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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The conventional wisdom is that Sen. Marco Rubio is well positioned to win a third term, but there’s some evidence of a competitive race: The latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll found the Republican incumbent leading Democratic Rep. Val Demings, 45% to 41%.
* The same poll suggested the gubernatorial race is less close: Incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis leads former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, 48% to 41%.
* In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s re-election prospects appear to be improving: A new poll from the Detroit Free Press shows her leading Republican commentator Tudor Dixon by 16 points — up from 11 points a month ago.
* The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with the Senate Republican leadership, is pulling its advertising investments in Arizona, but it claims that other “Republican outside forces” are pledging to fill in the gap in support for first-time candidate Blake Masters.
* On a related note, the Senate Leadership Fund’s announcement coincides with an OH Predictive Insights poll that found Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly leading Masters, 47% to 35%. A new AARP poll, however, showed the incumbent ahead by a smaller margin, 50% to 42%.
* The same poll found Arizona’s gubernatorial race nearly tied, with Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs leading Republican Kari Lake, 49% to 48%.
* House Republican leaders yesterday unveiled their election-season policy blueprint, and then quickly hid it for reasons unknown. It then re-appeared this morning.
* In case Sen. Rick Scott’s leadership of the National Republican Senatorial Committee weren’t already controversial enough, a campaign watchdog group filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission yesterday, accusing the NRSC of illegal campaign spending.