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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As Michigan’s gubernatorial race begins its general election phase in earnest, an EPIC/MRA poll released this morning showed incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer leading Republican commentator Tudor Dixon, 50% to 39%.
* In Pennsylvania, polling in the commonwealth shows Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro leading Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the gubernatorial race, but there’s some disagreement about the margins. A survey from Franklin & Marshall College found Shapiro ahead by 11 points, but the latest Emerson College poll showed the Democratic nominee ahead by only three points.
* Speaking of Mastriano, an apparent high school student in Connecticut somehow tricked the right-wing legislator with a fake poll that showed him ahead in the race. A Philadelphia Inquirer report added, “What we don’t get: Why did Mastriano and campaign advisor Jenna Ellis leave up those social media posts for five days — as it soon became clear it was a hoax and the ‘pollster’ had pranked him?”
* As for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate race, the survey from Franklin & Marshall College found Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leading Republican Mehmet Oz by 13 points, while the latest Emerson College poll showed the Democratic nominee ahead by only four points.
* While it’d be a real stretch to describe President Joe Biden as popular, a new Gallup poll showed the Democrat with a 44% approval rating, which is his strongest support in a year. Biden was buoyed, interestingly enough, by a sharp improvement among independent voters.
* Though Democratic officials have been reluctant to get their hopes up about North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate race, they haven’t given up on it yet: The Democratic-led Senate Majority PAC launched a new ad campaign this week, targeting Rep. Ted Budd over his opposition to abortion rights.
* And in Florida, right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer lost her Republican primary challenge this week to Rep. Daniel Webster, though the race proved to be more competitive than expected. Yesterday, Loomer insisted that she not only secretly won, despite the results, she also suggested that she’s won the general election that’s still months away. “I actually am the congresswoman in Florida’s 11th district, and everyone knows it,” the conspiracy theorist declared in an unhinged written statement.