Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) died yesterday from COVID-19, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to succumb to the virus. The congressman, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, was 67. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will call a special election to fill Wright’s seat.
* As expected, the Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to formally censure Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Her transgression, of course, was voting to impeach Donald Trump last month.
* For her part, Cheney, who reportedly faced pressure from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to apologize for her vote, argued on Fox News yesterday that the Republicans need to move on from Trump. Taking stock of his failures, Cheney explained, “We should not be embracing the former president.”
* In the last uncalled congressional race of the 2020 election cycle, a state judge has cleared the way for former Rep. Claudia Tenney (R) to prevail over outgoing Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D) in New York’s 22nd congressional district.
* Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) formally launched a U.S. Senate campaign this morning, hoping to succeed incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey (R), who is retiring.
* A new Democratic super PAC, called the Sedition Caucus PAC, is launching a new ad campaign, tying congressional Republicans to elements of the GOP’s radicalized base.
* In a bit of a surprise, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (R), who launched his gubernatorial campaign last summer, has decided to quit the race, two weeks after Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) kicked off her candidacy. Griffin will instead run for state attorney general.
* And in Montana, state Republican lawmakers are reportedly moving forward with plans to end Election-Day voter registration. One GOP state representative said the change is intended to undermine Democratic election prospects in the state, which isn’t the sort to thing officials are supposed to admit.
