2020 Elections

The Portland Press Herald reports: Veteran GOP Sen. Susan Collins remains in a tight contest with her Democratic challenger in the closely watched Maine Senate race, according to a poll released Friday by Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Democrat Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House, leads with 45% among the 847 registered voters who were asked for their …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: A conservative group has asked a federal judge to block Wisconsin’s five largest cities from accepting $6.3 million in grants to help stage November’s elections, calling the money bribes to increase turnout in Democratic strongholds. The nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life announced the grants in July. But in a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal …

The Washington Post reports: Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg is underwriting the cost of a new $6 million Spanish-language ad campaign focused on Latino voters in Florida, a pair of advocacy groups announced Friday. The campaign, directed by Priorities USA Action and the Latino Victory Fund, will include television and radio ads in the Miami, Orlando and Tampa markets, …

Cleveland’s NBC News affiliate reports: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a proclamation Thursday to activate 300 members of the Ohio National Guard to assist police officers at the presidential debate in Cleveland next week. DeWine said he reached this decision after receiving a formal request from the Cleveland Police Department Wednesday night. The National Guard will help to make sure …

Fox News reports: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to Fox News statewide likely voter surveys. In each of the three states, majorities disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, pluralities say coronavirus is “not at all” under control, and Biden is the preferred choice …

Courthouse News reports: Senator Bernie Sanders accused President Trump on Thursday of trying to steal the election, saying Trump “is prepared to undermine American democracy in order to stay in power.” By casting doubt on the validity of mail-in ballots, Trump is “attempting to delegitimize the outcome of this election so that if he loses, he can remain in office,” …

Military.com reports: Retired military officers and veteran entrepreneurs, including seven former service chiefs, recently retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and nine other four-stars, have endorsed a campaign to make sure military votes are counted among the avalanche of mail-in ballots. The “Count Every Hero” effort, funded by RepresentUs — a “cross-politics” nonprofit focused on …

CNBC reports: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death Friday helped prompt a surge in voter registration, according to voting groups. Since then, these organizations have seen a wave of engagement that carried through to National Voter Registration Day, which was Tuesday. Just over 62% of those they helped register were female. Those who registered the most through Vote.org were …

The Texas Tribune reports: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a lawsuit over his extension of early voting for the November election from prominent members of his own party — including state party Chair Allen West, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and members of the Texas Legislature. In July, Abbott added six days to the early voting period, moving the start …

The Hill reports: Democratic Arizona Senate candidate Mark Kelly said Wednesday the winner of the election should be sworn in as soon as possible in accordance with the law as the battle heats up on Capitol Hill over a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “Regardless of who wins, once the vote is certified here in …

Roll Call reports: Former President Obama shared his phone number on Twitter Wednesday, asking Americans to text him about how they are planning to vote. “All right, let’s try something new,” the former president tweeted. “If you’re in the United States, send me a text at 773-365-9687 — I want to hear how you’re doing, what’s on your mind, and …

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: Voting-rights advocates say it could take some Cuyahoga County residents as long as 90 minutes in travel time to cast an absentee ballot at the county’s only drop box. Attorneys for the League of Women Voters and the NAACP of Ohio this week cited the difficulties of low-income residents as part of a filing in …

Just in from the Cook Political Report: Cory Gardner in Colorado, announced Monday he will back moving forward with a nominee — a change in the view he held in 2016, saying that the “next election is too soon.” Gardner’s vote may well seal his fate, even if it was probably heading toward a loss anyway. Colorado Senate now moves …

CNBC reports: Across Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the former vice president nets a 4-point advantage over Trump. Nationally, Biden’s lead grows to 9 points, up 3 points since a CNBC/Change Research poll released earlier this month. The latest poll shows Biden expanding his lead across three battleground states: Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. In Arizona, the former …

The Guardian reports: Cindy McCain has endorsed Joe Biden for president, a stunning rebuke of Donald Trump by the widow of the Republican party’s 2008 nominee. Trump has had a fraught relationship with members of John McCain’s family since he disparaged the Arizona senator during his 2016 campaign. The president has publicly criticized McCain on numerous occasions and was enraged …

Bloomberg News reports: Kamala Harris’s team is working to manage public expectations that her upcoming debate with Vice President Mike Pence will present her with an easy opponent, despite her withering attacks on Democratic rivals in earlier presidential primary debates. As the Democratic vice-presidential nominee readies for the face-off on Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City, her team has cast …

The New York Times reports: Facebook has detected limited Chinese operations intended to both help and hurt President Trump’s re-election chances, the company announced on Tuesday, the first public disclosure of Chinese efforts to influence the presidential election in November. The Chinese activity, while modest and not directly attributed to the government in Beijing, could undercut Mr. Trump’s repeated contention …

The Washington Post reports: Kamala D. Harris, sitting in a barbershop chair in the middle of a Detroit parking lot, told a socially distanced gathering of Black men that Trump “will never say Black lives matter.” “When we look at this election, there are some very clear differences. Donald Trump will never use the term ‘Black lives matter.’ He will …

Roll Call reports: Republicans plan to ask the Supreme Court to review a major Pennsylvania state court ruling that extended the due date for mail ballots in the key battleground state, teeing up the first test for the Supreme Court since the death of its liberal leader Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The GOP legal strategy, which was revealed in a …

The Associated Press reports: Ranked choice voting will be used for the first time in a presidential race in the U.S. under a ruling Tuesday by the Maine Supreme Court, which concluded a GOP petition drive intended to stymie its use this November came up short. The Supreme Judicial Court concluded that the Maine Republican Party failed to reach the …