Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With just days remaining before Election Day, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late yesterday that Minnesota officials must separate mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day for possible invalidation. Before the ruling, Minnesotans were told that ballots arriving up to a week after the polls close would still be counted. It was a 2-1 ruling, with judges appointed by Donald Trump and George W. Bush in the majority. A Barack Obama appointee dissented.
* Despite polls showing Joe Biden faring well in Florida, Politico reports today that Democrats “are sounding the alarm about weak voter turnout rates in Florida’s biggest county, Miami-Dade, where a strong Republican showing is endangering Joe Biden’s chances in the nation’s biggest swing state.”
* Speaking of the Sunshine State, Duval County senior Judge Brent Shore, who’s been overseeing his county’s vote-counting board, is required to be politically neutral. He’s nevertheless donated repeatedly to the Trump campaign and covered his property with pro-Trump signs. Yesterday, Shore resigned from Duval County’s vote-counting board.
* Asked this morning about Republican officials’ widespread voter-suppression efforts, an RNC spokesperson reportedly said that party officials “don’t like the construct of that narrative.” (The party’s voter-suppression efforts are, in fact, quite real, whether the RNC likes the construct of that narrative or not.)
* In North Carolina, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found Biden narrowly leading Trump, 48% to 45%, and in the state’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the same survey showed Cal Cunningham (D) with a similar advantage over incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R), 46% to 43%.
* In Florida, where Quinnipiac did not have a good cycle two years ago, the pollster found Biden leading Trump, 45% to 42%.
* In Pennsylvania, the latest Quinnipiac poll found Biden leading Trump by seven, 51% to 44%.
* In Ohio, which was not expected to be a pick-up opportunity for Democrats, the Quinnipiac poll showed Biden with a surprising five-point lead over Trump, 48% to 43%.
* In Iowa, the Quinnipiac poll offered better news for Republicans, showing Trump narrowly leading Biden, 47% to 46%, and incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst (R) leading Theresa Greenfield (D), 48% to 46%. * As Rachel noted on the show last night, voting in Hawaii has already topped the vote totals from 2016, and as of this morning, Texas can now make the same boast. * In a debate last night, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was asked several times if she wants her party to maintain control of the White House. She wouldn’t answer directly. * In Utah’s most competitive congressional race, Republican Burgess Owens suggested this week that the crackpot QAnon conspiracy theory deserves consideration because it’s something “the left” is “trying to keep us away from.” Incumbent Rep. Ben McAdams (D) is now pressing his GOP challenger to denounce the insane movement. * In the print edition of the New York Times today, readers were treated to a full, two-page ad from entertainer Kanye West, whose Republican-backed presidential campaign is apparently ongoing.
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."
Latest Post
Recommended
