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 congressional ballot, 52% to 40%, among registered voters. That 12-point advantage is up from an eight-point Democratic lead a month ago. Among likely voters, however, that Dems’ lead is eight points, 51% to 43%.
* The new Fox News poll, meanwhile, shows Democrats with a seven-point lead among likely voters on the generic ballot, 49% to 42%. The network’s report, however, added this tidbit: “When looking only at counties where the 2016 presidential vote was close (Clinton and Trump within 10 points), Democrats have a 17-point lead in the ballot test.”
* A new University of Florida poll found incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) tied with Gov. Rick Scott (R), 45% each, in this year’s closely watched U.S. Senate race.
* On a related note, the same poll found Andrew Gillum (D) with a modest lead over Ron DeSantis (R) in Florida’s gubernatorial race, 47% to 43%. (Don’t ask me to explain the voters who supported both Gillum and Rick Scott in the same poll.)
* In Pennsylvania, the latest Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll found incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D) easily defeating Lou Barletta (R) in the commonwealth’s U.S. Senate race, 53% to 35%. * On a related note, the same poll found Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) with a very similar lead over Scott Wagner (R), 55% to 36%. * In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan (R), running for a second term, was probably pleased to learn that the NRA isn’t endorsing his re-election bid. * Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, a former aide to John McCain, wrote an op-ed for the Arizona Republic, noting his interest in possibly running for the late senator’s seat in 2020. Woods, who served in elected office as a Republican, said if he runs, it’ll be as a Democrat or an independent. “The Republican Party has abandoned its tethering philosophy and surrendered its moral authority because it wanted to stay in power,” he said of today’s GOP. “I want no part of it.”
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
