Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* It’s Primary Day tomorrow in Wyoming and Alaska. Though the contests aren’t quite as high-profile as some of the other recent races we’ve been watching, there’s a competitive Republican gubernatorial primary in Wyoming, where GOP megadonor Foster Friess has received some Trump World support.
* A week from tomorrow, there will be closely watched primaries in Florida and Arizona, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was in Tampa the other day to endorse Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in the state’s four-way Democratic gubernatorial primary. Most recent polling suggests Gillum is an underdog, but the independent senator’s backing may help give the mayor a late boost.
* Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) former financial institutions secretary, Peter Bildsten, has accused the governor’s office of having directed him “to meet with payday loan lobbyists and discouraged him from creating documents that could be turned up under the state’s open records law.” Bildsten has now endorsed — and appeared in ads in support of — state schools Superintendent Tony Evers (D), who won the Democratic gubernatorial primary last week.
* On a related note, the latest survey from Public Policy Polling in Wisconsin shows Evers leading Walker in this year’s gubernatorial race, 49% to 44%.
* Reuters reported the other day that the FBI is investigating a cyber-attack against former Democratic congressional candidate David Min, who was defeated in a June primary in California’s 45th congressional district. Rolling Stone recently reported on another alleged cyber-attack targeting a different Democratic candidate in the neighboring 46th district. (Update: this item has been corrected.) * On a related note, officials in New Jersey, which is home to several competitive congressional races this year, announced plans to invest $10 million in an election-security initiative. The project will be financed in part by federal funds. * New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), currently running for a third term, is trying to undo some of the damage he did last week. “The expression I used the other day was inartful, so I want to be very clear: Of course America is great, and of course America has always been great — no one questions that,” the governor told reporters on Friday. * In Florida’s 27th congressional district, there’s a crowded Republican primary in the race to replace Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R). One of the leading GOP candidates is Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, who claims to have been abducted by aliens. In fact, the Republican has also said the aliens took her aboard their spaceship and have periodically communicated with her telepathically. The editorial board of the Miami Herald endorsed her anyway, suggesting (a) something is askew with the editors’ judgment, or (b) Rodriguez Aguilera’s primary rivals are utterly ridiculous.
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
