Politics, Parties, Candidates
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Politics, Parties, Candidates
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NRCC: Exposed - Liberal Jamie Ager's Radical Agenda
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
* * *
EXPOSED: Liberal Jamie Ager's Radical Agenda
September 28, 2026
Liberal Jamie Ager's true, radical agenda was just exposed. Ager was caught on camera advocating for universal healthcare, putting him in lockstep with extreme socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ager even had the chance to distance himself from Bernie's extreme Medicare for All plan, but he refused. Not only would this proposal carry a $2,000-a-year price tag for families, but Bernie's plan would also ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * EXPOSED: Liberal Jamie Ager's Radical Agenda September 28, 2026 Liberal Jamie Ager's true, radical agenda was just exposed. Ager was caught on camera advocating for universal healthcare, putting him in lockstep with extreme socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ager even had the chance to distance himself from Bernie's extreme Medicare for All plan, but he refused. Not only would this proposal carry a $2,000-a-year price tag for families, but Bernie's plan would alsoprovide illegal immigrants with free, taxpayer-funded healthcare and provide taxpayer-funded sex change drugs for kids.
Notably, Medicare for All could also lead to the closure of up to 24 rural hospitals across North Carolina.
Make no mistake: this is who Jamie Ager is and what he stands for.
"Liberal Jamie Ager has finally dropped the mask and shown voters who he truly is: a far-left extremist who's pushing for the same radical policies as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Ager wants to destroy hardworking families with a massive tax hike while gutting the rural healthcare systems Western North Carolina relies on." - NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson
Read more from the North State Journal here or see excerpts below:
11th District candidate Ager calls for 'universal' healthcare
A.P. Dillon
North State Journal
September 28, 2026
RALEIGH -- Democratic congressional candidate Jamie Ager told attendees at a recent campaign event that healthcare should be made "universal," according to remarks recorded at the gathering that were shared with North State Journal.
Ager, a farmer and co-owner of Hickory Nut Gap, is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District. The district covers 16 western North Carolina counties.
[...]
The comments were made at a "meet-and-greet" event in Highlands on Sept. 14
At the event, Ager said, "We've got to make healthcare so it's universal."
Another clip obtained by North State Journal shows a question to Ager about "universal" healthcare and if it amounted to a plan like Sen. Bernie Sanders' proposed "Medicare For All." Ager didn't appear to reject the characterization.
Sanders is well-known as a Democratic Socialist and for endorsing Democratic Socialist of America candidates like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as other DSA-backed candidates whose platforms include support of Medicare for All.
While Sanders hasn't endorsed Ager, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has. Warren, who also supports Medicare for All, endorsed Ager at the North Carolina Democratic Party's annual Unity Dinner held in Raleigh on Aug. 1.
The rise of DSA candidates within the Democratic Party has become a focal point of Republican messaging heading into the midterms defined as a choice between "crazy" and "commonsense."
The Ager campaign has not responded to North State Journal's request for comment about the comments.
"Democrat Jamie Ager has been cosplaying as a moderate Democrat for the entirety of his campaign and has finally slipped up and exposed his radical agenda," said Balkcom in a statement to North State Journal on the remarks. "He comes from a long line of liberal politicians who serve as a rubber stamp for their party. Make no mistake, once he gets to DC, he'll be a sheep that falls in line with (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), Hakeem Jeffries, and their socialist policies."
Ager's campaign website doesn't directly describe a single-payer system and states everyone should have access to quality healthcare, as well as citing rising premiums, high prescription costs and rural hospitals at risk of closure. On the site, Ager says he would "push for a public option so everyone has access to quality affordable health care."
His campaign site also says he would support "robust Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security," defend Medicare's authority to negotiate drug prices, and keep caps on insulin and other essential medicines.
Independent analyses of single-payer proposals like Medicare for All have estimated large increases in federal spending, likely requiring tax hikes to cover the costs. A 2019 Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund analysis estimated about $32 trillion in new federal revenue would be needed over a decade for a full-scale single-payer plan. A restatement of the 2019 number taking into account inflation using the Consumer Price Index would be about $41 trillion.
A December 2020 Congressional Budget Office analysis looking at future costs found federal health subsidies would rise by $1.5 trillion to $3.0 trillion in the year 2030 alone, depending on payment rates, cost-sharing, and whether long-term services and supports are included.
Republicans have rejected Sanders' proposal over the costs but also over providing illegal immigrants with taxpayer-funded "free" healthcare as well as including "gender affirming care."
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/%f0%9f%9a%a8-exposed-liberal-jamie-agers-radical-agenda/
* * *
EXPOSED: Liberal Jamie Ager's Radical Agenda
September 28, 2026
Liberal Jamie Ager's true, radical agenda was just exposed. Ager was caught on camera advocating for universal healthcare, putting him in lockstep with extreme socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ager even had the chance to distance himself from Bernie's extreme Medicare for All plan, but he refused. Not only would this proposal carry a $2,000-a-year price tag for families, but Bernie's plan would also ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * EXPOSED: Liberal Jamie Ager's Radical Agenda September 28, 2026 Liberal Jamie Ager's true, radical agenda was just exposed. Ager was caught on camera advocating for universal healthcare, putting him in lockstep with extreme socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ager even had the chance to distance himself from Bernie's extreme Medicare for All plan, but he refused. Not only would this proposal carry a $2,000-a-year price tag for families, but Bernie's plan would alsoprovide illegal immigrants with free, taxpayer-funded healthcare and provide taxpayer-funded sex change drugs for kids.
Notably, Medicare for All could also lead to the closure of up to 24 rural hospitals across North Carolina.
Make no mistake: this is who Jamie Ager is and what he stands for.
"Liberal Jamie Ager has finally dropped the mask and shown voters who he truly is: a far-left extremist who's pushing for the same radical policies as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Ager wants to destroy hardworking families with a massive tax hike while gutting the rural healthcare systems Western North Carolina relies on." - NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson
Read more from the North State Journal here or see excerpts below:
11th District candidate Ager calls for 'universal' healthcare
A.P. Dillon
North State Journal
September 28, 2026
RALEIGH -- Democratic congressional candidate Jamie Ager told attendees at a recent campaign event that healthcare should be made "universal," according to remarks recorded at the gathering that were shared with North State Journal.
Ager, a farmer and co-owner of Hickory Nut Gap, is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District. The district covers 16 western North Carolina counties.
[...]
The comments were made at a "meet-and-greet" event in Highlands on Sept. 14
At the event, Ager said, "We've got to make healthcare so it's universal."
Another clip obtained by North State Journal shows a question to Ager about "universal" healthcare and if it amounted to a plan like Sen. Bernie Sanders' proposed "Medicare For All." Ager didn't appear to reject the characterization.
Sanders is well-known as a Democratic Socialist and for endorsing Democratic Socialist of America candidates like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as other DSA-backed candidates whose platforms include support of Medicare for All.
While Sanders hasn't endorsed Ager, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has. Warren, who also supports Medicare for All, endorsed Ager at the North Carolina Democratic Party's annual Unity Dinner held in Raleigh on Aug. 1.
The rise of DSA candidates within the Democratic Party has become a focal point of Republican messaging heading into the midterms defined as a choice between "crazy" and "commonsense."
The Ager campaign has not responded to North State Journal's request for comment about the comments.
"Democrat Jamie Ager has been cosplaying as a moderate Democrat for the entirety of his campaign and has finally slipped up and exposed his radical agenda," said Balkcom in a statement to North State Journal on the remarks. "He comes from a long line of liberal politicians who serve as a rubber stamp for their party. Make no mistake, once he gets to DC, he'll be a sheep that falls in line with (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), Hakeem Jeffries, and their socialist policies."
Ager's campaign website doesn't directly describe a single-payer system and states everyone should have access to quality healthcare, as well as citing rising premiums, high prescription costs and rural hospitals at risk of closure. On the site, Ager says he would "push for a public option so everyone has access to quality affordable health care."
His campaign site also says he would support "robust Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security," defend Medicare's authority to negotiate drug prices, and keep caps on insulin and other essential medicines.
Independent analyses of single-payer proposals like Medicare for All have estimated large increases in federal spending, likely requiring tax hikes to cover the costs. A 2019 Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund analysis estimated about $32 trillion in new federal revenue would be needed over a decade for a full-scale single-payer plan. A restatement of the 2019 number taking into account inflation using the Consumer Price Index would be about $41 trillion.
A December 2020 Congressional Budget Office analysis looking at future costs found federal health subsidies would rise by $1.5 trillion to $3.0 trillion in the year 2030 alone, depending on payment rates, cost-sharing, and whether long-term services and supports are included.
Republicans have rejected Sanders' proposal over the costs but also over providing illegal immigrants with taxpayer-funded "free" healthcare as well as including "gender affirming care."
[...]
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/%f0%9f%9a%a8-exposed-liberal-jamie-agers-radical-agenda/
NRCC: Corrupt Cognetti Caught Again!
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
* * *
Corrupt Cognetti Caught AGAIN!
September 28, 2026
Corrupt Paige Cognetti was just caught trying to use her office for personal gain AGAIN.
This time, Cognetti tried to quietly turn the street she lives on into a one-way street without telling anyone, leading to "dangerous near-accidents" and hurting local businesses.
Cognetti even tried to cover up this pathetic attempt by blaming the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which embarrassed her when it explained that the request came ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Corrupt Cognetti Caught AGAIN! September 28, 2026 Corrupt Paige Cognetti was just caught trying to use her office for personal gain AGAIN. This time, Cognetti tried to quietly turn the street she lives on into a one-way street without telling anyone, leading to "dangerous near-accidents" and hurting local businesses. Cognetti even tried to cover up this pathetic attempt by blaming the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which embarrassed her when it explained that the request camefrom her office.
"Corrupt Paige Cognetti only cares about herself and isn't afraid to abuse public office for her own benefit. Cognetti doesn't even try to hide her blatant corruption anymore, but unfortunately for her, accountability is coming at the ballot box this November." - NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson
Read more from the Washington Free Beacon here or see excerpts below:
Scranton Mayor Running for Congress Turned Her Own Street Into a One-Way, Angering Residents: 'Somebody's Going To Get Killed There'
Collin Anderson
The Washington Free Beacon
September 28, 2026
Scranton mayor Paige Cognetti (D.), who is running for Congress against Republican incumbent Rob Bresnahan, turned a stretch of the street she lives on into a one-way street without properly notifying the city council of the change, records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. The move has led to dangerous near-accidents and hurt the business of a local trucking company, residents say.
Scranton resident Les Spindler first raised the issue at an April 7 city council meeting. He noted that a construction crew had blocked off a road near his house, Euclid Avenue, at a point next to a busy intersection. The workers told him they were turning the road into a one-way and said "everybody" supported the change. Spindler told the council he did not and asked its members if they knew anything about the project. They didn't, according to the council's president, who asked his clerk to contact the mayor's office--which is supposed to inform the council of such projects under Scranton's city code--for more information, meeting minutes reviewed by the Free Beacon show.
In the meantime, Spindler kept showing up to council meetings with updates. Drivers were not adhering to the new traffic pattern, he said, citing a neighbor whose "daughter was almost hit head on" and another who said, "people are going down the wrong way and somebody's going to get killed there." A local trucking company located near Euclid, Emiliani Trucking, was also unaware of the change and didn't think its 18-wheelers could navigate the new route, indicating that emergency vehicles would have the same problem, Spindler added.
"There's no way a fire truck is going to fit up there. ... I looked down to where they're doing the project and an ambulance went out the wrong way, an ambulance," Spindler said during an April 28 meeting. "They didn't talk to anybody that it's going to affect. I mean, my five-year-old granddaughter could have designed that project better than whoever did it."
The mayor's office defended the change around the same time, telling the council that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had suggested it to improve traffic safety. The department pushed back, writing in a September 17 letter to the mayor that "PennDOT representatives have stated that the change to one-way was presented by the City Engineer" and that Cognetti repeatedly violated city code by failing to "send written communication to Council to notify of the proposed regulation and the reasons for the change."
The ordeal has generated some local coverage, including in a recent WBRE Wilkes-Barre piece headlined, "A one-way road, a two-sided fight." But none of that coverage has noted that Cognetti herself lives on Euclid, according to property records reviewed by the Free Beacon, which show that she and her husband purchased a home on the street in 2021 for $349,000. Euclid connects to the heavily trafficked North Main Avenue, which is lined with businesses. The one-way road could cut down on through traffic by encouraging drivers coming from north of Cognetti's home to use a different route to connect to North Main and avoid the one-way.
It's the latest example of Cognetti taking heat for her moves as mayor as she campaigns for a promotion to Congress. Though Cognetti has centered her congressional campaign on her record as mayor, saying on her campaign website that she "reformed the office" by "battling corruption in City Hall," she has faced criticism from residents and city council members over a $1.9 million deal she brokered to purchase the old Scranton headquarters of Fidelity Bank. Cognetti's uncle-in-law sits on the bank's board, all nine members of which have contributed to Cognetti's campaign.
"We got a mayor who's not here," Scranton resident Rik Little said during a July 16 council meeting that included debate of the deal. "The mayor should be here every week."
Cognetti has also said she helped "lower costs" as mayor by "properly managing city assets" and "adding modern infrastructure." But changing her street to a one-way had the opposite effect for Emiliani Trucking, which has been located about a mile from Cognetti's home for 90 years. The company's trucks use Euclid to access North Main, a route they can no longer take. The road the company is supposed to use under the new setup, meanwhile, is not big enough to accommodate the trucks, as Spindler warned.
"This is a residential neighborhood, but we've been grandfathered in since 1936," the company's co-owner, Jack Emiliani, told WBRE Wilkes-Barre. "And basically, now, we can't even pick our trailers up. We have to leave them up in Archbald, Pennsylvania. We can't bring them to our yard, I can't even bring them to my yard to work on them. ... It comes right off of our profit for our trip."
Cognetti did not respond to a request for comment.
[...]
When it comes to Euclid, the council says it did not receive written notice before Cognetti's administration started the "trial period" by installing "one-way signage." It unanimously rejected legislation making the one-way permanent on Sept. 3, the Times-Tribune reported. Still, councilman Patrick Flynn said it would be impossible to return to the street's former traffic pattern because "sidewalks were pushed out substantially, essentially making this a forced one-way. There's no possibility right now the way it's set up to be a two-way."
Cognetti condemned the council vote as a "disheartening display of political rhetoric over public safety." The mayor's office pointed the Free Beacon to its previous statement on Euclid Avenue, which, in addition to arguing that the council did pass the change to Euclid by approving a grant application, says Cognetti's administration "obtained PennDOT approval prior to submission of the traffic changes to City Council, as we normally do. It would be irresponsible to present a plan that PennDOT would not support or allow us to legally implement." The council says that application "did not include a one-way street."
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/%f0%9f%9a%a8-corrupt-cognetti-caught-again/
* * *
Corrupt Cognetti Caught AGAIN!
September 28, 2026
Corrupt Paige Cognetti was just caught trying to use her office for personal gain AGAIN.
This time, Cognetti tried to quietly turn the street she lives on into a one-way street without telling anyone, leading to "dangerous near-accidents" and hurting local businesses.
Cognetti even tried to cover up this pathetic attempt by blaming the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which embarrassed her when it explained that the request came ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Corrupt Cognetti Caught AGAIN! September 28, 2026 Corrupt Paige Cognetti was just caught trying to use her office for personal gain AGAIN. This time, Cognetti tried to quietly turn the street she lives on into a one-way street without telling anyone, leading to "dangerous near-accidents" and hurting local businesses. Cognetti even tried to cover up this pathetic attempt by blaming the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which embarrassed her when it explained that the request camefrom her office.
"Corrupt Paige Cognetti only cares about herself and isn't afraid to abuse public office for her own benefit. Cognetti doesn't even try to hide her blatant corruption anymore, but unfortunately for her, accountability is coming at the ballot box this November." - NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson
Read more from the Washington Free Beacon here or see excerpts below:
Scranton Mayor Running for Congress Turned Her Own Street Into a One-Way, Angering Residents: 'Somebody's Going To Get Killed There'
Collin Anderson
The Washington Free Beacon
September 28, 2026
Scranton mayor Paige Cognetti (D.), who is running for Congress against Republican incumbent Rob Bresnahan, turned a stretch of the street she lives on into a one-way street without properly notifying the city council of the change, records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. The move has led to dangerous near-accidents and hurt the business of a local trucking company, residents say.
Scranton resident Les Spindler first raised the issue at an April 7 city council meeting. He noted that a construction crew had blocked off a road near his house, Euclid Avenue, at a point next to a busy intersection. The workers told him they were turning the road into a one-way and said "everybody" supported the change. Spindler told the council he did not and asked its members if they knew anything about the project. They didn't, according to the council's president, who asked his clerk to contact the mayor's office--which is supposed to inform the council of such projects under Scranton's city code--for more information, meeting minutes reviewed by the Free Beacon show.
In the meantime, Spindler kept showing up to council meetings with updates. Drivers were not adhering to the new traffic pattern, he said, citing a neighbor whose "daughter was almost hit head on" and another who said, "people are going down the wrong way and somebody's going to get killed there." A local trucking company located near Euclid, Emiliani Trucking, was also unaware of the change and didn't think its 18-wheelers could navigate the new route, indicating that emergency vehicles would have the same problem, Spindler added.
"There's no way a fire truck is going to fit up there. ... I looked down to where they're doing the project and an ambulance went out the wrong way, an ambulance," Spindler said during an April 28 meeting. "They didn't talk to anybody that it's going to affect. I mean, my five-year-old granddaughter could have designed that project better than whoever did it."
The mayor's office defended the change around the same time, telling the council that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had suggested it to improve traffic safety. The department pushed back, writing in a September 17 letter to the mayor that "PennDOT representatives have stated that the change to one-way was presented by the City Engineer" and that Cognetti repeatedly violated city code by failing to "send written communication to Council to notify of the proposed regulation and the reasons for the change."
The ordeal has generated some local coverage, including in a recent WBRE Wilkes-Barre piece headlined, "A one-way road, a two-sided fight." But none of that coverage has noted that Cognetti herself lives on Euclid, according to property records reviewed by the Free Beacon, which show that she and her husband purchased a home on the street in 2021 for $349,000. Euclid connects to the heavily trafficked North Main Avenue, which is lined with businesses. The one-way road could cut down on through traffic by encouraging drivers coming from north of Cognetti's home to use a different route to connect to North Main and avoid the one-way.
It's the latest example of Cognetti taking heat for her moves as mayor as she campaigns for a promotion to Congress. Though Cognetti has centered her congressional campaign on her record as mayor, saying on her campaign website that she "reformed the office" by "battling corruption in City Hall," she has faced criticism from residents and city council members over a $1.9 million deal she brokered to purchase the old Scranton headquarters of Fidelity Bank. Cognetti's uncle-in-law sits on the bank's board, all nine members of which have contributed to Cognetti's campaign.
"We got a mayor who's not here," Scranton resident Rik Little said during a July 16 council meeting that included debate of the deal. "The mayor should be here every week."
Cognetti has also said she helped "lower costs" as mayor by "properly managing city assets" and "adding modern infrastructure." But changing her street to a one-way had the opposite effect for Emiliani Trucking, which has been located about a mile from Cognetti's home for 90 years. The company's trucks use Euclid to access North Main, a route they can no longer take. The road the company is supposed to use under the new setup, meanwhile, is not big enough to accommodate the trucks, as Spindler warned.
"This is a residential neighborhood, but we've been grandfathered in since 1936," the company's co-owner, Jack Emiliani, told WBRE Wilkes-Barre. "And basically, now, we can't even pick our trailers up. We have to leave them up in Archbald, Pennsylvania. We can't bring them to our yard, I can't even bring them to my yard to work on them. ... It comes right off of our profit for our trip."
Cognetti did not respond to a request for comment.
[...]
When it comes to Euclid, the council says it did not receive written notice before Cognetti's administration started the "trial period" by installing "one-way signage." It unanimously rejected legislation making the one-way permanent on Sept. 3, the Times-Tribune reported. Still, councilman Patrick Flynn said it would be impossible to return to the street's former traffic pattern because "sidewalks were pushed out substantially, essentially making this a forced one-way. There's no possibility right now the way it's set up to be a two-way."
Cognetti condemned the council vote as a "disheartening display of political rhetoric over public safety." The mayor's office pointed the Free Beacon to its previous statement on Euclid Avenue, which, in addition to arguing that the council did pass the change to Euclid by approving a grant application, says Cognetti's administration "obtained PennDOT approval prior to submission of the traffic changes to City Council, as we normally do. It would be irresponsible to present a plan that PennDOT would not support or allow us to legally implement." The council says that application "did not include a one-way street."
[...]
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/%f0%9f%9a%a8-corrupt-cognetti-caught-again/
NRCC: Bohannan Wants to Make It Impossible to Retire in Iowa
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
* * *
Bohannan Wants to Make It Impossible to Retire in Iowa
September 28, 2026
Christina Bohannan would make it impossible for Iowans to retire. And now, Iowans are calling her out for her tax-hiking votes.
While in the Iowa State Legislature, Bohannan voted against eliminating taxes on retirement income. Now, as she runs for Congress, she's committed to "overhauling the tax system," including tax breaks on Social Security income.
Iowans don't have to guess where Bohannan stands on taxes, they ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Bohannan Wants to Make It Impossible to Retire in Iowa September 28, 2026 Christina Bohannan would make it impossible for Iowans to retire. And now, Iowans are calling her out for her tax-hiking votes. While in the Iowa State Legislature, Bohannan voted against eliminating taxes on retirement income. Now, as she runs for Congress, she's committed to "overhauling the tax system," including tax breaks on Social Security income. Iowans don't have to guess where Bohannan stands on taxes, theycan look at her record. When she had the chance to lower taxes for Iowa retirees, she voted no.
Read more here or excerpts below.
Bohannan's Tax Record: No, No-Show, and No Again
Luke Martz
Iowa Field Report
September 28, 2026
Christina Bohannan wants voters in Iowa's First District to believe she's the candidate looking out for seniors, farmers, and working families. Her voting record would like a word.
In 2022, Iowa passed the largest tax cut in state history. The law ended state income taxes on retirement income for Iowans 55 and older, along with certain disabled taxpayers and qualifying surviving spouses, and put the state on a path to lower income tax rates for everyone. Bohannan voted no.
"Bohannan claims she wants to protect Social Security and Medicare, expand Medicare benefits, and allow Iowans to buy into Medicare before 65. Based on her record, that sounds like a lie to me," said Denise, a voter from Muscatine.
[...]
Bohannan has made clear she would have opposed the Working Families Tax Cut, the law that kept the 2017 tax cuts from expiring and spared Americans the largest tax increase since World War II. That law gave seniors a new $6,000 deduction and kept the federal death tax exemption from being cut in half, which matters to the thousands of family farms in IA-01.
Her explanation? "We have to overhaul our tax system," she told a Democrat forum. Given her record, voters don't need a lot of imagination to guess which direction that overhaul goes.
Rick Heller of Iowa County told Iowa Field Report "You worked your whole life. You saved for retirement. Iowa finally stopped taxing your retirement income. Christina Bohannan voted against it."
Bohannan is running as the protector of Iowa retirees. When she actually had the chance to leave more money in their pockets, she voted no once and didn't vote at all the second time. Voters in the First District are allowed to notice the difference between a campaign slogan and a voting record.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/bohannan-wants-to-make-it-impossible-to-retire-in-iowa/
* * *
Bohannan Wants to Make It Impossible to Retire in Iowa
September 28, 2026
Christina Bohannan would make it impossible for Iowans to retire. And now, Iowans are calling her out for her tax-hiking votes.
While in the Iowa State Legislature, Bohannan voted against eliminating taxes on retirement income. Now, as she runs for Congress, she's committed to "overhauling the tax system," including tax breaks on Social Security income.
Iowans don't have to guess where Bohannan stands on taxes, they ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Bohannan Wants to Make It Impossible to Retire in Iowa September 28, 2026 Christina Bohannan would make it impossible for Iowans to retire. And now, Iowans are calling her out for her tax-hiking votes. While in the Iowa State Legislature, Bohannan voted against eliminating taxes on retirement income. Now, as she runs for Congress, she's committed to "overhauling the tax system," including tax breaks on Social Security income. Iowans don't have to guess where Bohannan stands on taxes, theycan look at her record. When she had the chance to lower taxes for Iowa retirees, she voted no.
Read more here or excerpts below.
Bohannan's Tax Record: No, No-Show, and No Again
Luke Martz
Iowa Field Report
September 28, 2026
Christina Bohannan wants voters in Iowa's First District to believe she's the candidate looking out for seniors, farmers, and working families. Her voting record would like a word.
In 2022, Iowa passed the largest tax cut in state history. The law ended state income taxes on retirement income for Iowans 55 and older, along with certain disabled taxpayers and qualifying surviving spouses, and put the state on a path to lower income tax rates for everyone. Bohannan voted no.
"Bohannan claims she wants to protect Social Security and Medicare, expand Medicare benefits, and allow Iowans to buy into Medicare before 65. Based on her record, that sounds like a lie to me," said Denise, a voter from Muscatine.
[...]
Bohannan has made clear she would have opposed the Working Families Tax Cut, the law that kept the 2017 tax cuts from expiring and spared Americans the largest tax increase since World War II. That law gave seniors a new $6,000 deduction and kept the federal death tax exemption from being cut in half, which matters to the thousands of family farms in IA-01.
Her explanation? "We have to overhaul our tax system," she told a Democrat forum. Given her record, voters don't need a lot of imagination to guess which direction that overhaul goes.
Rick Heller of Iowa County told Iowa Field Report "You worked your whole life. You saved for retirement. Iowa finally stopped taxing your retirement income. Christina Bohannan voted against it."
Bohannan is running as the protector of Iowa retirees. When she actually had the chance to leave more money in their pockets, she voted no once and didn't vote at all the second time. Voters in the First District are allowed to notice the difference between a campaign slogan and a voting record.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/28/bohannan-wants-to-make-it-impossible-to-retire-in-iowa/
Mich. Democratic Party: New Report - "Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety" [Michigan Independent]
LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 29 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release:
* * *
September 28, 2026
NEW REPORT: "Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety" [Michigan Independent]
LANSING -- New reporting from Michigan Independent reveals Mike Rogers has "repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders."
According to the report, Rogers cast five votes against amendments to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state law and local ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 29 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 28, 2026 NEW REPORT: "Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety" [Michigan Independent] LANSING -- New reporting from Michigan Independent reveals Mike Rogers has "repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders." According to the report, Rogers cast five votes against amendments to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state law and locallaw enforcement and has provided "millions of dollars to enable Michigan localities to hire more police."
While in Congress, Rogers also cast two votes against legislation that would "authorize more money to help local police investigate and prosecute all hate crimes," voted against an appropriations bill to "fund more security background checks by the FBI," and blocked an amendment to "prohibit the immediate destruction of gun background check records."
Rogers also repeatedly voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, "a 2010 law that provided dedicated health and financial support for first responders who assisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."
Read more:
Michigan Independent: Mike Rogers repeatedly voted against funding public safety
* Former Michigan Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is campaigning for the Senate as a "law and order" candidate who is tough on crime. During his 14 years in the House of Representatives, he repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders.
* Rogers, who moved to Florida after leaving Congress but now is registered to vote in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit, ran unsuccessfully for Michigan's other Senate seat in 2024. He will face Democratic former Detroit Health Department executive director Abdul El-Sayed in the Nov. 3 election.
* "Crime isn't inevitable. It's the result of bad policy," Rogers posted on X on Jan. 15. "Michiganders deserve safe streets, strong law enforcement, and leaders who back the blue."
* Rogers, however, cast votes in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2012 against amendments to appropriations bills to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state and local law enforcement and has provided millions of dollars to enable Michigan localities to hire more community police.
* In 2007 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bipartisan effort to expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include attacks motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability and to authorize more money to help local police investigate and prosecute all hate crimes.
* A Rogers campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
* Rogers also voted against a 2006 appropriations bill amendment to fund more security background checks by the FBI and against a 2001 amendment to prohibit the immediate destruction of gun background check records.
* He repeatedly voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a 2010 law that provided dedicated health and financial support for first responders who assisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/new-report-mike-rogers-repeatedly-voted-against-funding-public-safety-michigan-independent/
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September 28, 2026
NEW REPORT: "Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety" [Michigan Independent]
LANSING -- New reporting from Michigan Independent reveals Mike Rogers has "repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders."
According to the report, Rogers cast five votes against amendments to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state law and local ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 29 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 28, 2026 NEW REPORT: "Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety" [Michigan Independent] LANSING -- New reporting from Michigan Independent reveals Mike Rogers has "repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders." According to the report, Rogers cast five votes against amendments to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state law and locallaw enforcement and has provided "millions of dollars to enable Michigan localities to hire more police."
While in Congress, Rogers also cast two votes against legislation that would "authorize more money to help local police investigate and prosecute all hate crimes," voted against an appropriations bill to "fund more security background checks by the FBI," and blocked an amendment to "prohibit the immediate destruction of gun background check records."
Rogers also repeatedly voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, "a 2010 law that provided dedicated health and financial support for first responders who assisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."
Read more:
Michigan Independent: Mike Rogers repeatedly voted against funding public safety
* Former Michigan Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is campaigning for the Senate as a "law and order" candidate who is tough on crime. During his 14 years in the House of Representatives, he repeatedly voted against funding to keep Michiganders safe and to support law enforcement and other first responders.
* Rogers, who moved to Florida after leaving Congress but now is registered to vote in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit, ran unsuccessfully for Michigan's other Senate seat in 2024. He will face Democratic former Detroit Health Department executive director Abdul El-Sayed in the Nov. 3 election.
* "Crime isn't inevitable. It's the result of bad policy," Rogers posted on X on Jan. 15. "Michiganders deserve safe streets, strong law enforcement, and leaders who back the blue."
* Rogers, however, cast votes in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2012 against amendments to appropriations bills to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state and local law enforcement and has provided millions of dollars to enable Michigan localities to hire more community police.
* In 2007 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bipartisan effort to expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include attacks motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability and to authorize more money to help local police investigate and prosecute all hate crimes.
* A Rogers campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
* Rogers also voted against a 2006 appropriations bill amendment to fund more security background checks by the FBI and against a 2001 amendment to prohibit the immediate destruction of gun background check records.
* He repeatedly voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a 2010 law that provided dedicated health and financial support for first responders who assisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/new-report-mike-rogers-repeatedly-voted-against-funding-public-safety-michigan-independent/
Democratic Governors Association: Kansas Carpetbagger Zach Lahn Deletes Fitness App After His Workouts Exposed His Lies About Living in Iowa
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news:
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Kansas Carpetbagger Zach Lahn Deletes Fitness App After His Workouts Exposed His Lies About Living in Iowa
Sep 28, 2026
Zach Lahn can't keep running (or biking) from his own lies about living in Iowa, as new reporting from The Daily Beast exposes how the workouts he was logging on his fitness app were located near where he actually lives in Kansas.
According to The Daily Beast, Lahn "recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025" on his public Strava account, "just months before he ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news: * * * Kansas Carpetbagger Zach Lahn Deletes Fitness App After His Workouts Exposed His Lies About Living in Iowa Sep 28, 2026 Zach Lahn can't keep running (or biking) from his own lies about living in Iowa, as new reporting from The Daily Beast exposes how the workouts he was logging on his fitness app were located near where he actually lives in Kansas. According to The Daily Beast, Lahn "recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025" on his public Strava account, "just months before helaunched his Iowa gubernatorial bid in November."
Unsurprisingly, there "were precisely zero rides in Iowa" recorded on Lahn's profile.
After The Daily Beast viewed Lahn's account, Lahn not so subtly "quickly deleted" his profile.
Read more below about Kansas carpetbagger and career political operative Zach Lahn getting caught lying about living in Iowa once again.
The Daily Beast: MAGA Carpetbagger Candidate Busted By His Own Hi-Tech Error
- MAGA's Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn appears to have been caught red-handed carpetbagging, by sneaking back to his "old" home state of Kansas.
- Lahn has been frantically pushing back on criticism that he's only a part-time Iowa resident, ever since launching his bid to become the next governor of the state. But the scramble to cut his deep ties to Kansas is not going well.
- Data on fitness app Strava showed a "Zach Lahn" biking around Kansas just last year. But after The Swamp spotted the user, the account was quickly deleted.
- But the Strava user "Zach Lahn" recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025, The Swamp's Sarah Ewall-Wice discovered, just months before he launched his Iowa gubernatorial bid in November.
- All of the routes happened to start, and end at the $2 million home owned by the Lahns in Kechi, Kansas, a suburb of Wichita, which is roughly 385 miles from the Iowa governor's mansion.
- The four bike rides, ranging from just under 2.5 miles to 12 miles are the only ones recorded by Lahn in the app. The Strava account showed last year's rides as recently as this week. There were precisely zero rides in Iowa.
- But after The Swamp followed one Zach Lahn, the account was immediately erased. (Which means that he has lost out on the "kudos" one fellow user gave him, and all those "achievements" he racked up. Sorry, Zach.)
- The deletion looked like a crude attempt to wipe Kansas ties when flight records for Lahn's private plane, owned by Buckeye Creek Ventures LLC, already indicate he may have spent weeks in Kansas around the dates of his Strava activity in Kechi, where the Lahns' sprawling six-bedroom estate includes an indoor pool, private lake and massive barn.
- Perhaps recording some bike rides in Iowa rather than deleting the evidence would have been a better way for one "Zach Lahn" to convince voters in the state he wants to lead that he's there to stay.
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Original text here: https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/kansas-carpetbagger-zach-lahn-deletes-fitness-app-after-his-workouts-exposed-his-lies-about-living-in-iowa/
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Kansas Carpetbagger Zach Lahn Deletes Fitness App After His Workouts Exposed His Lies About Living in Iowa
Sep 28, 2026
Zach Lahn can't keep running (or biking) from his own lies about living in Iowa, as new reporting from The Daily Beast exposes how the workouts he was logging on his fitness app were located near where he actually lives in Kansas.
According to The Daily Beast, Lahn "recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025" on his public Strava account, "just months before he ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Governors Association posted the following news: * * * Kansas Carpetbagger Zach Lahn Deletes Fitness App After His Workouts Exposed His Lies About Living in Iowa Sep 28, 2026 Zach Lahn can't keep running (or biking) from his own lies about living in Iowa, as new reporting from The Daily Beast exposes how the workouts he was logging on his fitness app were located near where he actually lives in Kansas. According to The Daily Beast, Lahn "recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025" on his public Strava account, "just months before helaunched his Iowa gubernatorial bid in November."
Unsurprisingly, there "were precisely zero rides in Iowa" recorded on Lahn's profile.
After The Daily Beast viewed Lahn's account, Lahn not so subtly "quickly deleted" his profile.
Read more below about Kansas carpetbagger and career political operative Zach Lahn getting caught lying about living in Iowa once again.
The Daily Beast: MAGA Carpetbagger Candidate Busted By His Own Hi-Tech Error
- MAGA's Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn appears to have been caught red-handed carpetbagging, by sneaking back to his "old" home state of Kansas.
- Lahn has been frantically pushing back on criticism that he's only a part-time Iowa resident, ever since launching his bid to become the next governor of the state. But the scramble to cut his deep ties to Kansas is not going well.
- Data on fitness app Strava showed a "Zach Lahn" biking around Kansas just last year. But after The Swamp spotted the user, the account was quickly deleted.
- But the Strava user "Zach Lahn" recorded four bike rides in Kansas between March and May 2025, The Swamp's Sarah Ewall-Wice discovered, just months before he launched his Iowa gubernatorial bid in November.
- All of the routes happened to start, and end at the $2 million home owned by the Lahns in Kechi, Kansas, a suburb of Wichita, which is roughly 385 miles from the Iowa governor's mansion.
- The four bike rides, ranging from just under 2.5 miles to 12 miles are the only ones recorded by Lahn in the app. The Strava account showed last year's rides as recently as this week. There were precisely zero rides in Iowa.
- But after The Swamp followed one Zach Lahn, the account was immediately erased. (Which means that he has lost out on the "kudos" one fellow user gave him, and all those "achievements" he racked up. Sorry, Zach.)
- The deletion looked like a crude attempt to wipe Kansas ties when flight records for Lahn's private plane, owned by Buckeye Creek Ventures LLC, already indicate he may have spent weeks in Kansas around the dates of his Strava activity in Kechi, where the Lahns' sprawling six-bedroom estate includes an indoor pool, private lake and massive barn.
- Perhaps recording some bike rides in Iowa rather than deleting the evidence would have been a better way for one "Zach Lahn" to convince voters in the state he wants to lead that he's there to stay.
* * *
Original text here: https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/kansas-carpetbagger-zach-lahn-deletes-fitness-app-after-his-workouts-exposed-his-lies-about-living-in-iowa/
DSCC: What They're Saying - "Delusional" Republicans Met With "Disbelief" Over "Disintegrating" Senate Map
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release:
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Sep 28, 2026
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Delusional" Republicans Met With "Disbelief" Over "Disintegrating" Senate Map
The Washington Sun: "The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party"
GOP Strategist: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad"
Axios: "What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flipping ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 28, 2026 WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Delusional" Republicans Met With "Disbelief" Over "Disintegrating" Senate Map The Washington Sun: "The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party" GOP Strategist: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad" Axios: "What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flippingfour Republican-held seats on a map favoring the GOP -- looks increasingly plausible"
GOP Sen. Jim Justice: "You've got real momentum on the Democrat side [...] we may lose in the midterm"
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With 36 days until the midterm elections, Republicans are staring down a "disintegrating" Senate map as strategists "expand the imagination of how ugly it could get" amid the "increasingly plausible" possibility that Democrats could retake the majority.
Republicans' path to maintaining their slim Senate majority is "getting smaller by the day" after "the bottom fell out" in polling for their Senate candidates, and they share "delusional" forecasts that were "met with disbelief" and "laughed" at by their own donors at a recent fundraising retreat.
Now, as "top Senate Republicans openly acknowledge they face a tough map in November," the NRSC has begun diverting time and resources to "defend Senate seats in three states that Trump won by double digits two years ago" as "Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity."
See for yourself:
Axios: "Delusional" Senate forecast rattles Sea Island retreat
* A pollster for Senate Republicans was met with disbelief on Saturday after telling GOP donors and operatives that they could grow their majority in November's midterm elections, sources tell Axios.
* "Delusional," one attendee at the National Republican Senatorial Committee's Sea Island retreat in Georgia told Axios after the presentation by the pollster, Erik Iverson. "The mood is not good," said another.
* Some in the room laughed when a member of the audience asked if it meant Republicans would also pick up a seat, the source said.
* Attendees questioned why they were not given a full update on each race.
* Top Senate Republicans openly acknowledge they face a tough map in November.
* Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios on Wednesday that it's a "tough environment."
* The NRSC itself is asking donors for $9 million to help in three states -- Alaska, Iowa and Ohio -- where President Trump won by double digits in 2024, as Axios scooped on Thursday.
The Washington Sun: 'No One Feels Good': Republicans' Senate Map Keeps Getting Worse
* The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party.
* Republican members for months have acknowledged that rising gas prices and other costs, largely stemming from the Iran war, are a massive problem, especially for their electoral prospects. That talk finally hit reality in recent days as the bottom fell out of polls in a number of states.
* [...] big ad buys are being canceled, several solidly red states are starting to look shaky, and piles of money are being diverted to places where Republicans were hoping they wouldn't have to spend.
* [...] Republicans now have turned their attention to a foursome of red states that are likely to determine who controls the upper chamber next year. It's a position they didn't expect to be in.
* Ohio and Alaska are atop that list. Both feature incumbents who are facing headwinds that are proving difficult to overcome.
* Republican Sen. Jon Husted is playing defense on numerous fronts against former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown has repeatedly gone after Husted's support for data centers during his tenure as lieutenant governor, with Brown labeling him "the face of data centers" in Ohio.
* "It's bad out there. No one feels good," conceded one senior Senate Republican aide. [...]
* For Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), the dynamics are even worse than elsewhere on the map. Gas prices are eclipsing $5 a gallon and diesel costs are hovering around $6.70 a gallon -- both higher than the national average.
* Far-flung parts of the state are being hit even harder. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) noted the price in one key fishing area was $12.99 gallon.
* "People are feeling it, and they don't like it. They don't like it at all," Murkowski recently told reporters.
* Texas and Iowa round out the quartet, with Republicans showing signs of being rattled in both states despite continued hope that each ultimately will fall into their column. But it's going to cost them.
* Republicans argued earlier this year that backing Sen. John Cornyn over Paxton would have avoided this exact scenario, which is forcing the party to spend heavily when it may not have needed to otherwise.
* "There's a limited resource, and I think at some point, you know, the powers that be are going to have to make decisions about where you spend money, and if you spend it for lost causes in some of these places that aren't looking good, should you move that money to places where it might make a difference," Cornyn told reporters last week. When asked if Paxton is a lost cause, Cornyn responded. "I'm going to leave that up to the voters."
* Like Cornyn, the party is not oozing with confidence. One Texas-based Republican strategist told The Sun that they view the race as a 50-50 proposition, after having said in mid-August that they believed it was 60-40 in Paxton's favor.
* In Iowa, polls shifted against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in her race against Democrat Josh Turek, showing them in a toss-up.
* The news gets worse from there. Some in the party are fretting that they've had to spend time and resources in Kansas to defend Sen. Roger Marshall's seat.
* A first-term member, Marshall has been under siege over his purported lack of ties to the state. [...] Republicans admit that months ago, Kansas wasn't anywhere near their radar.
* "I would've said that doesn't sound right," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia).
* "Is it a shitty environment? Absolutely. Does it seem to be getting worse? Absolutely," a second Republican operative involved in Senate races said.
Axios: GOP election outlook goes from bad to "craptastic"
* President Trump told voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Apparently they're listening: Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity.
* It's looked bad for Republicans all year, but this week felt different -- like the political environment was disintegrating in real time, one ominous data point after another.
* Most worrisome for the GOP, there's virtually no chance the war ends, inflation cools, interest rates fall, consumer confidence rises, and economic optimism surges before the Nov. 3 election.
* That's why Republicans fear the undertow imperils so many candidates once deemed safe.
* The big picture: Predicting election outcomes is a risky business, but it may be time to expand the imagination of how ugly it could get for Republicans five weeks from now.
* This week, Trump's disapproval rating hit 60.4%, the worst mark of his two terms in office, including the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon, diesel has hit $6.50 and no relief is in sight. Seven months in, the U.S. is locked in a standoff with Iran with no apparent exit strategy. Grocery prices are still rising year over year. Mortgage rates hit 7%. And the cost of borrowing across the economy continues to climb.
* The problems for the GOP are everywhere. In the battle for the Senate, once ruby-red Texas looks more in play than ever, and Florida isn't far behind. Nor is Alaska. North Carolina and Georgia look lost. Maine is problematic.
* The Senate GOP campaign arm is begging donors for another $8.9 million to defend Senate seats in three states that Trump won by double digits two years ago -- Alaska, Iowa and Ohio.
* "We're having problems just getting Republican voters to respond to polls," said one national Republican pollster. "At what point do we think these guys aren't showing up at the actual polls on Election Day?"
* What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flipping four Republican-held seats on a map favoring the GOP -- looks increasingly plausible.
* Republicans are now playing defense deep in red America. GOP-aligned groups are spending money in more than a half-dozen districts that Trump won by at least 15 points in 2024.
* "Over the last 90 days," Cook added, "President Trump's political standing has transitioned from very unpopular to toxic and now to radioactive."
* Said another consultant involved with races across the country: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad."
* The environment is starting to rival the second midterm election of President George W. Bush's tenure in 2006, the consultant said, amid the Iraq war and the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. Republicans lost control of both chambers after losing 30 House seats and six Senate seats.
* "The numbers are somewhere between shitabulous and craptastic," a top Republican advising several federal races across the country told Axios. "It looks worse than 2018 now. Trump is heading to Bush 2006 levels."
New York Times: Who's winning the race for Congress?
* Five weeks out from the midterms, Republicans are panicking over prices -- and apparently over the president, too.
* In Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, the party's Senate candidates have urged President Trump to bring an end to the Iran war. In Kansas, an incumbent senator in an unexpectedly tough re-election fight has admonished the administration over immigration raids. Just about every Republican wishes Mr. Trump would just focus on the economy.
* Instead, he spent last week threatening to escalate the war -- a move that could further drive up the prices of gas and diesel fuel. He wined and dined President Xi Jinping at the White House and heaped praise on Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, complicating his party's efforts to take a hard line on China abroad and to vilify democratic socialists at home.
* The state of the Senate map was the talk of the donors and operatives who decamped over the weekend to Sea Island, Ga. There, at a retreat hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, attendees focused on how much work the party has to do.
* Republicans are reeling in Midwestern states such as Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, where Mr. Trump is set to hold a rally this week.
* A key Democratic group, meanwhile, is preparing to conduct new polling in Kansas, according to a spokeswoman for the group. The poll by Senate Majority PAC could be a precursor to new spending on the tighter-than-expected race.
* The biggest single drain on Republican resources, though, is Texas. The main Republican Senate super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, has already reserved $125 million worth of advertising in the race, and Mr. Trump's super PAC has poured in another $20 million. But even that gargantuan sum is most likely only a down payment. A person familiar with the internal discussions said the full total could easily reach $200 million.
HuffPost: 'Things Are Going To Get Ugly': Republicans Are Starting To Panic About The Midterms
* Just a few weeks out from Election Day, Republicans are pressing the panic button.
* Super PACs are pouring huge sums into safely red territory. But post-Labor Day polling increasingly favors Democrats, and consultants are worrying the party's massive money advantage won't save their candidates.
* In short: The GOP is staring down a blue wave, with its control of both chambers of Congress at risk.
* "You've got real momentum on the Democrat side, and if we don't watch out, you know, everybody all of a sudden now is just awakened to the fact that we may lose in the midterm," Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) told HuffPost.
* The general dynamics of the midterm elections have been set for months: Voters are angry about Trump's handling of the economy and the Iran war, believing he broke his promises on key issues and is more focused on legacy projects and self-enrichment than lowering prices. But it wasn't clear how far into GOP-held territory that anger stretched, and whether well-funded Republican super PACs could offset it.
* "If money can't turn some of these races around, things are going to get ugly," the consultant said.
* A New York Times/Siena College poll released Tuesday capped off a slew of public polling showing a dire position for Republicans, with much of the blame aimed at Trump. Likely voters gave Democrats a 51% to 43% edge on the generic ballot for Congress and indicated they trusted the party out of power on the economy, immigration, foreign wars, healthcare and handling the deficit.
* Just 36% of voters thought Trump was generally focused on the right issues, and only 32% said Trump made the right decision when attacking Iran earlier this year. A 49% plurality of voters said they would prefer to back a candidate who will check Trump, while just 26% said they would prefer to support a candidate who backs the president, with 21% saying it would not matter either way.
* [...] officials acknowledge the situation has deteriorated since Labor Day, a traditional marker of when everyday voters begin tuning into politics. One Republican consultant working on a number of top races responded to a text-message question about recent polling with a single turd emoji.
* Republicans are also beginning to look at triaging races which may get out of reach. Leading party operatives have begun discussing cutting off support for Rep. Mike Collins, who is badly trailing Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia's Senate race, according to a Republican source familiar with the discussions.
* Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing their advantages. Super PACs affiliated with the party have started airing ads backing Democratic candidates for Senate in the traditionally red states of Kansas and South Carolina, with party officials particularly high on Adam Hamilton, a pastor challenging Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
* Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), whose folksy loquaciousness has made him a sought-after surrogate for GOP candidates, said he planned to campaign for colleagues in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
* "If you told me six months ago I was gonna be having to spend my time in those three states, I wouldn't have believed you. Those ought to be fat guy layups for us," Kennedy said. "We're going to win there, but the races are close."
POLITICO: Republicans were bullish about the Senate. Now they're playing defense in red states
* Republicans are playing defense deep in their own territory as voter anger over price hikes puts more House and Senate seats in play in the midterms.
* New rounds of big spending, visits from Trump administration officials and private conversations among top GOP officials overseeing the battle for control of Congress reveal a party rushing to shore up red seats and states President Donald Trump won handily in 2024.
* In the Senate, Republicans are racing to shore up Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted as the Midwest struggles under the weight of Trump's tariffs and high diesel prices.
* GOP leaders are also trying to keep a handle on contests in Iowa and Kansas -- and they've quietly begun deprioritizing Georgia and even North Carolina, which a growing number of Republicans are privately bracing for Democrats to flip.
* "We need to stop the contagion," said one senior GOP official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the midterm landscape.
* "The map is hilariously big right now," said one national Republican pollster.
* Republicans have adjusted their Senate map expectations [and] are more concerned about Alaska and Texas. And their worries about Ohio have escalated amid soaring diesel prices and backlash to tariffs -- challenges they're also confronting in Texas, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas.
* Senior GOP operatives' own internal polling shows Trump's approval underwater in deep red states across the country. And an Iowa poll conducted last week by a Democratic-leaning pollster found Democrat Josh Turek with a one-point lead in the Senate race and Trump's approval at 43 percent in the state he won by more than 13 percentage points in 2024, according to a copy of the poll obtained by POLITICO.
* "As more races come online, it very clearly is a defensive map for Republicans across the country," said a national GOP strategist working on multiple battleground races.
* One Michigan Republican acknowledged the immense weight of the tariffs in races across the battleground state -- including in the marquee Senate contest between Rogers and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, as well as across competitive House races.
* "Everywhere we go, we are getting hammered on it," the Michigan Republican said. "It's crushing us."
* Even skeptical Republicans have been quietly checking in with their colleagues to see if the panic in redder territory is borne out in reality on the ground [...] overblown polling. One GOP lawmaker who spoke to Hinson and her campaign team was somewhat surprised by their answers.
* And POLITICO overheard a senior member of Kansas' Republican party leadership complaining about their state's tighter-than-expected race at the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, the person said, was in some trouble even as Republicans tried to dismiss the seriousness of his Democratic challenger, Adam Hamilton.
* But as economic concerns continue to dominate -- with little relief in sight -- Democrats are growing increasingly bullish.
TIME: Republican Panic Sets In Over Prospects of a Massive Blue Wave
* With less than six weeks to go until Election Day, the sentiment among Republicans is shifting from nervous to fatalistic, as a pileup of bad news has many convinced they are heading toward an electoral disaster.
* The warning signs are coming in quickly from across the map--much on it from red states where President Trump won comfortably just two years ago. Outside groups backing the GOP are now spending in the millions on Senate races in once-safe territories like Nebraska and Kansas; South Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Arkansas are all drawing renewed attention amid fears of a historically massive blue wave.
* At a closed-door briefing on Wednesday with his caucus, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina delivered a particularly grim message: 2026 is not going to look anything like 2024. [...] According to a person who listened to the briefing, Scott urged "incumbent Senators to run like they were behind so the NRSC" could focus on "a record number of toss-up races." He told them the NRSC's priority was saving GOP-held seats in Texas, Iowa, Maine, and Alaska.
* And while North Carolina and Georgia--two Senate seats Republicans were touting as major targets last year--have featured less prominently in GOP conversations, [...]. Still, some are writing those off as all but won by Democrats Roy Cooper and Jon Ossoff. An operative familiar with Scott's thinking stressed that the NRSC's strategy remains fluid until Election Day and noted that outside groups could still step in to back up their candidates in those states.
* A day earlier in Iowa, which Trump won in 2024 by 13 points, state lawmakers received an even starker warning. Radio host Steve Deace, a real player in conservative circles there and a loyal Trump ally, told his followers on Wednesday afternoon that "Iowa House Republicans were informed by their own pollsters that if you are in a +15 district you're within the margin for error, if you're in a +10 district you're underwater, and that this might end being an even worse midterm environment than 2006."
* There's similar scrambling in Texas, where a super PAC blessed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune is now on track to spend more than $100 million, an add on of $35 million to the $65 million the group had already booked in advertising to boost Ken Paxton's bid against James Talarico. The total price tag for keeping the Senate seat is on track to approach $200 million just on the GOP side.
* The dynamic has left Republican strategists deeply frustrated [and] the environment still seems to be trending bluer than anyone anticipated.
* A simmering fear is that the trendlines may get even worse in the coming weeks. As one Republican strategist told me this week, Election Day cannot come quickly enough.
Wall Street Journal: Even in Reliably Red Kansas, Republican Enthusiasm Is Fading
* At the Kansas State Fair's Senate debate, incumbent Republican Roger Marshall was on home turf. His town is a short drive for friends and supporters. And the fair serves as an exaltation of farmers, the conservative base that has helped the GOP win every Senate race in Kansas since 1932.
* Yet when Marshall stepped to the microphone last weekend, hundreds of those gathered at an outdoor pavilion booed, hissed, and jeered.
* "Liar!" attendees shouted from the bleachers when Marshall suggested gasoline was cheaper under President Trump than under previous presidents.
* Kansas State Fair debates are notoriously boisterous, with both Democratic and Republican campaigns busing in supporters who give as good as they get. But the lopsided showdown was unusually bad, some Republicans privately admitted afterward. The thrashing laid bare a growing anxiety among GOP officials and strategists nationwide that Democrats are fired up for November, while many Republicans aren't.
* With Election Day approaching, Republican worries about voter enthusiasm are spilling beyond swing states into red bastions such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska. Trump's approval rating sits near record lows, and frustrations are growing over the state of the economy, tariffs and the war in Iran. At stake is control of Congress: Democrats need to pick up just three seats to retake the House and four to win back the Senate.
* "If Republicans don't turn out, we're in a world of hurt," warned Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas Republican Party.
* Herbert urged national Republican groups to pour more resources and money into Kansas before it is too late. "Kansas gets overlooked a lot because we are reliably red," she said, "but this is a weird cycle."
* Republican leaders in Washington are starting to pay closer attention to this state and others Trump won by double digits in 2024. West Virginia Republican Sen. Jim Justice said he is concerned his party's disaffected voters will stay home.
* Republicans not worried about being re-elected this November are "living in a cave," he told The Wall Street Journal. "This is all about the economy," he added.
* Still, leaning against a cattle chute at the Kansas fair, Paul Rhodes, a 73-year-old antiabortion activist who has previously supported Republicans, said he thought he probably won't vote at all this year.
* "There was always a baseline of support that was solid. It's wavering," he said. " I don't think they'll vote Democrat, but they might not vote."
* A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in recent days found Democrats have only a slight lead over Republicans nationwide when voters are asked whether they plan to vote. But they hold a substantial lead, 59% to 45%, when voters are asked if they are enthusiastic about voting this year, a signal Democratic voters may be more likely to follow through on their intention.
* Republicans may also have trouble retaining support from those in their party who do vote. A Fox News poll released on Sept. 16 found that among Republicans who said they were not part of Trump's MAGA movement, 12% said they planned to back a Democrat for Congress this year.
* Meaningful shares of non-MAGA Republicans are turning away from the president. In the Fox News poll, 98% of self-described MAGA Republicans approved of Trump's job performance. Among non-MAGA Republicans, 53% approved, with 46% disapproving.
* When Marshall, an OB-GYN, mentioned Trump's health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., the crowd roared in disapproval.
* A visibly flummoxed Marshall was forced to stop talking several times as noise drowned him out. When the debate ended, under the sweltering sun, Hamilton waded into the crowd to greet supporters. Marshall quickly departed.
* Vice President JD Vance campaigned with Marshall near Kansas City on Monday to shore up support for the senator.
* That anyone is even talking about Kansas as competitive is a bad sign, said David Kensinger, former chief of staff and campaign manager to Sam Brownback, a Republican who served as a Kansas governor and senator. "If we're having to spend resources in Kansas," Kensinger said, "that tells you what the national environment is like."
* The Kansas Livestock Association declined to endorse Marshall this year after endorsing him in the past.
* GOP concerns about enthusiasm also extend to Wichita, an aerospace hub that is home to the U.S. headquarters of Canadian jet-maker Bombardier, a large local employer.
* Amid a continuing dispute with Canada, Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this month, "NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES."
* At a park by the Arkansas River, local residents Mike Garcia and Mark Lawson talked about the Bombardier issue and the economy in general.
* Lawson, 69, a retired factory worker and infrequent voter who previously voted for Trump, views food prices as too high, and said the president promised no more wars. This time, Lawson said he likely will vote for Hamilton.
* "Marshall is in trouble," he said. "He favors Trump too much."
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/what-theyre-saying-delusional-republicans-met-with-disbelief-over-disintegrating-senate-map/
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Sep 28, 2026
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Delusional" Republicans Met With "Disbelief" Over "Disintegrating" Senate Map
The Washington Sun: "The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party"
GOP Strategist: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad"
Axios: "What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flipping ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 28, 2026 WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Delusional" Republicans Met With "Disbelief" Over "Disintegrating" Senate Map The Washington Sun: "The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party" GOP Strategist: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad" Axios: "What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flippingfour Republican-held seats on a map favoring the GOP -- looks increasingly plausible"
GOP Sen. Jim Justice: "You've got real momentum on the Democrat side [...] we may lose in the midterm"
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With 36 days until the midterm elections, Republicans are staring down a "disintegrating" Senate map as strategists "expand the imagination of how ugly it could get" amid the "increasingly plausible" possibility that Democrats could retake the majority.
Republicans' path to maintaining their slim Senate majority is "getting smaller by the day" after "the bottom fell out" in polling for their Senate candidates, and they share "delusional" forecasts that were "met with disbelief" and "laughed" at by their own donors at a recent fundraising retreat.
Now, as "top Senate Republicans openly acknowledge they face a tough map in November," the NRSC has begun diverting time and resources to "defend Senate seats in three states that Trump won by double digits two years ago" as "Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity."
See for yourself:
Axios: "Delusional" Senate forecast rattles Sea Island retreat
* A pollster for Senate Republicans was met with disbelief on Saturday after telling GOP donors and operatives that they could grow their majority in November's midterm elections, sources tell Axios.
* "Delusional," one attendee at the National Republican Senatorial Committee's Sea Island retreat in Georgia told Axios after the presentation by the pollster, Erik Iverson. "The mood is not good," said another.
* Some in the room laughed when a member of the audience asked if it meant Republicans would also pick up a seat, the source said.
* Attendees questioned why they were not given a full update on each race.
* Top Senate Republicans openly acknowledge they face a tough map in November.
* Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios on Wednesday that it's a "tough environment."
* The NRSC itself is asking donors for $9 million to help in three states -- Alaska, Iowa and Ohio -- where President Trump won by double digits in 2024, as Axios scooped on Thursday.
The Washington Sun: 'No One Feels Good': Republicans' Senate Map Keeps Getting Worse
* The path for Republicans to keep their Senate majority is getting smaller by the day -- a once-unthinkable prospect for the party.
* Republican members for months have acknowledged that rising gas prices and other costs, largely stemming from the Iran war, are a massive problem, especially for their electoral prospects. That talk finally hit reality in recent days as the bottom fell out of polls in a number of states.
* [...] big ad buys are being canceled, several solidly red states are starting to look shaky, and piles of money are being diverted to places where Republicans were hoping they wouldn't have to spend.
* [...] Republicans now have turned their attention to a foursome of red states that are likely to determine who controls the upper chamber next year. It's a position they didn't expect to be in.
* Ohio and Alaska are atop that list. Both feature incumbents who are facing headwinds that are proving difficult to overcome.
* Republican Sen. Jon Husted is playing defense on numerous fronts against former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown has repeatedly gone after Husted's support for data centers during his tenure as lieutenant governor, with Brown labeling him "the face of data centers" in Ohio.
* "It's bad out there. No one feels good," conceded one senior Senate Republican aide. [...]
* For Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), the dynamics are even worse than elsewhere on the map. Gas prices are eclipsing $5 a gallon and diesel costs are hovering around $6.70 a gallon -- both higher than the national average.
* Far-flung parts of the state are being hit even harder. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) noted the price in one key fishing area was $12.99 gallon.
* "People are feeling it, and they don't like it. They don't like it at all," Murkowski recently told reporters.
* Texas and Iowa round out the quartet, with Republicans showing signs of being rattled in both states despite continued hope that each ultimately will fall into their column. But it's going to cost them.
* Republicans argued earlier this year that backing Sen. John Cornyn over Paxton would have avoided this exact scenario, which is forcing the party to spend heavily when it may not have needed to otherwise.
* "There's a limited resource, and I think at some point, you know, the powers that be are going to have to make decisions about where you spend money, and if you spend it for lost causes in some of these places that aren't looking good, should you move that money to places where it might make a difference," Cornyn told reporters last week. When asked if Paxton is a lost cause, Cornyn responded. "I'm going to leave that up to the voters."
* Like Cornyn, the party is not oozing with confidence. One Texas-based Republican strategist told The Sun that they view the race as a 50-50 proposition, after having said in mid-August that they believed it was 60-40 in Paxton's favor.
* In Iowa, polls shifted against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in her race against Democrat Josh Turek, showing them in a toss-up.
* The news gets worse from there. Some in the party are fretting that they've had to spend time and resources in Kansas to defend Sen. Roger Marshall's seat.
* A first-term member, Marshall has been under siege over his purported lack of ties to the state. [...] Republicans admit that months ago, Kansas wasn't anywhere near their radar.
* "I would've said that doesn't sound right," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia).
* "Is it a shitty environment? Absolutely. Does it seem to be getting worse? Absolutely," a second Republican operative involved in Senate races said.
Axios: GOP election outlook goes from bad to "craptastic"
* President Trump told voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Apparently they're listening: Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity.
* It's looked bad for Republicans all year, but this week felt different -- like the political environment was disintegrating in real time, one ominous data point after another.
* Most worrisome for the GOP, there's virtually no chance the war ends, inflation cools, interest rates fall, consumer confidence rises, and economic optimism surges before the Nov. 3 election.
* That's why Republicans fear the undertow imperils so many candidates once deemed safe.
* The big picture: Predicting election outcomes is a risky business, but it may be time to expand the imagination of how ugly it could get for Republicans five weeks from now.
* This week, Trump's disapproval rating hit 60.4%, the worst mark of his two terms in office, including the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon, diesel has hit $6.50 and no relief is in sight. Seven months in, the U.S. is locked in a standoff with Iran with no apparent exit strategy. Grocery prices are still rising year over year. Mortgage rates hit 7%. And the cost of borrowing across the economy continues to climb.
* The problems for the GOP are everywhere. In the battle for the Senate, once ruby-red Texas looks more in play than ever, and Florida isn't far behind. Nor is Alaska. North Carolina and Georgia look lost. Maine is problematic.
* The Senate GOP campaign arm is begging donors for another $8.9 million to defend Senate seats in three states that Trump won by double digits two years ago -- Alaska, Iowa and Ohio.
* "We're having problems just getting Republican voters to respond to polls," said one national Republican pollster. "At what point do we think these guys aren't showing up at the actual polls on Election Day?"
* What once looked like a long shot for Democrats -- taking control of the Senate by flipping four Republican-held seats on a map favoring the GOP -- looks increasingly plausible.
* Republicans are now playing defense deep in red America. GOP-aligned groups are spending money in more than a half-dozen districts that Trump won by at least 15 points in 2024.
* "Over the last 90 days," Cook added, "President Trump's political standing has transitioned from very unpopular to toxic and now to radioactive."
* Said another consultant involved with races across the country: "Things were bad. But they started to go worse recently and if it keeps on this track, it's gonna be real bad."
* The environment is starting to rival the second midterm election of President George W. Bush's tenure in 2006, the consultant said, amid the Iraq war and the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. Republicans lost control of both chambers after losing 30 House seats and six Senate seats.
* "The numbers are somewhere between shitabulous and craptastic," a top Republican advising several federal races across the country told Axios. "It looks worse than 2018 now. Trump is heading to Bush 2006 levels."
New York Times: Who's winning the race for Congress?
* Five weeks out from the midterms, Republicans are panicking over prices -- and apparently over the president, too.
* In Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, the party's Senate candidates have urged President Trump to bring an end to the Iran war. In Kansas, an incumbent senator in an unexpectedly tough re-election fight has admonished the administration over immigration raids. Just about every Republican wishes Mr. Trump would just focus on the economy.
* Instead, he spent last week threatening to escalate the war -- a move that could further drive up the prices of gas and diesel fuel. He wined and dined President Xi Jinping at the White House and heaped praise on Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, complicating his party's efforts to take a hard line on China abroad and to vilify democratic socialists at home.
* The state of the Senate map was the talk of the donors and operatives who decamped over the weekend to Sea Island, Ga. There, at a retreat hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, attendees focused on how much work the party has to do.
* Republicans are reeling in Midwestern states such as Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, where Mr. Trump is set to hold a rally this week.
* A key Democratic group, meanwhile, is preparing to conduct new polling in Kansas, according to a spokeswoman for the group. The poll by Senate Majority PAC could be a precursor to new spending on the tighter-than-expected race.
* The biggest single drain on Republican resources, though, is Texas. The main Republican Senate super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, has already reserved $125 million worth of advertising in the race, and Mr. Trump's super PAC has poured in another $20 million. But even that gargantuan sum is most likely only a down payment. A person familiar with the internal discussions said the full total could easily reach $200 million.
HuffPost: 'Things Are Going To Get Ugly': Republicans Are Starting To Panic About The Midterms
* Just a few weeks out from Election Day, Republicans are pressing the panic button.
* Super PACs are pouring huge sums into safely red territory. But post-Labor Day polling increasingly favors Democrats, and consultants are worrying the party's massive money advantage won't save their candidates.
* In short: The GOP is staring down a blue wave, with its control of both chambers of Congress at risk.
* "You've got real momentum on the Democrat side, and if we don't watch out, you know, everybody all of a sudden now is just awakened to the fact that we may lose in the midterm," Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) told HuffPost.
* The general dynamics of the midterm elections have been set for months: Voters are angry about Trump's handling of the economy and the Iran war, believing he broke his promises on key issues and is more focused on legacy projects and self-enrichment than lowering prices. But it wasn't clear how far into GOP-held territory that anger stretched, and whether well-funded Republican super PACs could offset it.
* "If money can't turn some of these races around, things are going to get ugly," the consultant said.
* A New York Times/Siena College poll released Tuesday capped off a slew of public polling showing a dire position for Republicans, with much of the blame aimed at Trump. Likely voters gave Democrats a 51% to 43% edge on the generic ballot for Congress and indicated they trusted the party out of power on the economy, immigration, foreign wars, healthcare and handling the deficit.
* Just 36% of voters thought Trump was generally focused on the right issues, and only 32% said Trump made the right decision when attacking Iran earlier this year. A 49% plurality of voters said they would prefer to back a candidate who will check Trump, while just 26% said they would prefer to support a candidate who backs the president, with 21% saying it would not matter either way.
* [...] officials acknowledge the situation has deteriorated since Labor Day, a traditional marker of when everyday voters begin tuning into politics. One Republican consultant working on a number of top races responded to a text-message question about recent polling with a single turd emoji.
* Republicans are also beginning to look at triaging races which may get out of reach. Leading party operatives have begun discussing cutting off support for Rep. Mike Collins, who is badly trailing Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia's Senate race, according to a Republican source familiar with the discussions.
* Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing their advantages. Super PACs affiliated with the party have started airing ads backing Democratic candidates for Senate in the traditionally red states of Kansas and South Carolina, with party officials particularly high on Adam Hamilton, a pastor challenging Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
* Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), whose folksy loquaciousness has made him a sought-after surrogate for GOP candidates, said he planned to campaign for colleagues in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
* "If you told me six months ago I was gonna be having to spend my time in those three states, I wouldn't have believed you. Those ought to be fat guy layups for us," Kennedy said. "We're going to win there, but the races are close."
POLITICO: Republicans were bullish about the Senate. Now they're playing defense in red states
* Republicans are playing defense deep in their own territory as voter anger over price hikes puts more House and Senate seats in play in the midterms.
* New rounds of big spending, visits from Trump administration officials and private conversations among top GOP officials overseeing the battle for control of Congress reveal a party rushing to shore up red seats and states President Donald Trump won handily in 2024.
* In the Senate, Republicans are racing to shore up Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted as the Midwest struggles under the weight of Trump's tariffs and high diesel prices.
* GOP leaders are also trying to keep a handle on contests in Iowa and Kansas -- and they've quietly begun deprioritizing Georgia and even North Carolina, which a growing number of Republicans are privately bracing for Democrats to flip.
* "We need to stop the contagion," said one senior GOP official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the midterm landscape.
* "The map is hilariously big right now," said one national Republican pollster.
* Republicans have adjusted their Senate map expectations [and] are more concerned about Alaska and Texas. And their worries about Ohio have escalated amid soaring diesel prices and backlash to tariffs -- challenges they're also confronting in Texas, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas.
* Senior GOP operatives' own internal polling shows Trump's approval underwater in deep red states across the country. And an Iowa poll conducted last week by a Democratic-leaning pollster found Democrat Josh Turek with a one-point lead in the Senate race and Trump's approval at 43 percent in the state he won by more than 13 percentage points in 2024, according to a copy of the poll obtained by POLITICO.
* "As more races come online, it very clearly is a defensive map for Republicans across the country," said a national GOP strategist working on multiple battleground races.
* One Michigan Republican acknowledged the immense weight of the tariffs in races across the battleground state -- including in the marquee Senate contest between Rogers and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, as well as across competitive House races.
* "Everywhere we go, we are getting hammered on it," the Michigan Republican said. "It's crushing us."
* Even skeptical Republicans have been quietly checking in with their colleagues to see if the panic in redder territory is borne out in reality on the ground [...] overblown polling. One GOP lawmaker who spoke to Hinson and her campaign team was somewhat surprised by their answers.
* And POLITICO overheard a senior member of Kansas' Republican party leadership complaining about their state's tighter-than-expected race at the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, the person said, was in some trouble even as Republicans tried to dismiss the seriousness of his Democratic challenger, Adam Hamilton.
* But as economic concerns continue to dominate -- with little relief in sight -- Democrats are growing increasingly bullish.
TIME: Republican Panic Sets In Over Prospects of a Massive Blue Wave
* With less than six weeks to go until Election Day, the sentiment among Republicans is shifting from nervous to fatalistic, as a pileup of bad news has many convinced they are heading toward an electoral disaster.
* The warning signs are coming in quickly from across the map--much on it from red states where President Trump won comfortably just two years ago. Outside groups backing the GOP are now spending in the millions on Senate races in once-safe territories like Nebraska and Kansas; South Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Arkansas are all drawing renewed attention amid fears of a historically massive blue wave.
* At a closed-door briefing on Wednesday with his caucus, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina delivered a particularly grim message: 2026 is not going to look anything like 2024. [...] According to a person who listened to the briefing, Scott urged "incumbent Senators to run like they were behind so the NRSC" could focus on "a record number of toss-up races." He told them the NRSC's priority was saving GOP-held seats in Texas, Iowa, Maine, and Alaska.
* And while North Carolina and Georgia--two Senate seats Republicans were touting as major targets last year--have featured less prominently in GOP conversations, [...]. Still, some are writing those off as all but won by Democrats Roy Cooper and Jon Ossoff. An operative familiar with Scott's thinking stressed that the NRSC's strategy remains fluid until Election Day and noted that outside groups could still step in to back up their candidates in those states.
* A day earlier in Iowa, which Trump won in 2024 by 13 points, state lawmakers received an even starker warning. Radio host Steve Deace, a real player in conservative circles there and a loyal Trump ally, told his followers on Wednesday afternoon that "Iowa House Republicans were informed by their own pollsters that if you are in a +15 district you're within the margin for error, if you're in a +10 district you're underwater, and that this might end being an even worse midterm environment than 2006."
* There's similar scrambling in Texas, where a super PAC blessed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune is now on track to spend more than $100 million, an add on of $35 million to the $65 million the group had already booked in advertising to boost Ken Paxton's bid against James Talarico. The total price tag for keeping the Senate seat is on track to approach $200 million just on the GOP side.
* The dynamic has left Republican strategists deeply frustrated [and] the environment still seems to be trending bluer than anyone anticipated.
* A simmering fear is that the trendlines may get even worse in the coming weeks. As one Republican strategist told me this week, Election Day cannot come quickly enough.
Wall Street Journal: Even in Reliably Red Kansas, Republican Enthusiasm Is Fading
* At the Kansas State Fair's Senate debate, incumbent Republican Roger Marshall was on home turf. His town is a short drive for friends and supporters. And the fair serves as an exaltation of farmers, the conservative base that has helped the GOP win every Senate race in Kansas since 1932.
* Yet when Marshall stepped to the microphone last weekend, hundreds of those gathered at an outdoor pavilion booed, hissed, and jeered.
* "Liar!" attendees shouted from the bleachers when Marshall suggested gasoline was cheaper under President Trump than under previous presidents.
* Kansas State Fair debates are notoriously boisterous, with both Democratic and Republican campaigns busing in supporters who give as good as they get. But the lopsided showdown was unusually bad, some Republicans privately admitted afterward. The thrashing laid bare a growing anxiety among GOP officials and strategists nationwide that Democrats are fired up for November, while many Republicans aren't.
* With Election Day approaching, Republican worries about voter enthusiasm are spilling beyond swing states into red bastions such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska. Trump's approval rating sits near record lows, and frustrations are growing over the state of the economy, tariffs and the war in Iran. At stake is control of Congress: Democrats need to pick up just three seats to retake the House and four to win back the Senate.
* "If Republicans don't turn out, we're in a world of hurt," warned Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas Republican Party.
* Herbert urged national Republican groups to pour more resources and money into Kansas before it is too late. "Kansas gets overlooked a lot because we are reliably red," she said, "but this is a weird cycle."
* Republican leaders in Washington are starting to pay closer attention to this state and others Trump won by double digits in 2024. West Virginia Republican Sen. Jim Justice said he is concerned his party's disaffected voters will stay home.
* Republicans not worried about being re-elected this November are "living in a cave," he told The Wall Street Journal. "This is all about the economy," he added.
* Still, leaning against a cattle chute at the Kansas fair, Paul Rhodes, a 73-year-old antiabortion activist who has previously supported Republicans, said he thought he probably won't vote at all this year.
* "There was always a baseline of support that was solid. It's wavering," he said. " I don't think they'll vote Democrat, but they might not vote."
* A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in recent days found Democrats have only a slight lead over Republicans nationwide when voters are asked whether they plan to vote. But they hold a substantial lead, 59% to 45%, when voters are asked if they are enthusiastic about voting this year, a signal Democratic voters may be more likely to follow through on their intention.
* Republicans may also have trouble retaining support from those in their party who do vote. A Fox News poll released on Sept. 16 found that among Republicans who said they were not part of Trump's MAGA movement, 12% said they planned to back a Democrat for Congress this year.
* Meaningful shares of non-MAGA Republicans are turning away from the president. In the Fox News poll, 98% of self-described MAGA Republicans approved of Trump's job performance. Among non-MAGA Republicans, 53% approved, with 46% disapproving.
* When Marshall, an OB-GYN, mentioned Trump's health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., the crowd roared in disapproval.
* A visibly flummoxed Marshall was forced to stop talking several times as noise drowned him out. When the debate ended, under the sweltering sun, Hamilton waded into the crowd to greet supporters. Marshall quickly departed.
* Vice President JD Vance campaigned with Marshall near Kansas City on Monday to shore up support for the senator.
* That anyone is even talking about Kansas as competitive is a bad sign, said David Kensinger, former chief of staff and campaign manager to Sam Brownback, a Republican who served as a Kansas governor and senator. "If we're having to spend resources in Kansas," Kensinger said, "that tells you what the national environment is like."
* The Kansas Livestock Association declined to endorse Marshall this year after endorsing him in the past.
* GOP concerns about enthusiasm also extend to Wichita, an aerospace hub that is home to the U.S. headquarters of Canadian jet-maker Bombardier, a large local employer.
* Amid a continuing dispute with Canada, Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this month, "NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES."
* At a park by the Arkansas River, local residents Mike Garcia and Mark Lawson talked about the Bombardier issue and the economy in general.
* Lawson, 69, a retired factory worker and infrequent voter who previously voted for Trump, views food prices as too high, and said the president promised no more wars. This time, Lawson said he likely will vote for Hamilton.
* "Marshall is in trouble," he said. "He favors Trump too much."
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/what-theyre-saying-delusional-republicans-met-with-disbelief-over-disintegrating-senate-map/
DSCC: ICYMI - "It's Maine's Turn to Be Concerned About Susan Collins" [Portland Press Herald Editorial Board]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release:
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Sep 27, 2026
ICYMI: "It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins" [Portland Press Herald Editorial Board]
PPH Editorial Board: "The senator's complacent response to open allegations of bribery sends voters a very clear and disrespectful message"
PPH Editorial Board: "It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds"
PPH Editorial Board: ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 27, 2026 ICYMI: "It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins" [Portland Press Herald Editorial Board] PPH Editorial Board: "The senator's complacent response to open allegations of bribery sends voters a very clear and disrespectful message" PPH Editorial Board: "It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds" PPH Editorial Board: "The Collins campaign's emphasis on the events taking place 'seven years ago' cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation"
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Today, the Portland Press Herald's Editorial Board is issuing a scathing rebuke of Senator Susan Collins and her response to widespread coverage over a stunning report from ProPublica detailing how Collins was a "willing participant" at the center of a pay-for-play corruption scheme - allegedly taking donations and using her position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer "tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding" to her major donor.
The board writes, "it is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds," adding Collins' "emphasis on the events taking place 'seven years ago' cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation" under Trump's DOJ.
Read more:
Portland Press Herald: It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins | Editorial
* The words "fraud, waste and abuse" have formed part of a popular Republican Party slogan in recent years. The party's most prominent figures obsess publicly about the ferreting out of wrongdoing they insist is rampant in government, at the federal level as well as here in Maine.
* Against this intolerant backdrop, one might think that last week's reporting by ProPublica on the killing off, in 2025, of a federal investigation into allegations of bribery by Sen. Susan Collins and staff would be met with a degree of solemnity if not humility. Think again.
* Collins was quick to set the mood, labeling the exhaustive and level reporting a "a partisan hit job" and questioning why "anyone would take the word of a felon who's been convicted twice" and "a convicted liar."
* That this particular felon -- a Hawaii-based military contracting executive named Michael Kao -- was found guilty of money laundering and fraud would seem to some to increase his credibility on such matters. For many of the claims made by Kao, the reporting referred to corresponding emails and other materials.
* "Shame on ProPublica," Collins told the Wall Street Journal, having said she was "offended" by the reporting -- "so offensive" and "disgraceful."
* It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds.
* The Collins campaign's emphasis on the events taking place "seven years ago" cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation -- reportedly active until the beginning of last year -- due to a newly insufficiently staffed and uninterested FBI.
* This editorial board isn't about to make fun or light of the name of the made-up LLC used on the scan of the $150,000 check presented by ProPublica ("the Society of Young Women Scientist [sic] and Engineers") which sought to exploit the white-hot cause of women in STEM.
* Nor are we going to attempt to adjudicate on what the emails between Kao and political operative Scott Reed suggest or reveal.
* In a functioning and properly resourced government, that's a job that falls squarely to the Department of Justice. It's a process that, once commenced, ought to have been followed to its logical administrative and legal end.
* So let's keep the focus on the demise of the probe and the conditions that led to its abandonment. Whether or not there are 3D-printed vessels to show for this tortured bit of negotiating, as Collins' staffers were at pains to highlight with flashcards at a Portland press conference last week, becomes irrelevant in that light.
* In the absence of anything approaching law enforcement as usual -- an expectation reasonably held by the public, a basic check on congressional power -- it's audacious to insist on innocence and stoke conspiratorial lines of thinking by reaching for terms like "partisan hit job."
* The Trump administration has wailed about fraud while studiously dismantling the apparatus that's in place to catch it. Borrowing straight from ProPublica: "Trump's Justice Department no longer takes on public corruption in any meaningful fashion, former officials said. The investigation sparked by Kao's revelations is dead. And the government is no longer talking to an informant who had offered a road map to corruption in Congress."
* This is just one of many unsettling paradoxes of this second presidential term.
* Voters are bothered by this appearance of wrongdoing -- it would be hard not to be. To be satisfied that this is best we can do, a voter would need to be disillusioned with the executive branch to the point of defeat.
* There's a world in which Sen. Collins, her staffers and supporters could confidently and respectfully acknowledge that widespread disquiet. That hasn't happened. We're not at all hopeful that it will.
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/icymi-its-maines-turn-to-be-concerned-about-susan-collins-portland-press-herald-editorial-board/
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Sep 27, 2026
ICYMI: "It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins" [Portland Press Herald Editorial Board]
PPH Editorial Board: "The senator's complacent response to open allegations of bribery sends voters a very clear and disrespectful message"
PPH Editorial Board: "It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds"
PPH Editorial Board: ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 27, 2026 ICYMI: "It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins" [Portland Press Herald Editorial Board] PPH Editorial Board: "The senator's complacent response to open allegations of bribery sends voters a very clear and disrespectful message" PPH Editorial Board: "It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds" PPH Editorial Board: "The Collins campaign's emphasis on the events taking place 'seven years ago' cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation"
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Today, the Portland Press Herald's Editorial Board is issuing a scathing rebuke of Senator Susan Collins and her response to widespread coverage over a stunning report from ProPublica detailing how Collins was a "willing participant" at the center of a pay-for-play corruption scheme - allegedly taking donations and using her position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer "tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding" to her major donor.
The board writes, "it is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds," adding Collins' "emphasis on the events taking place 'seven years ago' cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation" under Trump's DOJ.
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Portland Press Herald: It's Maine's turn to be concerned about Susan Collins | Editorial
* The words "fraud, waste and abuse" have formed part of a popular Republican Party slogan in recent years. The party's most prominent figures obsess publicly about the ferreting out of wrongdoing they insist is rampant in government, at the federal level as well as here in Maine.
* Against this intolerant backdrop, one might think that last week's reporting by ProPublica on the killing off, in 2025, of a federal investigation into allegations of bribery by Sen. Susan Collins and staff would be met with a degree of solemnity if not humility. Think again.
* Collins was quick to set the mood, labeling the exhaustive and level reporting a "a partisan hit job" and questioning why "anyone would take the word of a felon who's been convicted twice" and "a convicted liar."
* That this particular felon -- a Hawaii-based military contracting executive named Michael Kao -- was found guilty of money laundering and fraud would seem to some to increase his credibility on such matters. For many of the claims made by Kao, the reporting referred to corresponding emails and other materials.
* "Shame on ProPublica," Collins told the Wall Street Journal, having said she was "offended" by the reporting -- "so offensive" and "disgraceful."
* It is extremely disappointing to watch Collins and members of her staff move to immediately discredit a thorough and fair piece of investigative journalism on political and personal grounds.
* The Collins campaign's emphasis on the events taking place "seven years ago" cynically attempts to detract from the crux of the story, which hinges on the collapse of the investigation -- reportedly active until the beginning of last year -- due to a newly insufficiently staffed and uninterested FBI.
* This editorial board isn't about to make fun or light of the name of the made-up LLC used on the scan of the $150,000 check presented by ProPublica ("the Society of Young Women Scientist [sic] and Engineers") which sought to exploit the white-hot cause of women in STEM.
* Nor are we going to attempt to adjudicate on what the emails between Kao and political operative Scott Reed suggest or reveal.
* In a functioning and properly resourced government, that's a job that falls squarely to the Department of Justice. It's a process that, once commenced, ought to have been followed to its logical administrative and legal end.
* So let's keep the focus on the demise of the probe and the conditions that led to its abandonment. Whether or not there are 3D-printed vessels to show for this tortured bit of negotiating, as Collins' staffers were at pains to highlight with flashcards at a Portland press conference last week, becomes irrelevant in that light.
* In the absence of anything approaching law enforcement as usual -- an expectation reasonably held by the public, a basic check on congressional power -- it's audacious to insist on innocence and stoke conspiratorial lines of thinking by reaching for terms like "partisan hit job."
* The Trump administration has wailed about fraud while studiously dismantling the apparatus that's in place to catch it. Borrowing straight from ProPublica: "Trump's Justice Department no longer takes on public corruption in any meaningful fashion, former officials said. The investigation sparked by Kao's revelations is dead. And the government is no longer talking to an informant who had offered a road map to corruption in Congress."
* This is just one of many unsettling paradoxes of this second presidential term.
* Voters are bothered by this appearance of wrongdoing -- it would be hard not to be. To be satisfied that this is best we can do, a voter would need to be disillusioned with the executive branch to the point of defeat.
* There's a world in which Sen. Collins, her staffers and supporters could confidently and respectfully acknowledge that widespread disquiet. That hasn't happened. We're not at all hopeful that it will.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/icymi-its-maines-turn-to-be-concerned-about-susan-collins-portland-press-herald-editorial-board/