“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) is heading to Portland, Maine, to stump for Democrat Troy Jackson at a student town hall in the final sprint of the state’s closely watched Senate race,” Politico reports. “AOC’s the latest progressive to campaign for Jackson, following Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in recent weeks.”

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Democrats are now at least narrowly favored in our ratings in enough states to win an elusive majority of state governorships.” “The most notable rating change comes in the open Ohio governorship, which has been in the national spotlight because of an explosive—and desperate—attack ad by Vivek Ramaswamy (R) against Amy […]

“Ohio is the seventh most populous state in the country, and its annual GDP is close to $1 trillion. It has 27 Fortune 500 companies, some of the country’s best universities (pipe down, Michigan), the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and two NFL teams, two MLB teams, an […]

“The White House is using federal disaster relief as leverage while Republicans fight to keep power in Washington, with President Trump saying on one occasion that voting for Democrats could mean less money for states,” the New York Times reports.

“Senate Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to save former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) in the Michigan Senate race by pouring money and effort into highlighting what they say are significant ties between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood,” The Hill reports.

When faced with a threat from the White House to retract a story or suffer “unspecified consequences,” Politico issued a correction: “An earlier version of this report, including its headline, mischaracterized the role White House chief of staff Susie Wiles played in then-press secretary Katie Zacharia’s interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. Politico’s follow-up […]

Paul Krugman: “No private individual should, or indeed even have the capability to, make national security policy. Slowing down Starlink was, in effect, a U.S. intervention in a foreign conflict. It helped Russia, our long-time adversary, and hobbled Ukraine, during a very critical time in this war. It also helped Russia at a time when […]

A new Nexstar Media/Emerson College Polling poll finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 46%, with Ted Brown (L) at 1%. Senate Race James Talarico (D) 48%   Ken Paxton (R) 46%   Nexstar Media/Emerson College Polling poll · likely voters · ±3% The same poll finds […]

“President Donald Trump will touch down on Thursday in Iowa, the site of perhaps the tightest Senate race in the country. Strangely enough, both candidates are welcoming him,” Semafor reports. “Only one, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, will be at his rally on Thursday, but Democrats are banking that Trump’s presence helps them due to his […]

“In the last presidential election, Democrats’ support among young voters was their lowest in two decades. Two years later, polls show that 18-to-29-year-old voters are returning to the party in large numbers,” the New York Times reports. “Nationwide, young voters now favor the Democratic candidate for Congress in their district by 44 percentage points, compared […]

“Republican leaders are barreling towards a lame-duck period when they plan to fund the government, address the debt ceiling and push through a must-pass defense authorization bill — all while tempering the expectations of members who have their sights set on a reconciliation package many believe won’t materialize,” the Washington Sun reports. “The party in […]

“As President Donald Trump continues buying government stakes in private companies, the rest of Washington is starting to appreciate the power of his new tool,” Semafor reports. “The Trump administration has so far announced 43 equity stakes in firms producing everything from minerals to semiconductors, 36 of which were negotiated without explicit legal authority — […]

CNBC: “Few states have been as vulnerable in the U.S.-Canada trade war as Maine, which sends more than 40% of its exports to the U.S.’s northern neighbor. Those challenges are also piling on top of cost-of-living issues that were already spiraling, especially relating to things like home heating oil, on which Maine depends more than […]

“President Trump is set to rally Thursday with Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa as he seeks to boost Republican candidates in a political environment that has dimmed for the party — prompting modest pushback from the very candidates he’s supporting,” CBS News reports. “Hinson, who is running for Iowa’s open Senate seat, initially pledged to […]

“The Pentagon has spent months quietly building an elite new tech agency to help covertly disrupt and sabotage foreign technology programs considered threats to American military superiority,” Politico reports.

“Democratic lawmakers spent the past two years in the minority clashing with President Donald Trump’s top financial officials. If they take back power in Congress after next month’s midterms, expect an all-out brawl, especially with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” Politico reports. ”The Democrats who would lead the committees overseeing the Treasury Department and IRS are […]

“A super PAC funded by the cryptocurrency industry is dumping an additional $9 million into an effort to block Sherrod Brown from recapturing an Ohio Senate seat, raising the group’s total spending in the race above $55 million,” Politico reports. “The staggeringly large spending against Brown, a former Senate Banking chair who has been a […]

“SpaceX’s plans to retire its most popular rocket could jeopardize the United States’ ability to launch military satellites — a plight compounded by the Pentagon’s dependence on Elon Musk’s company,” Politico reports. ”SpaceX is by far the dominant player in the rocket business and indispensable to the military, dwarfing competitors and accounting for 85% of […]

“The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections,” the New York Times reports. “As planning for a short but intensive operation progresses, the U.S. and Israeli militaries have stepped up exercises, flying planes over Iraq to practice strike maneuvers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met […]

“Vice President Vance’s call for fellow Republicans to ‘stop whining’ about Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial attack ad in Ohio’s race for governor showed a key part of his political mindset ahead of his expected run for president in 2028: Never back down,” Axios reports. “Channeling President Trump, Vance has shown contempt for what he sees as […]

“The Trump administration told a judge Wednesday evening that construction on the president’s controversial 250-foot triumphal arch could begin in just two weeks, days after the midterm elections,” CNN reports.

“Sen. Roger Marshall acknowledged in a debate Wednesday that his Kansas seat, typically a lock for Republicans, could end up swinging control of the Senate,” the Washington Sun reports. “Marshall is in a surprisingly tough reelection campaign against Democrat Adam Hamilton, with polls indicating a tight race. The state voted for Trump in 2024 by […]

“Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital with ballistic missiles and drones overnight into Thursday killed one person and wounded 22, Ukrainian authorities said. The strikes in Kyiv came hours after the Kremlin agreed to restart U.S.-brokered talks aimed at ending the war,” MS NOW reports.

Punchbowl News: “We hear that MAGA Inc. is going to make an additional sizable investment in House races in the coming days.”

“Billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel said he’s skeptical of the U.S. war with Iran and does not believe the United States should have launched it, putting the major Republican donor at odds with President Donald Trump over one of the administration’s defining foreign policy decisions,” Politico reports. Said Thiel: “I’m skeptical of the war, I […]

“For most of the war, Iran had an invaluable cushion: dozens of oil tankers holding millions of barrels of crude sitting safely in waters in Asia. Tehran steadily sold the oil to China, bringing in billions of much-needed cash,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Now, that floating storage is gone. By mid-October, the reserves were […]

“Millions of Americans are expected to receive a settlement check from Amazon credited to ‘President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission’ in an unprecedented move coming weeks before the midterm elections,” Politico reports. “The checks, part of a $2.5 billion settlement Amazon agreed to in 2025 for allegedly deceiving customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions, mark […]

“James Talarico, the Democratic nominee seeking a Senate seat from Texas, fired back Wednesday night at Elon Musk for an X post in which the world’s richest man hours earlier had said, ‘There is something deeply wrong with Talarico,'” CNBC reports. Said Talarico: “There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one […]

“Multiple protesters were removed from Donald Trump’s rally at South Carolina’s Clemson University on Wednesday, including one who was apparently punched by a rally attender – to the U.S. president’s delight,” The Guardian reports. Said Trump: “That was great, man. Wow. Man, I loved that. I watched that. That was incredible. Wow. That was unbelievable. […]

“President Donald Trump traveled to South Carolina on Wednesday to boost U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, whose stumbles in her first campaign since replacing her late brother have Democratic voters hopeful — but not necessarily optimistic — that their candidate can break Republicans’ grip on the state,” the Washington Sun reports. “Trump, who was repeatedly interrupted […]