Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* A super PAC aligned with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Republican Senate campaign launched a new ad campaign over the weekend, which wouldn’t have been especially notable were it not for its location: The commercials aired in Palm Beach, Florida, where Donald Trump spent the weekend. The president intends to issue an endorsement in the race soon.
* Speaking of the area around Mar-a-Local, voters on Boca Raton appear to have elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in decades. Although the race may yet face a court fight, the local elections administrators concluded that Andy Thomson prevailed by just five votes.
* In Oklahoma, Trump threw his support behind Republican Rep. Kevin Hern in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Mullin is likely to become the next homeland security secretary, and the president’s endorsement for Hern is already helping clear the GOP field.
* An interesting statistic: In Texas’ primaries two weeks ago, more Democratic voters cast ballots than did Republican voters. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2002.
* On the eve of Illinois’ Democratic U.S. Senate primary, there’s uncertainty over who’s the favorite, but the top three contenders are Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who’s backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, and two sitting members of Congress: Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly.
* In Indiana, Trump’s political operation hasn’t given up on retaliating against Republican state senators who rejected a White House scheme to create a more gerrymandered district map.
* And while Graham Platner is a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, he wrote an op-ed for The Houston Chronicle last week, taking aim at Republican Sen. Ted Cruz over his position on the war in Iran.
