2020 Elections

Roll Call reports: A new poll finds Democratic nominee Joe Biden with a narrow lead over President Trump in Georgia, which has not gone for the Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 30 years. The latest Quinnipiac University survey finds Biden at 50 percent and Trump at 47 percent. Both candidates have near-universal support from within their own parties but independents …

The Week reports: Air Force veteran and famed US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, best known for the “Miracle on the Hudson,” has made an ad urging citizens to vote President Donald Trump out of office In the ad, produced by the Lincoln Project and VoteVets.org, Sullenberger says Americans have been called “to this moment” to “overcome his attacks …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Canadian, Russian, South African and Ukrainian models appear in U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s first 2020 campaign ad for her Mississippi campaigns—but no Mississippians. Instead, the ad uses stock footage from foreign production companies as the senator talks about the work she has done to bring jobs and economic growth to Mississippians. “Two years ago when …

The Hill reports: The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the presidential race in Ohio and Iowa to a “toss up” on Tuesday from lean Republican, citing recent polls showing a tightening race between President Trump and Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden. The independent online newsletter had moved the race in both states to “lean Republican” from “likely Republican” in mid-June, …

Politico reports: Most voters believe they’ll have to wait past election night to find out whether President Donald Trump or Joe Biden has won the 2020 race, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. The poll found that just 20 percent of voters said that they believed the winner of the presidential election will be called on election night, while …

The Hill reports: Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump by nine percentage points in the state of Pennsylvania, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Monday. Biden receives 49 percent support among likely voters in Pennsylvania while Trump receives 40 percent, roughly five weeks before the November presidential election. The survey, conducted between Friday and Sunday …

The Washington Post reports: Pennsylvania’s Republican legislative leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to stop a decision by the state’s high court to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Democrats’ favor on a number of mail-voting rules: permitting voters to turn in ballots via drop box in …

Axios reports: Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain, has joined the board of Joe Biden’s presidential transition team. Why it matters: McCain, who endorsed Biden last week after allegations in The Atlantic that President Trump had denigrated members of the military, joins former Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald as the second registered Republican on the transition …

The Washington Post reports: The main super PAC supporting the election of Democrats to the Senate is preparing to invest millions in South Carolina — a fresh signal that Democrats see the race against Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) as winnable. Senate Majority PAC will launch a new, $6.5 million ad campaign in South Carolina on Monday, marking the first …

From the editorial board of the Washington Post: In contrast to Mr. Trump’s narcissism, Mr. Biden is deeply empathetic; you can’t imagine him dismissing wounded or fallen soldiers as “losers.” To Mr. Trump’s cynicism, Mr. Biden brings faith — religious faith, yes, but also faith in American values and potential. In place of Mr. Trump’s belittling and demonizing of opponents …

Politico reports: Speaker Nancy Pelosi has begun mobilizing Democrats for the possibility that neither Joe Biden nor President Donald Trump will win an outright Electoral College victory, a once-in-a-century phenomenon that would send the fate of the presidency to the House of Representatives to decide. Under that scenario, which hasn’t happened since 1876, every state’s delegation gets a single vote. …

CBS News reports: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina all have Republican senators up for reelection this year, and Senate control may hinge on these races. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the group is in South Carolina, a reliably Republican state where Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison has pulled almost even with incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham. We find Graham just a …

Axios reports: Presidential Debate Commission co-chair Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said Sunday he doesn’t expect Fox News anchor Chris Wallace or any of the other moderators to fact-check President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden at the debates. “There’s a vast difference between being a moderator in a debate and being a reporter who is interviewing someone.” Fahrenkopf Jr. said …

CBS News reports: New polling by CBS News shows Biden and Trump locked in a virtual tie in two key states — Georgia and North Carolina — with a majority of Democratic voters in both states saying the Supreme Court fight has made them more energized about voting in November. Trump is winning the support of 47 percent of likely …

The Hill reports: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday that he would meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, and would ask her whether she was willing to recuse herself from cases relating to the 2020 election. “I think you know my spirit, which is to sit down and meet with people and talk to them. …

NBC News reports: Majorities of likely voters in Michigan and Wisconsin say the winner of the 2020 presidential election should get to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Democrat Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in both states. Those are the results of two new NBC News/Marist polls of …

The Washington Post reports: After two political conventions, the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus, economic dislocation, more racial upheaval and a coming battle over a Supreme Court vacancy, the race for the White House remains stable, with former vice president Joe Biden holding a steady advantage over President Trump, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Biden and vice-presidential …

The Texas Tribune reports: Less than three weeks before early voting begins in Texas, a U.S. district judge has blocked the state from eliminating straight-ticket voting as an option for people who go to the polls this November. In a ruling issued late Friday, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo cited the coronavirus pandemic, saying the elimination of the voting …

Politico reports: New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced Friday that he’s blanketing Florida airwaves with a $40 million TV ad buy, the first since he pledged to spend $100 million in the Sunshine State to defeat President Donald Trump. The massive buy, being made through the Bloomberg-funded Independence USA PAC, comes the same week that nearly 5 million vote-by-mail ballots …

Axios reports: Google informed its advertisers Friday that it will broadly block election ads after polls close Nov. 3, according to an email obtained by Axios. Why it matters: Big Tech platforms have been under pressure to address how their ad policies will handle conflicts over the presidential election’s outcome. Facebook recently said that it will no longer accept new …