• GA-03: Former state Sen. Mike Crane announced over the weekend that he would run to replace retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson, a fellow Republican who defeated him in a nasty primary runoff in 2016.
Both Crane and Ferguson, a dentist who served as mayor of the small community of West Point, campaigned for the previous version of this seat eight years ago after incumbent Lynn Westmoreland decided to retire. Crane, a prominent social conservative in the legislature, narrowly led 26.9-26.7 in the first round, but powerful members of the GOP establishment consolidated behind Ferguson for the runoff.
Ferguson's side ran ads featuring a clip of Crane telling a crowd, "You come to my house, kick down my door—if I have an opportunity, I will shoot you dead. And every one of you should do the same." Crane responded to these negative spots, including one in which a county sheriff warned that comments like his would get his officers killed, with an ad denouncing Ferguson's commercial and telling viewers that both his father and uncle were police officers. But it wasn't enough: Ferguson prevailed 54-46, and he easily won the general election.
The GOP field for the seat Ferguson is now vacating may grow again before long: Chris West, who lost the 2022 general election to Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop in the neighboring 2nd District, tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he'll decide whether to run for the 3rd "pretty soon."
• IA-04: Army veteran Kevin Virgil announced in early January that he would challenge Rep. Randy Feenstra in the June 4 Republican primary and launched his campaign with an endorsement from former Rep. Steve King. But King, a white nationalist ally who lost renomination to Feenstra 46-36 in 2020, got another reminder about his declining relevance Monday after the Iowa caucus: King's endorsed candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, suspended his presidential campaign that evening after taking a distant fourth place.
Feenstra, for his part, revealed Friday that he's raised $601,000 for the final quarter of 2023 and went into the new year with $2 million in the bank. This western Iowa seat favored Donald Trump 62-36 in 2020.
• KY-05: Republican Rep. Hal Rogers' office disclosed Friday that he'd been in a car accident two days earlier but was "in good condition." Last year, the 86-year-old Rogers said he planned to run for reelection "[u]nless something happens," and he filed to run again before the Jan. 5 deadline.
• MO-03: Former state Sen. Bob Onder said Sunday he'd decide in a week or two whether he'll run to replace Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, who defeated him in the 2008 Republican primary for a previous version of this seat, or continue his campaign for lieutenant governor.