Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the latest Monmouth University poll, released yesterday, Democrats led Republicans on the congressional generic ballot, 50 percent to 43 percent. As recently as June, the same pollster showed the parties tied, in May, the GOP enjoyed a four-point advantage.
* Primary Day in Tennessee, and the most competitive contest appears to be the fight for GOP nomination in the newly gerrymandered 5th congressional district. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper is retiring — the redrawn district lines made it effectively impossible for him to win re-election — and nine Republicans have collectively spent millions in the hopes of replacing him.
* Also in the Volunteer State, three Democrats are running today in a gubernatorial primary, though incumbent GOP Gov. Bill Lee is generally seen as the overwhelming favorite.
* Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial primary hasn’t yet been called, and the vote tallies remain close, but Kari Lake went ahead and declared herself the winner anyway.
* Speaking of the Grand Canyon State, incumbent Rep. Dave Schweikert faced a tough GOP primary challenge, but NBC News’ Decision Desk projects that the congressman survived.
* In Michigan’s gubernatorial race, the Democratic Governors Association isn’t wasting any time targeting Tudor Dixon: The DGA’s first ad slams the newly crowned Republican nominee for pushing an abortion ban with “no exceptions.”
* On a related note, now that Katie Hobbs has won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Arizona, her first television ad of the general election cycle emphasizes her support for “women’s reproductive health care” and her vow to “protect a woman’s right to choose.”
* And in a Senate committee hearing yesterday, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite told lawmakers that the Justice Department has reviewed more than 1,000 hostile threats against election workers over the past year. Federal criminal charges, however, were only filed in five cases, leading to one conviction.
