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Tonight’s Primary Results

March 3, 2026 at 7:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The 2026 primary season kicks into gear tonight.

We’ll get our first real test of candidate strength, turnout, and just how restless each party’s base really is.

North Carolina: 

  • Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET.
  • Candidates must receive at least 30% of the vote to avoid a runoff. The second-place finisher must formally request one. If triggered, a runoff will take place on May 12.

Texas:

  • The first polls close at 8:00 p.m. ET in the Central time zone — covering about 97% of the state’s population. Polls close in the El Paso area (Mountain time zone) one hour later.
  • If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will be held on May 26.

Arkansas:

  • Polls close at 8:30 p.m. ET.
  • If no candidate earns a majority, a runoff will be held on March 31.

Leave your reactions in the comments as the results roll in. 

The Phone Call the Shook Up the Middle East

March 3, 2026 at 7:11 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Last Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called President Trump with a stunning tip: Iran’s supreme leader and his top advisers were all set to meet at one location in Tehran on Saturday morning,” Axios reports.

“They could all be killed in a single devastating airstrike, Netanyahu told Trump and his team.”

Noem Has ‘Systematically Obstructed’ Inspector General

March 3, 2026 at 7:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency’s leaders had ‘systematically obstructed’ its work, including in a federal criminal investigation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In the letter to lawmakers dated Monday, the inspector general outlines 11 instances that he says the department had blocked his office from accessing records and information it needed to pursue its inquiries. He said DHS’s refusal to cooperate in the criminal investigation, which he said had national security implications, was ‘particularly egregious.'”

Americans Split on Military Action in Iran

March 3, 2026 at 7:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Fox News national survey finds 61% think Iran poses “a real national security threat” to the United States.

Even though a majority views Iran as a danger to the country, that concern does not translate into majority support for the current U.S. military action, as 50% approve and 50% disapprove.

Iran Tries to Expand the War and Outlast Trump

March 3, 2026 at 6:04 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s first priority is to survive. To do that, its leaders will want to drive up the cost of the war for President Trump — in terms of American casualties, energy costs and inflation — to try to persuade him to declare victory and go home,” the New York Times reports.

“Faced with the overwhelming firepower of the United States and Israel, diplomats and analysts say, Iran is working to enlarge the battlefield from its own territory to the broader region. The goals are to damage oil and gas infrastructure in neighboring countries, shut the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and curtail air traffic — all to disrupt the economies of the Persian Gulf and drive up global energy prices and inflation. Iran will also be trying to exhaust the number of expensive missile interceptors held by its enemies.”

House Wants Goldman General Counsel to Testify

March 3, 2026 at 6:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Goldman Sachs’s departing general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has been asked to testify before the House Oversight Committee on her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reports.

CIA Working to Spark Uprising in Iran

March 3, 2026 at 5:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran,” CNN reports.

“The Trump administration has been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing them with military support.”

“Iranian Kurdish armed groups have thousands of forces operating along the Iraq-Iran border, primarily in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Several of the groups have released public statements since the beginning of the war hinting at imminent action and urging Iranian military forces to defect.”

Key takeaway: “The source added the militias expects U.S. and Israeli support.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

March 3, 2026 at 5:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“We understand some will reflexively oppose this, people don’t love the idea of war. But people like winners. They are drawn to it. If we do this quickly, I think it will be seen as what it is: successful.”

— A Trump adviser, quoted by NBC News, dismissing the anger of the president’s America First base over attacking Iran.

New York Lawmakers Back Tax Hike on the Wealthy

March 3, 2026 at 5:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly will formally propose higher income tax rates for wealthy New Yorkers, putting them at odds with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s stance against hikes,” Politico reports.

“State lawmakers next week are expected to formally unveil their non-binding budget resolutions, which set the public parameters of the high-stakes budget negotiations. The tax hike proposals, which have not been previously reported, are in line with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to raise rates on people who earn more than $1 million a year as he pushes to close a $5.3 billion city budget gap.”

Khamenei’s Son Chosen as Next Iranian Leader

March 3, 2026 at 4:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mojtaba Khamenei, the hardline 56-year-old son of Iran’s late dictator and a close ally of the Revolutionary Guards, has reportedly been named Supreme Leader.

U.S. Will Escort Oil Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz

March 3, 2026 at 3:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump said the US will provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts to ensure safe passage for oil tankers and other vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to head off a potential energy crisis caused by the war with Iran,” Bloomberg reports.

Howard Lutnick Will Testify on Epstein Ties

March 3, 2026 at 3:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, once a Manhattan neighbor of Jeffrey Epstein, voluntarily agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee over past ties to the convicted sex offender, Axios reports.

Stranded Americans in Middle East Not Getting Help

March 3, 2026 at 2:46 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Trump administration is not currently helping U.S. citizens make travel plans to evacuate the Middle East, despite urging Americans to “depart now” from 16 countries in the region as the war with Iran continues to escalate, NOTUS reports.

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

March 3, 2026 at 2:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“If we don’t stop them or if we didn’t stop them or if we didn’t start, you would have had a nuclear war and they would have taken out many countries because you know what? They’re sick people. They’re angry, they’re sick.”

— President Trump, speaking to reporters about his decision to attack Iran.

Democrats Won’t Budge on Homeland Security Funding

March 3, 2026 at 2:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans have sought to use the Trump administration’s attack on Iran to pressure Democrats to relent on their demands for funding the Department of Homeland Security,” NBC News reports.

“But Democrats are quickly rejecting that push, making clear they will continue to insist on changes to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection, after federal agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis.”

Thom Tillis Is Furious with Kristi Noem

March 3, 2026 at 2:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) threatened Tuesday to use aggressive procedural measures to bring Senate work to a standstill if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fails to respond to his offices’ inquiries about an immigration crackdown in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Politico reports.

“An irate Tillis, who is retiring this year from the Senate, ripped into Noem during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, saying that he would use his power as a senator to hold nominations and prevent bills from getting to the Senate floor.”

Said Tillis: “If I don’t get an answer that you’ve had a month to respond to, and the remaining ones … as of today, I’ll be informing leadership that I’m putting a hold on any en bloc nominations until I get a response, and in two weeks, if I don’t get a response, I’m going to deny quorum and markup in as many committees as I can until I get a response.”

All the President’s Portraits

March 3, 2026 at 2:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Since moving back in, President Trump has significantly altered the ‘People’s House.’ East Wing: gone. Oval Office: maximalized. Rose Garden: Mar-a-lago-ified. And the art? Lots of Trump… never before has a sitting president displayed so much of his own image on the White House walls.”

Trump Suggests Killing Iran’s Leader Was Personal

March 3, 2026 at 2:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump for the first time acknowledged a personal dimension to his decision to attack Iran, citing the country’s efforts to assassinate him in 2024 as a factor in ordering the joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “I got him before he got me. I got him first.”

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  • Trump’s Succession Plan Just Imploded
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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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