Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* We’re now just one day away from a closely watched congressional special election in New York’s 3rd district, where Democrats hope to flip former Rep. George Santos’ former district from red to blue. Recent polling suggests former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi has a slight edge over Republican Mazi Pilip, though local Democratic officials expect a very tight race.
* In Montana’s U.S. Senate race, Rep. Matt Rosendale kicked off his Republican candidacy late last week and made unsubtle appeals to Donald Trump for support. Hours later, the former president rejected the appeals, stuck with the GOP establishment, and endorsed Rosendale’s primary rival, businessman Tim Sheehy.
* In a move that might very well have dramatic consequences, the Wisconsin Elections Commission voted last week to allow the Green Party to appear on presidential election ballots in the state.
* Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has heard the talk about her candidacy undermining Trump ahead of the general election, but the former ambassador told The Wall Street Journal, “I’m weakening Trump because of who Trump is. Telling the truth in a primary is very important, so that’s what I’m doing.”
* In related news, at a campaign event over the weekend in South Carolina, Trump told supporters he tapped Haley to represent the United States at the United Nations, not because he supported her, but because he wanted someone else to be South Carolina’s governor. (According to Haley’s memoir, this wasn’t even close to being true.)
* In New Jersey’s U.S. Senate race, Rep. Andy Kim won fairly easily in the state’s first Democratic convention since Sen. Bob Menendez’s indictment. In New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy’s home county, Monmouth County, she lost to the congressman, 56.8% to 38.8%.
* The Biden administration has raised national security concerns about TikTok, but President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign nevertheless joined the platform over the weekend.
* Though I’ve made a conscious decision to avoid talking about the politics of pop star Taylor Swift, it struck me as notable that Trump practically begged her for support over the weekend, adding that it would be “disloyal” for Swift to support Biden, as she did four years ago.
