Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In the latest national NBC News poll, Donald Trump narrowly leads President Joe Biden, 46% to 44% in a head-to-reach race. But with third-party candidates in the mix, it’s the Democratic incumbent with a narrow advantage, 39% to 37%.
* On a related note, a new Marist College poll was released this morning, and it showed Biden ahead of Trump, 51% to 48%. With third-party candidates included, the incumbent president’s margin grows to five points. In both the Marist and NBC polls, Robert F. Kennedy’s candidacy did more damage to Trump than Biden.
* Trump’s scheduled campaign event in North Carolina on Saturday was canceled due to stormy weather, but before the cancelation, The Washington Post reported that at least 10 men “wearing the uniform of the Proud Boys, a violent extremist group, appeared outside the entrance” to the Republican’s event.
* The same Post report noted a pro-Trump activist who took the opportunity to collect signatures to help get Cornel West on the ballot in North Carolina, in the hopes that West’s candidacy would siphon off votes from Biden in the battleground state.
* The Campaign for Democracy, a political action committee created by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democrat of California, released a striking new ad over the weekend on abortion rights, which will begin airing today in Alabama.
Alabama’s abortion ban has no exceptions for rape or incest.
Now, Republicans are trying to criminalize young women’s travel to receive abortion care.
We cannot let them get away with this. pic.twitter.com/gHbYJYlEXk
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 21, 2024
* In case his earlier comments weren’t quite enough, former Vice President Mike Pence wrote a New York Times op-ed, slamming Trump’s approach to abortion policy.
* And in Nevada’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, much of the GOP establishment has already rallied behind Sam Brown’s candidacy, but former Ambassador Jeff Gunter is running an aggressive primary campaign of his own, and he’s launched a $3.3 million ad campaign ahead of the June 11 intraparty race.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com