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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The Iowa Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling on Friday and restored former Rep. Abby Finkenauer’s Senate candidacy. The Democrat is expected to take on incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in November.
* Though dozens of county GOP chairs and party central committee members in Ohio implored Donald Trump not to endorse J.D. Vance’s Senate candidacy, the former president backed the first-time candidate anyway. Trump nevertheless praised Vance’s primary rivals — because, the former president added, they’ve “said great things about ‘Trump.’”
* In related news, the Vance campaign will begin airing this new television ad tomorrow, touting the endorsement. The timing matters: Ohio’s Senate primary is May 3, but early voting is underway right now.
* Late Friday in Wisconsin, the conservative majority on the state Supreme Court approved new state legislative maps drawn by the Republican-led state legislature. As The New York Times noted, the new court-approved maps “essentially lock in overwhelming Republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate for the next decade.”
* In North Carolina’s competitive Republican Senate primary, now that Rep. Ted Budd is ahead in the polls, he’s refusing to debate his top GOP rival, former Gov. Pat McCrory. North Carolina’s primary is four weeks from tomorrow, but early voting in the race begins on April 28.
* In Florida’s competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary, Charlie Crist — an incumbent congressman and former governor — has picked up an endorsement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Crist’s primary against Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Sen. Annette Taddeo isn’t until August.
* And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is recognizing Tax Day by launching new billboards in Miami and Orlando, highlighting Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s proposed tax hikes. The billboard’s message reads, “Senate Republicans’ Plan: Raise Your Taxes.”