Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In one of a handful of member-vs-member primaries this year, Rep. Lucy McBath easily defeated fellow Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in the Democratic primary in Georgia’s 7th congressional district. McBath is the favorite to keep the seat in the fall.
* Speaking of congressional primaries in Georgia, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had little trouble beating her intra-party rivals yesterday, but it was of interest that the right-wing incumbent finished with just under 70 percent of the vote.
* In Alabama’s U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Mo Brooks’ candidacy appeared to be doomed when Donald Trump un-endorsed him in March, but the Republican congressman nevertheless advanced to a runoff yesterday. He will, however, have a lot of ground to make up: Katie Britt finished with nearly 45 percent support, while Brooks was second with just under 30 percent.
* As for Alabama’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Gov. Kay Ivey may have been in Trump’s doghouse, but she won the primary with 54 percent, easily outpacing her GOP rivals, and the incumbent is a heavy favorite in the fall.
* In Arkansas, former football player Jake Bequette had plenty of far-right money behind him, but he still fell far short in his Republican primary challenge against Sen. John Boozman: The incumbent won, 58 percent to 21 percent.
* In Minnesota’s Republican congressional primary in the 1st congressional district, former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Brad Finstad declared victory overnight, defeating state Rep. Jeremy Munson, who was endorsed by Republican senators such as Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. This is a race to fill the vacancy left by Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who died in February. The late congressman’s widow, Jennifer Carnahan, finished third.
* And billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel is far from done with his election investments: Thiel has put another $3.5 million into a super PAC supporting Blake Masters’ Republican Senate campaign in Arizona. Masters, incidentally, is a former Thiel employee.
