Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The Republican primary in Alabama’s U.S. Senate special election is tomorrow, and a pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action, has made a last-minute, six-figure ad buy in support of appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R).
* On a related note, Donald Trump himself reiterated his support for Strange yesterday on Twitter. If no candidate gets 50% tomorrow, as seems likely, the top two Republicans will face off in a primary runoff on Sept. 26. The general election is scheduled for Dec. 12.
* Speaking of special election primaries, Republicans in Utah’s 3rd district will choose the party’s nominee to replace former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) tomorrow. The general election is Nov. 7, and Kathie Allen, a physician, is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
* In Wisconsin, Kevin Nicholson, a Republican U.S. Senate hopeful, has pulled his first campaign ad last week because it inappropriately featured footage from a veterans cemetery. The commercial has been edited and re-released.
* A day after the president called for national unity, Trump’s re-election campaign released a new 30-second commercial, attacking Democrats and journalists as the president’s “enemies.” * Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) faces a tough re-election challenge in Missouri next year, and to complicate matters, the incumbent senator now has a primary rival. 31-year-old Angelica Earl kicked off her campaign last week. Earl, running for the Democratic nomination, describes herself as a “big Bernie Sanders supporter” and “more of an independent than a Democrat.” * In Virginia, Corey Stewart, who nearly won the GOP gubernatorial primary and is now a U.S. Senate candidate, responded to Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville in a rather unique way. “Democrats and the media never denounce the violence perpetrated by the unhinged left,” Stewart said.
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
