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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, Democratic hopeful Stacey Abrams this week paused fundraising for her own candidacy in order to help raise money for abortion rights organizations.
* With two weeks remaining before Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate primaries, a new Franklin & Marshall College poll showed a very competitive Republican contest: Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz narrowly leads former hedge fund executive David McCormick, 18 percent to 16, with conservative commentator Kathy Barnette close behind with 12 percent.
* On a related note, the Democratic primary in the Keystone State appears far less competitive: The same poll found Lt. Gov John Fetterman with a massive lead over Rep. Conor Lamb, 53 percent to 14 percent. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta was a distant third in the survey with 4 percent support.
* Greg Lopez, a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in Colorado, was asked yesterday about a 1993 incident in which he was arrested for assaulting his pregnant wife. The GOP candidate, who describes himself as “pro-life without exceptions,” struggled with the question.
* Despite his many recent difficulties, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott continues to look like a safe bet for another term in Texas: The latest University of Texas at Austin poll showed the Republican leading former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, 48 percent to 37 percent.
* The Atlanta Journal Constitution this week took a look at Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker’s difficulties with mental illness, including his work with “a controversial therapist who has said a patient’s choice of crayon color can reveal whether he or she is gay or even possessed by demons.”
* With the Roe v. Wade precedent likely to fall, the issue is taking on new urgency in Texas’ 28th congressional district, where Rep. Henry Cuellar was the only House Democrat to oppose the Women’s Health Protection Act, which is designed to codify abortion rights into federal law. His Democratic primary rival, Jessica Cisneros, is pushing party leaders to pull their support for the incumbent.
* And as the dust settles on Ohio’s Republican Senate primary, Politico reports that tech billionaire Peter Thiel invested a total of $15 million in support for J.D. Vance’s Republican candidacy — “the largest amount ever given to boost a single Senate candidate.”