Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Alabama’s state House special election yesterday Republican Rex Reynolds prevailed with 53% of the vote — in a district where Donald Trump won by 22 points in 2016.
* In a court order that may carry real electoral consequences, a state judge in Florida yesterday ordered Gov. Rick Scott (R) and his administration “to dismantle Florida’s ‘fatally flawed’ system of arbitrarily restoring voting rights to felons and to replace it by April 26.”
* On a related note, another Wisconsin judge instructed Gov. Scott Walker (R) yesterday to “call special elections by Thursday to fill the vacant seats of two state legislators.” Wisconsin’s Republican-led legislature is considering a plan to change the state’s special-elections law to prevent that from happening.
* In Arizona’s upcoming congressional special election, where the Republican candidate is heavily favored, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC have invested $270,000 in support of former state Sen. Debbie Lesko (R). That’s on top of the $280,000 the Republican National Committee has already spent on the race.
* Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.), who announced over the weekend that he’s retiring rather than seeking another term, is removing his name from the state’s primary ballot. Given that the filing deadline has already passed, it means Republicans may be stuck with a largely unknown candidate who’s raised very little money. * Though a few new polls show Donald Trump’s approval rating climbing to 42%, the latest Public Policy Polling survey shows the president’s support inching lower, to 39%. Similarly, a new CNBC poll also puts Trump’s approval rating at 39%. * Fredy Burgos, a member of the Virginia Republican Party’s State Central Committee, recently argued that only Christians are fit to run for public office. Over the weekend, the state GOP removed him from his position. * And just two months after federal prosecutors gave up on his case, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will formally kick off his re-election bid today in his hometown of Union City.
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
