Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The latest national Washington Post/ABC News poll found Republicans leading Democrats on the congressional generic ballot, 47% to 46%, among registered voters. Most other recent national polling, however, has shown Democrats with a narrow edge.
* In Michigan’s gubernatorial race, Republican Tudor Dixon on Friday joked about the violent plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from 2020. Pressed for some kind of explanation, Dixon told reporters, “I think when you’re being attacked every day, you have to have a little levity and we can still have fun.”
* On a related note, Kellyanne Conway, a former official in the Trump White House, appeared at an event with Dixon on Friday and argued that it’s unfair of news organizations to report on polls showing Dixon losing. She didn’t appear to be kidding.
* After the Associated Press uncovered evidence that J.R. Majewski lied about his military service, the right-wing congressional candidate claimed that evidence that would support his claims is “classified.” For some reason, this did not make his controversy go away.
* In related news, in Indiana’s secretary of state race, Republican Diego Morales appears to have peddled a series of false claims about his background, including bogus assertions about his service in the military.
* In Alaska, a state judge concluded that Republican state Rep. David Eastman is likely ineligible to hold public office because of his affiliation with the right-wing Oath Keepers organization. (The Alaska Constitution features a disloyalty clause.) An Anchorage Daily News report added that Eastman’s name, however, “will stay on the general election ballot and the vote certification will be delayed until a trial scheduled for December can be held.” * While the midterm elections are six weeks from tomorrow, in-person early voting is underway in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. * An Arizona judge ruled late Friday that the state can enforce a near-total ban on abortions that had been blocked for nearly a half-century. Republican candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate in the Grand Canyon State responded to the news by saying as little as possible. * And in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, Democrat Cheri Beasley announced over the weekend that she will, if elected, support overhauling the chamber’s filibuster rules. The former state Supreme Court justice added, “I will not hesitate to be the deciding vote to end the filibuster to codify Roe, act on the climate crisis, and lower costs.”
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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