Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Democrats leading Republicans on the generic ballot, 49% to 43%. That six-point Dem advantage is down from 10 points from the same poll last month.
* Republicans in Georgia will choose their gubernatorial nominee tomorrow, and in the wake of Donald Trump endorsing Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Vice President Mike Pence appeared alongside Kemp at a rally over the weekend.
* On a related note, a SurveyUSA poll for the NBC affiliate in Atlanta found Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams trailing both of the GOP candidates in hypothetical general-election match-ups, but only by two points, reinforcing the impression that this will be a competitive contest.
* In Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D) debated Corey Stewart (R) over the weekend, and when the Republican said Donald Trump “is standing up to the Russians,” there was audible laughter from some in the audience.
* In Missouri, the far-right Club for Growth Action is launching a $2 million ad campaign attacking Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).
* Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) isn’t just having to explain misogynistic rhetoric he used on his radio program before joining Congress; the Minnesota Republican also reportedly used racist rhetoric, claiming, among other things, that black people have an “entitlement mentality.” * Though Republicans have made Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) one of their top 2018 targets, the incumbent senator is airing a new ad showing thanks he’s received from Donald Trump. * Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), up for re-election in one of the nation’s most reliably “blue” states, told a group of high-school students last week that if the NRA endorsed his candidacy, he’d refuse to accept the group’s backing. * And the pipeline between Fox News and Trump World appears very much intact: host Kimberly Guilfoyle has left the network and joined the pro-Trump America First super PAC.
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
