Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* It’s Primary Day in New Hampshire, and the race to watch is in the state’s competitive 1st congressional district, where incumbent Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) is retiring, and where both parties have large fields of candidates vying to replace her.
* A Monmouth University poll, released yesterday, found Democrats with modest advantages in eight competitive congressional districts currently represented by House Republicans.
* In Florida, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) was already giving up his congressional seat to run for Congress, but yesterday he took a step further, announcing his resignation in order to focus full time on his gubernatorial campaign.
* In New York, Rep. Chris Collins (R) suspended his re-election campaign after his criminal indictment, hoping Republican officials would choose someone else to run in his place. The New York Times reported yesterday, however, that “even as local Republican leaders have interviewed a slate of replacement candidates for the seat, there is a real possibility that Mr. Collins could stay on the November ballot and represent the party.”
* Michigan’s gubernatorial race looks like a major pick-up opportunity for Democrats: a new Detroit News poll shows Gretchen Whitmer (D) with a double-digit advantage over Bill Schuette (R), 49.8% to 36.1%. * Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), the Republican nominee in one of the nation’s most important Senate races, enjoys Trump’s enthusiastic support — but he apparently doesn’t want to be seen with the president. * This continues to be a controversy worth watching: “The U.S. Postal Service inspector general has launched an investigation into the improper release of U.S. congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger’s full, unredacted official personnel file, including a highly confidential national security form known as Standard Form 86.” * Donald Trump was scheduled to host another campaign rally on Thursday, this time in Mississippi, but his re-election campaign announced yesterday that the event has been cancelled in light of Hurricane Florence.
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
