Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Election Day is a week from tomorrow, and we’re now getting a look at how Donald Trump is spending the cycle’s final week: Bloomberg News reports that the president is traveling to Missouri, West Virginia, Montana, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. Note, this will be Trump’s fourth visit to Montana because he seems to have a personal vendetta against Sen. Jon Tester (D).
* Politico reports that in Florida’s early voting, Republicans appear to be turning out more voters than Democrats.
* Speaking of the Sunshine State, former President Barack Obama is now scheduled to headline a campaign rally in Florida on Friday, Nov. 2.
* In Virginia’s closely watched U.S. House race in the 7th congressional district, a new Wason Center poll shows Abigail Spanberger (D) inching past Dave Brat (R) among likely voters, 46% to 45%.
* In related news, the Wason Center also found Jennifer Wexton (D) leading incumbent Barbara Comstock (R) in Virginia’s 10th, 56% to 43%.
* Former President Jimmy Carter wrote to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp over the weekend, urging the Republican gubernatorial candidate to “step aside and hand over to a neutral authority the responsibility of overseeing the governor’s election.” Kemp has refused similar requests. * Flush with cash, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has launched a new, 60-second television ad, billed as the president’s “closing sale to the American people.” The commercial, which focuses on the economy, does not feature Trump. * Over the weekend, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) not only complained about tech companies donating to his rival, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D), the senator also suggested those same companies are conspiring to hide conservative content on social-media sites. As Republican conspiracy theories go, I find it hard to believe even Cruz believes his own pitch. * And speaking of the Lone Star State, the Associated Press reports that some Texans have complained that electronic voting machines in the state have flipped their Democratic votes to Republican votes. The GOP-led secretary of state’s office on Friday blamed user error.
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
