Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* President Joe Biden pledged yesterday that if Democrats keep control of Congress, he intends to codify abortion rights into federal law by the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in January.
* Concerned about progressive turnout in the midterm elections, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will reportedly hold at least 19 events in eight states before Election Day. The first event is scheduled for Oregon a week from tomorrow.
* New York’s gubernatorial race appears to be tightening significantly, with the latest Siena College poll showing Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul leading Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin by 11 points, down from a 17-point lead a month ago. A Quinnipiac University poll, meanwhile, found the incumbent governor ahead by only 4 points.
* Speaking of the Empire State, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also facing a tough re-election race, and now a super PAC aligned with the House Republican leadership is investing $4 million in the race.
* In Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro is airing a new campaign ad highlighting Republican Doug Mastriano’s ties to the crackpot QAnon delusion. * Also in the Keystone State, Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz, when he was a television personality, believed climate science. Now that he’s trying to appeal to GOP voters, Oz has apparently changed his mind. * On a related note, the latest AARP poll in Pennsylvania found Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leading Oz by only 2 points, 48% to 46%. * And in Georgia, early voting began on Monday, and the secretary of state’s office confirmed yesterday that the totals are already impressive. The NBC affiliate in Atlanta reported that more than 125,000 Georgians cast ballots on Monday, a 70% increase from the early vote totals from the 2018 midterm cycle.
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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