“Democrats have gone from treating Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) as a best-case-scenario target to a genuinely vulnerable incumbent whose downfall is worth a real investment,” Axios reports.
“Why it matters: Democratic groups tell Axios they plan to put their money where their mouth is and spend to win the seat, which Trump carried by double digits in 2024.”
“House Democrats are pushing the Trump administration to release records related to the felony prosecution of a former Olympian who had been accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, questioning whether prosecutors were misled in an attempt to conceal a ‘botched’ renovation,” the Washington Post reports.
“A congressional primary in Connecticut on Tuesday provides one of the clearest tests yet of Democratic voters’ desire for generational change in the party,” the Washington Post reports.
“Former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin, 47, is waging the latest rebellion against an entrenched incumbent, John B. Larson, who is 78 and running for his 15th term. But Bronin and Larson are ideologically similar, unlike other primaries pitting young liberals against older centrists, leaving age and experience as their primary differentiators.”
“Republicans aiming to flip Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District after redrawing the heavily Black district in their favor will pick their nominee Tuesday to challenge U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, the Democratic incumbent who is seeking a second term despite the political headwinds,” the Associated Press reports.
“The district is one of several Democratic-leaning districts across the South that were reshaped to favor Republicans following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act.”
Punchbowl News: “A new Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo released Monday says the president can assert executive privilege over communications with ‘private advisers … so long as they relate to official presidential decision making, involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and are confidential.’”
”The OLC opinion extends that shield to the president’s direct advisers’ communications with private citizens, too.”
”That would let any president — including President Donald Trump — wall off a broad swath of communication from congressional scrutiny. It lands as Democrats look increasingly likely to win back the House – and subpoena power.”
“Democrats are betting that domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) will turn his conservative House district competitive this fall,” the Washington Post reports.
”The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm for House Democrats, announced Tuesday that it is adding Miller’s challenger, Brian Poindexter, to its priority ‘Red to Blue’ program.”
New York Times: Democrats plan new push to defeat Max Miller in Ohio after abuse accusations.
“The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted Rep. Max Miller’s (R-OH) seat from ‘Likely Republican’ to ‘Toss Up’ on Monday, underscoring the growing political fallout from allegations of domestic violence against the incumbent,” The Hill reports.
“Members of President Donald Trump’s political team asked Ohio Republicans last week not to wage a public pressure campaign against embattled GOP Rep. Max Miller, after they became increasingly convinced he wouldn’t end his reelection bid,” Politico reports.
“Woke one was crazy.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), on ABC News, explaining some controversial past statements from progressive candidates.
“Congress is on break for several weeks, but you can hardly blame Republicans if they spend most of it vexing over a lengthy to-do list for when they’re back in Washington,” Bloomberg reports.
“The House has just 16 legislative days left, and the Senate 14, before the November elections. That means Republicans in both chambers will need to jockey for coveted floor votes on their pet projects in September and October.”
“With scant time, many lawmakers will inevitably be disappointed.”
Bloomberg: Lame duck Congress will struggle to get much done.
“A group of House Democrats is calling for the leaders of OpenAI, Anthropic and other major AI companies to testify before Congress following a spate of hacking incidents that the lawmakers say ‘have serious implications for Americans’ safety and security,’” CNBC reports.
Reuters: Trump says Congress wants to regulate AI industry “out of business.”
“Local Republicans in western North Carolina meet tonight to select a replacement nominee to run for Rep. Chuck Edwards’ seat after he dropped his reelection bid,” Politico reports.
“Nancy Pelosi is unleashing her political machine to block one of California’s most prominent state lawmakers from replacing her in Congress, bringing an increasingly bitter feud to a head inside San Francisco’s Democratic establishment,” Politico reports.
”The latest clash erupted after Pelosi and her allies publicly blasted Scott Wiener’s campaign last week over an AI-powered chatbot imitating her preferred successor, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, calling the bot ‘sexist’ and a source of ‘harmful racial tropes that echo Trump birtherism.'”
“Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), a moderate Democrat, fended off a younger challenger from the left in the primary for the state’s 1st Congressional District,” the Washington Post reports.
”Case, 73, returned to the House in 2019 after representing Hawaii in Congress in the early 2000s. He overcame a lively challenge from 42-year-old Jarrett Keohokalole, who campaigned on a message of generational change and criticized Case’s conservative voting record.”
“Nine House incumbents have now lost their primaries in 2026, the highest number outside a national redistricting year since 1970. And more might be coming soon, part of an unusually volatile election cycle for a Congress facing disillusioned voters back home,” NBC News reports.
“President Donald Trump complimented House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as a ‘nice guy’ whom he could ‘probably get along with very well’ ahead of midterm elections that could see the Democrat become Speaker,” Mediaite reports.
“Eric Swalwell wielded an unexpected argument when FBI Director Kash Patel threatened to release files detailing the then-congressman’s contacts with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine Fang,” Sources Say News reports.
“Swalwell’s side raised the prospect that releasing the files could be viewed as a punitive attempt to weaponize the Department, pointing to the congressman’s long-concluded sexual relationship with former senior administration official Katie Miller from roughly a decade ago.”
“Miller — now the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — had been involved with Swalwell when she was in her early 20s, before her relationship with her now-husband.”
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.
