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Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With less than four weeks remaining in Virginia's gubernatorial race, a new Emerson College poll found former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe with the narrowest of leads over Republican Glenn Youngkin, 49 percent to 48 percent.
* On a related note, echoing his party, Youngkin this week called for an "audit" of Virginia's voting machines, despite the absence of problems with the commonwealth's electoral system.
* As if Democrats didn't have enough to worry about, the latest Quinnipiac poll found Republicans ahead on the generic congressional ballot, 46 percent to 43 percent. Last month, Quinnipiac showed Democrats with a three-point advantage on the question.
* In Nevada's U.S. Senate race, former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, the likely Republican nominee, wouldn't answer a question about whether he would certify the results of the 2024 presidential election, calling it a "hypothetical."
* In Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Sean Parnell, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, is seeking "a gag order" against his wife. The goal, evidently, is to block discussion of previous protection-from-abuse orders against him.
* In Colorado's U.S. Senate race, Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks confirmed this week that he hopes to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet next year. What makes Hanks' candidacy notable is his recent past: The Republican was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6; he visited Arizona's bonkers election "audit"; and he attended MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's weird conference in August.
* And in Utah, Evan McMullin kicked off a U.S. Senate campaign yesterday against incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee. McMullin, a former CIA officer who served as a policy aide to the House Republican Conference, will run as an independent. Also notable: McMullin ran an independent presidential campaign in 2016, and received 21 percent of the vote in Utah.