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, and David Beard.
Leading Off
● AZ-Sen: In between offering passionate defenses of Nazis, Donald Trump found some time to weigh in on another favorite topic: Jeff Flake. Trump has always hated Arizona's junior senator because Flake has had the temerity to occasionally criticize him, which to the permanently rageful Trump means Flake has to be destroyed. To that end, Trump inserted himself directly into Flake's re-election campaign on Thursday, tweeting, "Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!"
Campaign Action
"Flake Jeff Flake." *smacks forehead* Why didn't we think of that! The real flake, though, may be Trump himself. A report a day earlier in the Washington Times said that Trump was going to endorse state Treasurer Jeff DeWit at a rally next week in Phoenix. That could yet happen, but Politico reports that DeWit allies were "surprised" by Trump's tweet. (How are they not used to this kind of shit already, though?)
But while Trump's remarks fell somewhat short of an outright endorsement of Ward, whom most Republicans consider a very weak challenger, backing DeWit would be a bit awkward, too, because he hasn't actually announced a campaign yet. And maybe he never will: DeWit "laughed off" the Washington Times story, according to the Arizona Republic. And he certainly doesn't sound eager to serve in the Senate, saying, "What I like about being treasurer of Arizona is I see my family every night because it's a 30-minute drive to get home."
Anti-Flake Republicans are thus still searching for an alternative to Ward. One possibility remains former state GOP chairman Robert Graham, whose supporters, like DeWit's, were apparently waiting to see which way Trump would weigh in on the race and were reportedly caught off-guard by Trump's kind words for Ward. Graham doesn't seem to be much more interested than DeWit, though, potentially opening a door for former Rep. Matt Salmon, who retired from Congress last year for a second time following a term-limits pledge.
Salmon slammed that door shut before it could widen more than a crack, however. While Politico suggests that "[s]ome in the administration" are keen on Salmon, he shut those folks down on Thursday, saying, "I'm not interested in running against Flake. I love my job" at Arizona State University. That leaves Flake's enemies with just Ward for the time being. Hey, at least Trump seems happy.
Senate
● ND-Sen: Wealthy state Sen. Tom Campbell entered the GOP primary on Wednesday, and he wasted no time going up with his first TV spot. The narrator plays up Campbell's background in farming, noting that he drove an 18-wheeler to sell his potatoes personally to buyers. The commercial calls Campbell's potatoes farm "one of America's biggest potato farms," and it never mentions Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. There is no word on the size of the buy.
Gubernatorial
● AL-Gov: On Thursday, state Public Service Commission chair Twinkle Cavanaugh announced that she would seek the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor rather than run for the top job. Cavanaugh never officially announced she was running for governor, but she had self-funded $500,000 into her statewide account. Cavanaugh said on Thursday that she decided that she would rather work with Kay Ivey, who became governor earlier this year when her predecessor resigned in disgrace, than run against her.
Ivey herself hasn't announced her plans, but she's reportedly been telling business leaders and legislators that she'll seek a full term next year. A number of Republicans have already jumped in the race for governor rather than defer to Ivey, but we'll see if some of them follow Cavanaugh's lead and drop out if and when Ivey announces she's running.
● IL-Gov: Rep. Robin Kelly, who represents part of Chicago, endorsed state Sen. Daniel Biss on Thursday in the crowded Democratic primary to face GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner. Kelly didn't rule out a bid of her own back in November, but she never showed any more interest after that.
● OR-Gov: GOP state Rep. Knute Buehler recently kicked off his bid to face Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, and his nascent campaign got a $500,000 donation from Phil Knight, a co-founder of Nike. Knight may in part be trying to deter Secretary of State Dennis Richardson from running in the GOP primary. While Knight donated $400,000 to 2010 GOP nominee Chris Dudley, he switched sides and aided Democratic incumbent John Kitzhaber in 2014; Kitzhaber's GOP foe that year was none other than Dennis Richardson.
House
● CA-24: This week, businessman and 2016 GOP nominee Justin Fareed filed campaign paperwork with the FEC, though he has yet to announce that he's seeking a rematch with freshman Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal. Last year, Fareed lost the open seat race for this Santa Barbara-area seat 53-47, running well ahead of Trump's 57-36 deficit here. Both parties spent heavily, with Fareed and his allies trying to paint Carbajal as a corrupt political insider; Team Red also capitalized on an incident where Carbajal called the city of Lompoc the "armpit" of Santa Barbara County.
But we'll always remember Fareed for one truly strange TV spot. Fareed, who recently turned 29, smugly proclaimed that he was the candidate who "cares more about the next generation than winning my next election" because "I am the next generation." The very next shot then showed Fareed riding a horse that came out of nowhere. And yet, this guy still did relatively well in a brutal seat. However, Carbajal will have incumbency on his side this time, and Fareed's going to need a lot to go right if he wants to unseat him in 2018.
● CO-07: Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter reportedly has been reconsidering his plans to retire from the House, and we may not need to wait long for his decision. Sources close to Perlmutter tell Marshall Zelinger of the Denver NBC affiliate 9NEWS that Perlmutter will likely announce his plans by Monday. Four notable Democrats are already running to succeed Perlmutter in this 51-39 Clinton suburban Denver seat, but none of them sound committed to running against the incumbent if it comes down to it.
● ID-01: Armed with the power of the Star Forge, state Rep. Luke Malek announced this week that he was joining the Sith campaign to conquer the Republic… whoops, we were thinking of someone else. Armed with the power of the vice-chairmanship of the Idaho House Judiciary Committee, state Rep. Luke Malek announced this week that he was joining the GOP campaign to conquer the Republic to succeed tea partying Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Raul Labrador in this safely red western Idaho seat.
Malek is the third notable Republican to enter the race. Malek will face ex-state Sen. Russ Fulcher, who has Labrador's support, and attorney David Leroy, a former lieutenant governor who lost a very tight 1986 gubernatorial general election.
● IN-02: Earlier this month, Howey Politics reported that former Democratic state Sen. Jim Arnold was looking at bid against GOP Rep. Jackie Walorski in Indiana's 2nd Congressional District, but now the newsletter says that Arnold won't run (though they don't quote him directly). However, Howey says that a new potential Democrat is now "seriously considering": businessman Mel Hall, a healthcare executive who reportedly has "the capability and willingness" to significantly self-fund a campaign. Hall will reportedly decide in early September. Trump won the 2nd by a dominant 59-36 margin, but Democrats held this seat's predecessor for two terms in the previous decade, and Walorski only won her first term in 2012 by a 1-point margin.
● TX-30: On Wednesday, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson announced that she would seek another term in her safely Democratic Dallas seat. Johnson, who is 81, has been the subject of retirement rumors for years, bur she's never had trouble winning renomination.
Grab Bag
● Deaths: Ex-Rep. Vern Ehlers, a Michigan Republican who represented the Grand Rapids area in the House, died Tuesday at the age of 83. Ehlers was a nuclear physicist and physics professor at Grand Rapids' Calvin College before he entered politics. In 1993, after GOP Rep. Paul Henry died in office, then-state Sen. Ehlers ran in the special election to succeed him. Ehlers won the GOP primary 33-25, and he never faced a close primary or general afterwards. Ehlers, who was the first research physicist to ever serve in Congress, eventually became chair of the House Administration Committee, and he had a reputation as a moderate.
Ehlers decided to retire in 2010 and backed ex-Kent County Commissioner Steve Heacock in the primary. However, while this district had elected several moderate Republicans, including future President Gerald Ford, it broke with tradition that year. Heacock lost the primary 40-26 to Justin Amash, a libertarian who remains a thorn in the side for the GOP House leadership today.