Morning Digest: Doug Jones, famous for his historic upset, teases a comeback

But Alabama's deep red hue has lots of Republicans interested in an open Senate seat

Doug Jones, Alabama’s former Democratic senator (credit: Doug Jones campaign Facebook)

Leading Off

AL-Sen, AL-Gov

Alabama Democrat Doug Jones says he hasn't ruled out running to reclaim his old Senate seat next year, though he indicated that he might be eyeing other options as well.

"One way or another, I'm gonna stay in the fight," Jones told Ryan Hall of CBS 42. "And, where that will take me right now, I'm just not sure. We're gonna be looking at a lot of different things."

The former senator's comments come almost four months after the chair of the Jefferson County Democratic Party told Hall that Jones hadn't closed the door on running for governor. Jones still does not appear to have publicly discussed running to replace Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who cannot run again in this dark red state.

Jones, who served as Alabama's U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration, became a national sensation in 2017 when he scored a miraculous 50-48 victory over Republican Roy Moore, whom multiple women accused of preying on them when they were teenagers.

Jones' victory in that special election for the Senate made him the first Democrat to win statewide in almost a decade, but he faced a much stronger opponent in his 2020 race for a full term. Republican Tommy Tuberville, whose victories as Auburn University's football coach made him both a beloved and reviled figure in Alabama, unseated Jones 60-40 as Donald Trump was carrying Alabama 62-37.

Tuberville, though, is keeping everyone guessing about whether he'll try another career switch soon. While the conservative Yellowhammer News reported last week that Tuberville has been informing donors he plans to run to succeed Ivey, the senator told CNN's Manu Raju on Monday that he hasn't made a final decision. He did, however, say that he was leaning toward campaigning for the governorship and would make up his mind before Memorial Day.

If Tuberville does run for the state's top job, he may be able to scare off serious intraparty opposition. While Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth told AL.com's Heather Gann in March that he wouldn't let Tuberville deter him from the governor's race or divert him to what would be an open-seat contest for the Senate, he was much more indecisive in a social media post on Monday.

"Some Alabamians have suggested that I run for governor, others have suggested that I run for U.S. Senate if the seat is open," he wrote on Facebook, "and a few liberal Democrats who dislike conservatives like me have suggested that I return home to Guntersville and leave public service altogether." Ainsworth encouraged the public to weigh in, asking, "Facebook seems like a good forum to ask my followers a simple question - what do you think I should do next year and why?"

Another prominent Alabama Republican who's coveted the governor's mansion didn't bother to ask the internet's opinion before deciding to just get out of Tuberville's way.

Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate told Gann last month, "The only person that could beat him I think would be Nick Saban," referring to Tuberville's one-time rival coach at the University of Alabama. But Pate quickly added that he doubted that Saban would want to challenge his old gridiron foe at the ballot box.

Pate, for his part, said last week he was no longer thinking of campaigning for governor and was instead considering running to replace the termed-out Ainsworth for the No. 2 spot. No other major Republicans have expressed interest in opposing Tuberville.

If Tuberville does seek the governorship, though, a horde of Alabama pols would likely contemplate a campaign to replace him in the Senate. It may be their last chance to get to the upper chamber for some time: Republican Katie Britt, who won an open-seat race for the state's other Senate seat in 2022, is just 43 and appears set for a long career in office.

There's already a lengthy list of potential GOP Senate hopefuls, but we won't keep you in suspense: Saban is not on it. Attorney General Steve Marshall, however, informed Alabama Public Television in March he'd be interested in running for an open seat.

Likewise, former Secretary of State John Merrill and former state Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis, who each talked about campaigning for governor before Tuberville let the world know he was serious about that post, both said last week they're now eyeing his seat. Both men, though, also told reporter Mike Cason, who is Gann's colleague at AL.com, they're interested in lower offices as well.

Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh and attorney Caroleene Dobson, who lost last year's general election for the redrawn 2nd Congressional District, similarly didn't rule anything out to Cason.

Former Rep. Mo Brooks, finally, told 1819 News, a conservative site, "It is possible I will run for the Senate, but unlikely." Brooks campaigned for the state's other Senate seat in 2022 with Trump's initial support, but the GOP's supreme master was so unhappy with his campaign that he unceremoniously dumped him well before the primary. Brooks still managed to advance to the runoff, only to be rewarded with an ugly loss to Britt.

More Republicans could surface if and when Tuberville decides he's had enough of the Senate. The state requires candidates to win a majority of the vote in the primary to avoid a runoff, so a busy contest would likely go into overtime.

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Senate

NM-Sen

A spokesperson for Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan tells reporter Joe Monahan that Lujan will seek a second term representing New Mexico next year. No prominent figures from either party have expressed interest in challenging the incumbent in this Democratic-leaning state.

OH-Sen, OH-Gov

Former Rep. Tim Ryan has informed NOTUS' Alex Roarty that he will not seek the Democratic nomination to challenge appointed Sen. Jon Husted in next year's special election for the remaining two years of JD Vance's term.

Democrats are still eagerly waiting to see whether former Sen. Sherrod Brown will take on Husted, run for governor, or not seek office again following his loss to Republican Bernie Moreno last year. Roarty writes that one state party official views Brown's deliberations like "flipping a three-sided coin," though no one seems sure what probability to assign for any outcome.

Ryan, for his part, has yet to rule out waging his own campaign to succeed Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who is termed out. Ryan did inform Signal Cleveland last month, though, that he wouldn't run if Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a Republican who was his football coach at Youngstown State University, seeks the state's top job. Tressel has yet to say if he'll enter a GOP primary where businessman Vivek Ramaswamy enjoys a massive lead in the polls.

Former state health director Amy Acton is the only prominent Democrat running for governor, while no other notable Democrats have so much as expressed interest in opposing Husted. Observers, however, have speculated that Rep. Emilia Sykes could run for Senate if Republicans use the upcoming round of mid-decade redistricting to further gerrymander her swingy 13th Congressional District.

Governors

AZ-Gov

Businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson is already up with her first TV ad buy far in advance of next year's GOP primary, running a spot that naturally touts Donald Trump's "complete and total endorsement" of her campaign to become Arizona's next governor.

But while Trump's support may be complete, it's anything but total: Just a week ago, Trump upended the race when he converted what had been a standard, individual endorsement of Robson into a dual endorsement of both Robson and her much more MAGAfied rival for the Republican nomination, Rep. Andy Biggs.

Robson, of course, has acted as though nothing has changed, which is why her ad is suffused with clips and mentions of Trump. And by going on TV 462 days before the primary, she's likely hoping to use her personal wealth to drown out any similar messaging by Biggs. According to Robson's campaign, she's running a "multi-million dollar" buy, though AdImpact says total reservations so far are about $430,000.

Morning Digest: Trump's choice joins Arizona governor's race, but GOP voters may prefer a purer strain of MAGA

GA-Gov

Democratic state Rep. Derrick Jackson tells 11Alive's Akilah Winters he's considering running for governor and will decide in the summer. State Sen. Jason Esteves currently has the primary to himself, though former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is raising money ahead of a planned announcement.

Jackson, who was first elected to the state House in 2016, ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 but took sixth place in the primary. He reclaimed his old seat the next year after narrowly beating a fellow Democrat in the special election to replace Tish Naghise, who died just a few months after she was sworn in to succeed Jackson.

IA-Gov

Two notable Iowa Republicans are passing on the race to replace retiring Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Rep. Ashley Hinson issued a statement Tuesday announcing that she would not run to succeed Reynolds, saying instead that she wants "to stay focused on my mission in Washington." Hinson did not say whether she would seek reelection in the 2nd Congressional District.

Meanwhile, Iowa's new lieutenant governor, Chris Cournoyer, has filed paperwork to run for state auditor next year, reports Gray TV's Dave Price. The role of auditor also looks like it will come open because the post's current occupant, Democrat Rob Sand, appears likely to run for governor. Cournoyer hasn't publicly addressed her plans, but she told Local 5 that, in reporter Emma Brustkern's words, "there will be more to come next week."

Reynolds tapped Cournoyer as her No. 2 in December after the previous lieutenant governor, Adam Gregg, stepped down to lead the Iowa Bankers Association. The move boomeranged, though, when Democrats flipped Cournoyer's deep-red seat in the state Senate the following month.

Morning Digest: In a surprise, Iowa Republican Kim Reynolds is first governor to retire this cycle

MI-Gov

The Republican firm National Research finds Rep. John James leading conservative commentator Tudor Dixon 35-29 in a hypothetical GOP primary for governor of Michigan.

State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt is in third with 11%, while no one else exceeds 4%. Dixon, who badly lost to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022, has not yet announced if she'll run to succeed the termed-out Democrat.

This poll was conducted for the Michigan Conservative Coalition, which informed The Downballot that it is "not supporting any candidate at this time."

TN-Gov

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett told The Tennessee Journal this week he was open to seeking the Republican nomination for governor, saying, "I don't see a reason to rule it out at this time." Hargett has served as the state's top elections official, who is chosen by the legislature rather than by voters, since 2009.

House

KY-06

Democrat David Kloiber, a former member of Lexington's governing body, tells the Lexington Herald-Leader's Austin Horn that he's interested in running for Kentucky's 6th District, which GOP Rep. Andy Barr is leaving behind to run for the Senate.

Kloiber gave up his seat in 2022 to challenge Mayor Linda Gorton, a Republican who has played down her party affiliation in this Democratic-leaning community. But even though Kloiber, who hails from a wealthy family, self-funded more than $600,000, Gorton won their officially nonpartisan bout in a 71-29 landslide.

Horn writes that Democrats have also speculated that former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo and former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes could run for the 6th, though neither provided a comment when asked.

Grimes rose to national prominence in 2014 when she challenged Sen. Mitch McConnell, but the GOP leader ended up convincingly winning after an expensive battle.

Horn's story ran shortly after news broke that the state's ethics watchdog would not appeal a court order to drop charges against Grimes for allegedly mishandling voter registration data. A Grimes attorney said Monday night, "There are no legal charges anymore against her, and there never should have been any."

Calculations by The Downballot show that the 6th District backed Donald Trump 57-42 last year, though Gov. Andy Beshear carried it by double digits in both 2019 and 2023.

MN-02

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig's decision to run for the Senate means there will be an open-seat race to replace her in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, which Kamala Harris carried 52-46 last year, according to calculations by The Downballot.

Both Democrats and Republicans began talking about running for this constituency, which is based in the Twin Cities' southern suburbs, in the weeks before Craig launched her campaign for higher office.

Businessman Mike Norton, a Democrat who badly lost a 2021 bid for the Minneapolis City Council, said last week he was forming an exploratory committee. Norton, who has attracted attention on social media for promoting Minneapolis, says he'd relocate to the 2nd District.

State Sen. Matt Klein's team, meanwhile, told the Minnesota Star Tribune's Sydney Kashiwagi on Tuesday that he'd join the Democratic contest "in the coming weeks." Former state Sen. Matt Little also informed Kashiwagi earlier this month that he was "ready to go" if Craig were to seek a promotion.

State Sen. Erin Maye Quade, meanwhile, didn't dismiss talk she could run earlier in April, while state Rep. Kaela Berg provided a "no comment" when Kashiwagi asked.

On the GOP side, an adviser for Marine veteran Tyler Kistner says he'll launch a third campaign "soon." Kistner held Craig to a tight 48-46 victory in 2020, but she fended him off by a larger 51-46 spread in their rematch two years later.

Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab and attorney Tayler Rahm, meanwhile, also haven't ruled out another try after falling well short last year. Teirab defeated Rahm for the GOP nod only to lose to Craig 56-42.

State Sen. Eric Pratt similarly told Kashiwagi, "I haven't made a decision." Democratic consultant and political commentator Todd Rapp also suggests that state Sen. Zach Duckworth could seek the GOP nod. Duckworth, who hinted in February he was considering a bid for governor, fired off a tweet Tuesday asking, "Did something happen regarding Minnesota CD2 today?" The question was followed by a winking emoji.

NJ-07

Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett received an endorsement Tuesday from VoteVets, an influential group that backs Democrats with backgrounds in national security, in next year's primary to face Republican Rep. Tom Kean. Bennett is one of several Democrats campaigning to flip New Jersey's 7th District, which favored Donald Trump by a slender 50-48 margin last year.

VA-11

Virginia Del. Dan Helmer is the first notable Democrat to publicly express interest in running to succeed Rep. Gerry Connolly in the reliably blue 11th District after the incumbent announced he wouldn't run again as he battles esophageal cancer. Helmer said Monday he would use "the days ahead" to consider "how to continue to serve Northern Virginia."

Helmer campaigned last year for the neighboring 10th District after Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced she would retire due to the worsening symptoms of a neurodegenerative disease. However, he drew unwelcome headlines during the final week of the primary after four current and former officials in the Loudoun County Democratic Committee put out a statement saying he'd engaged in "inappropriate behavior" with a committee member in 2018. The woman in question soon accused him of groping her.

Helmer denied the allegations but lost the crowded race 30-27 to state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, who went on to win the general election. In January, Helmer filed a defamation suit alleging he was the victim of a conspiracy to cost him the Democratic nomination. He's unopposed in the June primary for his safely blue seat in the state House.

Several other Northern Virginia Democrats could also compete to replace Connolly. The Virginia Scope's Brandon Jarvis reported Monday that state Sen. Stella Pekarsky was interested, though she has yet to say anything publicly.

The Washington Post's Teo Armus also mentions Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw, state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, and former state House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn as possible contenders. Walkinshaw is Connolly's former chief of staff, while Boysko and Filler-Corn each took 9% in last year's primary for the 10th District.

Attorneys General

MI-AG

Attorney Kevin Kijewski, who has represented one of Michigan's phony electors in an ongoing criminal prosecution, became the first Republican to enter next year's race for attorney general this week.

Kijewski is hoping to succeed term-limited Democrat Dana Nessel, whose office has brought charges against 16 Republicans who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election by posing as members of the Electoral College and falsely claiming that Donald Trump had won Michigan's electoral votes.

The Detroit News' Craig Mauger adds that Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido is also a potential candidate for the GOP. On the Democratic side, former U.S. Attorney Mark Totten is the lone entrant so far, though other names are circulating. Both parties will choose nominees at conventions next year rather than through traditional primaries.

Mayors & County Leaders

Boston, MA Mayor

Saint Anselm College finds Boston Mayor Michelle Wu with a wide 53-21 advantage over nonprofit head Josh Kraft, a fellow Democrat, in this year's officially nonpartisan contest. This is the first poll we've seen since February, when Emerson College showed Wu with a smaller 43-29 edge.

Wu also received an endorsement Monday from Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, a Democrat she's clashed with in the past. Hayden, though, praised the mayor for working with him to make "Boston the safest major city in America."

Kraft, who is arguing that the city is anything but safe under Wu, also has a notable ally in his corner. Jim Davis, the chairman of the Boston-based footwear giant New Balance, contributed $1 million this month to a pro-Kraft super PAC.

Davis—not to be confused with the Garfield creator (or the former Democratic congressman from Florida)—is a prominent Republican donor who has often backed moderate candidates in local elections.

New York, NY Mayor

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie just became the second candidate in New York City's June 24 Democratic primary for mayor to head on the airwaves, featuring a 30-second spot narrated by one of his former schoolteachers.

Mrs. Randolph (as she's identified in the ad) touts Myrie's background as a public school pupil before praising his work on gun safety and his plans to create affordable housing. Politico says that Myrie, who's generally found himself in the low single digits in the polls, is spending $500,000 to air his ad.

One of Myrie's rivals, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, recently became the first hopeful to go up on TV, though super PAC allies of the frontrunner, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have been advertising heavily on his behalf.

Pittsburgh, PA Mayor

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey released an internal poll from Upswing on Monday that shows him fending off Allegheny County Controller Corey O'Connor 49-42 in the May 20 Democratic primary. This survey, which was first shared by WESA's Chris Potter, is the first we've seen showing Gainey with the lead in a race where he's been decisively outspent.

O'Connor's team responded by telling Potter that a poll they conducted last week "had Corey up by 4," though they did not release it. A late March poll that O'Connor did share, though, showed him crushing Gainey 50-32, so his side is admitting that the challenger doesn't enjoy quite so dominant a lead right now.

"It was always going to tighten," O'Connor's campaign manager said even as he expressed confidence that the comptroller remains ahead.