• MI-Sen: Former Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Libertarian, may have one more party switch in him: Amash unexpectedly announced Thursday that he was forming an exploratory committee as he considers entering the Aug. 6 GOP primary for Michigan's open Senate seat
Amash, who waged a brief 2020 bid for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, characteristically made it clear exactly what he thought of his would-be rivals. He argued that his supporters "see what I see: contenders for the seat who are uninspired, unserious, and unprepared to tackle the chief impediment to liberty and economic prosperity—an overgrown and abusive government that strives to centralize power and snuff out individualism."
The Democratic field, meanwhile, shrunk that same day when former state Rep. Leslie Love announced she was suspending her campaign because she "simply could no longer compete financially." A pair of recent polls showed Love with no more than 3% of the vote as Rep. Elissa Slotkin decisively led her main remaining rival, actor Hill Harper.
• NJ-Sen: Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has repeatedly made news for calling for the expulsion of indicted incumbent Robert Menendez, endorsed Rep. Andy Kim on Thursday. Fetterman is the first senator who has taken sides in the June 4 primary, a race that Menendez has not yet said if he'll compete in.
On the Republican side, Curtis Bashaw, who previously served as executive director of New Jersey's Casino Reinvestment Authority, has filed paperwork with the FEC. While Bashaw does not appear to have said anything publicly yet, the New Jersey Globe wrote Tuesday that he'd informed some GOP politicos that he plans to run.
• IN-Gov: Campaign finance reports are in for the second half of 2023, and the Indiana Capitol Chronicle has rounded up the totals for all the notable Republicans competing in the May 7 primary for the state's open governorship:
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Former state Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers: $3.3 million raised, additional $5 million self-funded, $2.9 million cash on hand
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Sen. Mike Braun: $2.1 million raised, $4 million cash on hand
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Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch: $1.3 million raised, $3.8 million cash on hand
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Businessman Eric Doden: $398,000 raised, $1 million cash on hand
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Former Attorney General Curtis Hill: $374,000 raised, $123,000 cash on hand
Former state education superintendent Jennifer McCormick, a former Republican who has no serious opposition for the Democratic nomination, took in $150,000 and ended 2023 with $201,000 available.
• NC-Gov: Wealthy businessman Bill Graham is airing his first negative TV ads targeting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson ahead of their March 5 Republican primary contest, with attacks on the frontrunner over his history of antisemitic social media posts.
One commercial begins with Graham pledging to stand with Israel before declaring, "Mark Robinson? He suggested the Holocaust wasn't real, downplayed the Nazis, and promoted Hitler propaganda." The other spot, which levels similar accusations, also features footage from last year when Robinson was asked if he'd apologize for his writings. "I apologize for the wording," said Robinson, "not necessarily for the content."
Robinson, as WFAE details, placed the words "six million Jews" in quotation marks when writing about the Holocaust in 2017. Jewish Insider also described another Robinson post from the years before his political career began in which he wrote, "It is EXTREMELY distressing that many well meaning and intelligent people are so focused on long dead Hitler while the living political descendants of Stalin are currently fighting to destroy our REPUBLIC."
Robinson's team responded to Graham's ads by saying he is "regurgitating the same dishonest lies the Democrats use because the Republican primary is over and he can’t handle it. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson stands with Israel and the Jewish people—and he’s never questioned the Holocaust."