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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the 48 hours after Justice Samuel Alito’s draft ruling was leaked, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which helps Democratic state legislative candidates, raised more than $650,000, including the best fundraising day of the year to date.
* Donald Trump will be in western Pennsylvania tonight for a scheduled rally with Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz. The celebrity doctor is in the midst of a tough primary against former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, and Primary Day in the Keystone State is a week from Tuesday.
* On a related note, Trump held a tele-rally last night in support of Charles Herbster, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska accused of groping eight women. The former president, on the heels of an in-person rally in support of Herbster, said the candidate is “innocent of those despicable charges,” though he didn’t say how he knows that.
* Ahead of North Carolina’s May 17 primary, Ted Budd appears to be well positioned in the state’s U.S. Senate primary: The latest Trafalgar Group poll showed the Republican congressman leading the pack with 51 percent support, followed by former Gov. Pat McCrory’s 29 percent.
* In Pennsylvania, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Doug Mastriano recently appeared at a right-wing event where attendees were told that a “global satanic blood cult” would soon be exposed and that Adolf Hitler faked his death. Asked by a reporter this week about being a part of the QAnon gathering, the far-right state senator abruptly ended the interview.
* Rep. Mary Miller is facing some unexpected questions this week after the Illinois Republican gave Brad Graven a prominent role on her campaign team, despite his conviction for having lured a young boy to a parking lot for sex acts in 2005.
* And in Indiana, Andrew Wilhoite was recently arrested and charged with murdering his wife. He nevertheless won a Republican primary to a local Boone County office this week.