Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Karrin Taylor Robson, an attorney and business executive, was one of the two candidates backed by Donald Trump. Last week, she ended her candidacy after struggling to win over the GOP’s far-right base. Her departure leaves two members of Congress — Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert — as the top Republican contenders.
* With two weeks remaining before Texas’ closely watched U.S. Senate Republican primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and his allies have been spending heavily on ads for months, but state Attorney General Ken Paxton didn’t launch his first television commercial until late last week. His first spot emphasizes his ties to Donald Trump.
* With the blessing of the Virginia Supreme Court, Democratic redistricting plans took another step forward late last week.
* In Maine’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ newest ad takes aim at one of Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ vulnerabilities: The incumbent often talks about how “concerned” she is, without much in the way of follow-through.
* In Georgia’s crowded Republican U.S. Senate primary, retired football coach Derek Dooley is facing a new problem: He’s asking voters to cast ballots for him, despite the fact that he didn’t vote at all for much of his adult life. In fact, Dooley didn’t even vote in Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
* In a sign of the times, a super PAC advocating in support of AI is preparing to spend roughly $5 million in support of Rep. Byron Donalds’ Republican gubernatorial campaign in Florida.
* In North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley looks like an underdog, but his candidacy is getting a boost from Americans for Prosperity Action, the political arm of the powerful conservative Koch network, which is making a seven-figure ad buy on Whatley’s behalf.
* And in the world of polling, it’s the end of era: Gallup has been documenting presidential approval ratings for nearly nine decades, but the outlet announced last week that under its new corporate strategy, it’s abandoning the practice.
