Comer eyes gubernatorial race in Kentucky

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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* Despite his troubled tenure as the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer conceded this week that he plans to run for governor in Kentucky next year, though he won’t formally kick off his first statewide bid until after the midterm elections.

* To the relief of Democratic officials, Cindy Burbank won the party’s Senate primary in Nebraska, defeating a conservative pastor who appeared to be a Republican Party plant. She will now exit the race, clearing the way for independent Dan Osborn to run against Sen. Pete Ricketts, the Republican incumbent, in the general election.

* Also in Nebraska, Secretary of State Bob Evnen lost a Republican primary fight against businessman Scott Petersen despite the endorsements Evnen received from the state’s Republican governor and Republican senators. Petersen, who is running as an “America First conservative,” has vowed new voting restrictions.

* Though Donald Trump this week urged South Carolina Republicans to be “bold” and “courageous” while trying to erase the state’s only majority-Black district, the effort hit a stumbling block on Tuesday: Some GOP state senators balked at a proposal, though the issue is not yet dead in this legislative session.