Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Virginia’s 10th congressional district, widely seen as one of the nation’s most competitive House contests, Democratic leaders got the candidate they wanted: state Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D) easily won her primary yesterday, and will take on incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) in the fall.
* Things were less encouraging for Democratic Party leaders in South Carolina, where Archie Parnell (D) also won his congressional primary in the 5th district, despite losing party support in response to revelations about spousal abuse in his past.
* The latest Public Policy Polling survey, released today, shows Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 46% to 40%. That’s roughly in line with recent national averages.
* After Virginia’s Corey Stewart’s won his Republican Senate primary last night, the crowd at his victory party chanted, “Lock her up.” The GOP nominee told his supporters in response, “That might just happen, by the way.”
* Because Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) dislikes his state’s ranked-choice voting — a reform approved by his constituents — he’s threatening not to certify the results of yesterday’s primaries. * On a related note, Mainers are keeping the system in place, at least for now. * The National Rifle Association has apparently pulled its old scorecards, which give letter grades to lawmakers based on how often they voted with the NRA’s position, from the group’s website. Why hide them from public view? “I think our enemies were using that,” an NRA source told the Washington Post. * Members of the Democratic National Committee over the weekend agreed to not accept contributions from fossil fuel companies. The DNC’s vote was reportedly unanimous.
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
