Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) retiring, Democrats have another pick-up opportunity, but winning in Pennsylvania’s 15th district won’t be easy. John Kerry may have won the district in 2004, but Donald Trump carried it last year by eight points.
* Reinforcing the impression that Alabama’s Republican Senate primary is pitting the GOP establishment against the party’s activist base, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is throwing its support behind appointed Sen. Luther Strange, His runoff against Roy Moore is on Sept. 26.
* Speaking of Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey (R), who rose to the position after Robert Bentley (R) was forced to resign in disgrace, confirmed this week that she will seek a full term of her own in 2018.
* With only two months remaining in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity has launched a new attack ad targeting Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D). It’s not clear exactly how big the ad buy is, but AFP said it’s investing at least $1 million in the spot.
* In Tennessee a few years ago, then-state Rep. Joe Carr (R) nearly scored a major upset in a Republican primary against Sen. Lamar Alexander (R), and this year, Carr is gearing up to challenge Sen. Bob Corker (R) in a primary. * Though Ohio’s statewide races are still several months off, a group called Ohio Conservatives for Change has launched the first television ad buy of the cycle, investing $350,000 in a commercial supporting Secretary of State Jon Husted’s (R) Senate campaign. * And in Charlotte, North Carolina, a Republican mayoral candidate recently decided to promote the fact that she’s white as one of her qualifications.
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
