Keith Ellison, the number two official at the DNC and a veteran member of Congress from Minnesota, is seriously considering running for attorney general in his home state, Rachel Cohen and I reported earlier today. He must make a decision by the filing deadline of Tuesday.
As Rachel also reported, the race for AG is only up for grabs because of a stunning turn-of-events at the Minnesota party convention this weekend, when Lori Swanson, the incumbent, failed to win the party endorsement on the first round of voting, with a virtually unknown progressive nipping at her heels. She shocked the convention by dropping out rather than making concessions to win over the delegates she needed, and is now planning to run for governor instead.
That left open the AG race and Ellison is extremely tempted. That he'd be willing to take what from a conventional perspective looks to be a step down should be something of a wake-up call for House Democrats, who have failed to create a vibrant culture where progressive ideas are pushed forward. It's also a recognition that his hope that he could reform the DNC from within was in vain. It's still a mess, perhaps even a bigger mess than before Tom Perez took over (and then immediately took a job teaching at Brown, after basing his campaign on the idea that being DNC chair was a fulltime job).
Zephyr Teachout will announce tomorrow that she's officially running for attorney general in New York to replace Eric Schneiderman. She'll be going up against Letitia James, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's candidate. (James was the first candidate to get elected solely with the backing of the Working Families Party. So Cuomo, reaching deep into the dark recesses of his power-addled mind, offered her a Devil's bargain: He would endorse her and be her patron on one condition -- she must reject the Working Families Party publicly. It's like one of those mob stories from a bad movie where you have to go off somebody to get initiated into the club. But she did, so now she's in.)
Teachout has a rare combination: She's one of the most widely respected legal minds in the country, but couples that with a sophisticated analysis of power and politics. If she manages to win and gets subpoena power, Trump will regret the time he spent celebrating Schneiderman's demise. I'll have a story on the race tomorrow.
California has its primary tomorrow, but so do a handful of other states -- including New Jersey, where Democrats are set to re-nominate Bob Menendez, who only escaped a bribery conviction by the skin of a hung jury. Congrats, New Jersey.
And with fewer than ten Philadelphia Eagles planning to come on Tuesday to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win -- yes, the Iggles won the Super Bowl! -- Trump suddenly disinvited them. Too bad, as we might have been treated to another speech by Eagles center Jason Kelce, which, if you haven't seen it, treat yourself: http://www.phillyvoice.com/mummer-jason-kelce-drops-f-bomb-live-tv-rides-police-bike-along-eagles-parade-route/
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