Monday’s Campaign Round-Up, 7.25.22

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* Wisconsin’s competitive Democratic U.S. Senate primary field got a little thinner this morning when Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson ended his statewide bid and threw his support behind Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. This now appears to be a three-person contest between Barnes, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, and state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski.

* Speaking of the Badger State, Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who leads the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee, called late last week for invalidating President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state, despite the law, the valid results, and reality.

* The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association each tried to buy campaign ads on abortion and gun policy on the Disney-backed streaming service Hulu. It refused, and because the law appears to treat broadcast networks differently from streaming services, there doesn’t appear to be much for Democrats to do about it.

* The latest Emerson College poll found Republicans narrowly leading Democrats on the congressional generic ballot, 45 percent to 44 percent. The gap, however, is narrowing: In February, Emerson showed the GOP with a nine-point advantage, and in April, the pollster found Republicans ahead by six points.

* In Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, leaders from the Jewish and Black communities are slamming Republican Doug Mastriano over his ties to a right-wing social media platform called Gab, a site accessed by the accused Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers. A local report out of Pittsburgh added, “Officials said that Mastriano has posted on Gab dozens of times, and that many of the hundreds of replies on the site were filled with antisemtism and bigotry, some specifically directed at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish.”

* In Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, Republican hopeful Blake Masters spoke at a Donald Trump rally on Friday night and declared, “I promise you we are going to investigate and prosecute Anthony Fauci. That is the America First Agenda.”

* And speaking of Masters’ far-right candidacy, the Republican’s former boss, billionaire Peter Thiel, made an additional $1.5 million donation to the pro-Masters Saving Arizona super PAC on July 7. As Politico reported, Thiel has now spent $15 million to help elect the first-time candidate.