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

* If Democrats are going to have a credible chance of taking back the Senate majority, former Sen. Sherrod Brown will likely have to prevail in his comeback bid in Ohio. There’s reason to believe he might very well pull this off.

The latest Bowling Green State University/YouGov poll found Brown leading appointed Republican senator Jon Husted, 48% to 45%. And while that’s a modest lead, it’s worth noting that every recent poll in the Buckeye State has shown Husted trailing Brown.

* As part of his latest Senate hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel refused to rule out sending federal agents to local voting precincts, testifying, “We have election crisis coordinators manned at all 56 field offices. Election integrity is of paramount importance. This FBI will not shy away from that effort.”

* In a closely watched congressional race in Michigan, Republican nominee Thomas Smith’s social media history is coming to light, and it’s the sort of thing that should derail his candidacy.

CNN reviewed Smith’s since-deleted social media accounts and “uncovered a substantially broader pattern of far-right rhetoric than previously reported, including repeated accusations of treason, attacks on Muslim Americans and Islam, birther-style conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, and posts in which Smith said he had been awakened before dawn with a message from God for conservative radio host Dan Bongino.”

* Speaking of Michigan, the first Senate debate of the general election was supposed to take place on Tuesday night, but former Rep. Mike Rogers refused to participate, citing concerns about one of the moderators. Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed accused his Republican opponent of cowardice and taunted him as “Mike Dodgers.”

* It’s been widely assumed for months that California’s gubernatorial race would not be competitive, and there’s fresh reason to believe those assumptions are correct: The latest Public Policy Institute of California poll showed Democratic nominee Xavier Becerra well ahead of Republican Steve Hilton, 60% to 38%.

* Plenty of Republicans were worried that Donald Trump’s political operation would fail to seriously invest in the midterms, but those concerns were apparently misplaced. The New York Times reported, “President Trump’s political operation has unleashed its vast financial resources to try to save the Republican Party’s control of Congress, reserving nearly $138 million over the past 10 days to help the party’s midterm candidates.”

* And on the final day of the 2026 primary season, incumbent Democratic senator Chris Coons easily brushed off intraparty rivals in Delaware and is heavily favored to win re-election in the fall.

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