Thursday’s Campaign Round-Up, 4.9.26: Texas GOP leader rings alarm about midterms

* On the heels of Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seizing election materials in pursuit of unfounded conspiracy theories, the California Supreme Court this week ordered Bianco to pause his ostensible probe into election fraud allegations.

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* In Maine’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Mills no longer has campaign advertisements booked, but her team insists she’s remaining in the race, and the governor confirmed plans to participate in some upcoming debates and forums.

* In California’s highly competitive gubernatorial primary, billionaire Tom Steyer launched new attack ads this week targeting Rep. Eric Swalwell. It’s the first instance in this race in which one Democrat has gone negative against an intraparty rival, and it suggests that Steyer’s polling shows Swalwell as a top contender.

* On Tuesday afternoon, roughly four hours before his own self-imposed deadline to inflict mass destruction on Iran, Donald Trump took the opportunity to publish nearly two dozen endorsements in state legislative elections in Indiana. It was part of the president’s revenge campaign against GOP legislators who balked at his proposed gerrymandering scheme.