Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* We’re one day out from primaries in five states — Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington — though the marquee contest remains the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, and most polls continue to show former state health official Abdul El-Sayed with a double-digit lead over Rep. Haley Stevens.
That said, much of the congresswoman’s messaging of late has emphasized general-election electability, and recent statewide surveys, including the final preprimary poll from EPIC-MRA, have shown Stevens better positioned against former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee.
As for other statewide contests on the same day, there’s also a competitive Democratic Senate primary in Kansas, a competitive GOP gubernatorial primary in Michigan and competitive gubernatorial primaries in both parties in Kansas. Also keep an eye on some statewide ballot measures, most notably in Missouri, where Republicans are pushing Amendment 4, which would crack down on citizen-initiated measures, making it far more difficult to get measures onto the ballot.
* In Maine’s closely watched Senate race, new Democratic nominee Troy Jackson launched his first general election ad of his truncated candidacy on Saturday. A day later, in response to reporting that Republican megadonor Elon Musk was planning to spend millions of dollars in support of Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ candidacy, Jackson released a direct-to-camera message, urging Musk to stay out of the state.
* Amid endless scuttlebutt about Sen. John Fetterman’s partisan plans, the Pennsylvania Democrat told The New York Times late last week that he will “never” become a Republican.
* In Virginia, Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office announced Friday that she has restored voting rights for more than 66,000 people who have served their punishments after being convicted of crimes.
* Rodric Bray, the top Republican in the Indiana state Senate, announced late last week that he won’t run again for his current leadership position. Bray, whom Donald Trump has repeatedly and fiercely condemned for failing to go along with his redistricting scheme, said his decision was rooted in trying to help spare his members from having to deal with the president’s rage.
* And August is slated to be a very busy month for campaign watchers, with primaries in 17 states. Bolts published a helpful overview of the contests worth watching.
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