NBC News: “Former Sen. David Perdue is running for governor in Georgia, he announced Monday, setting up a primary showdown with Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022. Perdue’s announcement comes days after voting rights activist Stacey Abrams announced that she would run for the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination in Georgia. In a video announcement, Perdue said that Kemp “has failed all of…

Political Wire: “Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden,” NPR reports. Also interesting: “In October, the reddest tenth of the country saw death rates…

Politico: “Donald Trump brokered a deal this weekend to clear the North Carolina GOP Senate field for Rep. Ted Budd, the candidate he endorsed in June but who has failed to emerge so far as the clear frontrunner. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump pledged to endorse former GOP Rep. Mark Walker, who…

Politico: “A three-judge panel overseeing a recount in a close Virginia Beach state House race upheld the Republican candidate’s victory on Friday, a decision that also reaffirms the GOP’s takeover of the chamber and completes the party’s sweep of last month’s elections. Republicans also claimed the statewide offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in…

AL Political Reporter: “AFBF President Zippy Duvall, a farmer from Georgia, attended the opening banquet. He thanked Alabama farmers for their dedication and praised the federation for its work supporting rural Alabamians and fighting for conservative values.  “Congratulations on 100 years. What an accomplishment,” Duvall said. “We are just as relevant today as we were…

NY Times: “Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat whose narrow loss in the governor’s race in 2018 catapulted her to national prominence as a voting rights advocate, said Wednesday that she would run again for governor in 2022, setting up a high-profile potential rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican. Three years after Ms. Abrams lost…

Jacobin: “Austin City Council member Greg Casar has passed dozens of pieces of progressive legislation in the last 7 years, from paid sick leave law to renters’ protections. Now he says he wants to take federal action on working-class issues by running for Congress. Texas Republicans are committed to minority-rule reactionary politics. They recently legislated…

NC Policy Watch: “The plaintiffs in the state’s long-running school funding case were dealt a setback Tuesday when the NC Court of Appeals ruled the judge overseeing the case doesn’t have the authority to require the state to spend $1.7 billion on a public-school improvement plan. Superior Court Judge David Lee had ordered State Treasurer…

Bearing Drift: “However, with the passage of the legal adult use of cannabis last year, there is hope that Virginia can make up much of that deficit by legalizing the sale of cannabis to adults 21 years of age or older. The tax revenue for 2020-2022 which is estimated to be brought in solely by…

TX Tribune: “In the first days of his campaign for governor, Beto O’Rourke made a beeline to this southernmost corner of the state, saying it was no mistake he was choosing to start his run in a part of Texas where Democrats have their work cut out for them after the 2020 election. His supporters know…