“If the Democrats win, you will have an economic depression, much like 1929. If the Republicans win you will each have $5,000 in your pocket.”
— President Trump, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, once again promising to pay voters to vote Republican in the midterm elections.
“President Trump, who has long staged a rhetorical and legal assault against voting by mail even as he used the method himself to cast his ballots, released a video on Saturday urging Republicans to vote early and by mail in the midterm election,” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “Vote early. Vote by mail. Or vote in person on Election Day.”
“It was the latest contortion from Mr. Trump on mail balloting. He has for years promoted unfounded claims that mail voting is rife with fraud, while working to restrict the practice for Americans, an effort that has been stymied by lawmakers and the courts. As recently as July, he said ‘mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt.'”
“Angela Paxton wants to clear the air,” the New York Times reports.
“Mrs. Paxton, the estranged wife of Ken Paxton, a conservative firebrand locked in a fierce battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, is urging voters in a new ad to back the entire Republican ticket when they go to the polls next month.”
“While Mrs. Paxton doesn’t mention her husband — whom she is divorcing, alleging adultery — by name in the ad, she addresses ‘the elephant in the room’ by telling voters they should look past their qualms with any single candidate and think about the future of the Republican Party.”
Mediaite: Republicans sound alarm on Ken Paxton’s “slow-moving car crash” of a campaign.
“Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) plans to try to block Democratic nominee and New York socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier from taking her seat in Congress if she wins the Nov. 3 election — over her saying she used the American flag as a napkin,” the New York Post reports.
“Voters are deeply dissatisfied with President Donald Trump and his Republican Party heading into the Nov. 3 midterm elections, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll, and Democrats have built a clear advantage on pressing issues such as the cost of living and healthcare over just a few months.”
“But the survey also points to a bigger problem for both parties: Few registered voters think either party is able to solve important problems or help Americans like them.”
Politico: “Major Democratic contributors and small-dollar givers are flooding Senate hopefuls with cash, but in some of the most politically crucial states they could lose winnable gubernatorial races because they’re being so dramatically outspent by Republican nominees and their allied groups.”
“In former and future presidential battlegrounds Florida, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada, the gubernatorial advertising gap is yawning. For the remainder of the campaign, Republicans are on track to outspend Democrats on television about 6-to-1 in Florida, more than 3-to-1 in Texas, 2.5-to-1 in Georgia, more than 2-to-1 in Wisconsin, and only slightly more narrowly in Ohio and Nevada.”
“Four weeks to Election Day, a growing number of House Republicans privately fear their chances of holding onto the majority are vanishing and have begun focusing on how to limit the size of a potential Democratic wave,” CNN reports.
“Inside the House GOP, Republicans have watched with alarm as President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have sunk in their own internal polling — including on traditionally red turf — over the last two weeks.”
“Now, the House GOP is entering triage mode. Republicans are discussing pulling money from once-competitive races they see as too difficult to win, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa, Rep. Tom Keane in New Jersey, and an open seat in Nebraska.”
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Kansas finds Adam Hamilton (D) and Roger Marshall (R) tied in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 45%, with David Graham (L) at 5%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Texas finds James Talarico (D) leading Ken Paxton (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 51% to 45%.
The same poll in Texas finds Gina Hinojosa (D) leading Greg Abbott (R) in the governor’s race, 49% to 46%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Alaska finds Mary Peltola (D) leading Dan Sullivan (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 43%.
The same poll in Alaska finds Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D) leading Bernadette Wilson (R) in the governor’s race, 52% to 48%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Ohio finds Sherrod Brown (D) leading Jon Husted (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 46%.
The same poll in Ohio finds Amy Acton (D) leading Vivek Ramaswamy (R) in the governor’s race, 49% to 45%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Iowa finds Ashley Hinson (R) leading Josh Turek (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 47%.
The same poll in Iowa finds Rob Sand (D) leading Zach Lahn (R) in the governor’s race, 52% to 41%.
Nate Cohn: “On paper, the Democrats’ path to winning the Senate in November is daunting. They need to flip at least two seats that President Trump won by 11 percentage points or more — no party has pulled off a similar feat since 2008.”
“But in polls over the last month, the party’s path to the Senate hasn’t seemed daunting at all. Since Labor Day, Democrats have been tied or ahead in nearly every nonpartisan poll of not just two but five states that voted for Mr. Trump by between 11 and 16 points: Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas.”
“Senate Republicans are suddenly rushing to save a Senate seat in Kansas,” Politico reports.
”On Friday, the Senate Leadership Fund, Senate Republicans’ top super PAC, reserved over $8 million in ads starting this weekend to prop up GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, according to tracking firm AdImpact.”
“The spending in a state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in 94 years comes amid a deteriorating national political environment for the GOP. The impact of spiking diesel and fertilizer prices driven by the war with Iran, coupled with President Donald Trump’s trade wars, have been acutely felt in the heartland.”
“One key to victory in the midterm elections comes down to this question: How can each party win support from people who don’t like them?” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“More voters say they dislike both the Democratic and Republican parties than in other recent elections, the result of economic anxiety and deep dissatisfaction with politicians and government. Some 21% of the voter pool holds an unfavorable view of both parties, a recent Wall Street Journal poll found, significantly above the 13% in the 2022 midterms and about 12% in the past two presidential elections.”
“State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, struggled to answer a series of questions during a recent interview, repeatedly pausing and admitting she was ‘not sure’ where she stood on key issues,” Mediaite reports.
“Eleven years ago, Donald Trump arrived in Mobile in his Boeing 757, strode onto a football field to ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and was greeted by a sight that revealed the scale of his fledging political movement: Tens of thousands of people had braved sweltering temperatures and snarled traffic to see him,” the Washington Post reports.
“An estimated 30,000 people had come to witness Trump on the ascent, proving that his brash, freewheeling political style could win over supporters even in the Bible Belt. The event marked the first time he had drawn such a large crowd, and it was a harbinger of the boisterous rallies that would come to define his more than decade in politics.”
“On Friday, he returns with his presidential approval ratings at historic lows and Republicans struggling to translate his power to mobilize their base into broader electoral support. With just a month to go before the midterms, Trump is returning to places where his movement remains strongest even as Republicans struggle in competitive districts across the country.”
ABC News: Trump heads to deep-red Alabama to “thank” loyal voters as GOP eyes a key House seat.
“Hispanic voters helped to power President Trump’s victory in 2024. Republicans thought they were watching a major, and permanent, realignment, one that would lock in their power in places like Texas and Florida for a generation,” the New York Times reports.
“Polling suggests, though, that these voters have quickly soured on Republicans. That could be one of the biggest stories of the midterm elections.”
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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