Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With a presidential pardon in his pocket, former Sheriff Joe Arpaio told NBC News this morning he’d “consider” running against Sen. Jeff Flake (R) in an Arizona primary next year, especially if Donald Trump asks him to.
* The AP reported late yesterday that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito “temporarily blocked a lower court’s order that Texas redraw some of its congressional districts that were struck down as racially discriminatory.”
* In Pennsylvania, Rep. Lou Barletta (R), a Donald Trump ally and immigration hardliner, announced this morning he’s running for the Senate, hoping to take on Sen. Bob Casey (D) next year. Barletta will probably not be the only candidate in the primary field.
* The latest Pew Research Center poll shows the president with a 36% approval rating. On a related note, the latest monthly data from Gallup shows Trump has lost more than a fifth of his support since taking office, including an 11-point drop among Republican voters.
* Yet another RNC employee from the national party’s data department is leaving. Politico reports that Conor Maguire, who’s worked at the RNC since 2011, is the fifth staffer to depart since June. * As Trump starts to hedge on supporting appointed Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama’s Republican Senate primary, Steve Bannon is reportedly supporting Strange’s rival, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. * And in Maine, Gov. Paul LePage (R) initially said he was considering a campaign against Sen. Angus King (I) next year. Then the governor ruled it out. Late last week, however, the governor told a local radio station that “nothing’s final in life.”
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
