The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Daniel Donner, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
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Leading Off
●OH-Sen: Retiring Sen. Rob Portman has endorsed former state party chair Jane Timken in the crowded and very expensive May Republican primary to succeed him. Portman is the most prominent name to take sides in the nomination fight, but everyone is still waiting to see if Donald Trump will end up issuing an endorsement in the next two and a half months in a contest where he's reportedly far from happy with any of his choices.
Trump, multiple media outlets said, actually decided to back Timken last year, and the Washington Post adds that he even called her about a year ago to deliver the good news. But that not-tweet never went out, and Politico's Alex Isenstadt writes that it’s because Trump abruptly changed his mind when Timken initially defended Rep. Anthony Gonzalez after he voted for impeachment, with the then-party chair saying that the congressman had a "rational reason why he voted that way. I think he's an effective legislator, and he's a very good person." She quickly reversed herself and called for Gonzalez's resignation, but she didn't move fast enough to keep Trump in her corner or stop the Club for Growth from turning the story into an anti-Timken ad.