Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak in Philadelphia in a few hours, in an address in which he’ll reportedly condemn Republican voter-suppression campaign and demand legislation intended to “overcome this un-American trend.”
* In Virginia’s gubernatorial race, Glenn Youngkin (R) had agreed to participate in the premier debate of the contest later this month, but the Republican has since changed his mind: Youngkin now says he’ll skip the debate because the moderator, PBS News’ Judy Woodruff, donated $250 in 2010 to a Haitian earthquake relief program led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. According to the GOP candidate’s campaign, this makes Woodruff “a Clinton Foundation donor.”
* On a related note, while Youngkin struggles to deal with Donald Trump’s support in the commonwealth, the former president issued a statement reiterating his support for the GOP nominee yesterday, adding, “The Trump base is very large in Virginia.” Biden won Virginia by nearly double digits last fall.
* Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said last night he’s prepared to arrest the Democratic legislators who left the state in the hopes of derailing his party’s new voter-suppression measure. The Republican governor added that he also plans to “cabin” these state lawmakers “inside the Texas Capitol.”
* California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently filed suit to force state officials to list his party affiliation on the ballot during the upcoming recall election. Yesterday, a state judge ruled against him. * Former football player Jake Bequette launched a Republican U.S. Senate campaign in Arkansas yesterday, taking on incumbent Sen. John Boozman in a GOP primary. The 32-year-old, who played eight games for the New England Patriots, has never before sought elected office. * Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer, announced on a conservative media show yesterday that she’s “resigning” as a member of the Republican Party and changing her voter registration, because she believes the GOP isn’t going far enough to support the former president.
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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