Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Willie Nelson joined Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) over the weekend at an event in Austin in support of the congressman’s Senate campaign. The crowd reportedly topped 50,000, making it the largest campaign event for any candidate at any level since 2016.
* Though Chamber of Commerce polls tend to lean in Republicans’ direction, the Chamber’s latest poll in Florida’s gubernatorial race found Andrew Gillum (D) leading Ron DeSantis (R), 48% to 42%.
* The same poll showed Sen. Bill Nelson (D) narrowly ahead of Gov. Rick Scott (R), 48% to 46%.
* In southern California, Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R) latest attack ad goes after Ammar Campa-Najjar (D) as a terrorist sympathizer over actions his grandfather took nearly a half-century ago. The commercial, among other things, includes some clearly false claims.
* If Republicans hold onto their House majority, who would replace Paul Ryan as Speaker? Donald Trump reportedly made clear last week that he prefers Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who’s facing an aggressive challenge from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). * Confirming what’s been obvious for a while, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told a Massachusetts audience over the weekend that she intends to take a “hard look at running for president” after next month’s midterm elections. Warren is currently running for a second term and has avoided pledging to serve a full six years if re-elected. * And retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who helped force a re-opened FBI background check into Brett Kavanaugh last week, told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that there’s “not a chance” he would’ve done such a thing if he were running for a second term. “There’s no value to reaching across the aisle,” Flake said, “there’s not currency for that anymore, there’s no incentive.”
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." Recommended
