Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) this morning became the first Senate Republican to announce he won’t support Roy Moore’s candidacy in Alabama.
* The latest national Fox News poll shows Donald Trump’s approval rating dropping to 38% — an all-time low from this pollster — but perhaps more interesting was the generic congressional ballot. Fox found Democrats leading Republicans in the midterm elections by a whopping 15 points, 50% to 35%.
* A new CNN poll showed Dems faring slightly better on the generic congressional ballot, leading Republicans, 54% to 38%.
* With time running out in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, the latest Quinnipiac poll shows Phil Murphy (D) leading Kim Guadagno (R) among likely voters, 57% to 37%.
* In Virginia’s gubernatorial race, Ed Gillespie (R) continues to focus on racially divisive issues as the core of his closing message, touting his support for Confederate statues in a television ad released yesterday.
* Speaking of Gillespie, while most recent polling shows him trailing Ralph Northam (D), a Hampton University poll released yesterday showed the Republican with an eight-point lead, but this poll’s recent track record isn’t great. * On a related note, Donald Trump continues to tout Gillespie’s candidacy, though the GOP candidate is reluctant to acknowledge the president in public. Virginia was the only state in the South that backed Hillary Clinton over Trump last year. * In Florida, two new polls show a very competitive Senate race pitting incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) against Gov. Rick Scott (R). A Mason-Dixon poll shows the two tied, while a University of North Florida poll shows Nelson ahead by just one point. * On a related note, Scott, who cannot run for re-election as governor, launched a $2 million ad campaign bragging about how impressed he is with his response to Hurricane Irma.
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
