Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Voters in Idaho will vote next week on Medicaid expansion, and the pro-health-care contingent just received a big boost: retiring two-term Gov. Butch Otter (R) has announced his support for the initiative.
* With time running out in Texas, the latest Quinnipiac poll shows Sen. Ted Cruz (R) hanging on to a modest lead over Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D), 51% to 46%.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), running for re-election in Vermont this year, appeared at a public forum last night and would not commit to serving a full six-year term. “If I run [for president] and win, the likelihood is I will not be Vermont’s senator,” he explained.
* In Arizona’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, a new NBC News/Marist poll, released this morning, found Kyrsten Sinema (D) with a six-point lead over Martha McSally (R), 50% to 44%. When the Green Party’s candidate is added to the mix, however, Sinema’s advantage shrinks to three points, 47% to 44%.
* Though most have assumed Connecticut’s gubernatorial office will remain Democratic, a new Quinnipiac poll suggests it’s going to be quite close: Ned Lamont (D) leads Bob Stefanowski (R) by just four points, 47% to 43%.
* In the very competitive U.S. House race in New York’s 19th district, a new Monmouth University poll shows Antonio Delgado (D) ahead of incumbent Rep. John Faso (R), 49% to 44%. This is a congressional district that saw a 12-point swing from Obama to Trump between 2012 and 2016. * Speaking of key House races, a KUTV poll in Utah’s 4th congressional district found Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams (D) up by six over incumbent Rep. Mia Love (R). * JD Scholten (D) has an uphill climb against Rep. Steve King (R) in Iowa’s 4th, but the challenger has an interesting new television ad highlighting local Republican voters who’ve turned against the incumbent. * And the fact that the National Republican Congressional Committee is buying airtime in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district — a district Trump won by 15 points — is probably not a good sign for the GOP. This is a district where Katie Arrington (R) was widely expected to win, but she’s struggling, and as of yesterday, she won’t have the support of Rep. Mark Sanford, whom she defeated in a Republican primary.
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
