Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In a rather dramatic display, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Texas, interrupted Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s news conference yesterday and challenged the incumbent to address gun violence. O’Rourke was escorted out by police.
* Speaking of Abbott, Tuesday’s massacre at a Texas elementary school didn’t stop the GOP governor from attending a fundraiser for his re-election campaign on Tuesday night.
* An interesting New York Times analysis found among Democratic candidates and their aligned groups, fewer than two dozen 2022 television ads mention guns or combating gun violence. In contrast, “more than 100 television ads from Republican candidates and supportive groups have used guns as talking points or visual motifs this year.”
* To no one’s surprise, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state’s office is formally moving forward with a recount in the commonwealth’s Republican U.S. Senate primary. According to the unofficial results, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz leads hedge fund executive Dave McCormick by 902 votes.
* Speaking of competitive primaries, we still don’t yet know who won the Democratic primary in Texas’ 28th congressional district. Politico noted that incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar currently leads Jessica Cisneros by fewer than 200 votes, but “there are still outstanding votes to be counted.” * In Wisconsin, former state Rep. Dean Knudson resigned yesterday from his seat on the state’s bipartisan election commission for an unfortunate reason: The lifelong conservative accepts the reality of what happened in the 2020 presidential election, which made it impossible for Knudson to represent the GOP on the board. * On a related note, as Knudson exits the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Robert Spindell — who is perhaps best known to national audiences as one of the fake Trump electors from the Republicans’ legally dubious post-election scheme — hopes to chair the panel.
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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