Republicans

Politico reports: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, newly recovered from the coronavirus, urged President Donald Trump on Friday to encourage the wearing of face masks among Americans. In his first TV interview since contracting Covid-19 earlier this month, Christie — a close ally of the White House who served as the president’s debate coach last month — said it …

The Washington Post reports: A long-feared autumnal rise of infections and serious illnesses has in recent weeks been strikingly pronounced in Republican-leaning counties, according to a new analysis of health data from Harvard University researchers. The research, which has not been peer-reviewed, shows that “red” counties with the most intense leanings toward Republicans have had the largest recent increases in …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Ben Sasse eviscerated President Trump during a phone call with constituents in which the Nebraska Republican accused the president of cozying up to dictators, mistreating women, flirting with white supremacists and irresponsibly handling the coronavirus pandemic. Sasse’s comments were disclosed by the Washington Examiner, which obtained an audio recording of the call. Sasse’s spokesman verified …

The New York Times reports: Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who was recently battling a coronavirus infection, said on Thursday that he was “wrong” not to wear a mask at an event honoring Judge Amy Coney Barrett and in his debate preparation sessions with President Trump, and that people should take the threat of the virus seriously. In …

The New York Times reports: President Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham have established clear but not overwhelming advantages in South Carolina, a heavily Republican state that is showing signs of competitiveness this year, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll. Mr. Trump leads Joseph R. Biden Jr., 49 percentage points to 41, while Mr. Graham, who is facing …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: The Florida House speaker is calling into question the state’s COVID-19 death toll, warning that it was based on compromised data and used a methodology that inflated death rates. Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, sent a memo Tuesday to all House members announcing the findings of an-in house analysis he ordered of the state’s COVID-19 …

Axios reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he would not put a potential $1.8 trillion+ deal struck by Democrats and the Trump administration on the Senate floor. “My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted is the best way to go,” he said. Why it matters: The economy and American workers need help. Democrats say …

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports: A campaign season tradition — the candidate debate — almost certainly won’t happen in the high-profile race between Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy. Hyde Smith told the Clarion Ledger on Wednesday she doesn’t plan to debate, citing a busy schedule and “stark, drastic” differences between herself and Espy that she believes voters …

The Los Angeles Times reports: For years, Republicans across the country have decried the use of so-called “ballot harvesting,” arguing that laws that allow a third party to collect voters’ completed ballots serve as a breeding ground for election fraud. In California, the state’s Republican Party has taken Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials to court over the practice. Now, …

Reuters reports: A federal judge late on Wednesday ruled that absentee ballots in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina must have a witness signature, a boost for Republican groups seeking to enforce stricter rules on mail-in voting. U.S. District Judge William Osteen in Greensboro issued an injunction essentially barring voters from being able to “fix” an absentee ballot they …

The Associated Press reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday blamed South Dakota’s recent surge in coronavirus cases on an increase in testing, even as the state saw a new high in the number of people hospitalized by the virus. There are currently no open general-care hospital beds in the southeastern part of the state, which contains the two …

The New York Times reports: President Trump on Wednesday expressed support to California Republicans who installed more than 50 unauthorized absentee-ballot drop boxes falsely labeled “official” — an extraordinary endorsement by a president of a practice that state officials say is deceptive and illegal. “Fight hard Republicans,” Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet that linked to an article about California …

Roll Call reports: Former Rep. Chris Collins began serving his 26-month prison term Tuesday at FPC Pensacola, a minimum security federal prison camp in Florida. Collins’ arrival at the camp comes after four delays and just under nine months since he was sentenced in January for conspiring to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI. The former …

The Washington Post reports: As the presidential campaign entered its final stages, a fresh-faced Republican activist named Charlie Kirk stepped into the spotlight at a closed-door gathering of leading conservatives and shared his delight about an impact of the coronavirus pandemic: the disruption of America’s universities. So many campuses had closed, he said, that up to a half-million left-leaning students …

The Daily Beast reports: The business of a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation physically pulled Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) off the campaign trail just three weeks before the election during the race of his life. But he hardly checked that election at the door of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chambers on Tuesday. Graham, the committee chairman, invoked home state concerns and …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani claimed people are no longer dying from the coronavirus. At an Italians for Trump event in Philadelphia, Monday, Giuliani claimed, “People don’t die of this disease anymore.” “Young people don’t die at all,” he insisted. “Middle age people die very little, and even elderly people …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas counties may collect mail-in ballots at only one location, a federal appeals court ruled late Monday, once again upholding an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that restricts voting options. Abbott in July acted to lengthen the early voting period and allow voters to deliver completed absentee ballots in person for longer than the normal period. …

The New York Times reports: The California Republican Party has admitted responsibility for placing more than 50 deceptively labeled “official” drop boxes for mail-in ballots in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange Counties — an action that state officials said was illegal and could lead to voter fraud. The dark gray metal boxes have been popping up over the past two …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge has upheld a Minnesota state court agreement that allows the counting of absentee ballots received up to seven days after Election Day. Republicans had asked U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel to block the seven-day extension that said ballots postmarked on or before Election Day must be counted. Brasel ruled late Sunday night that …

Media Matters reports: Daniel Wood is a longshot Republican House candidate who has used social media to push conspiracy theories related to QAnon and to encourage people to not wear masks in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite his history of conspiratorial claims and dangerous medical misinformation, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), who is running in one of the most competitive …