Philadelphia Inquirer: “An analysis of his voting record with the full Senate, meanwhile, shows his votes along the Democratic Party line have fallen from nearly 100% under the final years of President Joe Biden’s term to less than 80% during President Donald Trump’s first two years.”
“Among Democrats, only Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has voted with Trump’s priorities more often.”
“Some Ohioans received political flyers in the mail touting an independent candidate in Ohio’s nationally-watched U.S. Senate race,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
“Turns out, Greg Levy isn’t behind them − and his campaign contends something nefarious is afoot.”
“Levy, a socialist, is running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Libertarian Bill Redpath in the Nov. 3 election. The race has attracted more than $400 million in ad spending as Republicans and Democrats fight for control of the Senate.”
“The top Senate Democratic super political action committee is shifting millions in ad money from North Carolina to Ohio and Iowa, a sign of the shifting battlefield for control of Congress just three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections,” Bloomberg reports.
“It’s been a brutal stretch for Republican Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton,” NBC News reports.
“Damaging leaks of his private conversations. Public details of his past romantic affairs. Regular jabs at his physical appearance.”
“The curious part about it all? At least some of his allies are convinced the sabotage is coming from within his own party.”
“In the waning days of a campaign that could help decide control of the Senate, Texas Republicans remain bitterly at odds since a May primary ousted longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn and installed Paxton as the nominee with President Donald Trump’s help.”
“After hearing Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy unload his characteristically colorful combination of homespun quips, over-the-top insults and Talladega Nights movie quotes to reporters on Friday, former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Michigan Senate GOP candidate with whom Kennedy was campaigning, knew his own words wouldn’t be getting much attention, CNN reports.
Said Kennedy: “It’s like following the baton twirler in the talent show. You know, you’re never going to win that thing.”
“Kennedy has taken his act on the road, campaigning with GOP Senate nominees in several states in the closing weeks of this year’s midterm elections — including stops in Ohio on Thursday and Michigan on Friday, where he repeatedly declared that Rogers ‘pisses excellence.’ The 74-year-old Kennedy is ‘tired,’ he said, but still thinking about making a second trip to Alaska and a stop in Texas, both also home to key Senate races, ahead of Election Day.”
“Former President Barack Obama has cut an ad for Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Colom, the latest sign of Democrats putting real effort behind boosting their candidate in the deep red state as they eye a potential upset next month,” Semafor reports.
“The Colom campaign will run the 30-second spot on digital and radio statewide in Mississippi as part of a seven-figure media buy in Mississippi, according to details shared first with Semafor.”
“On the day he secured the Republican nomination in Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall projected confidence that national Republicans could spend their precious campaign resources elsewhere,” the Kansas City Star reports.
Said Marshall: “We’re hoping we don’t need them.”
“Now, as his reelection campaign enters its final month, the top fundraising arm for Senate Republicans is wading into Kansas in a race that could prove pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term.”
“In his six years in the White House, President Donald Trump has never had to contend with a Democratic Senate majority — but that could change in January,” the Washington Post reports.
“Senate Republicans are staring down the prospect of losing control of the chamber in the November midterm elections — and are sounding the alarm that it could be a disaster for Trump’s final two years.”
“Republicans have braced for months for Democrats to retake the House. But recent polling suggests Democrats could also capture the Senate, giving them full control of Congress — once an almost-unthinkable prospect.”
“When Graham Platner dropped out of the Senate race in Maine in July after a rape allegation he denied, it deflated many Democrats who had rallied to his campaign,” the New York Times reports.
“Three months later, some Democrats in the state are worried about the enthusiasm for Mr. Platner’s last-minute replacement, Troy Jackson, in his pivotal race against Senator Susan Collins, a fifth-term Republican. In the final weeks of a close race, Mr. Jackson and his allies are still trying to excite voters who were disillusioned after the summer switch.”
“This weekend, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a leader of the progressive movement who is popular across New England, decamped to the state for a three-rally trip to try to energize Mr. Jackson’s campaign.”
Mediaite: Susan Collins interrupted by heckler at Maine fair: ‘You can’t eat road salt, can you?!’
“Senator Thom Tillis on Sunday said President Donald Trump’s diesel supply deal with Russia may be illegal and will put American lives at risk, adding to bipartisan criticism of the arrangement announced by the president on Friday,” Reuters reports.
Said Tillis: “I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law.”
Washington Sun: Six senators call for Trump to reverse course on Russia diesel purchase.
“While facing sharp criticism over the last month for his debt collection practices as an OB-GYN in Great Bend, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) has forcefully defended himself, saying his methods were ‘very common,'” Kansas City Star reports.
“But an analysis of medical debt lawsuits in the Kansas court system found that although it’s not uncommon for hospitals and clinics across the state to sue patients, the 18% annual interest rate Marshall applied to unpaid bills was by far the highest of the roughly 150 medical practices whose public records were reviewed by The Star.”
“Sen. Darline Graham has a critical mission when she takes the debate stage Sunday night: Save face and calm Republican nerves,” MS NOW reports.
“Graham, the GOP political novice, and Annie Andrews, the Democratic pediatrician, are set to square off in the first and only debate of South Carolina’s Senate race — an unexpectedly competitive contest in the ruby-red Palmetto State.”
“For Graham, the debate is treacherous terrain — but a crucial opportunity. During a primary debate in August, the South Carolina Republican conceded that she’s ‘not that informed on national security,’ sparking a viral moment and raising serious concerns about her qualifications for the full six-year Senate term.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “An analysis of Fetterman’s record and public appearances by The Inquirer shows he has accomplished little legislatively while also doing less — in bills introduced, public appearances made, and committee hearings attended — as time has gone on.”
“He has attended just 16% of his own committee meetings in the last two years and had only 31 public appearances or publicized meetings in his home state in nearly four years.”
The Guardian: Trump urges John Fetterman to switch parties: “I’d love to see him as a Republican.”
Jonathan Bernstein: “It’s been a while since the out-party had a Senate majority. It was once common, happening in 1969-1976; 1987-1992; 1995-2000; and briefly in late 2001-2002. Since then, it happened in the final two years of the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama – just four of the last 24 years.”
“Those Obama years are most famous for Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s refusal to consider a Supreme Court nomination…”
“The difference, if the Democrats win a majority this time, is that Chuck Schumer and the party won’t have to actively blockade nominations the way McConnell did to get a similar result. Most Democrats – yes, including John Fetterman – are currently voting against Trump’s typical selections for most positions. Certainly that would be the case for any Supreme Court nominee Trump might plausibly select, and it’s almost certainly true for Circuit Court picks as well.”
“President Donald Trump praised Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) as a ‘great guy’ on Saturday, saying he would welcome the Pennsylvania Democrat into the Republican Party,” the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “I’d love to see it. I think he’s great. It’s going to be hard for him to get the nomination as a Democrat, but I’d love to have him as a Republican.”
“It was approaching midnight on the Senate floor, and a vote that had been meant to last 15 minutes had dragged on for nearly three hours as Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, weighed whether to kill one of President Trump’s top priorities,” the New York Times reports.
“It was hardly the first time she had faced such a choice.”
“Throughout Mr. Trump’s two terms, Ms. Collins had frequently criticized the president and voted against his initiatives more often than anyone else in her party. She cherished her reputation as one of the few remaining independent-minded Republicans in the Senate, which helped explain her enduring popularity in her purple home state. Yet she had more rarely blocked the president’s agenda outright.”
“Senator Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, has faced a series of challenges in his unexpectedly close race for re-election,” the New York Times reports.
“The latest: A six-year-old unpaid bill for 150 frosted sugar cookies, 100 mini strawberry muffins and 100 fudge brownies, posted online by an angry baker.”
“The bill, the baker wrote in a social media post that quickly went viral on Thursday, was from Mr. Marshall’s primary night watch party in 2020. The cookies’ buttercream frosting carried his name in blue and yellow. And the source of her frustration was that Mr. Marshall’s 2020 campaign had never paid her the nearly $700 she said it owed her.”
“On Saturday, Mr. Marshall wrote on social media that he had paid the bill, bringing more attention to a curious saga that his opponent’s campaign had seized on.”
New York Times: “The president announced the arrangement, which undercuts U.S. sanctions on Moscow, under pressure to rein in the surging price of diesel. The product’s cost has climbed because of the war with Iran, which has clogged a vital oil-shipping corridor, and high energy prices have become a severe campaign liability for Republican candidates in the midterms.”
“But the campaigns of two Republicans running in pivotal Senate races — former Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan and Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska — expressed disapproval of the deal with Russia. And other Republicans running in competitive Senate and House races had little to say about the agreement.”
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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