“Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) staged the largest rally of his reelection campaign near Atlanta, repeatedly painting President Donald Trump as a ‘crook’ whose policies have made life unaffordable for Americans,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Ossoff: “The Mar-a-Lago mafia really has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights. This corruption is why nothing works for ordinary people.”
“As potential 2028 presidential candidates crisscross the country to campaign in the midterms, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is wielding an advantage that none of the others can match: his massive personal wealth,” CNN reports.
“The billionaire has funneled nearly $40 million to Democratic candidates and groups in the midterms, donating to everything from the party’s biggest super PACs to state legislative campaigns. And in the closing weeks of the election, he’s funding a $20 million effort to help Democrats push deeper into red territory in their bid to capture the House majority, a particularly ambitious play.”
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the U.S. is sharing intelligence again after it was blocked for ‘some period of time,'” Bloomberg reports.
“Nationwide protests in France against the high cost of living and scenes of looting and burning on the sidelines deepened a schism between extremes in the country’s political spectrum and drew a reaction from U.S. Vice President JD Vance,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Vance: “Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. I pray that France, a beautiful country of amazing people, will stop this madness before more of its landmarks burn.”
“This is it. As far as I’m concerned, focusing on anything other than this election is folly for anybody in politics right now. We must win, we Democrats.”
— Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), quoted by CNN.
“In the closing weeks of election season in Texas, Republicans are growing wary of each other, quietly distancing themselves from their onetime allies,” NBC News reports.
“President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed turmoil in the marquee Senate race on two Texas Republicans who are not on the ballot. But it’s Ken Paxton, the Senate candidate Trump endorsed, who has many Republicans panicking that his controversies and other negative stories around him will drag down candidates in lower-ballot races.”
“Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott, locked in a margin-of-error race against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, has kept his distance from both Paxton and Trump — a longtime ally — on the trail.”
“Yet Abbott is getting the same treatment from at least some in his own party. At least three lawmakers in battleground races have removed his endorsement from their websites.”
Axios: Trump names scapegoats as Republicans sweat in Texas.
“Nearly 2 in 3 Americans say President Donald Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself — and most of the increase over the past year has come from people who lean Republican,” according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
”Among Republicans and independents who lean Republican, 34 percent believe Trump is enriching himself, up from 22 percent in September 2025. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents were already nearly unanimous, at 88 percent a year ago and 92 percent now, while independents who don’t lean toward either party were unchanged.”
“Donald Trump is barnstorming the country to boost Republicans in the final weeks of the midterms. But many candidates want to keep that support quiet,” Politico reports.
”The president is nowhere to be found in GOP ads, even in red states where Republicans were happy to tout his endorsement two years ago. And some candidates are hesitant to appear with Trump on the campaign trail — even as they hope he will help juice turnout among the MAGA base in November.”
“GOP operatives conducting a focus group in a traditionally red Midwestern state this month were taken aback by what they heard from their own party’s voters,” CNN reports.
“Asked what they blamed for rising gas prices, those voters pointed to ‘corrupt politicians’ and ‘billionaires’ — a response that surprised some longtime strategists who’ve never seen government corruption emerge as a top issue for so many Republican voters in congressional races.”
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll finds President Trump’s approval at 33%, while 66% disapprove — a record low for this poll.
Strikingly, 52% of Americans “strongly disapprove” of Trump.
The same poll finds Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 52% to 44%.
“Hakeem Jeffries is closing in on the Speaker’s gavel, but his path to power runs directly through an expanding group of Democratic Socialists who want major policy concessions in exchange for their support,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Emerging from primary victories in heavily Democratic districts, a slate of freshman candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America is organizing behind the scenes to extract commitments from party leadership to advance far-left priorities. With Democrats favored to win a thin House majority in November, an organized faction could hold the balance of power.”
“Welcome to the 2026 midterms, a months-long contest to prove who is the manliest man. Oh, and to win control of the House and Senate,” the Washington Post reports.
”You’ve seen the highlight reel: Abdul El-Sayed repeatedly calling his opponent a ‘beta.’ James Talarico firing back against GOP attacks that he is ‘too low-T for Texas.’ A sweaty Beau Bayh, running for Indiana secretary of state, pumping weights in a campaign ad — one of many candidates flaunting their physical strength to break through with voters.”
”Democrats are desperate to prove they’ve learned their lesson after men propelled Republicans to victory in 2024. They agree they need to talk to men again. But the chaotic midterm elections show they have very different ideas about how to do it.”
“Economic anxieties are testing the loyalty of rural voters to the Republican Party, expanding the electoral battlefield into some of the most traditionally conservative districts across the nation and raising Democratic hopes,” the New York Times reports.
“For a decade, farmers and ranchers have been a core part of President Trump’s coalition, voting for him by double-digit margins in all three of his presidential races. But as the impact of his tariffs and the war in Iran fuel discontent in agricultural communities across the country, the bond between the president and rural voters is beginning to fray.”
“The anger is palpable from the soybean farms in Mississippi to the cattle spreads in Kansas. Ranchers are seething over the administration’s decision to drop import tariffs on foreign beef. Farmers are fuming about the higher costs of tractors, fertilizer and fuel. And Republican candidates are on the defensive in places their party has not lost in a generation.”
“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is not up for election this year, but he is campaigning across his home state as though he is,” the Washington Post reports.
”Rather than pitching himself, Cruz is making a spirited case for the Republican Senate bid of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cruz, a conservative firebrand, is trying to rally the party’s base in a year where Republicans fear many of their voters will stay home. He has poured money into supporting Paxton, introduced the attorney general to his large network of donors and even gave him sartorial advice after President Donald Trump mocked the Paxton’s appearance despite having endorsed him.”
Said Cruz: “Unlike President Trump, I’m not going to comment on his wardrobe. I have advised him to go out and buy a bunch of Trump ties and just tie them real long.”
Washington Post: “Democratic voters and activists find themselves in an odd position less than three weeks before elections that they have been anticipating since Donald Trump won the presidency two years ago. They are eagerly consuming each new poll showing their candidates ahead in races in heavily conservative states spanning Texas, Kansas and Alaska, while simultaneously racked with anxiety that these polls — like ones they dared to believe in the past — could be leading them astray.”
”Even former president Barack Obama appears to be stressing, as he provided a reality check about Democrats’ sprawling Senate map at a private fundraiser in Virginia this month.”
“The midterm races are kicking into their highest gear — and so are the politicians who want to run for president in 2028,” the Washington Post reports.
”An array of potential Democratic and Republican presidential contenders are hitting the campaign trail in the final weeks before Election Day to stump for their parties’ House, Senate and governor nominees.”
“The message delivered by a president during a high-stakes midterm campaign can be critical,” the New York Times reports.
“As President Trump travels the country ahead of this year’s elections, he might focus on selling Americans on how he will bring the Iran war to a close, or control rising prices.”
“But in a puzzling approach, at some recent rallies he has instead started his often-meandering remarks by effusing about the physical appearances of other men and, more rarely, finding fault with them.”
“Democrats are running up lopsided majorities of the early votes as Americans head to the polls and mail in their ballots, carving out a clear majority of the votes cast so far,” the New York Post reports.
“Of early and mail-in voters, 54% were Democrats, 30% Republicans and 16% independents or ‘other.'”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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