Also in today's newsletter:
• What will happen to Markwayne Mullin's Senate seat in Oklahoma now that he's been tapped to replace Noem
• Looking back at Tony Gonzales career following his decision late last night to quit his reelection campaign
• The already-crazy ad spending in #GAGov
And more!
Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy has never had an easy primary during her short career, but she finally got some good news on Wednesday.
Any celebrations were very brief, though. We explain the tumultuous few days the Utah congresswoman just experienced.
Our Founder @markpoloncarz.bsky.social joined @the-downballot.com podcast to discuss our effort to elect democrats at the county level, including winning key races like county executive or election officials. Listen in to find out what we are doing and the impact it will have.
Rep. Tony Gonzales R-TX will not seek reelection
Wrote about the past few times US Senators were pulled into party primary runoff elections: news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...
We really appreciate the mention, but Seth Abramson is a conspiracy theorist and should be disregarded
Oh wow. North Carolina Republican Bob Rucho—whose name is on the caption of the infamous 2019 SCOTUS case that greenlighted partisan gerrymandering, Rucho v. Common Cause—has resigned from the state Board of Elections after violating a ban on board members donating to political candidates.
"yeah I rigged my race, fuck you" is a fascinating message to go with
The effectively treats public office as a property to be inherited or transferred. Hope it becomes enough of an issue to make the race competitive.
Yesterday, I joined David Nir and David Beard of @the-downballot.com podcast to discuss the important of county races and how @boostingleaders.bsky.social will help elect great new leaders nationwide. Listen to the podcast here:
Just last fall, when Dem Rep. Chuy Garcia engineered something similar in Illinois, the House formally voted to rebuke him.
So, will the Senate do the same to Daines? If anything, his offense is worse. Garcia schemed over one of 435 House seats. Daines did this for one of just 100 Senate seats.
*County* offices are very powerful but get almost no attention. On The Downballot podcast this week, we aim to remedy that by talking to Erie County Executive @markpoloncarz.bsky.social, whose new group, @boostingleaders.bsky.social, is helping elect Dems to these posts nationwide. Listen here! →
Several Democratic states are moving to bar federal immigration agents from being near polling places and other election sites, Jonathan Shorman reports.
https://stateline.org/2026/03/05/blue-states-push-to-ban-ice-at-the-polls-amid-federal-voter-intimidation-fears/
Former Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman, a far-right Republican who took 14% of the vote as a write-in candidate for governor after losing the primary, is challenging Rep. Celeste Maloy for renomination.
Maloy, who barely won her last primary before redistricting, is running for the new 3rd District.
Former Sen. Jon Tester argued in January that Montana Democrats need to consolidate behind Bodnar's independent candidacy rather than field their own Senate nominee in this red state. But five candidates are running to seek the Democratic nod.
A truly crazy day in Montana politics began with former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar announcing he'll run as an independent and ended with Republican Sen. Steve Daines suddenly taking his name off the ballot so his chosen replacement could run with minimal primary opposition.
*Quite* the piece from NOTUS about GOP angst with NRSC chair Tim Scott and his top aide! www.notus.org/2026-electio...
I don't have a problem with Tim. But I do think it is deleterious that so many smart people spend so much time on X, which has essentially become an algorithmically and AI-optimized far-right MAGA message testing and propaganda machine. People assume X posts represent the masses, but they don't!
NEW: Clemency for Tina Peters would be unprecedented, based on my analysis of Gov Polis' 25 commutations. Peters hasn't shown remorse, taken accountability, or sought to restore harm. No Polis commutation was for a harsh sentence alone and Peters' would be the shortest by 30+ yrs
Most states, though, lack any sort of way to prevent the sort of handoff like Daines is now attempting.
California, meanwhile, automatically extends the candidate filing deadline by five days in races where an incumbent chooses not to run for reelection.
Some states have safeguards in place to prevent this sort of collusion. In Nebraska, for instance, all incumbents are required to file two weeks before everyone else, even if they’re running for a different office than the one they currently hold.
We've seen House members end their reelection campaigns at just the right moment to ensure their preferred successor faces no serious opposition. Florida R Bill Posey did it in 2024, while Illinois D Chuy Garcia did it in November.
But it's something else to see it at the Senate level.
As the tweet above from Jonathon Ambarian notes, it appears that U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme unexpectedly filed just before Daines dropped out. Alme was nominated with Daines' support and was confirmed in October.
Multiple reporters are saying that Montana Sen. Steve Daines will NOT seek reelection.
The state's candidate filing deadline was *tonight*, and it's already passed. Not clear whether the GOP has a serious alternative in the race. x.com/JSAmbarian/s...
"I made a mistake. I had a lapse in judgment." Rep. Tony Gonzales R-TX admits he had an affair with a female staffer who died after lighting herself on fire. Full interview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9n...
GOP Rep. Burgess Owens has confirmed he's retiring.
"The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect down-ballot Republicans, did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
