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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* According to an Associated Press tally, in the first week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democrats and aligned groups “raised more than $80 million, a tangible early sign that the ruling may energize voters.”
* In Missouri, John Wood’s independent U.S. Senate campaign faces an uphill battle, but it will have some helpful financial backing: The Missouri Stands United PAC, run by former Republican Sen. John Danforth, is spending $3 million in support of Wood this month, with plans to spend up to $20 million in the coming months.
* Kristina Karamo, the Trump-backed Republican nominee for Michigan secretary of state, is on record describing abortion as a “satanic practice.” A CNN report on this added Karamo also said on a podcast that demonic possession is real and can be transmitted through “intimate relationships.”
* South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, widely seen as a Republican eyeing a presidential campaign, reportedly launched a commercial last week that was intended to help introduce her to a national audience.
* In Michigan, businessman Perry Johnson decided last week not to launch a write-in campaign in the hopes of winning a Republican gubernatorial primary. Johnson previously spent $7 million of his own money on his GOP candidacy, before he was disqualified for bogus voter petition signatures.
* In Arizona’s crowded Republican Senate primary, the latest Public Policy Polling survey found Blake Masters leading the pack with 29 percent support, followed by state Attorney General Mark Brnovich at 15 percent. Jim Lamon, with 10 percent, was the only other candidate to reach double digits.
* And in a metaphor that was a little too on the nose, Georgia Republican Herschel Walker’s car broke down during a parade over the weekend. The Senate hopeful’s car certainly looked nice on the outside, but there were apparently some troubles below the surface.