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Thursday's Campaign Round-Up, 7.1.21

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

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Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* The editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has apparently been pushed over the edge by Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) ongoing anti-science approach to the pandemic. The editors this week described the Republican senator as "the most irresponsible representative of Wisconsin citizens since the infamous Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy in the 1950s," adding that Johnson "is not fit to be your senator."

* In light of the tragedy in Surfside, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reportedly encouraged Donald Trump to postpone a campaign-style rally in the state this weekend. As things stand, the former president is ignoring the advice.

* Though Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) isn't generally seen as one of next year's more vulnerable Senate incumbents, state Rep. Charles Booker (D) launched a campaign in Kentucky today against the Republican. This will be Booker's second attempt at statewide office: he narrowly lost a Democratic U.S. Senate primary last year.

* In New York, a new Siena poll found a plurality of voters (39%) want incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to serve out his term but not run for re-election, while only a third want to see the Democratic governor to seek a fourth term.

* We can add Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) to the list of Democratic U.S. Senate candidates eager to get rid of the filibuster if elected in 2022: the Florida congresswoman wrote an op-ed this week calling for lawmakers to "get rid of" the procedural tactic that makes governing in the Senate so difficult.

* In case there were any doubts, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) announced plans to run for re-election next year, ahead of a possible presidential campaign in 2024. The South Carolina Republican's new campaign video stresses that "cancel culture" is one of Scott's key issues.

* And against a backdrop of reports on Election Day workers quitting in the face of extremists' threats, New Jersey's Democratic-led legislature is moving forward with plans to give the state's poll workers a significant raise.