Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, John Fetterman’s primary care physician said in a medical update yesterday the Democrat “has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office” after an assessment of his condition following his stroke in May.
* Though polls show Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in a highly competitive U.S. Senate race in Ohio, party officials still aren’t prepared to make major investments in this increasingly red state. The Senate hopeful wondered aloud this week why Democrats “don’t smell blood” and come into the state to help defeat Republican J.D. Vance.
* A new CBS News poll suggests Nevada may be home to the nation’s most competitive statewide races: The survey found Republican Adam Laxalt leading Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto by one point, 49% to 48%, while it also showed Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak tied with Republican Joe Lombardo, with each garnering 48% support.
* Speaking of highly competitive battleground states, the latest Landmark Communications poll in Georgia found Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock tied with Republican Herschel Walker, with each garnering 46% support, while Republican Gov. Brian Kemp leads Democrat Stacey Abrams, 51% to 45%.
* At the national level, a new Monmouth University poll found the GOP ahead on the generic congressional ballot, 49% to 45%, which is the largest lead for Republicans since January. As recently as August, Monmouth showed Democrats with a seven-point advantage.
* On a related note, in early August, Democrats took the lead in FiveThirtyEight’s generic ballot averages. Today, Republicans regained an edge.
* As Sean Hannity’s Fox News program devotes each of its recent episodes to helping key GOP candidates, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted that the show is now effectively “an hour-long commercial for a Republican Senate candidate every night.” A related Washington Post analysis concluded that Hannity is effectively making a “million-dollar in-kind contribution to the GOP” with its program.
* While some recent polling showed a tight U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, the latest East Carolina University survey found a growing lead for Republican Rep. Ted Budd, who now leads former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, 50% to 44%.
