitzpatrick (R-inc): $500,000 raised, $800,000 cash-on-hand
Senate
● AL-Sen: Last week, GOP Rep. Gary Palmer publicly expressed interest in challenging Democratic Sen. Doug Jones for the first time since March, and it sounds like he'll decide by the end of September. Palmer said, "There will be a termination point where qualifying will close, and I anticipate that will be the end of September, somewhere in that range," and he added, "Certainly by the end of September you've got to decide."
It doesn't sound like Palmer is leaning towards seeking a promotion, though. Just like in his March interview, the congressman emphasized how important it was for the GOP to regain the House. Palmer predicted that his party would hold the Senate "long-term" and that Trump would be re-elected, but he added that if they failed to flip the House next year, Republicans would miss their "only opportunity to get anything done." However, as we've already pointed out, Palmer represents a blood red seat and he isn't a member of NRCC leadership, so his departure from the House would hardly hurt his party's 2020 chances there.
However, Palmer's indecision still seems to be causing a headache for the party's House campaign arm. Last month, NRCC chair Tom Emmer reportedly called Palmer and two other House members out by name for hoarding their campaign cash ahead of possible Senate bids rather than paying their NRCC dues. Palmer has been quiet about the incident but Rep. Liz Cheney, who is mulling running for Wyoming's open Senate seat, reportedly responded by accusing Emmer of artificially inflating the committees fundraising numbers.
● CO-Sen: On Monday, Democratic state Sen. Angela Williams filed paperwork with the FEC for a campaign against GOP Sen. Cory Gardner. Williams would be the state's first black senator as well as the first woman to represent Colorado in the upper chamber.
● MN-Sen: ABC 11 reporter John Croman writes that state House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt has been frequently mentioned as a possible GOP candidate against Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, though there's no word from Daudt about his interest. Last cycle Daudt, who was speaker at the time, spent over a year flirting with a possible campaign for governor, but he never went for it.
● MS-Sen: On Thursday, wealthy businessman Gerard Gibert once again expressed interest in a possible GOP primary bid against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Gibert, who serves as vice chair of the Mississippi Lottery Board, told a Fourth of July gathering, "I'm not yet a candidate for office, but I could be."
● NC-Sen: Former state Sen. Eric Mansfield ended his bid for the Democratic nod on Thursday after only about two weeks in the race. Three current or former elected officials are still competing here: former state Sen. Cal Cunningham; state Sen. Erica Smith; and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller. However, Fuller had just over $1,000 in the bank at the end of June (not a typo), so he probably won't be much of a factor in the primary.
● NH-Sen: Last week, former state House Speaker Bill O'Brien filed paperwork with the FEC for a potential bid for the GOP nod. O'Brien has been talking about challenging Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen for a while, and he has a "major announcement" planned for July 23.
● TX-Sen: On Wednesday, former Rep. Chris Bell told the Dallas Morning News that he was "definitely running" for the Democratic nod to take on GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Bell joins Air Force veteran and 2018 House nominee MJ Hegar in the primary.
Bell, a former member of the Houston City Council, was elected to the U.S. House in 2002, but very little has gone well for him politically since then. The following year, GOP state government passed a mid-decade redistricting plan, the infamous DeLaymander engineered by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, which gave Bell a seat that was about 50% new to him.
The new Houston-area district also included a large number of black and Hispanic voters, many of whom were unfamiliar with the incumbent. Bell, who is white, quickly found himself in a tough 2004 primary battle against a prominent local black politician, former Houston Justice of the Peace Al Green. Green ended up beating Bell by a lopsided 66-31 margin, and he still serves in Congress.
Bell has tried running for office several times since that defeat. In 2006, he was the Democratic nominee in the chaotic four-way race for governor, a contest he lost to GOP Gov. Rick Perry 39-30. The former congressman then ran for a GOP-held state Senate seat in a December 2008 special election, but he lost 56-44.
Several years later, Bell competed in the crowded 2015 open seat race for mayor of Houston and took fifth place with 7% of the vote. Bell proceeded to endorse conservative independent Bill King over Democrat Sylvester Turner in the nonpartisan general election, a contest Turner went on to narrowly win. King is one of several candidates challenging Turner this year, but Bell endorsed the mayor this time.
● VA-Sen, VA-02: Former one-term Rep. Scott Taylor announced on Monday that he'd challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Warner next year, giving Virginia Republicans their first notable candidate—but one who comes with serious baggage.
Taylor, a former Navy SEAL and member of the state House, won a bid for Congress in 2016 to succeed GOP Rep. Scott Rigell, who retired from representing Virginia's 2nd Congressional District that year after just three terms in office. Taylor had in fact badly lost to Rigell in the 2010 primary, but his second go at the House went much better: He defeated Rep. Randy Forbes, who unsuccessfully carpetbagged into the 2nd after court-ordered redistricting, for the Republican nomination, then crushed a little-known perennial candidate, Shaun Brown, that fall. (Brown will make a surprise reappearance in a moment.)
Last year, Taylor faced a far tougher opponent in his first re-election campaign, fellow Navy veteran Elaine Luria, so he sought to ease his path by helping an independent get on the ballot—specifically one who might peel votes away from Luria: Shaun Brown. The ploy, however, boiled over into a massive scandal. Taylor's staff was exposed for forging signatures on behalf of Brown (who was booted off the ballot by a judge), and Democrats ran ads slamming Taylor's campaign for its skullduggery.
While Taylor’s staff acknowledged the congressman knew of his team’s plans to aid Brown, Taylor always denied any knowledge of his aides’ wrongdoing. He also dismissed the entire matter as a “nothing burger” and defended his staffers’ involvement in helping Brown with the least sincere of declarations: “That’s democracy.” But his pleas of innocence didn’t save him: Luria went on to oust Taylor by a 51-49 margin. Now that’s democracy.
And the whole mess is still percolating: In May, a special prosecutor indicted a former Taylor staffer on two counts of election fraud—and said that his investigation is still ongoing. Taylor, bizarrely, claimed vindication when the indictment was handed down, but this story could resurface at an time.
Taylor had been considering a rematch with Luria, but he opted for what, at least on paper, appears to be the tougher race: Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton 49-45 in the 2nd District but lost to her 50-44 statewide. Warner was fortunate to survive a close contest during the 2014 GOP wave, scraping past Republican Ed Gillespie by just a 49-48 margin, but next year’s political climate almost certainly won’t be as good for Old Dominion Republicans who have to share a ticket with Trump.
Unless Trump turns out to be a whole lot more popular in Virginia in 2020 than he was in 2016, Taylor would somehow need to convince a considerable swath of voters eager to give Trump the boot that they also want to do the same for Warner. That would be a tall task even for the perfect candidate, which Taylor is not.
● WY-Sen: The GOP firm Tarrance Group is out with a late June poll of a hypothetical GOP primary between Rep. Liz Cheney and her predecessor, former Rep. Cynthia Lummis, and they give Cheney a 56-34 lead. There is no word on who sponsored the survey, though Cheney's team tells the Casper Star-Tribune that it wasn't them. Neither Cheney nor Lummis are currently running, though Lummis did open a fundraising committee last month.
Gubernatorial
● KY-Gov: Bluegrass Values, which is affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association, has placed an ad buy of an unspecified sum on behalf of Democrat Andy Beshear starting on Friday. The DGA's communications director implied that there wasn't a huge sum behind the buy, saying they prefer to air ads later in the cycle closer to when more people are thinking about the upcoming election. Media-tracking firm Medium Buying reports that the ads are going up in the Charleston-Huntington, Evansville, Lexington, and Paducah markets but not in Louisville or Bowling Green.
● LA-Gov: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards launched his TV ad campaign on Monday, and his team says they intend to stay on the air through this fall's election. The campaign says that this spot is part of a "seven-figure ad buy."
Edwards' opening spot begins by reminding the audience just how awful Louisiana's budget situation was when GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal left office almost four years ago, and how the state faced massive cuts to higher education and health care. The commercial then praises Edwards for turning Jindal's deficit into a surplus, saving safety-net hospitals and nursing homes, and fully funding Louisiana's TOPS state scholarship program. The narrator concludes, "And while there's still work to do, Gov. Edwards is leading Louisiana in the right direction."
● MT-Gov: Campaign finance reports are out for the second quarter of 2019, and GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte has a huge financial advantage over all his rivals. Gianforte raised $535,000 during his first month in the race, and he self-funded an additional $50,000. By contrast, GOP Attorney General Tim Fox raised $109,000 during the last three months, and he's taken in a grand total of $300,000 during this entire year.
The final notable Republican candidate, state Sen. Al Olszewski, raised just $42,000 since April, though he self-funded another $100,000. The Great Falls Tribune writes that finance records show that another Republican, former state Sen. Gary Perry, quietly dropped out of the race at some point.
On the Democratic side, state House Minority Leader Casey Schreiner took in $33,000 since he announced in mid-June, while former state Rep. Reilly Neill raised $320 (no, we didn't leave out any zeroes). Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney announced his campaign last week after the fundraising deadline.
House
● CA-15: On Monday, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the presidential race and announced that he would seek a fifth term in his safely blue Bay Area House seat. Swalwell had refused to rule out running for re-election at home if his White House bid failed, though he'd previously suggested that he wouldn't make this decision until California's December filing deadline. Democratic Hayward City Councilor Aisha Wahab entered the race for this seat back in April, and she said last month that she'd "reassess" her campaign if Swalwell decided to run again.
● CA-16: On Sunday, Fresno City Councilor Esmeralda Soria did not rule out challenging Rep. Jim Costa, a fellow Democrat, in this Central Valley seat.
Reporter Alexan Balekian of the local NBC affiliate KSEE asked Soria about rumors that she had recently traveled to D.C. and met with EMILY's List about a possible campaign against Costa (the relevant portion of the interview starts at the 6:20 mark). Soria responded by dismissing this story as "completely made up" and said she hadn't had any "political" meetings in the capital. However, Soria added that she was "extremely flattered about the rumors and the encouragement from the community, and I will leave it at that." Balekian repeatedly tried to get Soria to say if she was interested in running against Costa, but she avoided answering.
Costa has served in the House since 2005, and he's been one of the more conservative members of the Democratic caucus. Costa was one of just 28 Democrats who voted to authorize the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015, and he defied the Obama administration later that year by backing a bill that would have halted the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Costa hasn't changed much in the Trump era, either: According to FiveThirtyEight, Costa voted with the administration 47% of the time in the last Congress.
Costa also came very close to costing Democrats his seat in 2014 when he ran a very complacent campaign and ended up defeating Some Dude Johnny Tacherra just 51-49. However, Costa paid considerably more attention to his 2016 and 2018 races, and he had no trouble winning both of those contests.
Even if Costa ends up sleepwalking his way through 2020, it won't be easier for Soria or any other Democrat to get through the top-two primary unless the incumbent somehow manages to take third place or worse. This seat backed Clinton 58-36, so it would take a lot to keep a Republican from taking one of the two general election spots. Republicans also tend to turn out in disproportionate numbers for the top-two primary, though things may be different next year when the March Democratic presidential primary will take place on the same day as California's top-two primary.
● CA-29: On Wednesday, Angela Villela Chavez withdrew her lawsuit against Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas, which she had filed last year alleging that Cardenas sexually assaulted her when she was 16 (Chavez is now 28). Two months ago, Chavez's attorney withdrew from the case, and Chavez now says she never would have gone forward in court without her former lawyer's "confidence and backing."
Last week, the two sides reached a deal in which Chavez agreed to drop her case "with prejudice," a legal term that means she can't refile it later. Cardenas' team says that the congressman will not pay Chavez a settlement and that he also will not sue her for malicious prosecution. Cardenas has always denied the allegations, and his team hailed Wednesday's agreement as a "total vindication."
● CA-50: Last week, former GOP Escondido Mayor Sam Abed announced that he would challenge indicted GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter. Escondido makes up about 20% of this inland San Diego County seat, but Abed's recent electoral history has not been good.
Back in 2016, Abed competed in the top-two primary for a seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but he failed to advance to the general election. Abed then ran for re-election last year, but despite bragging on Election Day that Escondido was a model for conservatives across the nation, he narrowly lost to Democrat Paul McNamara. Abed has been a loud opponent of undocumented immigration, and strong Latino turnout may have played a role in his defeat in a city that flipped from Romney to narrowly backing Hillary Clinton in 2016.
● KY-04: Republican state Rep. Kim Moser recently revealed that national Republicans have been in talks with her about a potential primary bid against GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, but Moser hasn't given any indication of how seriously she's entertaining the possibility of running. Massie is an ultraconservative who often defects from his party from a libertarian-flavored perspective, which has rankled some of the more transactional members of his party, but there's little indication so far of whether he's worn out his welcome with primary voters in this heavily Republican seat. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Rand Paul and the radical anti-tax Club for Growth have both endorsed Massie.
● MA-06: On Monday, Salem City Councillor Lisa Peterson announced that she would challenge Rep. Seth Moulton in the Democratic primary. Peterson hit Moulton for waging a long-shot campaign for president, declaring, "I mean, obviously he's running for president so he's not here, he's not representing us. I think we can do so much better." Women's health advocate Jamie Zahlaway Belsito also recently joined the primary, and she and Peterson could end up helping the incumbent by splitting the anti-Moulton vote … that is, if Moulton actually ends up running for re-election next year.
Moulton's team said back in April that the congressman "has no intention of giving up his seat in the House should he not become the Democratic nominee for president," but he doesn't quite sound so sure about that now. A reporter asked Moulton last month whether he needed to decide between the two races, and rather than just give the same answer his campaign gave months ago, he instead responded, "Our primary is in September of 2020, so I have to decide by then."
Actually, he needs to decide well before then. Massachusetts requires candidates to file with local election officials on May 5, so if Moulton wants to be on the ballot in the 6th District, he'd need to file his paperwork then.
● MD-04: On Sunday, attorney and Marine veteran Sheila Bryant announced that she would challenge Rep. Anthony Brown in the Democratic primary for this safely blue suburban D.C. seat. Interestingly, each candidate earned a Bronze Star for their service in Iraq. Bryant worked as an inspector general to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, while Brown, who served in the Army, worked as a senior consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration.
Bryant argued in her kickoff that Brown hasn't done enough to combat the Trump administration, declaring, "The country is falling apart, and Anthony Brown is treating Congress like it's his nine-to-five, all while hoping he can use this as a stepping stone for the governorship." She added, "Congress is not a day job―it's a calling, and that's why I'm running for this seat." Brown lost the 2014 general election for governor to Republican Larry Hogan, and he said last week that he wasn't ruling out running in 2022 when Hogan will be termed-out.
● MI-03: Immigration attorney Hillary Scholten announced Monday that she'd seek the Democratic nomination to take on Rep. Justin Amash, who bolted the Republican Party last week to become an independent.
Scholten worked for the U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama administration before returning to the Wolverine State and joining the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. During her time at the center, Scholten served as the attorney for Marine veteran Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a Grand Rapids native suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who was placed in ICE custody for three days until officials confirmed that he was an American citizen. Scholten joins Nick Colvin, a fellow attorney and Obama administration alum, in the primary.
● OH-01: On Monday, former healthcare executive Kate Schroder told Politico that she would seek the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Steve Chabot. Schroder joins Air Force veteran Nikki Foster in the primary for this 51-45 Trump seat.
Schroder spent the last 12 years at the Clinton Foundation's Clinton Health Access Initiative, where she worked to combat child mortality in Africa. The Cincinnati Enquirer writes that, while she isn't close to the Clinton family, she does have the support of many of "Cincinnati's establishment and progressive Democrats." Schroder also has connections to Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley: Schroder worked for Cranley from 2001 to 2002 when he was a city councilor, and her husband is the city's assistant city manager.
● SC-01: Chris Cox, the founder of Bikers for Trump, announced this week that he would join the GOP primary to take on freshman Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham. Cox, who stepped down from his group just ahead of his congressional campaign, has been a frequent guest at Trump events and at other … occasions involving Trump administration alums. In December, Cox showed up with his dog outside the federal courthouse where former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was being sentenced, and he offered to protect the Flynn family from Antifa. Cox soon acknowledged that Antifa did not seem to be present.
● TX-32, TX-Sen: A bummer for Democrats: Former far-right darling and Florida Rep. Allen West announced he won't run for the House or Senate in Texas in 2020, and he's instead planning to run for state GOP chair. West, whose extremism helped him lose re-election in 2012 despite Mitt Romney's victory in his district, would have undoubtedly been high on Democrats' list of desired opponents compared to someone with less extreme views and greater ties to Texas.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News reports that former Navy SEAL Floyd McLendon is expected to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Colin Allred for the GOP, but there's no direct indication of McLendon's intentions.
● UT-04: Former GOP Rep. Mia Love sounded a bit more interested in seeking a rematch with Democratic incumbent Ben McAdams on Friday than she has in the past. Love insisted to the Deseret News, “If I don't have to get in the race, I won't.” However, she also declared, "There isn't anyone that I believe can win right now," and that she might run if she felt the party's choices were weak. Love, who now works as a CNN commentator, also predicted that the Trump administration would try to stop her if she ran again. Trump infamously blamed Love for her defeat, and she said this week, “They'll throw whoever they want under the bus. They demand 100% loyalty.”
The only notable declared GOP candidate is former state party communications director Kathleen Anderson, whose husband was the state party chair when Love lost in 2018. The former congresswoman said of the family, “I think if they had the ability or the knowledge to be able to keep this seat, they would have been able to do it in the last election.”
Love also didn’t speak well of radio host Jay Mcfarland, saying that his interest seemed to “come out of left field.” But if Love was hoping to deter Mcfarland, she may be disappointed: Mcfarland recently announced he was ending his show after nine years, which could be a sign that he’s preparing to jump in. Love was more open to supporting state Rep. Kim Coleman, and she said she’d like to meet with her. Coleman isn’t running yet, but Utah Policy recently said that she was planning to get in.
So, who does Love want to run? The former congresswoman said that she’d feel good about skipping the race if state Sen. Dan Hemmert, state Rep. Jefferson Moss, or Operation Underground Railroad CEO Tim Ballard decided to challenge McAdams. Hemmert has expressed interest in running, though he said he’d “absolutely support Mia if she wanted to run again.” Moss sounds a lot more reluctant, though, saying, “I actually had no interest in running for this seat.” Moss added, “I'm still feeling it out, but my inclination from the beginning is I'd really rather not.”
Ballard, whose group works to combat human trafficking, has not said anything publicly about this race. Love says she’s spoken to Ballard about the idea of him seeking elected office, but she didn’t say anything about his level of interest.
● WA-03: Political science professor Carolyn Long, who was the 2018 Democratic nominee for this southwestern Washington seat, has announced she's seeking a rematch against Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler. Long was a first-time candidate last cycle who went on to outraise the incumbent $3.9 million to $2.6 million, and Long lost by a relatively modest 53-47 in a seat that had backed Trump by 50-43 two years earlier. Long joins a top-two primary that includes legal mediator Peter Khalil, a fellow Democrat.
