Republicans

The Washington Post reports: The state of Maryland on Saturday terminated a $12.5 million contract for personal protective equipment with a firm started this spring by two well-connected Republican operatives. State officials said the company, Blue Flame Medical, failed to deliver masks and ventilators as promised and that the matter has been referred to Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh …

The Arizona Republic reports: Sen. Martha McSally has a new campaign ad featuring a cancer survivor who talks about how her “path collided” with McSally, whom she describes as a champion for protecting those with pre-existing medical conditions. The emotional television ad, which started Thursday, doesn’t disclose that the woman worked for McSally’s congressional office and as a campaign staffer …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: State health officials have confirmed an additional 1,000 cases of the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing Georgia’s total infections above 27,000. As of noon Thursday, the Georgia Department of Public Health was reporting just over 26,000 confirmed cases. That number now stands at 27,134, according to data released at 12:25 p.m. Friday. At …

NBC News reports: While Americans across the country are canceling weddings, sporting events and music festivals, Trump has insisted to aides that the Republican National Convention — specifically his nationally televised prime-time address — go forward in August, according to five people familiar with the discussions. One plan under consideration is to have only delegates and alternate delegates attend, and …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: A former top South Carolina business executive and supporter of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has decided to back the Republican incumbent’s Democratic challenger in his 2020 re-election race. Richard Wilkerson, the former chairman and president of Michelin’s Greenville-based North America operations, said he chose to endorse Democrat Jaime Harrison because of his experience working …

CNN reports: Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican up for reelection and a close Trump confidant, issued a blunt warning to GOP activists during an off-the-record conference call this week: Democrats are in position to turn his state blue and take the Senate. “Here’s the reality: The state of Georgia is in play,” Perdue said Monday, according to an audio …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: State officials have stopped releasing the list of coronavirus deaths being compiled by Florida’s medical examiners, which has at times shown a higher death toll than the state’s published count. The list had previously been released in real time by the state Medical Examiners Commission. But earlier this month, after the Tampa Bay Times reported …

Roll Call reports: Michigan Rep. Justin Amash won a fifth term in 2018 by 11 points, but because of his split with Trump and his exit from the GOP, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales had seen the seat as vulnerable, rating the 3rd District race Tilt Republican. Several Republicans are running in the Aug. 4 primary, including Army veteran …

The Associated Press reports: A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is unconstitutional, upholding a judge’s injunction that had banned its use. A 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Salt Lake City found in two consolidated appeals challenging the Kansas statute that the state law violates the …

The New York Daily News reports: Former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos was released from from an upstate prison Tuesday into home confinement after contracting coronavirus. A federal prosecutor and Skelos’s defense team confirmed the crooked Nassau County pol walked out of FCI Otisville. Ten staff and two inmates at the facility have tested positive for the virus, according …

From an interview with Fox News: Let me just say that the Senate majority has not been a certainty at any point this cycle. We always knew from the beginning, and I’ve said consistently there’s going to be a dog fight. The other thing that’s not new is that we’re being outspent these days. We were outspent in 2016 and …

In today’s chapter of Republican assholery: Kelli Ward, the head of the Republican Party in Arizona, told those planning to protest stay-at-home orders aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 to dress in scrubs and masks on Twitter. Ward also seemed to suggest that some health workers engaging in counterprotests across the country were not really health workers. The tweet …

Courthouse News reports: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt asked President Donald Trump Saturday to declare the Covid-19 pandemic an “act of God” to shield the oil and gas industry as it grapples with the dual shocks of collapsed demand and surging supply as U.S. oil futures contracts briefly went negative this week. A fellow Republican, Stitt asked for the federal declaration …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis used ground zero, nursing homes and God’s waiting room all in one sentence at his press briefing on coronavirus Sunday, raising the eyebrows and the ire of a few. “Florida is ground zero for the nursing home, we’re God’s waiting room,” DeSantis said Sunday. “We have a huge number of facilities, a …

Mediaite reports: You may have seen Friday a warning from the state of Maryland that no, you should absolutely positively not ingest cleaning products. On ABC’s This Week Sunday, Governor Larry Hogan (R- MD) addressed that warning and criticized the president’s comments on disinfectants as seriously concerning. “We had hundreds of calls come into our emergency hotline at our health …

Filed under infighting is funny: Kansas GOP Senate candidate Kris Kobach lashed out at the state Republican Party on Friday after it called on two of his opponents in the race to drop out to narrow the field, amid fears from national Republicans about Kobach becoming the party’s nominee. Republicans fear a crowded GOP primary could split up the establishment …

The Detroit Free Press reports: In the midst of the continuing spread of the coronavirus in Michigan, the Michigan Legislature has scheduled a special session for Friday to create an oversight committee to examine how Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has responded to the crisis as well as consider bills that would strip the governor of some of her powers. The extraordinary …

The Kansas City Star reports: Kansas GOP chair Mike Kuckelman sent letters Thursday to two Republican candidates asking them to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate for the good of the party. In nearly identical April 23 letters to Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle and former Johnson County Commissioner Dave Lindstrom, Kuckelman cited poor fundraising and polling data …

Politico reports: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan insisted Thursday that he has pulled no punches in advocating for states’ interests when dealing with President Donald Trump. But the chairman of the National Governors Association also acknowledged he has been careful not to “poke the bear” in the Oval Office amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hogan suggested he had opted to pursue a …

Politico reports: Georgia Rep. Doug Collins on Thursday criticized Gov. Brian Kemp’s aggressive plan to reopen their state’s economy, accusing Kemp of “not communicating clearly” amid the coronavirus outbreak and failing to solicit input from local leaders. The GOP congressman’s harsh assessment represented a rebuke of his Republican governor and signaled Collins’ intention to instead side with President Donald Trump …