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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* About a month after U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker said it was “totally unfair“ to ask him his position on the bipartisan infrastructure package, the Georgia Republican now says he opposes the law. The former football player said he’s against the policy because it invests in “trees,” an apparent reference to funding for wildfire recovery for the National Forest Service.
* On a related note, Walker was asked about his party’s heated gubernatorial primary. The Senate hopeful said, in reference to Gov. Brian Kemp and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, “I don’t support either one of them. I’m mad at both of them.” There are no other competitive GOP candidates.
* As elected officials face threats and intimidation campaigns, a new CQ Roll Call analysis of federal election records found something important: “[C]ongressional campaigns from both parties disclosed nearly $3 million for security-related expenses in 2021.” That number is likely to climb in 2022.
* New York’s Republican gubernatorial primary got a little more crowded yesterday as Harry Wilson, a relative moderate by contemporary GOP standards, launched his statewide bid. Wilson’s candidacy comes 12 years after a failed run for the New York state comptroller.
* In the state of Washington, the latest Public Policy Polling survey shows Sen. Patty Murray ahead in her re-election campaign, but not by an overwhelming margin: The Democratic incumbent leads Republican Tiffany Smiley in the poll, 50 percent to 41 percent.
* As secretary of state races generate more attention in the Big Lie era, Politico reports that the Democratic Party’s biggest donors aren’t investing in these races. The article added, “The absence of more big checks is notable considering that the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, a 527 organization, has no limit on the size of the donations it can receive.”
* And in Kentucky, Democrat Keturah Herron won yesterday’s legislative special election in Louisville, which is notable because she made history: Herron will be the first openly-LGBTQ lawmaker elected to the Kentucky House.