​With speculation running high that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) would enter the US Senate race to succeed retiring incumbent Rob Portman (R), the Congressman made his intentions clear yesterday.  Mr. Jordan stated that he is not going to run for the Senate or challenge Gov. Mike DeWine in the GOP primary.  Rather, he plans to seek re-election and pursue his quest to enter the House leadership.

Yesterday, presiding Judge Scott DelConte issued a memorandum informing the plaintiffs and public that he will issue a ruling today concerning more than 2,000 contested ballots in the NY-22 campaign that still has not been decided.  Sans the contested ballots former Rep. Claudia Tenney (R) leads 116th Congress incumbent Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica) by just 29 votes. 
 
Judge DelConte also ordered the counties to be prepared to canvass their votes on Monday.  Regardless of today’s ruling, we are likely to see further legal challenges from whichever candidate is declared the loser.

​As with several of his Republican colleagues who voted to impeach President Trump earlier this month, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Sunnyside/ Yakima) has already drawn a 2022 Republican challenger.  State Rep. Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) announced his intention yesterday to run for Congress. 
 
Since Washington uses a jungle primary system, there is no partisan nomination election.  Therefore, it is possible for members of the same party to advance to the general election, placing Mr. Klippert in a different position than some of the other challengers directly opposing incumbents within their party.

​Amid the swirling controversy surrounding Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wilson/Jackson) vote to impeach President Trump, including an array of potential Republican primary opponents already lining up to challenge her in the August 2022 primary election, the McLaughlin & Associates organization released the results of their January 25-27 Wyoming poll of 500 likely general election voters. 
 
According to the survey, only 13% of those surveyed would vote to re-elect her.  Among only Republicans, the more serious number, her re-elect score drops to just 10%.  Paired with state Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R-Laramie), she would lose a Republican primary, 54-21%.  Adding Rep. Chuck Gray (R-Casper) to make a three-way contest, Sen. Bouchard would lead 28-21-17% over Rep. Cheney and Mr. Gray, respectively.

​Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is a clear favorite to win a third term, but his next campaign might not be as easy as his first re-election effort (72% victory percentage).  Anthony Adams, the city’s former Deputy Mayor under since jailed and then pardoned Kwame Kilpatrick, announced his own mayoral campaign yesterday.  He indicated that there is a “dramatic need for mayoral change in the city of Detroit.”  

​Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang earlier this week released a Slingshot Strategies survey that posted him to a significant lead over his ten Democratic opponents, all vying to succeed retiring Mayor Bill de Blasio.  According to the survey, Mr. Yang would top Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams and NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, 25-17-12%, with all other candidates registering less than 10% support. 
 
The poll particulars were not released, however, meaning the field survey dates and sample size.  One clear flaw is the sample size consisting of 59% women, seven points higher than the Census Bureau female statistic for the city.  

​Former US Rep. Alan Grayson (D) who represented two different central Florida congressional seats over a period of eight years and unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate, may again be returning to the political scene.  Reports suggest he is laying the groundwork for a run against Sen. Marco Rubio (R). 
 
Mr. Grayson first ran for the US House in 2006 but lost the Democratic primary.  He returned to unseat then-Rep. Ric Keller (R) in the Orlando area’s 8th District but was defeated for re-election two years later.  He then re-surfaced to win the new 9th District in 2012 after reapportionment yielded Florida two new seats, one in the Orlando area.  He was re-elected in 2014 but ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2016, losing the Democratic primary.  He returned in 2018 attempting to re-capture his 9th District but again lost the party nomination contest, this time to incumbent Rep. Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee).  

​Former Congressman Pat Tiberi (R), who left the House to run the Ohio Business Roundtable in 2018 and still has over $5 million remaining in his federal campaign account, yesterday confirmed that he will not be a candidate for the newly open Ohio Senate seat next year.  Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) made a similar public statement.  Sen. Rob Portman (R) announced on Monday that he will retire from the Senate after the 2022 election.  A crowded candidate field is expected to emerge in both parties.

​Freshman California Rep. Young Kim (R-La Habra), who lost to Democrat Gil Cisneros in 2018 and then returned to unseat him last November, has already drawn a new challenger for 2022.  Community College trustee, businessman, and Navy Reserve officer Jay Chen (D) announced that he will challenge Rep. Kim next year.  Former Congressman Cisneros confirms he is considering launching another campaign but has yet to make any firm decision.

​Five-term Rep. Tom Rice (R-Myrtle Beach), who was one of ten Republicans to back the latest impeachment attempt against then-President Trump, looks to be drawing a 2022 primary opponent in his safe northeastern South Carolina district. 
 
State Rep. William Bailey (R-Horry County) says he will form an exploratory committee in preparation for a federal run against Mr. Rice.  Others are expected to join the Republican primary fray, which would typically be a boon to a challenged incumbent.  South Carolina, however, has a runoff system, thus increasing the chances that the Congressman could face a credible opponent in an eventual one-on-one electoral contest.