“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) secretly helped a Republican state treasurer’s 2024 reelection bid after the official’s Democratic opponent had criticized Shapiro as a potential VP pick, a close Shapiro ally said last week,” Axios reports.

“Kamala Harris’ new $8.15 million Malibu home sits on a hill overlooking bougainvillea-dusted streets that sweep down toward the surf — a secluded idyll in a neighborhood of defensive shrubbery and eccentric statuary, where surveillance cameras swivel and the quiet feels carefully curated,” Politico reports.

“It is, in other words, the perfect place to get away for a while. Which is exactly how many of her new neighbors see it, too.”

“Amid all the speculation about whether Harris will again run for president, her move is regarded here — in her new celebrity-laden enclave — not as a launching pad, but as a sign of retreat.”

New York Times: “On the first day of early voting, some glimpses of voter bewilderment came into focus, part of a dizzying scramble playing out days after a major Supreme Court ruling.”

Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) made the case for her “authenticity” while responding to criticism she’s facing after reports revealed she deleted old social media posts criticizing the rural Midwest and praising California, CNN reports.

Said McMorrow: “I started my career as a car designer, and then I worked in a very different career and wasn’t thinking about it. I tweeted normal things like a normal person, and people are desperate for authenticity, so that is what we need in November.”

“A shrinking number of seats will determine control of the US House after both Republicans and Democrats spent much of the past year redrawing congressional maps to erase swing districts,” Bloomberg reports.

“Even before Florida’s legislature approved a new Republican-leaning map last week, just 16 seats were listed as ‘tossups’ by the Cook Political Report, the nonpartisan newsletter that serves as an unofficial electoral scorekeeper. Another 16 districts are listed as leaning toward Democrats or Republicans, with the outcome all but predetermined for more than 400 seats.”

“This could make for the fewest competitive seats since political analyst Charlie Cook first published his race ratings in 1984.”

“More than a dozen states are set to hold US House primaries in the next five weeks,” CNN reports.

“Some will set up key general election matchups that could determine control of the US House in November. Others will reveal something about the dynamics that are shaping the two parties and what it means to be electable.”

“President Donald Trump’s political power will be put to a high-profile test in Kentucky, where he’s targeted Rep. Thomas Massie, and a crowded primary in Montana. And Democrats are facing off in crowded primaries in Pennsylvania, Nebraska and California, with opposing visions of the party’s future and who is most likely to flip Republican-held districts.”