Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With only three weeks remaining before Missouri’s highly competitive Republican U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Vicky Hartzler is launching a new attack ad targeting former Gov. Eric Greitens and state Attorney General Eric Schmitt — the spot is called “Eric and Eric” — accusing them of being insufficiently tough on China.
* On a related note, Donald Trump announced the other day that he won’t endorse Hartzler in the GOP primary. The former president was a little vague in his explanation — he said the conservative congresswoman does not have “what it takes” — and left open the possibility of an endorsement for disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens.
* Speaking of Trump, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found that roughly half of Republican voters nationwide are prepared to vote for someone else in the 2024 race. Overall, the former president is backed by 49 percent of GOP voters, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 25 percent.
* The same poll found a significant education gap: Among Republicans with college degrees, DeSantis leads Trump in a hypothetical 2024 primary by four points, while Republicans without college degrees prefer Trump over DeSantis by 37 points.
* And speaking of DeSantis, the Florida Republican has become actively involved in local, non-partisan, school board races, surveying candidates to see if their views align with his. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the governor’s decision to insert himself into these contests “is unprecedented in modern Florida politics.” * As for who’ll take DeSantis on in the fall, the latest survey from St. Pete Polls, working on behalf of Florida Politics, found Rep. Charlie Crist well ahead of state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, 49 percent to 24 percent, in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. * In Arizona’s competitive Republican gubernatorial primary, the latest polling found Trump-backed former TV news anchor Kari Lake with modest leads, but Karrin Taylor Robson has significantly narrowed the gap, fueled in part by support from the state GOP establishment.
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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