Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Mississippi’s U.S. Senate runoff is tomorrow, and Republicans are going all out to rescue Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith’s (R) candidacy. Donald Trump will headline two events in the red state later today.
* On a related note, the last several days have been challenging for Hyde Smith, with new revelations about, among other things, her attendance at a “segregation academy” and her support for a resolution praising a Confederate soldier’s effort to “defend his homeland.”
* Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took another step closer to the House Speaker’s gavel over the weekend, when Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), a Pelosi critic who signed a recent letter vowing to vote against her, said he’s prepared to support her on the House floor during the official leadership vote on Jan. 3.
* There aren’t many uncalled U.S. House races remaining, and another one appeared to wrap up over the weekend: the final tally in Georgia’s 7th points to Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) winning by about 400 votes. * The conventional wisdom after the 2016 elections said that pollsters had a rough cycle. Two years later, it looks like pollsters fared relatively well. * And for those keeping track, as of this morning, the Democratic lead in the U.S. House popular vote is up to 8.1%, and it may yet inch higher. For comparison purposes, note that in 2010 — which was widely seen as a GOP “wave” cycle — Republicans won the U.S. House popular vote by 6.6%. In 1994, which was seen as a Republican “revolution,” the GOP won the U.S. House popular vote by 7.1%.
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
