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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* After Donald Trump refused to participate in another debate, CNN invited the major-party nominees to participate in town hall events later this month. Kamala Harris quickly accepted.
* A big batch of new polling from the Wall Street Journal found Harris with narrow leads in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, while Trump enjoyed similarly narrow leads in North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania. (Click the link for additional information on the surveys' methodologies and margins of error.)
* In Ohio’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the latest Marist poll found incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown narrowly leading Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, 50% to 48%. (Click the link for additional information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* In Florida’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, some recent surveys have shown Sen. Rick Scott with enormous leads, but the latest Marist poll found the Republican incumbent ahead by only 2 points against former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, 50% to 48%. (Click the link for additional information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* In Texas’ closely watched U.S. Senate race, the latest Marist poll found incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leading Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, 51% to 46%. (Click the link for additional information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* Fearing that Jill Stein will again help put Trump in the White House, the Democratic National Committee has unveiled a new ad targeting the Green Party nominee. This is the first time the DNC has ever launched an attack ad targeting a third-party candidate.
* In Maryland’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, Time magazine has a striking report this week on former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and a burgeoning conflict-of-interest controversy.
* A national Pew Research Center study found that 74% of Americans believe Trump will not concede the election, even if he loses. A similar number of respondents said they expect Harris will concede if she loses. (Click the link for additional information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* And The Atlantic magazine this week endorsed Harris’ candidacy. It’s only the fifth time in the publication’s 167-year history that it’s formally announced its support for a presidential candidate. (The other election cycles in which The Atlantic endorsed a candidate were 1860, 1964, 2016 and 2020.)