Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Texas’ closely watched U.S. Senate racee,The New York Times reported that state Attorney General Ken Paxton made some provocative comments to a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week. Referring to his party’s recent midterm convention in his home state, the scandal-plagued Republican said, “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”
The reporting dovetails with the main Democratic super PAC, called the Senate Majority PAC, announcing this week that it’s going to start advertising in the Lone Star State for the first time this election cycle.
As for a possible debate between state Rep. James Talarico and Paxton, the Democratic nominee volunteered to participate in an event hosted by Fox News, and the network agreed to hold the event, but Paxton has, at least so far, dodged all requests.
* Speaking of Texas, Bo French, the highly controversial Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, didn’t just post racist content to social media, he also called for “public executions for traitors,” including prominent Democratic officials.
* In Ohio’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the latest Marist Poll found former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, ahead of the Republican incumbent, Sen. Jon Husted, 51% to 43%. The latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed a closer contest, in which Brown led, 47% to 44%.
For his part, Brown this week launched a much-discussed campaign ad featuring public reactions to Husted saying Americans who live in poverty lack experience in “navigating the real world.”
* Speaking of the Buckeye State, in Ohio’s closely watched gubernatorial race, the latest Marist Poll showed Democrat Amy Acton ahead of Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, 50% to 44%, which was roughly in line with the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll, which showed Acton up by 9 points, 50% to 41%.
* In Michigan’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the latest Marist Poll found Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leading former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, 51% to 44%.
* How much money has been spent in the midterm election ad so far this cycle? According to a Washington Post analysis, the total is a staggering $1.5 billion, and there’s still five weeks to go.
* And in case Republicans weren’t already worried enough about this year’s election cycle, the latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Democrats with a 12-point advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 51% to 39%.
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