• ND-Gov: Rep. Kelly Armstrong has publicized the first poll we've seen of North Dakota's June 11 Republican primary, a survey from Guidant Polling and Strategy that finds him crushing Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller 60-19. Miller's team responded by criticizing Armstrong for sharing his data.
"Confident campaigns don’t release internal polls and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars falsely attacking their opponents," a spokesperson told InForum's Rob Port. Miller did not, however, provide any contrary polling.
Armstrong won the state GOP's endorsement last month after Miller skipped the convention, and Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer also backed Armstrong shortly before party delegates convened. Miller has the support of retiring Gov. Doug Burgum, who appointed her to her current position early last year.
• VT-Gov: Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced he would seek reelection this fall for a fifth two-year term, putting to rest any slim hopes that the popular incumbent might retire.
While Vermont has become one of the bluest states in the country in federal elections, voters have been much more open to splitting their tickets at the state level. Thanks to this habit, Scott won reelection in a landslide in both 2022 and 2020 despite Democrats winning by blowout margins at the federal level both years.
Scott still lacks a prominent Democratic challenger ahead of the May 30 filing deadline. Some notable figures such as former Gov. Howard Dean and former Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger previously expressed interest in running, but Scott's decision to run again could deter big-name Democrats from jumping in.
However, Democrats and their progressive allies in the legislature hold supermajorities that allow them to override vetoes, and there's a good chance they'll maintain that advantage after November.
