Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Late last week, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democrats’ U.S. Senate nominee, disclosed new information about his health difficulties, while also expressing optimism about the future. “Doctors have told me I need to continue to rest, eat healthy, exercise, and focus on my recovery, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I’m not quite back to 100% yet, but I’m getting closer every day.”
* In Buffalo, with Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs retiring, failed gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is running to succeed him, and despite Paladino’s record of racist rhetoric, he immediately picked up an endorsement from House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik.
* Speaking of endorsements, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy received Donald Trump’s formal support yesterday, despite their occasionally troubled past.
* And speaking of California Republicans, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a leading GOP super PAC, made a new investment in the Golden State’s 22nd congressional district, hoping to give incumbent Rep. David Valadao a boost ahead of tomorrow’s primary. Valadao is one of the Republicans who supported Trump’s impeachment early last year, and he’s facing a credible challenge from the right.
* In Georgia’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has launched his first negative ad of the 2022 election cycle, highlighting Republican Herschel Walker’s bizarre claims about a secret “mist” that kills Covid-19.
* In South Dakota, one of the seven states holding primaries tomorrow, incumbent Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson is facing a primary rival who’s attacking him for supporting a bipartisan plan to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.
* Former Rep. Denver Riggleman, who’s helped advise the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, told CNN yesterday that he no longer considers himself a Republican. “I think the party left me some time ago,” the former congressman told Jake Tapper. Two years ago this month, Riggleman lost a GOP primary in Virginia, despite having Trump’s endorsement.