LANDMARK LEGISLATION? — Manchin came out against the For the People Act in an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Sunday. It was an unsurprising move that incensed Democrats who are desperate to pass federal voting legislation, especially as Republicans restrict voting at the state level. Manchin said he'll vote against the sweeping election reform package, warning that "voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen." Without Manchin's support, Senate Democrats do not have enough votes to move ahead. Manchin also reiterated that he would not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster, which would make passing the For the People Act virtually impossible. All Senate Republicans oppose the bill. Some Democrats remain hopeful they can change Manchin's mind, while others slammed the centrist senator. "Manchin's op-ed might as well be titled, 'Why I'll vote to preserve Jim Crow," New York Rep. Mondaire Jones wrote in a tweet. Manchin did say he'd support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act because it has approval from both Republicans and Democrats. — On the state level, Republicans continue to target mail-in voting and new voter policies, and have introduced new restrictions on election workers. POLITICO's Zach Montellaro and Daniel Payne took a look at the similarities between GOP-backed election legislation in Texas and Georgia. And the new laws are causing alarm among election experts. Restrictions on voting in states including Georgia and Iowa are so "deeply wrong" that two former Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration are coming together to defend election workers. Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsberg, the 2013-2014 co-chairs, wrote in The New York Times they will "establish a network that would provide free legal support to election officials who face threats, fines or suspensions for doing their jobs." — In case the For the People Act does pass, New Hampshire state House lawmakers approved a bill that could create separate voting systems for federal and local elections, The Associated Press reported. The bill "amounts to a preemptive strike" against the For the People Act by keeping the state election system in place if the federal legislation passes. The legislation would require separate systems for "voter eligibility and registration, absentee voting, in-person voting and counting of ballots" and heads next to the state Senate. ENDORSEMENT ALERT — Trump endorsed Budd during the North Carolina state Republican convention, a move that will boost Budd in the three-way primary and infuriated former Gov. Pat McCrory, POLITICO's James Arkin reported. Trump's daughter-in-law ruled out a North Carolina Senate bid shortly before the former president made his endorsement. Trump threw some shade at McCrory while giving Budd the endorsement , saying "you can't pick people that have already lost two races" (McCrory lost governors' races in 2008 and 2016). While he criticized the endorsement, McCrory was careful not to critique the ex-president. Instead, McCrory said Trump had received "bad advice." The battleground contest to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is shaping up to be among the most-watched in 2022. Former Rep. Mark Walker is also running in the GOP primary. — As for Trump's appearance at the convention, he played the hits, POLITICO's Meridith McGraw reported. The former president repeated his lies that the 2020 election was stolen and touted his administration's role in developing the Covid-19 vaccine. Trump received standing ovations when he demanded China pay $10 trillion in "reparations" for its role in the pandemic and said critical race theory should be banned in schools. JUST PEACHY — GOP Gov. Brian Kemp avoided being censured by pro-Trump delegates at the Georgia state Republican convention over the weekend, perhaps a sign that embracing new voting restrictions has partially repaired Kemp's reputation in the GOP, POLITICO's David Siders and Maya King reported. The governor has been at odds with Trump since he resisted questioning the 2020 election results. Make no mistake: There's still bad blood. Kemp was booed by party activists when he took the stage at the convention. But Kemp avoiding a censure, especially when embattled Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was censured, is an indicator of where Kemp stands in the party. Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud in last year's election were a major focus of the convention, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Maya T. Prabhu and Greg Bluestein reported. — More from Georgia: First-term Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is a headache for her Washington colleagues, who kicked her off her House committees for inflammatory comments. But back home in Georgia, few convention attendees would criticize her, Maya and David reported. Greene did not attend the convention, but those who did said they appreciate her "disregard for political correctness and approach to politics as a 'Washington outsider.'" THE BIG APPLE — Ocasio-Cortez threw her support behind Maya Wiley in the New York City mayoral race, POLITICO New York's Amanda Eisenberg reported. Rep. Jamaal Bowman also endorsed Wiley over the weekend, a sign that New York progressives are beginning to coalesce behind one candidate in the crowded contest. City Comptroller Scott Stringer was derailed after being accused of sexual misconduct . And fellow progressive Dianne Morales' campaign imploded when staff accused her of mistreatment in May. OLD DOMINION — Democrats running to be governor of Virginia set off on a last-minute campaign blitz over the weekend, The Washington Post's Gregory Schneider and Laura Vozzella reported. A Roanoke College poll released last week showed former Gov. Terry McAuliffe had 49 percent of support from likely Democratic primary voters, easily ahead of former state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (11 percent) and state Sen. Jennifer McClellan (9 percent). Republicans already selected nominee Glenn Youngkin last month. GETTING IN — Georgia state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black launched a campaign against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), POLITICO's James Arkin reported. Black is the highest-profile Republican to launch a Senate campaign, joining candidates Kelvin King and Latham Saddler. The Republican primary field could grow — former NFL player Herschel Walker may jump in the race, and so might former Sen. Kelly Loeffler. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers made it official: He's running for reelection. Evers announced his intentions at a virtual convention hosted by the state Democratic Party. Evers won the governorship in 2018 by fewer than 30,000 votes against then-GOP Gov. Scott Walker. So far, only one Republican, Jonathan Wichmann, is running for governor. THE MAP LINES — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed new state legislative maps on Friday, NBC Chicago reported. The Democratic-majority state House and Senate approved the new maps on party-line votes, drawing criticism from Republicans who felt left out of the process. The decision is a departure from Pritzker's campaign promise to hand redistricting to a nonpartisan group. The maps were drawn without new redistricting data from the Census Bureau, which will be released later this summer. — Speaking of Pritzker, Illinois Republicans would like to take him on next year, but lack a big-name candidate and the money to do it, the Chicago Tribune's Rick Pearson, Dan Petrella and Bill Ruthhart reported. Pritzker beat one-term GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018. EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS — Texas state GOP Chair Allen West plans to resign his post in July, POLITICO's Zach Montellaro reported, sparking speculation that he might primary Texas Gov. Greg Abbott next year. West has echoed Trump's baseless claims about 2020 election fraud and "recently attended a conference affiliated with the QAnon conspiracy theory and seemingly suggested states should secede from the United States after the Supreme Court tossed a lawsuit looking to throw out the election results." — Texas Republican Mattie Parker won Fort Worth's runoff mayoral election on Saturday. Parker beat Democrat Deborah Peoples by about 7 points, though the city council shifted to the left, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Luke Ranker reported. Despite the race being technically nonpartisan, both parties watched the election closely, POLITICO's Maya King reported. Fort Worth is one of few big American cities with a Republican mayor. The city is part of Tarrant County, which has seen shrinking Republican margins in recent years. HINDSIGHT IS 2020 — Democrats leaned too heavily on anti-Trump messaging and failed to match President Joe Biden's support from voters of color in the 2020 election, according to a new Democratic report, The New York Times's Alex Burns reported. The 70-page report assembled by Third Way, the Collective PAC and the Latino Victory Fund, found that Democrats lacked an economic message in last year's elections, a cycle when the party was successful but didn't do as well as expected. | 
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