The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar. Leading Off ● VT-Sen: Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat who is the chamber's longest-serving sitting member from either party, announced Monday that he would not seek a ninth term in 2022. While Leahy is, famously, the only Democrat ever elected to represent the Green Mountain State in the Senate (Bernie Sanders campaigned as an independent in all three of his successful campaigns), there's little question that Team Blue's eventual nominee will prevail in this 66-31 Biden state. While Politico reported back in May that the 81-year-old senator was leaning towards another run despite being briefly hospitalized months earlier for what he described as muscle spasms, observers have spent months speculating who could run in an open seat race. Most of the attention on the Democratic side has been directed at Rep. Peter Welch, who has represented the entire state in the lower chamber since 2007, and VT Digger wrote Monday he is “widely expected” to seek a promotion. The congressman, for his part, put out a statement that day that merely praised Leahy and did not allude to his own 2022 plans. Read more