Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The two latest statewide polls in Alabama pointed in opposite directions. A poll from Mobile-based Strategy Research for Raycom News Network found Roy Moore (R) ahead by seven points, while a poll from Gravis Marketing showed Doug Jones (D) with a four-point lead.
* Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeted a picture yesterday afternoon of a personal $100 check he wrote in support of Doug Jones’ (D) Senate campaign. The accompanying text read, “Country over party.”
* In Georgia yesterday, Jen Jordan (D) won a state Senate seat yesterday previously held by a Republican, denying the GOP a supermajority in the chamber. According to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), it’s the 33rd state legislative seat that’s flipped from “red” to “blue” this year.
* And speaking of Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) appears to have narrowly won Atlanta’s mayoral yesterday, but her opponent, Mary Norwood (I), has requested a recount.
* The latest national Quinnipiac poll shows Democrats with a 14-point lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot. If that holds up — a big “if” — it’s the kind of advantage that would likely flip control of the U.S. House. * On a related note, Gallup reported this week that 37% of Americans now identify as Republicans, which is roughly an eight-year low. * And in Kentucky, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray (D) launched a congressional campaign yesterday against Rep. Andy Barr (R) in one of the Bluegrass State’s more competitive districts. It’ll be Gray’s second attempt at a congressional campaign: he ran against Sen. Rand Paul (R) last year and lost, 57% to 42%.
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
