Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Just a few days after Donald Trump told the public that the entire voter database in Maricopa County “has been DELETED,” the former president’s Republican allies conceded that this wasn’t true.
* Nevertheless, some reporters at One America News (OAN), the far-right, Trump-aligned network, are reportedly trying to raise money to help fund Arizona’s utterly bonkers election “audit.”
* In related news, a judge in Michigan yesterday dismissed a lingering lawsuit falsely alleging fraud in the 2020 election. This was one of the cases that the Florida-based Cyber Ninjas outfit was involved with.
* Republican legislators in Alabama this week approved a ban on curbside voting, which was notable in part because Alabama doesn’t have curbside voting.
* In Missouri, Mark McCloskey, perhaps best known for brandishing a rifle at Black Lives Matter protesters, announced a Republican U.S. Senate campaign on Fox News last night.
* Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto lost in a Democratic primary yesterday to challenger Ed Gainey, a five-term state representative. If Gainey prevails in the general election, he’ll become the city’s first Black mayor.
* In nearby Unity township, Republican Leslie Baum Rossi won a state legislative special election yesterday. The Pennsylvania GOP candidate is perhaps best known for creating a shrine to Donald Trump along Route 982 in Youngstown, including a 12-foot metal likeness of the former president in the yard. * In a bit of a surprise, Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase (R) has reportedly decided not to run an independent gubernatorial campaign this year, despite her recent condemnation of the GOP nominating process having been “rigged.” * In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) has decided to seek re-election, despite the attacks he’s faced from Donald Trump and his cohorts. * And on a related note, the former president issued a statement yesterday, encouraging Georgia’s Republican-led legislature to “build up the courage to expose” election conspiracy theories that only exist in his mind. He added that Georgia should “just look at” Arizona as a model to emulate.
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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