Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Republican Rep. Mark Amodei announced late last week that he’s retiring at the end of this term. Amodei represents Nevada’s reddest district, so the GOP primary to replace him will likely be quite crowded.
* Democratic state lawmakers in Virginia late last week unveiled a newly proposed district map that Republicans aren’t going to like: Under the new plan, Democrats would be well positioned to control 10 of the commonwealth’s 11 congressional districts.
* Sen. Susan Collins is one of the top Republican targets in this year’s midterm elections, but the Maine senator is getting some notable financial help: The GOP-aligned One Nation, a nonprofit allied with the top super PAC for Senate Republicans, ran a Super Bowl ad in support of her.
* In Utah, Republican Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson serves as the state’s chief election officer, and she conducted a review of the state’s voter rolls, looking for ineligible voters. The grand total of noncitizens who were found to have cast ballots in Utah was zero.
* There’s a crowded field of GOP primary candidates in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, and Rep. Andy Barr is looking for ways to differentiate himself. With that in mind, the GOP congressman bought a bunch of tickets to the documentary about first lady Melania Trump and then gave them away as a promotional gimmick.
* With former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene having resigned last month, a crowded field of Republicans is vying to replace her in her far-right Georgia district. Last week, Donald Trump threw his support behind Clay Fuller, a local district attorney.
* And in Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was recently asked whether he would support Sen. John Fetterman’s re-election bid in 2028 if the Democratic incumbent seeks a second term. “John will decide if he’s going to run for re-election,” the governor replied, seeming to avoid the question. “I appreciate his service.”
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”