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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Donald Trump and the far-right are rallying support for Kari Lake, but Mike Pence today endorsed Lake’s rival, Karrin Taylor Robson. The former vice president, ignoring the former president’s preference, is scheduled to campaign with Robson on Friday — the same day Trump appears in Arizona alongside Lake.
* The latest Fox News poll found Republicans narrowly leading Democrats on the congressional generic ballot, 44 percent to 41 percent. That’s roughly in line with the latest national averages.
* Maryland will hold several notable primaries tomorrow, including both parties’ gubernatorial contests.
* In what I believe is the first public poll in Wyoming in recent months, a Casper Star-Tribune poll found Rep. Liz Cheney trailing her Republican rival, Harriet Hageman, by 22 points. The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon, comes roughly a month before Wyoming’s Aug. 16 primary.
* In Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley is generally seen as a safe bet for re-election, but the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found the Republican incumbent leading retired Navy Adm. Michael Franken by eight points, 47 percent to 39 percent. That might seem like a comfortable margin, but it’s been literally four decades since Grassley won by only eight points.
* I tend not to pay too much attention to gubernatorial fundraising totals, but former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s Democratic campaign in Texas raised $27.6 million over four months. That’s a Lone Star State record, and it’s on par with the kind of total we might expect from a relatively competitive presidential candidate.
* Donald Trump recently described ballot drop boxes as “corrupt and scandal-ridden Scam Boxes.” But the AP reported, “The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results. The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud.”