Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In New Hampshire, the latest CNN poll found Bernie Sanders leading Elizabeth Warren, 21% to 18%, in the race for the Democratic nomination. The survey, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, found Joe Biden third with 15%, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 10%.
* Also of interest, the same poll found Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, and Tulsi Gabbard tied for fifth place with 5% each. This will help each of these candidates qualify for the party’s primary debate in December, and moves Gabbard closer to qualifying for the November debate. (The crosstabs on page 60 suggest the Hawaii congresswoman is benefiting from support from more conservative voters.)
* Not long after his release from prison last year, George Papadopoulos, a former adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, announced plans to run for Congress — somewhere. “I just have to find a little Republican enclave somewhere in this part of the country,” Papadopoulos said after moving to southern California. Now, evidently, he intends to run in California’s 25th district, which was represented by former Rep. Katie Hill (D) before her recent resignation.
* Elizabeth Warren’s strong showing in 2020 polling is not the result of an aggressive media campaign: the Massachusetts senator’s operation ran its first television commercial in Iowa over the weekend.
* The latest Emerson College poll suggests Arizona may be a competitive battleground next year, with Trump tied with Biden and Warren in hypothetical general election match-ups, and the incumbent leading Sanders by just a couple of points. * A HuffPost analysis of federal election spending records found that Trump’s re-election campaign and affiliated political committees have spent “about $16.8 million at his businesses since he launched his 2016 bid for the presidency.” * And in Alabama, we don’t yet know for sure whether former Attorney General Jeff Sessions will run next year for his old U.S. Senate seat, but some of the Republicans already running for the seat are sending Sessions a not-so-subtle message: they’re not dropping out if he gets into 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
