Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As the controversy surrounding the U.S. House race in North Carolina’s 9th district continues, the Charlotte Observer published a report on Leslie McCrae Dowless, an “independent contractor” for Republican Mark Harris’ campaign, who is a convicted felon who faced jail time for felony fraud and perjury.
* On a related note, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte ran a report on what appears to have been an illegal system of picking up ballots in the district. WSOC spoke to one woman who collected ballots and gave them to Dowless, and she conceded she can’t say whether those ballots were counted.
* Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that state elections board yesterday subpoenaed Mark Harris’ campaign. Election officials are also expected to issue another subpoena to the Republican consulting firm, Red Dome Group, which hired Dowless.
* It’s Election Day in Georgia again today, and voters will elect a new secretary of state. The runoff race pits state Rep. Brad Raffensperger (R) against former U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D). Though neither candidate reached 50% last month, Raffensperger narrowly led Barrow in the first round of balloting.
* Speaking of Georgia, Stacey Abrams (D) narrowly lost a highly controversial gubernatorial race last month, but she’s already eyeing her next election. Abrams told Politico she’s considering a U.S. Senate race against Sen. David Perdue (R) in 2020. * In Wisconsin, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) defended his party’s power-grab yesterday by saying Republicans “don’t trust” Gov.-elect Tony Evers “right now.” What Fitzgerald doesn’t appear to appreciate is that he needs to trust the state’s voters, too. * A month after Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) was re-elected despite being under federal criminal indictment, a judge yesterday set a trial date of Sept. 10 for the Republican congressman. * And in Louisiana, Republicans are suddenly without a top-tier contender to take on Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) next year. In an interview last month, Sen. John Kennedy (R) told WRBZ in Baton Rouge, “I have polled it. I’ll give you a copy of the poll. There are two people that would beat Gov. Edwards: Steve Scalise and me.” Now, both of them have decided to skip the race.
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
