Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In case Arizona’s election “audit” weren’t already ridiculous enough, the Arizona Republic reported that GOP state senators also hired “an election conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine activist to conduct its review of voter signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes in Maricopa County.” What could possibly go wrong.
* With time running out in California’s gubernatorial recall election, conservative talk-show host Larry Elder, the top Republican candidate, vowed to replace Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein with a Republican if given the opportunity. “[T]hat would be an earthquake in Washington, D.C.,” Elder boasted late last week.
* On a related note, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in California tomorrow, hoping to rally support for incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. President Joe Biden is now expected to make the same trip early next week. Election Day is a week from today.
* Pro Publica published a striking report late last week, documenting the extent to which local Republican activists, loyal to Donald Trump, have adopted Stephen Bannon’s “precinct strategy” and begun filling key roles in assorted offices, becoming poll workers, election inspectors, and GOP officials.
* It may seem a little early for multi-million-dollar investments in a 2022 ad campaign, but Club For Growth Action is reportedly spending $3 million in support of Rep. Ted Budd’s Republican U.S. Senate candidacy. The money will go toward television ads that will run on Fox News in North Carolina markets. * Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek has kicked off a Democratic gubernatorial campaign, joining what’s expected to be a relatively crowded primary. If elected, Kotek would be the nation’s first lesbian governor. * And Donald Trump criticized Nikki Haley last week, telling Vanity Fair, “Well, every time she criticizes me, she uncriticizes me about 15 minutes later.” I’m skeptical that “uncriticizes” is a word, but putting that aside, this is one of the more accurate things the former president has said in a while.
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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