Republicans

Axios reports: Republican Party officials say they’re already looking to Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Nevada as likely battlegrounds for post-election lawsuits if the results are close. The big picture: As pre-election lawsuits draw to a close, and with President Trump running behind Joe Biden in national and many battleground state polls, Republicans are turning their attention to preparations for Election Day …

Talking Points Memo reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowed Friday that he would continue his full-court press to remake the judiciary up until January 3, when Democrats may take over the Senate, depending on the outcome of next week’s election. “We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick repeated unsubstantiated claims in a Thursday interview that the only way Republicans can lose on Election Day is if Democrats cheat. “The Democrats have just decided this election, Mark, we don’t have to pay attention to any laws. We’re gonna use COVID as an excuse to steal the election, and that’s …

The New York Times reports: Senator David Perdue of Georgia withdrew on Thursday from the final debate in his tight re-election race, a day after his Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff, called him a “crook” and accused the vulnerable Republican of trying to profit from the coronavirus pandemic. The rivals had been scheduled to face off on Sunday on the Atlanta …

Fox News reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chances are “50-50″ that Republicans lose control of the upper chamber with just five days to go until the Nov. 3 election. “It’s a 50-50 proposition. We have a lot of exposure. This is a huge Republican class,” McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Kentucky. “There are …

The Associated Press reports: Hackers stole $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party’s account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party’s chairman told The Associated Press on Thursday. The party noticed the suspicious activity on Oct. 22 and contacted the FBI on Friday, said Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt. Hitt …

Atlanta’s NBC News affiliate reports: Sen. Kelly Loeffler said Wednesday that she doesn’t disagree with anything President Donald Trump has said or done. Earlier this month during a debate, Loeffler was asked if President Trump had ever said or done anything she’d disagreed with. Her answer was emphatically “no.” Loeffler told reporters Wednesday that she doesn’t know anything about an …

Pittsburgh’s CBS News affiliate reports: The Supreme Court of the United States has rejected Republican requests to block extended ballots past Nov. 3 in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court will not expedite the request from state Republicans to end the extended deadline for receiving mail-in ballots. The court’s order on Wednesday left open the possibility that the justices could take up …

Fort Myers’ CBS News affiliate reports: A 20-year-old Naples man was arrested Tuesday, accused of changing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ address in the voter database. DeSantis alerted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after he went to vote Monday afternoon and was told that an unknown person had altered his primary address. DeSantis said he didn’t authorize the change and contacted …

Politico reports: Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott is rallying behind President Donald Trump in signature fashion: with a big TV ad buy. Scott’s political committee announced Wednesday he was making a “significant six-figure buy” boosting Trump and attacking Democrats on the airwaves in the president’s must-win state. Scott’s direct-to-camera ad isn’t only about advancing the president’s interests. It also raises …

The Minneapolis StarTribune reports: Four months before Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Adam Weeks died in September, sending the pivotal Second Congressional District race into a legal tailspin, he told a close friend that he had been recruited by Republicans to draw votes away from Democrats. In a May 20 voicemail message provided to the Star Tribune, Weeks told a …

The Texas Tribune reports: After backlash from lawmakers and advocates, a state board voted Tuesday to undo a rule change that would have allowed social workers to turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability. The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council voted unanimously to restore protections for LGBTQ and disabled clients to Texas social workers’ code of conduct …

The Hill reports: Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday was asked to recuse herself from participating in a dispute over a mail-ballot extension in Pennsylvania, with the newly confirmed justice facing immediate political pressure on her first day on the job. The recusal motion was filed by the Luzerne County Board of Elections, one of the parties that has asked …

The San Antonio Express-News reports: The Texas Army National Guard said Monday it had been ordered to dispatch 1,000 troops to five major cities around the state in conjunction with the Nov. 3 election, including San Antonio. The guard in recent weeks had told the San Antonio Express-News that its commander, Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, had been asked to draft …

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, is the seventh state lawmaker to test positive for the coronavirus during the past several days. Bledsoe, who co-chairs the Legislative Council, received test results Sunday night that she tested positive, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs. Bledsoe is a former chairwoman of the Senate Public Health, Welfare …

NBC News reports: Wisconsin cannot count mail ballots that arrive well after the polls close under an order issued late Monday by the Supreme Court, a defeat for Democrats in a battleground state. By a vote of 5-3, the justices declined to lift a lower court ruling preventing the state from counting mail ballots that arrive as much as six …

CNN reports: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is delivering his final remarks on the Senate floor right now on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination. But in what is unusual for the majority leader, he is delivering his speech largely to his GOP conference. He is turning to them and gesturing to them frequently. And like they did yesterday for the procedural vote, …

The Tennessean reports: An attorney for Tennessee Sen. Joey Hensley conceded Monday the politician, a small-town doctor, prescribed opioids to family members and an employee with whom he was in a romantic relationship, in what the state contends is a violation of medical ethics. During opening arguments in a medical discipline proceeding, attorney David Steed said it was well-intentioned, harmless …

The Associated Press reports: Six years after being elected in an expensive and heated race, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton is on the ballot again and he’s campaigning hard — just not in Arkansas. With no Democratic rival and millions in campaign funds to spend, Cotton has run ads in the battleground states of Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. He’s on …

CNBC reports: Minnesota Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis was rushed into emergency surgery Monday for a severe internal hernia, just eight days before the election, his campaign announced. The condition is life-threatening if not treated quickly, the campaign said in a statement. Lewis, a one-term former congressman best known to Minnesota voters from his days as a conservative talk …