MIDTERM MESSAGING — Hogan is supporting Trump's Republican enemies in the 2022 midterms, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt wrote. He hosted fundraisers for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), and is considering helping others on the ballot this fall. The term-limited Hogan is building his national profile ahead of a possible bid for president in 2024. "It's crazy. We've got the former president going after all these really good elected Republicans, and so I'm trying to support people who I think deserve to be in office," Hogan told Alex. "We're trying to help people wherever we can, and I'm sure we're going to be doing a lot more of it." GETTING IN — California Republican Lisa Bartlett launched a campaign against Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) in CA-49, the Orange County Register's Brooke Staggs reported. Bartlett is a term-limited member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and had been running for a state Senate seat until she was drawn out of the district in redistricting. Bartlett will face Brian Maryott and Christopher Rodriguez in the Republican primary. — Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.) will run for reelection in AZ-02, he announced after the state's independent redistricting commission approved a new congressional map. Trump won the new AZ-02 by 8 points, compared to Biden's 2-point win in O'Halleran's current district. "We know this race will be tough, but I've never been one to back away from a tough race before, and I don't intend to now," O'Halleran said in a statement. DROPPING OUT — Virginia Republican Taylor Keeney ended her campaign in VA-07 after new political maps were approved, The Associated Press reported. Spanberger is running for reelection in the district, which is now centered around Fredericksburg and no longer includes her home, the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mel Leonor reported. THE PROCESS — The Wisconsin state Elections Commission and municipal IT departments are the latest groups to be hit with subpoenas by Republican state lawmakers conducting a partisan review of the 2020 election, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Patrick Marley wrote. Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who is leading the review, issued the subpoenas which seek "emails, logs of internet traffic, information about voting machines and data about individual voters." — Only four absentee ballots were cast by dead voters in Georgia during the 2020 election, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Niesse reported. All four ballots were returned by family members, according to a review by election investigators. The findings debunk Trump's claims that there was widespread fraud in 2020. ENDORSEMENT ALERT — Trump endorsed Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy, as long as Dunleavy does not endorse Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), The Hill's Brad Dress reported. Murkowski is facing a challenge from Trump-endorsed Republican Kelly Tshibaka. Trump announced his endorsement by including a message from Dunleavy guaranteeing Trump has "nothing to worry about." The former president noted his endorsement would be "null and void" if Dunleavy backed Murkowski. THE MAP LINES — The Ohio state Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the state's new congressional map, The Columbus Dispatch's Jessie Balmert and Anna Staver. In a hearing last week, the court focused on Republican mapmakers' decision to split Hamilton County into three congressional districts. If approved, the map will be valid for four years rather than 10 because it did not pass with Democratic support in the state legislature. — The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas' proposed state House map, alleging the new lines would "undermine the voting strength of Black Arkansans." The lawsuit claims the map violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the voting power of Black voters in Central Arkansas, the Upper Delta, the Lower Delta and Southwest Arkansas. LANDMARK LEGISLATION? — Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) backs reforming the filibuster to pass voting legislation, a shift from his previous position, the Portland Press Herald's Colin Woodard wrote. King is part of a group of lawmakers considering rules changes, POLITICO's Laura Barrón-López and Marianne Levine reported last month. King sounded optimistic in a phone call with his home state paper, saying "I think a talking filibuster with amendments is a far cry from straight up majority rule. That's the sort of compromise we're trying to do." BALLOT BATTLE — Arizona state Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs are at odds over a new elections manual, Arizona Republic's Mary Jo Pitzl wrote. Brnovich, a Republican who is running for Senate, is blocking approval of the document and claiming "numerous provisions in the manual don't fit with state law and could expose election officials to criminal charges." Hobbs, a Democrat who is running for governor, countered by saying Brnovich's "demand would create inconsistent procedures and leave gaps in election procedures." THE SUNSHINE STATE — Early voting is underway in the Florida special election to replace the late Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.). Democratic nominee Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is expected to win the Jan. 11 contest against Republican Jason Mariner, Libertarian Mike ter Maat and independent candidates Jim Flynn and Leonard Serratore, Florida Politics' Anne Geggis wrote. Cherfilus-McCormick narrowly beat Dale Holness in the Democratic primary, and Holness has filed to run for the seat again. SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK — Republicans are "pressing local jurisdictions and state lawmakers to make typically sleepy school board races into politicized, partisan elections in an attempt to gain more statewide control and swing them to victory in the 2022 midterms," POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury and Juan Perez Jr. wrote. The center-right American Enterprise Institute is encouraging jurisdictions to put party affiliation on ballots in school board races, and conservatives have embraced education issues like critical race theory and pandemic policies. | 
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