Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Virginia’s gubernatorial race, Ed Gillespie’s (R) first televised attack ad blasts Ralph Northam (D) for voting “in favor of sanctuary cities,” which don’t actually exist in Virginia.
* Politico reports that Jared Kushner “quietly escaped to North Carolina last night” in order to help raise money for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the far-right chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, who’s occasionally been a thorn in Donald Trump’s side.
* On the heels of receiving a rare endorsement from Barack Obama, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman (D) survived a primary this week and advanced to a Nov. 7 general election.
* In Alabama’s U.S. Senate special election, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones (D) looks like a good candidate in a tough race, but at least for now, the national party and Democratic donors aren’t paying a lot of attention to his campaign. The general election isn’t until December. * Rep. Mark Sanford (R) isn’t generally perceived as a vulnerable incumbent, but he’s now facing a GOP primary challenge from state Sen. Katie Arrington. Among other things, Arrington vowed to stand with Donald Trump and “not bash him to leftist cheerleaders.” * And readers concerned about gerrymandering should take note of the latest state legislative map in North Carolina, which is now home to one of “the country’s most blatant” examples of the problem.
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
