Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In North Carolina yesterday, Senate hopeful Cal Cunningham (D) conceded his race against incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R). Practically every public poll showed Cunningham ahead going into Election Day, but Tillis appears to have won by a little less than two percentage points.
* On a related note, NBC News this morning projected incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) has won re-election in Alaska. This brings the Senate Republicans to 50 seats headed into next year, with two runoff elections in Georgia still remaining.
* On a related note, the Washington Post reports that Republican efforts to delegitimize Joe Biden’s victory is tied to the party’s strategy in Georgia: the GOP is apparently hoping to keep Donald Trump’s followers engaged and agitated ahead of the Jan. 5 runoffs.
* And speaking of Georgia, Stacey Abrams’ organization, Fair Fight, has reportedly raised nearly $10 million since Friday evening, much of which will go towards boosting Jon Ossoff’s and Raphael Warnock’s Senate candidacies.
* The New York Times did a thorough, state-by-state review, contacting election officials who believe their state confronted voter fraud this year. The investigation, not surprisingly, turned up empty, “amounting to a forceful rebuke of President Trump’s portrait of a fraudulent election.” * On a related note, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has apparently offered a $1 million reward to those who can produce evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, since his party can’t seem to find any evidence on its own. * Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who’s rumored to have national ambitions, was chosen yesterday to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the 2022 cycle, offering him a new opportunity to establish national ties. * And California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has the unenviable task of appointing a new U.S. senator to succeed Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. The list of leading contenders reportedly includes California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) and Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D), both of whom have excelled in recent statewide elections.
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."
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