By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* President Joe Biden is scheduled to return to the campaign trail tonight, headlining a Democratic National Committee event in Maryland. His remarks will reportedly "frame choices that voters face in the fall midterms."
* In Texas’ gubernatorial race, Beto O’Rourke is launching his first statewide TV ad campaign today, and the former Democratic congressman’s message is focused on reproductive rights and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s abortion ban.
* A New York Times analysis found that in several states nationwide, there’s been a surge in women registering to vote. Not surprisingly, the shift occurred after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
* In Arizona, Republican attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh reportedly admitted in an online forum that he voted illegally with his mother’s absentee ballot at age 17. Hamadeh is now a Trump-endorsed candidate whose campaign is based in part on 2020 conspiracy theories about voter fraud that didn't happen in reality.
* The Pew Research Center released the results of its latest national survey this week and found Democrats with a small lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 44% to 42%.
* While Florida governors have not traditionally gotten involved in local school board elections, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis took sides in a series of supposedly non-partisan races, and this week, most of his candidates won.
* On a related note, as the general election phase in Florida’s gubernatorial race begins in earnest, DeSantis yesterday turned his attention to the nation’s capital and lashed out at Dr. Anthony Fauci. “Someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac,” the Republican declared.
* In California’s competitive 25th congressional district, Republican Rep. Mike Garcia apparently thought it’d be a good idea to equate the Biden administration and the “Third Reich” because the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
* And Donald Trump threw another online tantrum about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday, adding, “A new Republican Leader in the Senate should be picked immediately!” There’s little to suggest GOP senators intend to follow the former president’s instructions.