By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The latest national poll from Quinnipiac University found Donald Trump crushing his competitors in the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination with 62% support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — the only other GOP candidate with double-digit support — was a distant second with 12%.
* Though I’d strongly recommend taking general-election polling with a grain of salt, the same Quinnipiac survey found President Joe Biden with the narrowest of leads over his predecessor in a hypothetical match-up, 47% to 46%.
* Speaking of polling, a new Washington Post-Monmouth University poll in South Carolina found the former president leading the Republican field, with 46% of respondents naming Trump as their first choice. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley — who served as South Carolina’s governor for six years — was second with 18%. Sen. Tim Scott, another South Carolina Republican, was third in the poll with 10% support.
* As if DeSantis didn’t have enough troubles, the Washington Post has uncovered evidence that the GOP governor “took at least six undisclosed trips on private jets and accepted lodging and dining in late 2018, according to flight manifests, tracking data and other documents.”
* As Sen. Mitt Romney prepares to exit the stage, the Utah Republican admitted that he’s spoken “many times” to Sen. Joe Manchin about the No Labels project. Romney apparently told the West Virginian that if Manchin ran for president on a third-party ticket, “it would only elect Trump.”
* Speaking of Romney, Trump celebrated the senator’s retirement announcement. In all-caps message published to his social media platform, the former president said Romney’s decision is “fantastic news for America.”
* NBC News reported this morning that several prominent reproductive rights organizations filed a petition with Nevada’s secretary of state’s office, hoping to put the question of abortion access on the state’s 2024 ballot.
* In related news, The Nevada Independent reported that Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Sam Brown tends to be cagey about the details of his position on abortion rights, but during a legislative candidate forum in 2014, he endorsed a Texas abortion ban and called it a “non-negotiable” issue for him.