Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) “pledged he will soon file his paperwork to run for re-election. Bevin made the pledge to a group of reporters in Frankfort as rumors swirled he may not run,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Said Bevin: “It is still absolutely my intention, I’ll run again… I’m the governor of Kentucky, that’s my focus, not paperwork. I will do it.”
Amy McGrath (D), who ran a nationally watched campaign for Congress, said she will not seek her party’s nomination for Kentucky governor in 2019, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
The former Marine fighter pilot’s decision comes two weeks after the Courier Journal reported that some Democrats had concerns about whether she fulfilled the residency requirement to run.
Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, told CNN that he supports a new election if allegations of fraud in the 9th congressional district race are proven true and it impacted the outcome of the race.
Said Woodhouse: “This has shaken us to the core. We are not ready to call for a new election yet. I think we have to let the board of elections come show their hand if they can show that this conceivably could have flipped the race in that neighborhood, we will absolutely support a new election.”
Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA) announced he will run for Louisiana governor in 2019, Roll Call reports.
Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) fired back that the congressman is “abandoning his responsibilities” just a month after he was re-elected.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) announced Monday that he has decided against a run for governor next year, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
The announcement “came as shock to Republican insiders and some who are close to him, who had said they expected him to enter the race.”
“If he had entered the race, Kennedy would have joined the field as the Republican candidate with the strongest name recognition among voters, most potential for raising campaign money and longest history in state government.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) won’t say if he is running for Louisiana governor “for a few more days, but he’s already being hit with negative campaign ads,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“American Bridge, a Democrat-backing political action committee that has been tracking Kennedy for opposition research for several months, has launched digital ads in Louisiana attacking Kennedy’s political ambitions and linking him to former Gov. Bobby Jindal (R).”
Kennedy says he will make an announcement “by Monday.”
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (D) will announce plans to run for governor in 2019, Mississippi Today reports.
“The four-term attorney general – the state’s lone statewide Democratic elected official – has for months publicly flirted with a gubernatorial bid, telling reporters on numerous occasions that he is considering a bid and had been encouraged to run by both Democrats and Republicans.”
Bill Daley — the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama and the brother and son of previous mayors — will run for Chicago mayor in 2019, WLS-TV reports.
Daley is expected to announce his candidacy Monday.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) told the Chicago Sun Times that he is considering a run for mayor of Chicago after Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he would not run for re-election.
Said Quigley: “Who wouldn’t be interested in being mayor of Chicago?”
Politico: “His polling numbers were sliding, and had even bottomed out in some city wards. With Chicagoans weary of the violence playing out in their neighborhoods, frustrated with a struggling school system and blaming him for a series of tax and fee hikes, Rahm Emanuel faced a long, painful reelection slog with an uncertain payoff.”
“Still, the city was stunned when the brash Chicago mayor, who has never lost an election, announced Tuesday that he was throwing in the towel… In the end, Emanuel concluded the daily battle would be too punishing, said one top Illinois Democrat with knowledge of the decision. There were too many political variables outside of his control. Even if he were victorious next spring, he’d emerge bloodied and politically weakened, only to stare down the barrel of four years of financial instability.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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