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Wisconsin Republican state senator Glenn Grothman announced today that he is launching a primary challenge against US Rep. Tom Petri. Grothman has higher national name recognition than your typical state lawmaker because of his record of making outrageous statements and pushing extremist positions.

As Gov. Chris Christie proclaimed his exoneration in the Bridgegate scandal, he refused to discuss his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno.

Republicans have found a candidate to run for House District 35, an open seat being vacated by term-limited Democratic Rep. Cherylin Peniston. We don't know much about HD-35 candidate Maria Weese, but what we do know comes from her Facebook page: Racially charged and offensive comparative jokes about President Obama and South African President Nelson Mandela.

Experts say a bigger earthquake along the lesser-known fault that gave Southern California a moderate shake could do more damage to the region than the long-dreaded "Big One" from the more famous San Andreas Fault. The Puente Hills thrust fault, which brought Friday night's magnitude-5.1 quake centered in La Habra and well over 100 aftershocks by Sunday, stretches from northern Orange County under downtown Los Angeles into Hollywood — a heavily populated swath of the Los Angeles area.

A Republican candidate for a state house seat is withdrawing from the race in light of reports about his arrest record and ties to white supremacists.

According to the Longview News-Journal, the town of Longview, Texas has decided to pay Nugent $16,250, half of his his fee, not to perform at their upcoming Independence Day celebration.

Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown is "testing the waters" for a run at one of New Hampshire's senate seat, but the campaign was stuck treading water at a recent stop on his Listening Tour. Watch the video after the jump for a hilariously awkward 57 seconds of political theater.

Way back in 2012, a group of conservative nonprofit groups with connections to the Koch Brothers poured around $15 million into the efforts to defeat California's Prop 30 and pass Prop 32. The groups were fined an unprecedented $1 million by the state's FPPC, but it's done little to stop the flow of dark money. Now, a constitutional amendment requiring nonprofit disclosure has gone on ice, allowing politics as usual to stay the course.

Vermont's first campaign finance reporting deadline has come and gone. And the big news — just about the only news of significance — is the size of Governor Shumlin's war chest: $1.7 million. While the majority of that money is leftover from his last breezy re-election, some of those moneys are from out-of-state donations.

Governors across the Northeast are increasing heat subsidies for millions of people impacted by a harsh winter and even harsher cuts to federal safety nets. New Jersey has been especially hit hard, but has yet to receive any help from its top executive, Gov. Chris Christie.