Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district, Democratic Rep.-elect Gabe Amo easily defeated Republican Gerry Leonard, and he will fill the vacancy left by former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline. Once he’s sworn in, Amo will be Rhode Island’s first Black representative in Congress.
* In a closely watched judicial race, Democrat Dan McCaffery prevailed in Pennsylvania and won a state Supreme Court seat. As a result, the party retains a 5-2 majority on the commonwealth’s highest court.
* In big-city mayoral races, Democrat Cherelle Parker was elected as Philadelphia’s next mayor, and she’ll be the first woman to ever serve in the office. In Houston, meanwhile, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire advanced to a runoff election scheduled for Dec. 9. Both are Democrats.
* Though I continue to think the importance of early general-election polling a year from Election Day is overstated, the latest national CNN poll found Donald Trump leading incumbent President Joe Biden, 49% to 45%.
* Speaking of polling, the latest University of North Florida poll found the former president dominating in the Sunshine State’s upcoming GOP primary, leading Gov. Ron DeSantis by a nearly three-to-one margin in his own home state. Follow MSNBC’s live blog coverage of the third GOP debate here. * In New Jersey, Republicans hoped to possibly gain control of at least one of the state legislature’s chambers. Instead, the Democratic majority grew larger. * And Biden’s re-election campaign this week released the first in a series of ads targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.
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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