“Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee for next week’s special election in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district, has made affordability concerns a centerpiece of her campaign messaging – mirroring the playbook of the party’s victorious candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month,” CNN reports.

“Tuesday’s contest is poised to test just how far Democrats can ride that argument in a district that President Donald Trump carried by 22 points last November.”

President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson plan to hold a Monday evening tele-rally to boost a Republican candidate in a high-stakes Tennessee special congressional election, Axios reports.

“Zohran Mamdani’s decisive win in New York City — along with key victories in New Jersey and Virginia — suggested Democrats are headed into the midterms from a position of strength. But they didn’t capture how deep that strength ran,” Politico reports.

“Across suburbs, rural counties and small towns in New York, Democrats posted electoral gains that rival — and in many cases surpass — the party’s 2017 ‘Blue Wave.’ In a state with enough competitive House races to decide control of the chamber, the outcome amounts to a wakeup call for already-wary Republicans.”

And just in time for the holidays, the Blue Wave T-Shirt is back.

A new Emerson/The Hill survey of the special election for US Congress in Tennessee’s 7th district finds 48% of voters support Matt Van Epps (R) and 46% support Aftyn Behn (D).

“A special election for a heavily Republican House seat in Tennessee that was on virtually no one’s political radar a few months ago has surfaced as the unlikely new front in the fight for control of Congress,” the New York Times reports.

“President Trump recently held a telephone rally for the Republican candidate, Matt Van Epps. Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at a canvassing event on Tuesday for the Democrat, State Representative Aftyn Behn. And super PACs on both sides are blitzing the airwaves before the Dec. 2 special election for a seat that was drawn with the intention of never being competitive.”

“Former Vice President Kamala Harris plans to make a surprise appearance on Tuesday with the Democratic candidate in a closely watched Tennessee special election for Congress, marking the first time since she left office that she has returned to the campaign trail for another candidate,” the New York Times reports.

Time: “In the final stretch of the New York City mayoral campaign, Curtis Sliwa says he was offered $10 million by a group of unnamed billionaires to drop out of the race and clear the way for Andrew Cuomo—so great was their fear of a Zohran Mamdani victory.”

“What the people allegedly offering that sum couldn’t have known about Sliwa—a veteran of the cutthroat world of this city’s politics—was that he disliked Cuomo far more than he wanted to be a multimillionaire.”

“Just about everyone agrees Republicans will win a special House election in a deep-red Tennessee district next month. Both parties are watching the race closely anyway,” NOTUS reports.

“Less than a month after Democrats swept to big victories in November’s races, a special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District will offer another chance to gauge the national political climate, testing whether Democrats can continue their political momentum in a federal contest dominated by conservative voters.”

“Katie Wilson, a staple of Seattle’s progressive politics, who for years toiled behind the scenes of City Hall in pursuit of higher taxes on Amazon and stronger regulations for renters, is likely to be the city’s 58th mayor,” the Seattle Times reports.

Politico: “Wilson, who like New York’s Zohran Mamdani is a self-described socialist, focused her campaign on affordability — highlighting her own struggles to afford life in Seattle.”

“U.S. elections are sending a consistent message: Americans are deeply frustrated with their government’s inability to solve problems,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The latest example arrived Tuesday in a rebuke of President Trump, as voters rallied to Democrats in hopes they can better address affordability and other major challenges. That pushback was delivered just 12 months after the president swept all seven of the top battleground states in a show of Republican dominance.”

“The rapid-fire swing in fortunes for both parties is the result of a narrowly divided nation quick to throw out elected officials seen as slow to improve their lives. To many Americans, government is literally not working, as evidenced by a federal shutdown that has now stretched into the longest in U.S. history.”

“I watched that election, which I was not much involved in. I didn’t support Virginia, the candidate. I didn’t do a lot of support for the other candidate. They asked me about Cuomo, and I said, well, it’s a question – do you want a thug or do you want a communist? So I wasn’t involved in that stuff too much.”

— President Trump, quoted by CNN.

Washington Post: “Much of the attention Tuesday night focused on the Democrats’ big wins in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, as well as in the New York mayor’s contest.”

“But the party also won hundreds of lower-profile state and local contests — often swamping Republican incumbents with overwhelming turnout, suggesting that voters’ desire to send an a message opposing President Donald Trump was deep and wide.”