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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Gov. Brian Kemp faced off against former Sen. David Perdue in a debate last night, and the challenger began peddling undemocratic lies literally in his opening statement. “First off, let me be very clear tonight,” Perdue began, “the election in 2020 was rigged and stolen.”
* In a striking move, the Utah Democratic Party over the weekend agreed to support independent U.S. Senate candidate Evan McMullin, instead of a Democratic candidate, in the race against Republican Sen. Mike Lee. “Democrats are putting country over party,” McMullin said after the vote. “This is our democracy and, yes, it can be messy at times as we saw today, but it’s sure a heck of a lot better than the alternative.”
* Charles Herbster, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska accused of groping eight women, filed suit on Friday against GOP state Sen. Julie Slama, one of his accusers. Herbster has partnered with lawyers who worked for Donald Trump, who has endorsed his candidacy.
* In New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan no longer has to worry about a challenge from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, but the latest University of New Hampshire poll found her effectively tied with three lesser-known GOP rivals. The Republican primary isn’t until mid-September.
* In Ohio, Senate hopeful J.D. Vance spoke at a Donald Trump rally over the weekend, and told attendees that the FBI conducted “an illegal wiretap on a U.S. president.” That never happened. As Vance probably knows, he was lying.
* In Arizona on Friday, a local judge rejected an effort to disqualify Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs from the ballot stemming from their Jan. 6 efforts to overturn the election.
* And in the messy GOP primary in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, Rep. Joe Wilson endorsed Katie Arrington, who’s running against his home-state colleague, incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace. Mace, on the other hand, enjoys the support of former Gov. Nikki Haley and the congressional Republican leadership.