The dam is breaking on Dan Lipinski

When I first wrote about Marie Newman's challenge to longtime machine-backed Illinois incumbent Daniel Lipinski of Illinois back in December, she had picked up the support of NARAL, the Human Rights Campaign and a host of the national online progressive groups. But it looked like such a longshot, even EMILY"s List and Planned Parenthood were staying out. (If you can't take out an incumbent, best not to try.) It's starting to look like much less of a longshot. On Feb. 2, following Lipinski's rejection of a $15 an hour minimum wage, the SEIU, which has made the minimum wage one of its central issues, broke with him and endorsed Newman. With the dam breaking, EMILY's List and Planned Parenthood got behind her as well. On Feb. 3, Newman won the backing of the more than 5,000 teachers in the local union, with the Illinois Federation of Teachers endorsing her. Today, three local Indivisible chapters endorsed Newman. It's a real race now. 2. Dominion Energy went hard for Ralph Northam in the Democratic primary for governor of Virginia. Now that he's won, they've taken a bill that was meant to crack down on their overcharging and somehow turned it into legislation that will actually make them more money. Story here. Over at HuffPost, Daniel Marans has a much deeper dive into the situation. 3. Lissa Lucas traveled to the West Virginia state legislature to have a chance to weigh in on energy legislation when the time came for citizen input. She decided to read off the campaign contributions lawmakers had taken from the fossil fuel industry. She was thrown out for "personal" attacks. It was public information. That story is here. 4. And Politico has a fascinating story about Bob Corker re-thinking his retirement from the Senate, as Republicans get nervous they might lose Tennessee without him -- and with it, the Senate.This email grows by word of mouth. If you enjoy getting it, please forward this note to friends and tell them to sign up to start getting their own copy here. I'm the Washington bureau chief at The Intercept, and I send this several times a week. If you want to contribute directly to help keep the thing running, you can do so here, though be warned a donation comes with no tote bags or extra premium content or anything. Or you can support it by buying a copy of Out of the Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price or Wall Street's White House, the first two books put out by Strong Arm Press, a small progressive publishing house I cofounded. Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Bad News, please click here.