“He’s eating barbecue. He’s winning over Joe Rogan. He’s challenging his opponent to mano-a-mano televised faceoffs,” Politico reports.

”James Talarico is determined not to let his GOP challenger Ken Paxton’s and Republicans’ attacks on his masculinity define him in what has emerged as one of the party’s loudest tactics in the crucial Senate race.”

“The Texas Democrat is working to position himself as a candidate focused on issues he says men actually care about instead of speculation about his diet, sexuality and religious beliefs.”

New York Post: Talarico notches 3-point lead over Paxton in new poll as GOP fears grow over Texas Senate race.

“The first, second and third questions for Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong at her meet-and-greet Thursday night revolved around her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America,” NOTUS reports.

“Voters described a ‘real fear’ she can’t win a general election for governor, questioned whether she’d tailor her policy platform to reach swing voters and asked for a primer on ‘what we can say to others when that concern comes up.'”

“This standing-room-only event captured Hong’s appeal — a packed, generationally diverse crowd, surrounded by dozens of hand-drawn signs for the once little-known state legislator — but it also reflected the angst of voters here. At times, it bordered on group therapy, with voters airing their concerns over Hong’s ability to win the governor’s race in a closely divided state that President Donald Trump won two years ago.”

CNN: Democratic socialists face a prove-it moment in battleground Wisconsin.

“Gavin Newsom is quietly banking a lot of goodwill among party organizers and elected officials in states — particularly in the South — that will be key in the midterms and the 2028 Democratic presidential primary,” Axios reports.

“Newsom has raised more than $1.7 million for critical state parties and their legislative committees so far this two-year cycle.”

The Atlantic: “Wisconsin has been the nation’s most closely divided state for a quarter century. Since 2000, only one presidential candidate—Barack Obama, twice—has carried the state by more than a single percentage point. But despite its status as a battleground, America’s Dairyland has never been a bastion of milquetoast moderation. Wisconsin has produced both a father of progressivism, Robert La Follette, and the red-baiting conservative Joseph McCarthy. More recently, its voters have backed the liberal stalwarts Russ Feingold and Tammy Baldwin as well as the right-wing Republicans Scott Walker and Ron Johnson.”

“Francesca Hong is keenly aware of this history. Indeed, she’s relying on it as she tries to persuade Democratic voters to trust her with the party’s nomination for governor later this month.”

“When President Donald Trump helped orchestrate Darline Graham’s appointment to finish Sen. Lindsey Graham’s term, many Republicans in South Carolina saw it as a fitting tribute to her late brother,” CNN reports.

“But four days later, following Trump’s announcement that he wanted Graham to run for a six-year term, their feelings quickly flipped.”

“The president’s decision to get behind a political unknown for a breakneck special election process is further testing his clout in South Carolina, a solidly red state where Republicans already this year have roundly rejected his first pick for the governor’s race and his push to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Behind the scenes, some Republicans are stewing as others fret that Trump is setting himself up for failure, once again, in the Palmetto State.”

Mediaite: First poll on South Carolina Senate race for Lindsey Graham’s seat shows runoff is likely.