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
● CA-Sen: Though Dianne Feinstein announced her plans to seek a fifth full term in the Senate earlier this week, a number of prominent California Democrats who are dissatisfied with her service are still weighing their responses—and perhaps considering challenges of their own. Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell, who came to Congress in 2012 by defeating another longtime incumbent, offered the standard dodge when a reporter asked him if he was thinking about seeking a promotion, saying he's focused on his current job. Interestingly, Swalwell is a member of Nancy Pelosi's leadership team, so to take on Feinstein would mean going after a fundament of the same Democratic establishment that Swalwell is now part of.
Meanwhile, wealthy tech entrepreneur Joseph Sanberg, who'd been mentioned before as a possible candidate, also made some revealing comments. Following Feinstein's announcement, Sanberg posted on Twitter, "Here at home, Californians are leading the resistance to bullies like Trump. But we need representatives willing to do the same in D.C." That's an unsubtle reference to some inexplicable remarks Feinstein made over the summer, in which she counseled "patience" with Trump because she somehow believes "he can be a good president." Needless to say, those statements fried a lot of hides and are probably a key reason Feinstein is facing such discontent.
Another rich guy who's a lot more famous in politics, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, is playing less coy. Steyer, who didn't rule out a Senate bid last month, acknowledged that he's still "looking at all options" and will make his plans public "very soon." Steyer had spent most of the year with his eye on 2018's open gubernatorial race, so it'll be interesting to see which route he thinks offers him the best chance at victory. Steyer also has left the door open to a 2020 presidential run, so it’s hard to know what he’s really focusing on.
Then there's also Rep. Ro Khanna, who came to Congress just last year by running as a centrist technocrat to beat Rep. Mike Honda, only to transform into an opportunist eager to portray himself as a leading voice of the #resistance. Khanna openly trashed Feinstein's record and even flashed some of the same ageism he deployed against Honda, saying Feinstein "was totally out of touch when the whole debate happened on encryption" and "didn't even understand some of those issues."
The one thing Khanna wouldn't say, though, is that he'd run against Feinstein himself, with him declaring that he wasn’t interested and hopes to be re-elected to his Silicon Valley seat. Instead, he wants someone else to do the hard work, and he volunteered Rep. Barbara Lee for the task. Lee quickly rebuffed Khanna, though, and said she would not run, but she didn't offer an endorsement to Feinstein. One big name who did jump in on Feinstein's behalf, however, was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who hasn't ruled out a run for governor himself. He joins other major figures who are sticking with Feinstein, including Sen. Kamala Harris and former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
3Q 2017 Fundraising
We're collecting the Senate reports in our quarterly fundraising roundup chart, which we'll update continuously. We'll have a House fundraising chart after the Oct. 15 reporting deadline.
● MT-Sen: Matt Rosendale (R): $410,000 raised (in two months)
● TX-Sen: Ted Cruz (R-inc): $2 million raised, $6.3 million cash-on-hand; Beto O'Rourke (D): $1.7 million raised, $2.8 million cash-on-hand
Gubernatorial
● AR-Gov: GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson looks like he has nothing to worry about at the ballot box next year, but gun range owner Jan Morgan has formed an exploratory committee ahead of a possible primary bid. Morgan argued that Hutchinson is a "big government, tax-and-spend, progressive Governor." Morgan made national news in 2015, when she banned Muslims from her gun range; unsurprisingly, she's now a Fox contributor. (Note: This item originally mis-identified Morgan as a state representative.)
● MD-Gov: The SEIU has waded into the crowded Democratic primary and thrown their support behind former NAACP head Ben Jealous.
● MN-Gov: GOP Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt has been dithering for months about when he'll decide whether to run for governor, but maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Daudt told a local radio host on Tuesday that he will decide in two weeks to a month. But in a separate interview that same day, Daudt said that, while he will hopefully decide "soon," he still thinks he has plenty of time and doesn't "know my own fate yet."
● SC-Gov: The money race between Gov. Henry McMaster and former state cabinet official Catherine Templeton in the GOP primary remains tight. Over the last three months, Templeton actually outraised the incumbent $600,000 to $568,000, and both candidates have about $1.9 million in the bank. McMaster was promoted from lieutenant governor to governor in January after Gov. Nikki Haley left for the Trump administration, and Templeton hopes that voters aren't very fond of their appointed incumbent or his connections to Richard Quinn, a powerful political consultant who is involved in a major corruption investigation.
By contrast, Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, who entered the primary at the end of July, raised just $125,000 and self-funded another $225,000, and has $290,000 in the bank. (Bryant was a state senator who was appointed lieutenant governor by his colleagues after McMaster was promoted.) Yancey McGill, a former Democratic state senator who served briefly as lieutenant governor in 2014 before joining the GOP, raised only $27,000 (and The Post and Courier writes that about 20 percent of that was "from a reimbursement on an auto lease") and has just $2,400 to spend. Democratic state Rep. James Smith only entered the race in October, so we'll need to wait a few months to get a sense for his fundraising abilities.
● VA-Gov: Obama alert!!! Former President Barack Obama will campaign with Democrat Ralph Northam on Oct. 19. Meanwhile, we have a late September poll from the Democratic firm Victoria Research, which they tell us was not done on behalf of a client, that gives Northam a 46-44 lead over Republican Ed Gillespie.
House
● IN-02: Former healthcare executive Mel Hall, who had been considering a bid against GOP Rep. Jackie Walorski, made his campaign official on Tuesday. Indiana's 2nd District went for Donald Trump by a 59-36 margin, and Hall predictably is portraying himself as a problem-solving job creator. (He also said that "the jury is still out" as to whether Trump has been a good president.) This is an extremely tough race, but Democrats take some hope in the fact that Walorski only won her first term by a 1-point margin in 2012. Hall may also be able to self-fund.
● MI-11: Republican Kurt Heise, the supervisor of Plymouth Township (population: 28,000) and a former state representative, has joined the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Dave Trott. Heise, who won his current post last year in a write-in campaign, joins businesswoman Lena Epstein, ex-state Rep. Rocky Raczkowski, and state Rep. Klint Kesto in the primary for this 50-45 Trump seat in suburban Detroit.
● NH-01: The Democratic field to replace retiring Rep. Carol Shea-Porter continues to unfold following her recent surprise decision not to seek another term. Former AFL-CIO state leader Mark MacKenzie announced that he will form an exploratory committee by the end of the week, although he conveyed that his decision on whether to ultimately run or not would likely be contingent on fundraising and polling. Additionally, Somersworth Mayor Dana Hilliard said he's giving it "serious thought" and would run a "grassroots, small donations" campaign if he does jump in. Meanwhile, former state Rep. Tom Sherman refused to rule out running, but said he was waiting to see who else launches a campaign.
WMUR contacted several other Democrats who have ultimately ruled out running, such as former state House Speaker Terie Norelli, whose name had surfaced shortly after Shea-Porter announced her retirement. State Rep. Jackie Cilley, who was the runner-up in the 2012 primary for governor, also relayed that she was not interested in running. Meanwhile on the Republican side, WMUR also reports that state Sen. Dan Innis indicated he won't run for the 1st District again after he narrowly lost the GOP primary in 2014.
This seat, which includes Manchester and much of eastern New Hampshire, will likely be one of the most competitive Democratic-held districts next year after it flipped from 50-49 Obama to 48-47 Trump.
Mayoral
● Atlanta, GA Mayor: Termed-out Mayor Kasim Reed has endorsed City Councilor Keisha Lance Bottoms ahead of the crowded Nov. 7 nonpartisan primary. Reed had sent out an invitation to a Bottoms fundraiser back in January, so his move was not a surprise. What little polling there is shows City Councilor Mary Norwood, an independent whom Reed narrowly beat in 2009, far in front, while Bottoms is one of a few Democrats in a close fight for the second spot in the December general election.
● New Orleans, LA Mayor: The jungle primary to succeed termed-out New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is on Saturday. The city was distracted over the weekend by Hurricane Nate, which ended up missing the area; media coverage of the final week of the race has otherwise largely being dominated by a public fight between ex-Judge Desiree Charbonnet, one of the three main candidates competing for a spot in the likely November runoff, and bombastic reality TV host Sidney Torres IV, who stars in a reality TV show that features him as a real estate investor/guru and mulled running himself.
Torres' Voice PAC is out with a survey from the firm Multi-Quest that shows City Councilor LaToya Cantrell taking first place with 22 percent, while Charbonnet edges ex-Judge Michael Bagneris, who lost to Landrieu in the last mayoral campaign, 20-15 for the second November runoff spot. (A candidate would need to win a majority to win Saturday outright.) Businessman Troy Henry, who lost to Landrieu in 2010, takes fourth with 9 percent. However, Torres is arguing that Charbonnet's decision to skip his debate at the last minute is costing her at the polls. On Sept. 19, Voice PAC released a poll showing Charbonnet in first with 27, while Cantrell was ahead of Bagneris 17-11, and Henry was at 5. All four candidates, like Landrieu, are Democrats.
Torres and Charbonnet have been trading insults, with Charbonnet's team saying she dropped her plans to appear because of "ethical concerns, and Torres using the debate to push the attending candidates to criticize her. Voice PAC has also run TV spots against Charbonnet calling her absence "a disturbing warning sign." This week, Charbonnet called for CNBC to cancel Torres' show, arguing he violated both FCC rules and his contract with them.
But perhaps more seriously, Charbonnet has been attacked by a different super PAC called Not For Sale NOLA, which raised $190,000 largely from some prominent local business people. The group is not publicly supporting anyone, only going after Charbonnet. Charbonnet has raised and spent much more than her rivals, but they at least haven't had many negative ads aimed at them.
● Raleigh, NC Mayor: Mayor Nancy McFarlane, a left-leaning independent in this predominantly Democratic city, has never had trouble winning here, and she took 75 percent of the vote in 2015. However, things went a bit differently in Tuesday's nonpartisan primary. McFarlane led Democratic attorney Charles Francis 48.5-36.7, just shy of the majority McFarlane needed to win outright. Paul Fitts, an underfunded candidate who was backed by the county GOP, took the remaining 15 percent. McFarlane and Francis will face off again on Nov. 7.
In past races, the Wake County Democratic Party backed McFarlane, but this time they supported Francis. Francis also managed to narrowly outraise McFarlane. The mayor has argued that over her past three two-year terms, she's done a good job revitalizing the local downtown, and she's taken credit for negotiating a deal with the state to buy Dix Park, a large green space area. McFarlane also has the support of ex-Gov. Jim Hunt, a longtime Democratic leader.
Francis has faulted McFarlane's administration for a lack of transparency, and argued that the city isn't doing enough to help poorer residents. Francis has also called for the city to reject an expensive government complex. If Francis wins, he would be Raleigh's second-ever black mayor.
Due to a typo in yesterday’s Digest, we wrote that Missouri Republican Josh Hawley had run ads in a previous campaign decrying “politicians climbing latters.” We of course meant “ladders.” We apologize to Lord Petyr Baelish.