Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With a week remaining before the congressional special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district, an Emerson College poll released yesterday showed Conor Lamb (D) with a narrow lead over Rick Saccone (R), 48% to 45%.
* In Florida’s 27th congressional district, where Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) is retiring, former University of Miami president Donna Shalala (D) is kicking off a campaign to succeed her. Though Shalala has never sought elected office, she was Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration.
* It’s primary day in Texas, and NBC News’ First Read team did a nice job summarizing the key areas of interest.
* The offensive against Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) continues in Wisconsin, where the Koch-backed Concerned Veterans for America is targeting the incumbent senator with another $1.6 million in attack ads.
* While Donald Trump is not a common fixture on the campaign trail, at least not yet, the opposite is true for his vice president: Mike Pence will be in Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Ohio this week “for a mix of official and campaign events.” * Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) announced over the weekend that she’ll run for a second term, but at the event, reporters asked her about her recent comments that mass murderers “end up being Democrats.” The New York Republican reportedly told local media in response, “It is fake news! I answered your question every which way, it is fake news. Bye. Done. It’s ridiculous.” * And remember Sharron Angle’s failed Republican Senate campaigns in 2010 and 2016? She’s back once again, this time running in a GOP primary against incumbent Rep. Mark Amodei.
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
