Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Next year, 26 states will hold elections for secretary of state. Currently, the GOP holds 26 secretary of state offices to 21 for the Democrats. Three states do not have a secretary of state.”
“Our analysis suggests that five secretary of state races this year are currently competitive, including four in the Toss-up category. Democrats will largely be playing defense: All four Toss-up seats are currently held by Democrats.”
USA Today: “New yellow and white-striped umbrellas were recently installed on about a dozen deck-style tables on the stone patio that replaced the Rose Garden’s iconic grass lawn in late July.”
“The umbrellas appear nearly identical to yellow umbrellas on the swimming pool patio at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private South Florida club and personal residence that served as the inspiration for his controversial overhaul of the Rose Garden that is situated just outside the Oval Office.”
“As the investigation continues into claims that Oklahoma schools chief Ryan Walters (R) had images of nude women on his office television during a meeting, one state lawmaker is offering a possible explanation: It was just an unfortunate mishap,” The 19th reports.
“Explicit content began playing during an executive session of the State Board of Education in Walters’ office on July 24.”
“White House officials are preparing for President Donald Trump to nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve as a Federal Reserve governor,” Bloomberg reports.
“The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for at least a week rose to the highest level since November 2021 in the latest sign of widening cracks in the labor market,” the Washington Post reports.
“Continuing claims for unemployment benefits jumped to 1.97 million in late July, according to a Labor Department report, highlighting a weakening labor market.”
Steve Bannon is in the early stages of planning an audacious run for president in 2028, the Daily Mail reports.
“One of the nation’s most popular big-city mayors says he can’t be a Democrat any longer and is instead trying to test Elon Musk’s suggestion that America needs another option to the two major parties,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mike Duggan, this city’s mayor since 2014, ditched his longtime party in December and is running for Michigan governor as an independent.”
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “has positioned himself as the only candidate in the New York City mayor’s race who can forcefully go toe-to-toe with President Trump. But in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday with some of the city’s biggest business leaders, Mr. Cuomo suggested he might adopt a more conciliatory strategy,” the New York Times reports.
“As he made a case for his candidacy, Mr. Cuomo said he was not ‘personally’ looking for a fight with the president and compared their yearslong relationship to a ‘dysfunctional marriage.'”
Said Cuomo: “I think he wants to be accepted by New York City, and I think there’s an opportunity there.”
Wired: “Human judgement remains central to the launch of nuclear weapons. But experts say it’s a matter of when, not if, artificial intelligence will get baked into the world’s most dangerous systems.”
“Top staff for Indiana’s lieutenant governor played a video showing a state lawmaker’s wife seemingly topless, apparently using an AI program to alter the woman’s real performance at a state talent show hosted on April 9,” 24sight News reports.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) remained noncommittal about a mid-decade redistricting push following his meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Indiana on Thursday, Politico reports.
Said Braun: “We covered a wide array of topics. We listened.”
Meanwhile, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) told Politico that “it would be just wrong” to do it.
Associated Press: “The loss of an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding at Harvard has meant that some of the world’s most prominent researchers are laying off young researchers. They are shelving years or even decades of research, into everything from opioid addiction to cancer.”
“And despite Harvard’s lawsuits against the administration, and settlement talks between the warring parties, researchers are confronting the fact that some of their work may never resume.”
Suffolk County, New York Executive Ed Romaine (R) was clearly excited to announce plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday next year — but someone might want to tell him what he actually said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel planned to take control of all of Gaza, “bucking the advice of the Israeli military and warnings that expanding operations could endanger the hostages being held there and kill more Palestinian civilians,” the New York Times reports.
“President Trump is expected to sign a memorandum on Thursday requiring colleges to submit admissions data to the federal government to verify compliance with a 2023 Supreme Court decision that ended race-conscious policies,” the New York Times reports.
Bloomberg: “The government will also expand the scope of required admissions data reporting and increase data accuracy checks. The Education Department is directed to take remedial action over incomplete or inaccurate data.”
Harry Litman: “It’s difficult to overstate how dangerous this moment is. Using the machinery of criminal justice to pursue manufactured charges against political predecessors is the stuff of strongmen and collapsing democracies…”
“It corrodes trust in democratic transitions, chills dissent, and redefines political opposition as criminal subversion.”
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) “has been accused by a beauty pageant titleholder of threatening to release intimate videos and private images of her after she ended their romantic relationship,” CBS News reports.
Taegan 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.