Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a poll that will probably make Republicans a little nervous, the latest Quinnipiac poll found Joe Biden narrowly leading Donald Trump in Texas, 44% to 43%. There is no scenario in which the president wins a second term without Texas’ 38 electoral votes.
* The same poll offered better news for the GOP in the Lone Star State’s U.S. Senate race, where Quinnipiac found incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) leading Air Force veteran M.J. Hegar (D), 47% to 38%.
* In Kansas, where Republicans are feeling increasingly antsy about their upcoming U.S. Senate primary contest, the Senate Leadership Fund is investing $1.2 million in the hopes of helping Rep.Roger Marshall defeat Kris Kobach. The Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC closely aligned with Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP leadership. Kansas’ primary is Aug. 4.
* As part of its new ad campaign, Biden’s team is launching new videos featuring a “wide-ranging” and “socially distant” conversation between the former vice president and former President Barack Obama.
* The Trump campaign announced this morning the formation of a “Lawyers for Trump” group, which will be led in part by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). It’s worth noting for context that Paxton has spearheaded the litigation to destroy the Affordable Care Act. The Texas Republican was also indicted in 2015 on felony securities fraud charges. * Speaking of the Trump campaign’s curious decisions, the Republican team’s latest online ads feature an image of pro-democracy protests in Ukraine as if they were a bad thing. * While Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) isn’t generally seen as vulnerable this year, Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins (D) kicked off an uphill Senate candidacy yesterday, and his announcement video is extremely impressive. * And after a recent special election, Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) was sworn in this week as Congress’ newest member. Jacobs fills the vacancy left by former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who recently pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
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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