Wednesday's Campaign Round-Up, 1.11.17

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.* Keep a close eye on this case in North Carolina: "The U.S. Supreme Court has put new General Assembly elections ordered by a lower court on hold for now. In a one-paragraph order issued Tuesday, the court stayed a lower court demand that lawmakers redraw many of their districts and hold new elections in 2017."* A Quinnipiac poll, released yesterday, shows Trump with a favorability rating of just 37%. In eight years, President Obama's favorability rating never reached a level so low.* The same poll puts President Obama's approval rating at 55%.* This should make for interesting confirmation-hearing questions: "The ex-wife of President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, appeared in disguise on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' as a victim of domestic violence, after having accused him multiple times of physically assaulting her in the 1980s, according to two friends of hers and a spokesman for the former couple."* The American Action Network, a Republican non-profit, is prepared to launch a $1 million ad campaign "promoting House leaders' plans on health care." If House Republicans had a health plan, this might be a more sensible investment.* Monica Crowley, Donald Trump's pick for a top position on the White House National Security Council, has now been accused of plagiarizing for the fourth time. The latest accusations relate to her columns in the Washington Times, a conservative newspaper.* Sen. Joe Manchin (D) will likely be a Republican target in West Virginia next year, and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) is apparently interested.* Tom Barrack, the head of the president-elect's inaugural committee, said Trump's inauguration will feature a "soft sensuality" rather than be a "circus-like celebration." Good to know.