Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With Virginia’s closely watched gubernatorial campaign on tap for tomorrow, there’s a whole bunch of new polls, nearly all of which show Ralph Northam (D) with a modest lead over Ed Gillespie (R).
* Donald Trump has endorsed Gillespie, but hasn’t made any in-person campaign appearances for him. When was the last time a sitting president didn’t campaign for his party’s gubernatorial nominee in Virginia? That would be Richard Nixon in 1973 — near the height of the Watergate scandal.
* New Jersey will also host a gubernatorial campaign tomorrow, and the latest Monmouth University poll shows Phil Murphy (D) with a 14-point lead over Kim Guadagno (R), 53% to 39%.
* The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll found Democrats with a double-digit advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot. The Dems’ lead is now the largest it’s been in this poll since 2006 — the cycle Democrats wrestled control of both the House and Senate from the Bush-era GOP.
* AL.com reported the other day that a small “Republicans for Doug Jones” movement is gaining ground in Alabama ahead of the state’s U.S. Senate special election. Jones (D) will face Roy Moore on Dec. 12, which is five weeks from tomorrow. * Jeff Hoover, the Republican state House Speaker in Kentucky, resigned yesterday, acknowledging that he’d sent “inappropriate” text messages to a legislative staffer in his office. * Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), one of Congress’ fiercest opponents of climate science, is retiring from Congress at the end of this term. Smith, the current chairman of the House Science Committee, is term-limited from keeping his gavel.
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
