Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The Justice Department filed suit yesterday, challenging a state law created by Arizona Republicans that requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
* In a rather bold move, California Gov. Gavin Newsom aired an ad on Fox News over the weekend, taking aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “It’s Independence Day, so let’s talk about what’s going on in America,” the Democratic governor says in the commercial. “Freedom, it’s under attack.” Newsom proceeds to point to DeSantis’ restrictions on free speech, voting rights, and abortion before urging Floridians not to let the Republican “take your freedom.”
* In the latest national Monmouth poll, Democrats and Republicans are tied on the generic congressional ballot, with each party garnering 47 percent support. A month ago, the same pollster showed the GOP ahead by four points, suggesting some shift in the Democrats’ direction.
* Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has been using Donald Trump’s name quite a bit in his fundraising appeals, despite the fact that the former president is staunchly opposed to the Republican’s U.S. Senate candidacy. It reportedly reached the point that Trump’s political action committee sent the Brnovich campaign a cease-and-desist letter, threatening possible legal action.
* In Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s gubernatorial campaign is touting some new endorsements from prominent Pennsylvania Republicans, including two former GOP congressmen: Charlie Dent and Jim Greenwood.
* Wisconsin’s crowded GOP gubernatorial primary got a little thinner yesterday when Kevin Nicholson, a failed former Senate candidate, suspended his latest statewide bid. Nicholson added that he does not intend to endorse anyone ahead of the Republicans’ Aug. 9 primary.
* And in Ohio, Republican Senate hopeful J.D. Vance has confirmed that he would’ve voted against the bipartisan legislation to address gun violence. Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker last week said the same thing.