Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Georgia’s closely watched gubernatorial race, a new Atlanta Journal Constitution poll shows Brian Kemp (R) narrowly leading Stacey Abrams (D), 48% to 46%. It’s the second poll this week to show the far-right candidate ahead by two points.
* On a related note, Kemp, who’s currently serving as Georgia’s secretary of state and officially overseeing the race he’s running in, was sued yesterday over his office’s rejection of 53,000 voter-registration applications.
* Though one poll this week found Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) narrowly ahead in his bid for a third term, the new NBC News/Marist poll found his challenger, Tony Evers (D), up by double digits, 53% to 43%.
* The day after we learned that Donald Trump personally lobbied the prime minister of Japan on behalf of Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, Politico reported that the casino magnate “is pumping tens of millions of dollars more into Republican Party coffers in an 11th-hour push to save their congressional majorities.”
* In Maine’s gubernatorial race, Republican Shawn Moody is dealing with revelations that he fired a woman in 2006 after she became a mother. The woman, Jill Hayward, filed a complaint against him with the Maine Human Rights Commission, and Moody ultimately paid her $20,000 to settle the complaint. * It appears increasingly likely that Greg Orman’s independent gubernatorial campaign in Kansas will split the mainstream vote and propel Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach into the governor’s office, despite Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly’s bipartisan backing. * Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who’s running for re-election despite being under a federal criminal indictment, now has a trial date: Feb. 3, 2020. If he wins next month, that would mean the New York Republican’s trial would start roughly halfway through his next term. * And in a Fox News interview yesterday, Trump insisted that Hillary Clinton “should be in jail.” In case anyone’s curious, Election Day 2016 was 703 days ago.
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
