Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The fight over Alabama’s district map appears to have come to an end, following a lengthy legal fight. Roughly 24 hours ago, a federal court formally approved a new map, which gives greater representation to the state’s Black voters.
* Are House Democrats trying to take advantage of House Republican chaos through new fundraising campaigns? Most definitely, yes.
* In March, a Marquette Law School poll found Donald Trump leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by just five points among Republican primary voters. In the newest Marquette Law School poll, the gap is 44 points: 56% to 12%. No other GOP candidate reached double-digit support.
* In Pennsylvania, the latest Quinnipiac University poll found a similar dynamic, with Trump leading DeSantis in the state, 61% to 14%. As recently as June, the former president led the governor, 49% to 25%.
* On a related note, Quinnipiac’s poll also found incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey with an early lead over Republican David McCormick, 50% to 44%, in a hypothetical 2024 match-up.
* Sen. Joe Manchin told MSNBC this week, “I don’t think that democracy as we know it would withstand another Trump administration.” The conservative West Virginia Democrat is nevertheless considering a third-party presidential campaign that might very well make another Trump administration more likely.
* And while Cornel West was seeking the Green Party’s presidential nomination, the academic and progressive activist has now decided to run as an independent, which is likely to create new ballot-access challenges.