Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* When it comes to campaign finance laws, both parties’ campaign committees have faced restrictions on how much money they could spend in coordination with candidates’ campaigns. Those limits are now effectively gone.

As MS NOW’s Jordan Rubin explained, “The Supreme Court’s GOP-appointed majority ruled for Republicans in their campaign finance challenge to restrictions on political parties spending on ads with input from the party’s candidate.”

A Punchbowl News report added that the ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “handed Republicans a massive win” and is likely to “usher in the biggest change to campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.”

The same report went on to note that Tuesday’s high court ruling “allows for unrestricted coordination between candidates and party committees. That means committees, like the NRSC or the DCCC, can run unlimited TV ads with allied candidates. More importantly, they can also buy those ads at the much cheaper rate offered to candidates. … Tuesday’s SCOTUS ruling will also eradicate the need for independent expenditure arms at party committees.”

Republicans already enjoyed a significant financial advantage over Democrats. The Republican-appointed justices just made it easier for the GOP to capitalize on that advantage.

* In Colorado’s closely watched Democratic primaries, incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper fended off a challenge from the left, but some of his colleagues weren’t as fortune: Democratic socialist Melat Kiros ended long-serving Rep. Diana DeGette’s career in Denver’s congressional district, while state Attorney General Phil Weiser scored a major upset by defeating incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in a gubernatorial primary.

* In the race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, 50% to 43%, pointing to a possible pickup opportunity for Democrats.

* In Ohio’s closely watched statewide races, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted leading former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, 50% to 47%. The state’s gubernatorial race is even closer: The same poll showed Democrat Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, tied with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, with each garnering 47% support.

* In Iowa’s closely watched statewide races, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson with a small lead over Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, 48% to 46%. In Iowa’s gubernatorial race, meanwhile, the same poll found Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand ahead of Republican Zach Lahn, 48% to 47%.

* In Alaska’s closely watched Senate race, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan up by just two points over former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, 47% to 45%.

* Republican Sen. Susan Collins leads Democrat Grahan Platner in Maine, 50% to 47%, according to a new Fox News poll.

* But in Maine’s gubernatorial race, the same Fox News poll showed Democrat Hannah Pingree up by 11 points over Republican Bobby Charles, 53% to 42%. The latest New York Times/Siena poll found Pingree ahead by a similar double-digit margin.

The post Wednesday’s Campaign Round-Up, 7.1.26: Justices help GOP with campaign finance ruling appeared first on MS NOW.

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