Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Priorities USA, a leading super PAC aligned with Democratic politics, is reportedly launching a new, $15 million campaign intended to combat voter suppression in battleground states.
* The New York Times published a rather brutal report on Doug Mastriano’s Republican gubernatorial campaign in Pennsylvania, noting that the far-right candidate is drawing small crowds, isn’t running any television ads, and isn’t scheduled to receive any additional financial assistance from the Republican Governors Association.
* On a related note, Pennsylvania’s retiring U.S. senator, Republican Pat Toomey, refuses to say publicly whether he supports Mastriano’s candidacy.
* A new statewide Arizona Republic/Suffolk University poll found incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly leading Republican Blake Masters, 49% to 42%, in the Grand Canyon State’s closely watched U.S. Senate race.
* The same poll in Arizona showed a much more competitive gubernatorial contest, with Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs with the narrowest of leads over Republican Kari Lake, 46% to 45%.
* In Maine, the latest Emerson College poll found Democratic Gov. Janet Mills with a surprisingly large lead over her Republican predecessor, Paul LePage, 53% to 41%. The results were fueled by an enormous gender gap, with women preferring the incumbent by a 20-point margin.
* Speaking of LePage, the Republican moved to Florida after leaving office, and he’s reportedly still benefiting from Florida’s tax laws, even as he tries to mount a comeback bid in Maine.
* And in Nevada, Jim Marchant, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, has condemned postal balloting and called for its demise, despite new evidence that shows he’s voted by mail multiple times, even voting absentee by mail in one state while living in another.
