“House Democrats are making an unusual plea to billionaire Trump lieutenant Elon Musk: Come campaign for our Republican opponents next year,” Axios reports.
“Democrats see the Republican-aligned candidate’s wipeout in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election as a clear signal that Musk has become electoral poison for the GOP.”
“A loss in a high-stakes Wisconsin judicial contest has left some Republicans questioning the heavy involvement of billionaire Elon Musk, whom Democrats view as the perfect villain to galvanize their voters in races to come,” the Washington Post reports.
“But Musk and his political action committee plan to remain deeply involved in boosting GOP candidates.”
Said one person close to Musk: “This is not deterring him at all. He’s still wanting to be heavily engaged in politics going forward.”
“Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, is getting ready to challenge Senator John Cornyn in what could be the nastiest and most expensive Republican Party showdown of the 2026 election,” the New York Times reports.
“Xavier Becerra, the former health secretary under President Joe Biden, is joining the burgeoning field to be California’s next governor — regardless of whether Kamala Harris seeks the post,” Politico reports.
Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D), who flipped a GOP district in 2018 and once went viral for a speech she made, announced she’s running for U.S. Senate next year, the Detroit Free Press reports.
“Her entry into the race — which she has teased in recent days on cable TV as she spoke about her book, Hate Won’t Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It, in which she extols people to remain politically active — gives the race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) its first major candidate, one who can both raise substantial amounts of money and has developed a national brand as a passionate voice for her party.”
“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) of using her name to fundraise, as speculation grows that the third-term Republican will run for the Senate,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Greene, who has openly said she is considering running for statewide office in Georgia, responded to Ossoff’s comments this week suggesting she doesn’t have ‘the guts’ to run for Senate.”
Said Greene: “I just found out he’s been lying to everyone and using my name to fundraise. So he must be having a really hard time raising money, is how I see it.”
Julian Zelizer: “Wisconsin is more than just a battleground state; it’s a bellwether. This election isn’t only about measuring enthusiasm for Trump’s second term. It’s also a critical test of how well each party is faring in the ongoing battles over the institutions responsible for overseeing elections in 2026 and 2028.”
MAGA election conspiracy theorist and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell is teasing a bid for governor of Minnesota, Politico reports.
Said Lindell: “I live here in Minnesota. Everywhere I go, no one wants Tim Walz. They don’t.”
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) “is stepping back from a run for Georgia governor, saying in an interview Monday that she’s focusing on her husband’s health as he undergoes treatment for complications from a recent cancer diagnosis,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) “is poised to walk away from seniority, the Senate and Washington,” Politico reports.
“He’s frustrated with Congress, yes, but also Joe Biden’s selfishness, what Donald Trump has done to both parties and the corrosive impact of social media on politics, the media and even the once-presumed idea of shared facts. Bennet is almost certain to run for governor in his adopted state.”
Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) said he’s “seriously considering” a 2026 Senate campaign against incumbent John Cornyn, or the winner of what’s expected to be a bruising GOP primary, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) is telling his colleagues that he’ll announce his campaign for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat early next month, Axios reports.
Politico: “Even as ticket-splitting rates have plummeted, Collins has stymied all previous Democratic attempts to oust her from her Maine Senate seat and she remains the only Republican senator left standing in a state that Donald Trump lost in 2024. A rare GOP moderate, she frequently crosses party lines, voting to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial and against confirming his Defense secretary four years later.”
“That has made her unpopular with some Trump voters, but Collins’ path has always been to make up for her weakness on her right flank by bringing in an impressive number of moderate Democrats and cleaning up with independents. In the midterms, Democrats are hoping she’s become so unpalatable that her coalition collapses.”
Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) said she has decided against a run for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2026, saying she plans to run for a third term in the House instead, the Detroit News reports.
TikTok star Katherine Abughazaleh (D), who is just 26 years old, entered the race for a safe Democratic seat in Congress.
Asks Abughazaleh, in her launch video: “What if we didn’t suck?”
Abughazaleh only moved to Illinois last year, but she doesn’t think Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who is 80 years old, is representing her district well.
“David Jolly, the former representative whose sharp disagreements with President Donald Trump led him to leave the Republican Party, is considering running for governor of Florida,” Politico reports.
“Jolly is weighing whether to enter the race as a Democrat despite Republicans building a formidable advantage in the once-swing state under Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis.”
“Democratic members of Congress, back home in their districts for the last week, have been encountering a level of anger and hostility that some see as reminiscent of the 2010 Tea Party wave,” Axios reports.
“The dynamic could spill over into 2026 primaries, with the infuriated grassroots attempting to throw out House and Senate Democrats they see as unprepared to take on Trump.”
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.