Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Accused of sexually inappropriate behavior toward women, freshman Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.) announced over the weekend that he will not seek a second term next year.
* In Alabama, Roy Moore (R) hasn’t yet conceded his Senate race, and late last week, he sent a fundraising letter to prospective donors, telling them the “battle is not over.”
* The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Democrats with an 11-point advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 50% to 39%. It’s the Dems’ largest lead since 2008, which was a very good year for the party.
* The latest national Associated Press poll showed Donald Trump’s approval rating down to just 32% — the third major national poll in recent weeks showing the president’s support dropping to this depth. The FiveThirtyEight polling average for Trump has now reached the lowest point of his presidency. * Republicans consider Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) a top electoral target next year, but the AP reports that the GOP “is struggling to land a big name in North Dakota to run” against her. * And Donald Trump whined this morning that the media “refuses to mention” that “Republicans are 5-0 in Congressional Races this year.” Those rascally news organizations probably don’t mention this because it’s not true: Democratic candidates won special elections this year in California’s 34th congressional district and Alabama’s U.S. Senate race. Someone probably ought to let the president know.
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
