One of the potential “November surprises” I discussed on today’s episode of Trial Balloon is a race that has received remarkably little national attention: Mississippi’s Senate contest. Democratic strategists have been quietly pointing to the state as a potential upset opportunity ever since the 2024 election. Read the rest of this columnTalking Points is my […]

“Democrats are preparing a broad oversight agenda if the party sweeps control of one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, signaling investigations of President Donald Trump, his family, his aides and top Republican donors amid a string of reports of corruption in Washington,” the Washington Sun reports. “But Democratic operatives are warning […]

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G. Elliot Morris: “Low-knowledge 2024 voters say they backed Trump by 8 points, according to our poll. Today they give him a net job approval of −27, a 35-point shift. Compare that to Trump’s approval rating among voters who got both questions right: These voters backed Harris by 1 point and now give Trump a […]

“High gas prices continue to weigh on wallets as voters list affordability as a top concern ahead of early November’s midterm elections,” ABC News reports. “The national average price of a gallon of gas stands at $4.27, marking an increase of nearly $1.30, or 43%, since the outbreak of the Iran war in February.” “Fuel […]

“James Talarico’s campaign hit back at Elon Musk Thursday, calling the 2026 election cycle’s top spender out for his cash infusion in the Texas Senate race amid an ongoing feud between the Democratic nominee and the world’s richest man,” CNBC reports. “A video posted by the Talarico campaign’s account on X Thursday of a new […]

“President Trump has been urging Republican voters to pretend that he is on the ballot for the midterm elections. One of his leading allies, the Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, is clearly hoping they will not,” the New York Times reports. Said Tiffany: “My opponent, all he talks about is Donald Trump, MAGA, all the […]

“New information about the criminal history of Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Ohio Democratic nominee for governor, Amy Acton, is coming to light amid the backlash about her appearance in a Vivek Ramaswamy ad — including her conviction for animal neglect after several kittens in her care died in a hot car,” Mediaite reports.

“The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed,” Semafor reports. “President Donald Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, told Semafor that the next briefing would come ‘soon’ — but if it happens before the midterms, a new press secretary likely won’t be behind the podium.” “Trump is in no rush to […]

“Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso will campaign with Ken Paxton next week in Texas as Republicans work overtime to try to hold onto the endangered seat,” Politico reports.

“Jared Kushner is pushing back on a report involving a hacked iPhone, international spies and billion-dollar transfers from foreign governments,” CBS News reports. “An upcoming book by journalist Matthew Cole claims Kushner, who is President Trump’s son-in-law, had access to more than $2 billion in ‘slush money funds’ from Middle Eastern leaders in an attempt […]

Jonathan Martin: “It’s tempting to say that Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad deploying the estranged mother of his opponent in the Ohio governor’s race is the worst sort of ends-justify-the-means politics.” “But the ends, in this case, are likely to be an even more pronounced rejection of Ramaswamy at the polls next month. The spot isn’t just […]

“President Donald Trump has just one way left to bring down gas prices: ending the Iran war,” Semafor reports. “Already, his administration has expanded access to red-dyed diesel; unlocked Russian diesel; waived the Jones Act; and tapped the U.S. strategic reserve in an effort to lower costs. Yet oil prices hit a five-month high today, […]

“President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at bringing down housing costs in a bid to show that his administration is addressing voters’ affordability concerns in the final sprint to the midterm elections,” Bloomberg reports. “The order would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to create a pilot program that would proactively […]

A new Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 51% to 47%. Texas Senate Race James Talarico (D) 51%   Ken Paxton (R) 47%   Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) poll · likely voters The same poll in Texas finds Greg […]

Wall Street Journal: “A tidal wave of retirements, some the easy way (Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Michael McCaul), others the hard way (Sens. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy), is going to wipe out more than 800 years of combined congressional experience from Capitol Hill next year…” “The risk with all these lawmakers leaving is: experience. […]

A new VoteHub/Verasight poll in Texas finds Greg Abbott (R) leading Gina Hinojosa (D) in the governor’s race, 48% to 46%. Texas Governor’s Race Greg Abbott (R) 48%   Gina Hinojosa (D) 46%   VoteHub/Verasight poll · likely voters · ±4.3% The same poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in […]

Mediaite: “President Donald Trump called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to resign from Congress on Thursday night, claiming she used a ‘fake name’ when getting elected.”

Ed Kilgore: “The term carpetbagger was originally applied to Northerners who moved South after the Civil War to launch political careers under the protection of military Reconstruction; it referred to the hastily procured bags manufactured from carpet scraps the transplants allegedly used. More recently, the term has been applied to politicians who conveniently relocate themselves […]

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a slur to proudly announce to an auditorium of Marines in September that he was ridding the military of all transgender troops,” the New York Times reports. “But just steps from the auditorium where Mr. Hegseth spoke, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, boards assigned to carry out those orders were […]

“The races for some of Georgia’s top elected offices are a dead heat, setting up a last-minute scramble that will have big implications for how state government operates come January,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey of likely Georgia voters shows the races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state […]

“President Trump’s election advisers Chris LaCivita and James Blair have donated their six-figure consulting fees from a controversial side-hustle in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Trump’s presidential library,” the New York Post reports. “Trump was ‘gloating’ and ‘very braggadocious’ in private conversations this week upon learning the development, a source said — indicating that his initial […]

“President Donald Trump told reporters that he had ‘heard something about’ the Department of Justice investigating allegations that Corey Lewandowski profited off his past role as an adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, after media reports of an investigation surfaced Thursday,” the Associated Press reports. “The president notably didn’t defend Lewandowski, who was his […]

“Iowa Republican Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson on Thursday strongly condemned Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for his controversial campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton,” ABC News reports. “Hours before he was to appear at a rally with Hinson on Thursday, President Donald Trump defended the ad.”

“The Starlink system used by Ukraine’s military was suffering from low speeds limits early on Friday, despite President Trump saying that SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk had restored the service,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Ukrainian drone units and government officials said connections with Starshield, a military-grade service using Starlink’s infrastructure, continued to fail in […]

“A small group of Rep. Brandon Gill’s fellow House Freedom Caucus members are privately questioning whether he still belongs in the hardline group, Axios has learned,” Axios reports. “The 32-year-old Texas freshman’s rapid rise through House Republican ranks has transformed him into one of the party’s most prominent young stars — and earned him a […]

“President Donald Trump is asking voters to ‘pretend’ he is on the ballot. That might backfire,” Politico reports. “New results from The Politico Poll show that Democratic midterm voters are more motivated to oppose the president than Republican voters are to support him. Many Republican voters also aren’t looking for blind loyalty to Trump in […]

Cook Political Report: “Republicans’ path to keeping control of the House has all but evaporated. The outstanding question is how large Democrats’ majority will be in 2027; in the best-case scenario, their party could enter the new Congress with more seats than they had after successfully flipping control of the House in 2006 and 2018.” […]

“Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) rented a stately home in Washington, D.C., owned for years by one of his top campaign donors who sold the house to the Michigan congressman’s daughter in a favorable seller-financed deal this year,” the Detroit News reports.

“He’s going to become your senator. And it’s crazy.” — President Trump, quoted by NBC News, conceding that Roy Cooper (D) will win the North Carolina U.S. Senate race.