Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Republicans on the Georgia State Election Board recently passed a requirement for counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day, sparking new litigation from local Democrats.
* In Pennsylvania, the latest AARP poll found Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly leading Donald Trump among likely voters, 49% to 47%. This is the first AARP poll in the Keystone State since President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid. (Click the links for information on the survey’s methodologies and margins of error.)
* Speaking of Pennsylvania, The New York Times reports that the GOP is already struggling when it comes to early voting in the state: “As of Monday, Democrats in the state had requested about 881,000 mail ballots, and Republicans had requested 373,000, less than half of the Democratic total and only about a quarter of the total mail ballots requested in the state.”
* In North Carolina, the latest Washington Post poll found the former president narrowly leading the Democratic nominee, 50% to 48%. As for the state’s gubernatorial race, the same survey found Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein ahead of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, 54% to 38%. (Click the link for information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* Republican Voters Against Trump this week announced a $15 million investment in support of a pro-Harris ad campaign. The spots, highlighting former Trump voters who’ve changed their minds, will appear in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nebraska’s Omaha-area congressional district.
* NBC News confirmed that the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest federation of unions, has launched a seven-figure ad campaign in support of the Democratic presidential ticket. The focus will be on seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
* In Texas’ increasingly interesting U.S. Senate race, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred has launched his first television ad with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which just recently took a renewed interest in the Lone Star State. The commercial, which will air in nine media markets across the state, focuses on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s opposition to abortion rights.