Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Ohio’s crowded U.S. Senate Republican primary, Jane Timken is starting to consolidate GOP establishment support. Retiring Sen. Rob Portman endorsed her last week, and three more sitting senators — Iowa’s Joni Ernst, West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito, and Nebraska’s Deb Fischer — threw their support behind her this week.
* On a related note, Timken’s increased support comes on the heels of her provocative new television ad in which she says, in reference to her male primary rivals, “We all know guys who overcompensate for their inadequacies, and that description fits the guys in the Senate race to a T.” The GOP candidate goes on to describe herself in the ad as “Trump tough.”
* Speaking of the Buckeye State, the Ohio Republican Party’s state central committee voted to endorse Gov. Mike DeWine, but it was close: The GOP members voted 36 to 26 to back the incumbent governor over his primary rivals.
* I’m skeptical that Rep. Madison Cawthorn will be disqualified from running for re-election, but the North Carolina Republican told Fox News last night that his critics are “close” to succeeding.









