Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Wisconsin, a Marquette Law School poll, released yesterday, suggests incumbent Gov. Scott Walker (R) may not get the third term he’s seeking: the survey found Tony Evers (D) with a five-point lead, 49% to 44%.
* On a related note, the same poll found incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) well positioned against Leah Vukmir (R) in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, leading 53% to 42%.
* Though several recent polls have shows Sen. Ted Cruz (R) with narrow leads over Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) in Texas, a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday found the incumbent with a more comfortable 54% to 45% advantage.
* As for Texas’ gubernatorial race, the same Quinnipiac findings suggest incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is a safe bet to win re-election: he leads former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez in the poll, 58% to 39%.
* In Kansas, the Republican’s far-right gubernatorial nominee, Kris Kobach, continues to repel support from key party leaders. Yesterday, former three-term Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R) announced her support for the Democratic nominee, state Sen. Laura Kelly. This comes on the heels of former Gov. Bill Graves (R) doing the same thing, backing a Democrat for the first time in his career. * Though Dems have fared well in dozens of recent state legislative special elections, Republicans yesterday flipped a state Senate seat in Texas from “blue” to “red.” * In Massachusetts, a new Suffolk poll suggests Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is all but certain to win a second term: he leads Jay Gonzalez (D), 55% to 28%. * The same poll found Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) with a similar lead over her Republican rival, Geoff Diehl (R), 54% to 24%.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
