Politics, Parties, Candidates
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NRCC: Report - Laura Gillen is "brazenly Lying" About Jeanine Driscoll
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
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REPORT: Laura Gillen is "brazenly lying" about Jeanine Driscoll
September 25, 2026
In a bombshell report, Laura Gillen is exposed for "brazenly lying about her Republican opponent" in her most recent ad.
Gillen falsely accuses Jeanine Driscoll of raising taxes, which is particularly ironic since it's Gillen herself who has a long record of voting for tax hikes on Long Island families...
Read the full story here or see excerpts below:
Democrat Candidate Caught Lying About Opponent Over ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * REPORT: Laura Gillen is "brazenly lying" about Jeanine Driscoll September 25, 2026 In a bombshell report, Laura Gillen is exposed for "brazenly lying about her Republican opponent" in her most recent ad. Gillen falsely accuses Jeanine Driscoll of raising taxes, which is particularly ironic since it's Gillen herself who has a long record of voting for tax hikes on Long Island families... Read the full story here or see excerpts below: Democrat Candidate Caught Lying About Opponent OverTax Hikes
Townhall
Jeff Charles
September 24, 2026
Democrat Rep. Laura Gillen (NY-4) is hoping to win reelection by brazenly lying about her Republican opponent, Town of Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll.
Gillen released an attack ad against Driscoll last week in which she falsely claimed her opponent raised taxes in her town.
[...]
This isn't the first time Gillen made this fallacious claim. Back in August, her campaign sent out mailers blaming Driscoll for higher taxes. But she was quickly debunked when others pointed out that Driscoll's position does not give her control over tax rates in the town.
[...]
Driscoll slammed Gillen over the lie, noting that "trying to blame me for tax hikes is like demanding a tax cut from the IRS administrator -- I collect the bills, I don't set the rates."
The candidate added, "If voters want to hold someone accountable for higher taxes, they should look at the only person in this race who actually voted to hike them: Laura Gillen."
And this is the crux of the matter.
Gillen's record provides an idea of why she is falsely claiming her opponent raised taxes. The reality is that Gillen voted twice against a bill that would reduce New Yorkers' tax burdens.
[...]
National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman slammed Gillen for lying about her opponent. "News flash for Laura Gillen: Repeating the same debunked lie doesn't make it true! Gillen knows her record of voting to hike taxes and against increasing the SALT deduction is damning, but no desperate spin can change the facts," she told Townhall. "Long Islanders will vote this pathological liar out in November."
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/25/report-laura-gillen-is-brazenly-lying-about-jeanine-driscoll/
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REPORT: Laura Gillen is "brazenly lying" about Jeanine Driscoll
September 25, 2026
In a bombshell report, Laura Gillen is exposed for "brazenly lying about her Republican opponent" in her most recent ad.
Gillen falsely accuses Jeanine Driscoll of raising taxes, which is particularly ironic since it's Gillen herself who has a long record of voting for tax hikes on Long Island families...
Read the full story here or see excerpts below:
Democrat Candidate Caught Lying About Opponent Over ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * REPORT: Laura Gillen is "brazenly lying" about Jeanine Driscoll September 25, 2026 In a bombshell report, Laura Gillen is exposed for "brazenly lying about her Republican opponent" in her most recent ad. Gillen falsely accuses Jeanine Driscoll of raising taxes, which is particularly ironic since it's Gillen herself who has a long record of voting for tax hikes on Long Island families... Read the full story here or see excerpts below: Democrat Candidate Caught Lying About Opponent OverTax Hikes
Townhall
Jeff Charles
September 24, 2026
Democrat Rep. Laura Gillen (NY-4) is hoping to win reelection by brazenly lying about her Republican opponent, Town of Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll.
Gillen released an attack ad against Driscoll last week in which she falsely claimed her opponent raised taxes in her town.
[...]
This isn't the first time Gillen made this fallacious claim. Back in August, her campaign sent out mailers blaming Driscoll for higher taxes. But she was quickly debunked when others pointed out that Driscoll's position does not give her control over tax rates in the town.
[...]
Driscoll slammed Gillen over the lie, noting that "trying to blame me for tax hikes is like demanding a tax cut from the IRS administrator -- I collect the bills, I don't set the rates."
The candidate added, "If voters want to hold someone accountable for higher taxes, they should look at the only person in this race who actually voted to hike them: Laura Gillen."
And this is the crux of the matter.
Gillen's record provides an idea of why she is falsely claiming her opponent raised taxes. The reality is that Gillen voted twice against a bill that would reduce New Yorkers' tax burdens.
[...]
National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman slammed Gillen for lying about her opponent. "News flash for Laura Gillen: Repeating the same debunked lie doesn't make it true! Gillen knows her record of voting to hike taxes and against increasing the SALT deduction is damning, but no desperate spin can change the facts," she told Townhall. "Long Islanders will vote this pathological liar out in November."
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/25/report-laura-gillen-is-brazenly-lying-about-jeanine-driscoll/
NRCC: Rebecca Bennett Gets Roasted by Local Mayor for Opposing SALT Increase
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
* * *
Rebecca Bennett Gets Roasted by Local Mayor for Opposing SALT Increase
September 25, 2026
Out of touch Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made opposing the increase in the SALT deduction that Tom Kean Jr. delivered a central part of her campaign.
Now, she's being called out by a local Mayor
Read more here or see excerpts below.
There's a SALT problem with Bennett's latest attack on Kean
Save Jersey
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made Congressman Tom Kean ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Rebecca Bennett Gets Roasted by Local Mayor for Opposing SALT Increase September 25, 2026 Out of touch Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made opposing the increase in the SALT deduction that Tom Kean Jr. delivered a central part of her campaign. Now, she's being called out by a local Mayor Read more here or see excerpts below. There's a SALT problem with Bennett's latest attack on Kean Save Jersey September 24, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made Congressman Tom KeanJr.'s vote for the Republicans' 2025 tax package a centerpiece of her campaign to flip New Jersey's 7th Congressional District.
Republicans think there's a fairly obvious problem with that strategy: the same legislation delivered one of the largest expansions of the federal SALT deduction in years.
Bennett, the Democratic nominee challenging Kean this November, has called the GOP tax law "awful" and "the complete opposite of what we should be doing as a country." She has also repeatedly attacked Kean for supplying a decisive vote for the legislation.
The law increased the federal deduction limit for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000 for tax year 2025. For 2026, the cap rises to $40,400, although the benefit phases down for higher-income taxpayers.
That's no small matter in suburban NJ-07, which includes all of Hunterdon and Warren counties and portions of Somerset, Morris, Sussex and Union counties.
Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench joined the GOP counter-offensive this week.
"Anyone who says quadrupling the SALT cap is 'awful' clearly doesn't know this community," said Moench. "As Mayor, I've heard firsthand how crucial this tax relief has been for families across Bridgewater."
"Knowing that Tom Kean Jr. helped deliver this relief and that Rebecca Bennett would've stood in the way of it paints a stark contrast," he added.
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/25/new-rebecca-bennett-gets-roasted-by-local-mayor-for-opposing-salt-increase/
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Rebecca Bennett Gets Roasted by Local Mayor for Opposing SALT Increase
September 25, 2026
Out of touch Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made opposing the increase in the SALT deduction that Tom Kean Jr. delivered a central part of her campaign.
Now, she's being called out by a local Mayor
Read more here or see excerpts below.
There's a SALT problem with Bennett's latest attack on Kean
Save Jersey
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made Congressman Tom Kean ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * Rebecca Bennett Gets Roasted by Local Mayor for Opposing SALT Increase September 25, 2026 Out of touch Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made opposing the increase in the SALT deduction that Tom Kean Jr. delivered a central part of her campaign. Now, she's being called out by a local Mayor Read more here or see excerpts below. There's a SALT problem with Bennett's latest attack on Kean Save Jersey September 24, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrat Rebecca Bennett has made Congressman Tom KeanJr.'s vote for the Republicans' 2025 tax package a centerpiece of her campaign to flip New Jersey's 7th Congressional District.
Republicans think there's a fairly obvious problem with that strategy: the same legislation delivered one of the largest expansions of the federal SALT deduction in years.
Bennett, the Democratic nominee challenging Kean this November, has called the GOP tax law "awful" and "the complete opposite of what we should be doing as a country." She has also repeatedly attacked Kean for supplying a decisive vote for the legislation.
The law increased the federal deduction limit for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000 for tax year 2025. For 2026, the cap rises to $40,400, although the benefit phases down for higher-income taxpayers.
That's no small matter in suburban NJ-07, which includes all of Hunterdon and Warren counties and portions of Somerset, Morris, Sussex and Union counties.
Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench joined the GOP counter-offensive this week.
"Anyone who says quadrupling the SALT cap is 'awful' clearly doesn't know this community," said Moench. "As Mayor, I've heard firsthand how crucial this tax relief has been for families across Bridgewater."
"Knowing that Tom Kean Jr. helped deliver this relief and that Rebecca Bennett would've stood in the way of it paints a stark contrast," he added.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/09/25/new-rebecca-bennett-gets-roasted-by-local-mayor-for-opposing-salt-increase/
Minnesota DFL: NEW - Lisa Demuth's Top Campaign Aide is a Big Pharma & Tobacco Lobbyist Whose Clients Fund Her "Independent" Super PAC
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Sept. 26 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release:
* * *
September 25, 2026
NEW: Lisa Demuth's Top Campaign Aide is a Big Pharma & Tobacco Lobbyist Whose Clients Fund her "Independent" Super PAC
When asked to explain what Big Pharma & tobacco lobbyist Ben Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign, Demuth refused to answer
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ST. PAUL -- Today, the Minnesota DFL responded to new reports that one of Lisa Demuth's top aides running her campaign is a Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyist. According to the reporting, one of Golnik's clients, ... Show Full Article ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Sept. 26 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 NEW: Lisa Demuth's Top Campaign Aide is a Big Pharma & Tobacco Lobbyist Whose Clients Fund her "Independent" Super PAC When asked to explain what Big Pharma & tobacco lobbyist Ben Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign, Demuth refused to answer - ST. PAUL -- Today, the Minnesota DFL responded to new reports that one of Lisa Demuth's top aides running her campaign is a Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyist. According to the reporting, one of Golnik's clients,Running Aces, has given $500,000 to one of Lisa Demuth's Super PACs, Restore Sanity.
"A top lobbyist for Big Pharma and tobacco helping run Lisa Demuth's campaign is fitting given her long record of siding with Big Pharma by voting against capping the cost of insulin and blocking a bipartisan bill to stop drug companies from cutting off discounted medicines for hospitals," said Minnesota DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom. "It's unacceptable that Lisa Demuth is refusing to answer what Mr. Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign or why his clients are bankrolling her Super PAC. Minnesotans deserve to know what Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyists have been promised by Lisa Demuth and her top advisors."
In over 300 days since launching her campaign for governor, Lisa Demuth still has not released a health care plan. Nowhere on her website do the words "health care" appear, either.
Instead of releasing a health care plan, Lisa Demuth has continued to side with Donald Trump and big drug companies as they have increased costs for Minnesotans.
Demuth's record:
* She praised the Medicaid cuts in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" and said she was "really grateful" for it.
* Blocked a bipartisan bill that would have helped keep hospitals open in Minnesota so she could help the big drug companies instead.
* Voted against legislation to cap the cost of insulin.
* * *
Original text here: https://dfl.org/new-lisa-demuths-top-campaign-aide-is-a-big-pharma-tobacco-lobbyist-whose-clients-fund-her-independent-super-pac/
* * *
September 25, 2026
NEW: Lisa Demuth's Top Campaign Aide is a Big Pharma & Tobacco Lobbyist Whose Clients Fund her "Independent" Super PAC
When asked to explain what Big Pharma & tobacco lobbyist Ben Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign, Demuth refused to answer
-
ST. PAUL -- Today, the Minnesota DFL responded to new reports that one of Lisa Demuth's top aides running her campaign is a Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyist. According to the reporting, one of Golnik's clients, ... Show Full Article ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Sept. 26 -- Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 NEW: Lisa Demuth's Top Campaign Aide is a Big Pharma & Tobacco Lobbyist Whose Clients Fund her "Independent" Super PAC When asked to explain what Big Pharma & tobacco lobbyist Ben Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign, Demuth refused to answer - ST. PAUL -- Today, the Minnesota DFL responded to new reports that one of Lisa Demuth's top aides running her campaign is a Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyist. According to the reporting, one of Golnik's clients,Running Aces, has given $500,000 to one of Lisa Demuth's Super PACs, Restore Sanity.
"A top lobbyist for Big Pharma and tobacco helping run Lisa Demuth's campaign is fitting given her long record of siding with Big Pharma by voting against capping the cost of insulin and blocking a bipartisan bill to stop drug companies from cutting off discounted medicines for hospitals," said Minnesota DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom. "It's unacceptable that Lisa Demuth is refusing to answer what Mr. Golnik's responsibilities are on her campaign or why his clients are bankrolling her Super PAC. Minnesotans deserve to know what Big Pharma and tobacco lobbyists have been promised by Lisa Demuth and her top advisors."
In over 300 days since launching her campaign for governor, Lisa Demuth still has not released a health care plan. Nowhere on her website do the words "health care" appear, either.
Instead of releasing a health care plan, Lisa Demuth has continued to side with Donald Trump and big drug companies as they have increased costs for Minnesotans.
Demuth's record:
* She praised the Medicaid cuts in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" and said she was "really grateful" for it.
* Blocked a bipartisan bill that would have helped keep hospitals open in Minnesota so she could help the big drug companies instead.
* Voted against legislation to cap the cost of insulin.
* * *
Original text here: https://dfl.org/new-lisa-demuths-top-campaign-aide-is-a-big-pharma-tobacco-lobbyist-whose-clients-fund-her-independent-super-pac/
Mich. Democratic Party: Michigan Democrats and Local Advocates Call Out Mike Rogers' Plans to Gut Healthcare and Spike Costs
LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release:
* * *
September 25, 2026
Michigan Democrats and Local Advocates Call Out Mike Rogers' Plans to Gut Healthcare and Spike Costs
Speakers slammed Rogers for being in the pocket of Big Pharma and the insurance industry as he pushes their cost-raising agenda
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LANSING -- Today, to mark this week's anniversary of of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders' ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Michigan Democrats and Local Advocates Call Out Mike Rogers' Plans to Gut Healthcare and Spike Costs Speakers slammed Rogers for being in the pocket of Big Pharma and the insurance industry as he pushes their cost-raising agenda - LANSING -- Today, to mark this week's anniversary of of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders'monthly premiums while his campaign is bankrolled by Big Pharma and the insurance industry. Email press@michigandems.com to request access to footage from the press conference.
"Mike Rogers has demonstrated that when he is given power, he uses it to gut Michiganders' health care and spike their costs, all to boost the profits of his corporate donors," said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. "That choice couldn't be more clear: a vote for Mike Rogers is a vote for the corporate special interests making healthcare less affordable for Michigan families--and a vote for Abdul El-Sayed is for a leader who believes healthcare is a human right, and who will always stand up to corporate greed on behalf of Michiganders."
"Mike Rogers' agenda wouldn't save money for everyday families--it would raise costs, destabilize coverage, and allow big insurance companies to maximize their profits by kicking sick patients off their standard plans," said state Representative Carrie Rheingans (HD-47, Ann Arbor). "While Mike Rogers has spent his entire career trying to rip away healthcare from Michiganders to boost his donors' profits, Abdul El-Sayed understands that healthcare should be a right--not a privilege."
"Mike Rogers' entire agenda is rooted in corruption and greed. He has consistently sided with the pharmaceutical and insurance giants funding his campaigns, prioritizing their massive profits while working families are left to suffer the consequences," said Jill Murphy, a Macomb County resident living with pre-existing conditions. "Michiganders deserve leaders who will fight to lower costs and protect our care, not politicians like Mike Rogers who use their power to rip it away. That's why we need Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate."
Background
Mike Rogers does the bidding of Big Pharma and the insurance industry at the expense of Michiganders:
Rogers' campaigns and political committees have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the insurance industry while he supports spiking Michiganders healthcare costs, which would boost his donors' profits:
* Rogers has proposed ending no-cost preventive care, which would force Michiganders to pay new out-of-pocket costs for basic healthcare services, including annual physicals and cancer screenings. No-cost preventive care is currently required for most insurers under the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights--Rogers' proposal would repeal that requirement.
* Rogers has proposed bringing back a form of "high-risk pools," which would "double" premiums and provide "inadequate coverage or no coverage at all" for patients with pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA's Patients' Bill of Rights, health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or charge you more just because you have a pre-existing condition--Rogers' proposal would undo that prohibition.
* Rogers has repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, voting to spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums, and vowed to "redouble" efforts to gut the ACA.
Rogers' campaigns and political committees have accepted more than $1 million from the pharmaceutical industry. In return, Rogers became Big Pharma's self-described "champion" in Congress--and he has the record to prove it:
* Rogers repeatedly voted to block Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug costs for Michiganders.
* Rogers was a "leading advocate" in Congress for "boost[ing] opioid prescriptions" and was "tied at the policy hip with opioid-producer front-groups," while the industry bankrolled his campaign
* Rogers cosponsored a bill in the Michigan Legislature to shield Big Pharma from accountability after their drugs hurt Michiganders, making it harder to sue for opioid epidemic damages.
Mike Rogers is in lockstep with Trump's agenda of cutting Michiganders' healthcare:
* Rogers supported Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid to give tax handouts to multi-millionaires like himself, and he voted 14 times to weaken Medicaid while he was in Congress.
* Rogers supported Trump's plan to let ACA subsidies expire, causing healthcare premiums to double for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders.
Email press@michigandems.com to request access to footage from the press conference.
* * *
Original text here: https://michigandems.com/watch-michigan-democrats-and-local-advocates-call-out-mike-rogers-plans-to-gut-healthcare-and-spike-costs/
* * *
September 25, 2026
Michigan Democrats and Local Advocates Call Out Mike Rogers' Plans to Gut Healthcare and Spike Costs
Speakers slammed Rogers for being in the pocket of Big Pharma and the insurance industry as he pushes their cost-raising agenda
-
LANSING -- Today, to mark this week's anniversary of of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders' ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Michigan Democrats and Local Advocates Call Out Mike Rogers' Plans to Gut Healthcare and Spike Costs Speakers slammed Rogers for being in the pocket of Big Pharma and the insurance industry as he pushes their cost-raising agenda - LANSING -- Today, to mark this week's anniversary of of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders'monthly premiums while his campaign is bankrolled by Big Pharma and the insurance industry. Email press@michigandems.com to request access to footage from the press conference.
"Mike Rogers has demonstrated that when he is given power, he uses it to gut Michiganders' health care and spike their costs, all to boost the profits of his corporate donors," said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. "That choice couldn't be more clear: a vote for Mike Rogers is a vote for the corporate special interests making healthcare less affordable for Michigan families--and a vote for Abdul El-Sayed is for a leader who believes healthcare is a human right, and who will always stand up to corporate greed on behalf of Michiganders."
"Mike Rogers' agenda wouldn't save money for everyday families--it would raise costs, destabilize coverage, and allow big insurance companies to maximize their profits by kicking sick patients off their standard plans," said state Representative Carrie Rheingans (HD-47, Ann Arbor). "While Mike Rogers has spent his entire career trying to rip away healthcare from Michiganders to boost his donors' profits, Abdul El-Sayed understands that healthcare should be a right--not a privilege."
"Mike Rogers' entire agenda is rooted in corruption and greed. He has consistently sided with the pharmaceutical and insurance giants funding his campaigns, prioritizing their massive profits while working families are left to suffer the consequences," said Jill Murphy, a Macomb County resident living with pre-existing conditions. "Michiganders deserve leaders who will fight to lower costs and protect our care, not politicians like Mike Rogers who use their power to rip it away. That's why we need Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate."
Background
Mike Rogers does the bidding of Big Pharma and the insurance industry at the expense of Michiganders:
Rogers' campaigns and political committees have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the insurance industry while he supports spiking Michiganders healthcare costs, which would boost his donors' profits:
* Rogers has proposed ending no-cost preventive care, which would force Michiganders to pay new out-of-pocket costs for basic healthcare services, including annual physicals and cancer screenings. No-cost preventive care is currently required for most insurers under the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights--Rogers' proposal would repeal that requirement.
* Rogers has proposed bringing back a form of "high-risk pools," which would "double" premiums and provide "inadequate coverage or no coverage at all" for patients with pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA's Patients' Bill of Rights, health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or charge you more just because you have a pre-existing condition--Rogers' proposal would undo that prohibition.
* Rogers has repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, voting to spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums, and vowed to "redouble" efforts to gut the ACA.
Rogers' campaigns and political committees have accepted more than $1 million from the pharmaceutical industry. In return, Rogers became Big Pharma's self-described "champion" in Congress--and he has the record to prove it:
* Rogers repeatedly voted to block Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug costs for Michiganders.
* Rogers was a "leading advocate" in Congress for "boost[ing] opioid prescriptions" and was "tied at the policy hip with opioid-producer front-groups," while the industry bankrolled his campaign
* Rogers cosponsored a bill in the Michigan Legislature to shield Big Pharma from accountability after their drugs hurt Michiganders, making it harder to sue for opioid epidemic damages.
Mike Rogers is in lockstep with Trump's agenda of cutting Michiganders' healthcare:
* Rogers supported Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid to give tax handouts to multi-millionaires like himself, and he voted 14 times to weaken Medicaid while he was in Congress.
* Rogers supported Trump's plan to let ACA subsidies expire, causing healthcare premiums to double for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders.
Email press@michigandems.com to request access to footage from the press conference.
* * *
Original text here: https://michigandems.com/watch-michigan-democrats-and-local-advocates-call-out-mike-rogers-plans-to-gut-healthcare-and-spike-costs/
Mich. Democratic Party: Breaking - "Mike Rogers Claims He Was An Assembly Line Worker. The UAW Said That Is Stretching The Truth." [Michigan Advance]
LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release:
* * *
September 25, 2026
BREAKING: "Mike Rogers Claims He Was An Assembly Line Worker. The UAW Said That Is Stretching The Truth." [Michigan Advance]
LANSING -- According to damning new reporting from Michigan Advance, Mike Rogers stretched the truth when he repeatedly claimed he worked on a car assembly line. The truth is that he did not build cars or work on an assembly line - prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor."
While running for Senate, Rogers has consistently claimed he ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 BREAKING: "Mike Rogers Claims He Was An Assembly Line Worker. The UAW Said That Is Stretching The Truth." [Michigan Advance] LANSING -- According to damning new reporting from Michigan Advance, Mike Rogers stretched the truth when he repeatedly claimed he worked on a car assembly line. The truth is that he did not build cars or work on an assembly line - prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor." While running for Senate, Rogers has consistently claimed he"worked in an automotive factory," where he "built" vehicles on an "assembly line." But the UAW and Michigan Advance's investigation found Rogers is "greatly inflating his experience" to mislead Michiganders: The facility where Rogers claims he worked did not build cars, nor did it have an assembly line; and the Chrysler Sebring he claims to have built wasn't manufactured until 1995 - more than a decade after Rogers allegedly worked there.
The assembly line claim represents a new addition to Rogers' biography. As Art Reyes II, former president of UAW Local 651, put it: "If you did not do time in the plant, that's fine, but don't act as if you had, and don't talk to Michiganders about something which millions of us over the generations have experienced, have made careers of, have raised families on because of the collective bargaining power of the UAW."
Read more:
Michigan Advance: Mike Rogers claims he was an assembly line worker. The UAW said that is stretching the truth.
* As Republican Mike Rogers makes his case to voters in Michigan's high-stakes U.S. Senate race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, he's relied on his record as a federal law enforcement agent, his national intelligence expertise and his image as an every-day working man turned lawmaker.
* But one claim he's made on the campaign doesn't appear to hold water for the United Auto Workers -- his insistence that he worked in an automotive factory during his stint at Adrian College between 1981 and 1982. The UAW formally endorsed El-Sayed in June.
* In advertisements, campaign interviews and in messaging to voters, Rogers claimed several times that he either worked in a factory, an automotive shop or an assembly line where he built Chrysler LeBarons.
* Research done by Michigan Advance and interviews with a member of the United Auto Workers shows that while Rogers never worked for one of the Big Three automakers during his college years, and that he never worked on an automotive assembly line building one of Chrysler's most well known vehicles -- the LeBaron -- Rogers did work at Cars & Concepts in Brighton, Michigan, between 1981 and 1982.
* The Cars & Concepts facility, a large company in Brighton founded by former U.S. Rep. Dick Chrysler, did custom work on vehicles after they were already built on a Chrysler assembly line and shipped to Brighton for additional, after-market parts.
* The campaign also said that he worked for a period of time at Thermofil, in Fowlerville, where he was a line mixer. The campaign said he made materials that were used for dashboards, but did not indicate when he worked at Thermofil.
* Although Cars & Concepts was not an assembly line owned by one of the Big Three automakers, it was known in the auto industry as a speciality engineering, design and aftermarket parts facility. According to historical photos and museum entries, Cars & Concepts was more akin to a mechanic or body shop, but Rogers' team insisted, when asked by Michigan Advance, that the facility did have an assembly line type facility.
* Cars & Concepts is no longer in operation.
* The facility was not building the LeBaron, either, but rather modifying already-assembled vehicles into convertibles with removable sunroofs -- a part that Cars & Concepts was known for and well suited to produce and add on.
* In that way, the UAW said that Rogers was greatly inflating his experience as an assembly line worker on the campaign trail.
* "He never claimed that he worked in an automotive factory when we were lobbying him at the beginning of the early 2000s," said Art Reyes II, former president of UAW Local 651, serving Delphi plants in Flint, who was provided to the Advance for an interview when it asked UAW for a comment on this story. "He has tried to campaign as a champion of the auto worker when, in fact, he has no concept nor respect for the work that we do." Reyes is president of the UAW Region 1-D Greater Flint Community Action Program (CAP) Council and also serves as a trustee for Mott Community College.
* The UAW, in a separate statement, also told the Advance that "the record for Mike Rogers that we are familiar with is his record in Congress, where he supported bad trade deals that cost Michigan autoworkers good union jobs."
* Rogers' claim that he "built" LeBarons at the facility is further refuted by the fact that the LeBaron, when it was being built in Michigan, was built at Detroit's former Jefferson Avenue Assembly facility up until 1975, when the Imperial LeBaron was discontinued, and at the Hamtramck plant up until 1981, said a historian with Stellantis when the Advance asked about the LeBaron's production history. Stellantis is now the parent company of Chrysler.
* Later year LeBaron production occurred in Delaware, Missouri, and other nations like Mexico and Venezuela, but the LeBaron GTS was produced at Sterling Heights Assembly in 1984.
* Adrian College is in Lenawee County, and the UAW has no record of a Chrysler assembly plant building the vehicles in the county. Cars & Concepts is located in Livingston County, where Rogers' campaign said he worked and grew up.
* While what Cars & Concepts did was an important step toward creating the LeBaron convertible product for customers, Reyes told the Advance that it was a far cry from an assembly line, an auto-parts factory or a parts supplier that the Big Three work with to produce vehicles along the designated supply chain -- nor would the companies be shipping partially-produced vehicles to those shops for vehicle completion.
* "In an original equipment manufacturing sense, no," Reyes said. "The likelihood is that would not have been the case. Aftermarket stuff, there were a lot of specialty shops that General Motors or any of the American Three would do, but they were not partially building the LeBaron in the plant, then sending it out to be finished."
* When Rogers was endorsed by "Autoworkers For Trump," he mentioned in a news release that he had worked in two different auto factory facilities and understood the "blood, sweat and tears" of Michigan's auto workers.
* That appears to be a new aspect of his campaign pitch, starting during his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign against current U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
* At a Michigan rally featuring President Donald Trump in September 2024, Rogers told the audience that he worked in a car factory -- his first mention of the claim. But instead of building LeBarons, Rogers said he was building the Sebring Convertible, another Chrysler vehicle.
* Of note, the Sebring replaced the LeBaron in the Chrysler manufacturer lineup -- but not until 1995, according to J.D. Power. By then, Rogers was already a Michigan state Senator, well out of college and past his time as both a member of the U.S. Army and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
* While it's possible that Rogers confused the two vehicles, the LeBaron wasn't being built in any facility in Michigan when Rogers worked at Cars & Concepts.
* That same month, speaking to Republicans voters and donors, Rogers again said he worked in a car factory.
* "We always had to work," Rogers said. "Obviously I worked in a car factory, put myself through school. That was a deal, as well. They'd helped where they could, but with five boys, they're not being able to write a check, but it was the best thing they ever gave me. So I worked in that car factory."
* His claim became a fixture in that campaign across a few more Trump rallies and interviews, like one Rogers did with The Tony Conley Show in July 2024. It also started appearing in campaign ads.
* "I'm Mike Rogers. Slotkin's for EV mandates," Rogers said in an ad released in September 2024. "I'm for Michigan. I worked in a car factory. These jobs are important to our families."
* Rogers maintained that he was an automotive assembly line worker even into 2025, well after losing his race to Slotkin the year prior.
* In an interview with Breitbart News in 2025, Rogers again claimed that he worked on an auto factory floor making Sebring convertibles -- which would have been impossible considering the Sebring wasn't manufactured until well after Rogers had attended Adrian College, joined the military, worked in law enforcement and was a sitting member of the state Legislature.
* Rogers again spoke of his "factory" experience during a September 2025 rally in Howell featuring Vice President JD Vance. Rogers told the audience that he specifically worked on an auto assembly line, and that those vehicles were Sebrings, not LeBarons.
* "And when you think about my time on the assembly line, I worked in two different assembly lines, one that built Chrysler, Sebring, convertibles," Rogers told the crowd. "Those are great cars. And if you got one that wasn't, I didn't build that one. I worked in a plant that made the materials to go that went into dashboards and parts. They were phenomenal jobs."
* Cars & Concepts did manufacture trim and additional fixtures, like shifters, to create more luxury looking vehicles, but that work in 1981 and 1982 was for the LeBaron.
* The claim resurfaced during the 2026 campaign Rogers is currently waging.
* Rogers said in an interview with Albanian TV of America that he "started out working on a car assembly line. I built Chrysler convertibles, the LeBaron."
* In July 2026, Rogers' wife, Kristi, who has become a trusted campaign surrogate, said in a campaign ad that, "Mike worked in a factory. I worked at Burger King. Both our parents were teachers. It's the middle class."
* When the Advance had asked Rogers what his experience was in the auto industry, the campaign at first said it was at Cars & Concepts. When fact checking this story, the campaign then said that he worked at a second facility. Before Michigan Advance published this piece, the Rogers campaign said he also worked at Thermofil, but did not provide dates for when he worked with the company, when asked a third time.
* When asked, Rogers' team asserted that his autowork experience came solely from Cars & Concepts and Thermofil. The assertion does not square up with what Reyes told the Advance he and other fellow autoworkers would consider actual automotive assembly line or parts manufacturing experience.
* Reyes, who also served in the military, said he doesn't doubt that Rogers served in the military because he speaks about his experience in the U.S. Army in a way that only someone who served can. That was not the case in terms of automotive experience, Reyes added, and likened Rogers' claims as "stolen valor" from the auto industry.
* "It's insulting to my brethren who have spent their lives chasing the chain, whether it's an assembly plant or a parts plant, sequencing, packaging, whatever it is; the supply chain of the automotive industry," he said. "If you did not do time in the plant, that's fine, but don't act as if you had, and don't talk to Michiganders about something which millions of us over the generations have experienced, have made careers of, have raised families on because of the collective bargaining power of the UAW."
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/breaking-mike-rogers-claims-he-was-an-assembly-line-worker-the-uaw-said-that-is-stretching-the-truth-michigan-advance/
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September 25, 2026
BREAKING: "Mike Rogers Claims He Was An Assembly Line Worker. The UAW Said That Is Stretching The Truth." [Michigan Advance]
LANSING -- According to damning new reporting from Michigan Advance, Mike Rogers stretched the truth when he repeatedly claimed he worked on a car assembly line. The truth is that he did not build cars or work on an assembly line - prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor."
While running for Senate, Rogers has consistently claimed he ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 26 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 BREAKING: "Mike Rogers Claims He Was An Assembly Line Worker. The UAW Said That Is Stretching The Truth." [Michigan Advance] LANSING -- According to damning new reporting from Michigan Advance, Mike Rogers stretched the truth when he repeatedly claimed he worked on a car assembly line. The truth is that he did not build cars or work on an assembly line - prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor." While running for Senate, Rogers has consistently claimed he"worked in an automotive factory," where he "built" vehicles on an "assembly line." But the UAW and Michigan Advance's investigation found Rogers is "greatly inflating his experience" to mislead Michiganders: The facility where Rogers claims he worked did not build cars, nor did it have an assembly line; and the Chrysler Sebring he claims to have built wasn't manufactured until 1995 - more than a decade after Rogers allegedly worked there.
The assembly line claim represents a new addition to Rogers' biography. As Art Reyes II, former president of UAW Local 651, put it: "If you did not do time in the plant, that's fine, but don't act as if you had, and don't talk to Michiganders about something which millions of us over the generations have experienced, have made careers of, have raised families on because of the collective bargaining power of the UAW."
Read more:
Michigan Advance: Mike Rogers claims he was an assembly line worker. The UAW said that is stretching the truth.
* As Republican Mike Rogers makes his case to voters in Michigan's high-stakes U.S. Senate race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, he's relied on his record as a federal law enforcement agent, his national intelligence expertise and his image as an every-day working man turned lawmaker.
* But one claim he's made on the campaign doesn't appear to hold water for the United Auto Workers -- his insistence that he worked in an automotive factory during his stint at Adrian College between 1981 and 1982. The UAW formally endorsed El-Sayed in June.
* In advertisements, campaign interviews and in messaging to voters, Rogers claimed several times that he either worked in a factory, an automotive shop or an assembly line where he built Chrysler LeBarons.
* Research done by Michigan Advance and interviews with a member of the United Auto Workers shows that while Rogers never worked for one of the Big Three automakers during his college years, and that he never worked on an automotive assembly line building one of Chrysler's most well known vehicles -- the LeBaron -- Rogers did work at Cars & Concepts in Brighton, Michigan, between 1981 and 1982.
* The Cars & Concepts facility, a large company in Brighton founded by former U.S. Rep. Dick Chrysler, did custom work on vehicles after they were already built on a Chrysler assembly line and shipped to Brighton for additional, after-market parts.
* The campaign also said that he worked for a period of time at Thermofil, in Fowlerville, where he was a line mixer. The campaign said he made materials that were used for dashboards, but did not indicate when he worked at Thermofil.
* Although Cars & Concepts was not an assembly line owned by one of the Big Three automakers, it was known in the auto industry as a speciality engineering, design and aftermarket parts facility. According to historical photos and museum entries, Cars & Concepts was more akin to a mechanic or body shop, but Rogers' team insisted, when asked by Michigan Advance, that the facility did have an assembly line type facility.
* Cars & Concepts is no longer in operation.
* The facility was not building the LeBaron, either, but rather modifying already-assembled vehicles into convertibles with removable sunroofs -- a part that Cars & Concepts was known for and well suited to produce and add on.
* In that way, the UAW said that Rogers was greatly inflating his experience as an assembly line worker on the campaign trail.
* "He never claimed that he worked in an automotive factory when we were lobbying him at the beginning of the early 2000s," said Art Reyes II, former president of UAW Local 651, serving Delphi plants in Flint, who was provided to the Advance for an interview when it asked UAW for a comment on this story. "He has tried to campaign as a champion of the auto worker when, in fact, he has no concept nor respect for the work that we do." Reyes is president of the UAW Region 1-D Greater Flint Community Action Program (CAP) Council and also serves as a trustee for Mott Community College.
* The UAW, in a separate statement, also told the Advance that "the record for Mike Rogers that we are familiar with is his record in Congress, where he supported bad trade deals that cost Michigan autoworkers good union jobs."
* Rogers' claim that he "built" LeBarons at the facility is further refuted by the fact that the LeBaron, when it was being built in Michigan, was built at Detroit's former Jefferson Avenue Assembly facility up until 1975, when the Imperial LeBaron was discontinued, and at the Hamtramck plant up until 1981, said a historian with Stellantis when the Advance asked about the LeBaron's production history. Stellantis is now the parent company of Chrysler.
* Later year LeBaron production occurred in Delaware, Missouri, and other nations like Mexico and Venezuela, but the LeBaron GTS was produced at Sterling Heights Assembly in 1984.
* Adrian College is in Lenawee County, and the UAW has no record of a Chrysler assembly plant building the vehicles in the county. Cars & Concepts is located in Livingston County, where Rogers' campaign said he worked and grew up.
* While what Cars & Concepts did was an important step toward creating the LeBaron convertible product for customers, Reyes told the Advance that it was a far cry from an assembly line, an auto-parts factory or a parts supplier that the Big Three work with to produce vehicles along the designated supply chain -- nor would the companies be shipping partially-produced vehicles to those shops for vehicle completion.
* "In an original equipment manufacturing sense, no," Reyes said. "The likelihood is that would not have been the case. Aftermarket stuff, there were a lot of specialty shops that General Motors or any of the American Three would do, but they were not partially building the LeBaron in the plant, then sending it out to be finished."
* When Rogers was endorsed by "Autoworkers For Trump," he mentioned in a news release that he had worked in two different auto factory facilities and understood the "blood, sweat and tears" of Michigan's auto workers.
* That appears to be a new aspect of his campaign pitch, starting during his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign against current U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
* At a Michigan rally featuring President Donald Trump in September 2024, Rogers told the audience that he worked in a car factory -- his first mention of the claim. But instead of building LeBarons, Rogers said he was building the Sebring Convertible, another Chrysler vehicle.
* Of note, the Sebring replaced the LeBaron in the Chrysler manufacturer lineup -- but not until 1995, according to J.D. Power. By then, Rogers was already a Michigan state Senator, well out of college and past his time as both a member of the U.S. Army and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
* While it's possible that Rogers confused the two vehicles, the LeBaron wasn't being built in any facility in Michigan when Rogers worked at Cars & Concepts.
* That same month, speaking to Republicans voters and donors, Rogers again said he worked in a car factory.
* "We always had to work," Rogers said. "Obviously I worked in a car factory, put myself through school. That was a deal, as well. They'd helped where they could, but with five boys, they're not being able to write a check, but it was the best thing they ever gave me. So I worked in that car factory."
* His claim became a fixture in that campaign across a few more Trump rallies and interviews, like one Rogers did with The Tony Conley Show in July 2024. It also started appearing in campaign ads.
* "I'm Mike Rogers. Slotkin's for EV mandates," Rogers said in an ad released in September 2024. "I'm for Michigan. I worked in a car factory. These jobs are important to our families."
* Rogers maintained that he was an automotive assembly line worker even into 2025, well after losing his race to Slotkin the year prior.
* In an interview with Breitbart News in 2025, Rogers again claimed that he worked on an auto factory floor making Sebring convertibles -- which would have been impossible considering the Sebring wasn't manufactured until well after Rogers had attended Adrian College, joined the military, worked in law enforcement and was a sitting member of the state Legislature.
* Rogers again spoke of his "factory" experience during a September 2025 rally in Howell featuring Vice President JD Vance. Rogers told the audience that he specifically worked on an auto assembly line, and that those vehicles were Sebrings, not LeBarons.
* "And when you think about my time on the assembly line, I worked in two different assembly lines, one that built Chrysler, Sebring, convertibles," Rogers told the crowd. "Those are great cars. And if you got one that wasn't, I didn't build that one. I worked in a plant that made the materials to go that went into dashboards and parts. They were phenomenal jobs."
* Cars & Concepts did manufacture trim and additional fixtures, like shifters, to create more luxury looking vehicles, but that work in 1981 and 1982 was for the LeBaron.
* The claim resurfaced during the 2026 campaign Rogers is currently waging.
* Rogers said in an interview with Albanian TV of America that he "started out working on a car assembly line. I built Chrysler convertibles, the LeBaron."
* In July 2026, Rogers' wife, Kristi, who has become a trusted campaign surrogate, said in a campaign ad that, "Mike worked in a factory. I worked at Burger King. Both our parents were teachers. It's the middle class."
* When the Advance had asked Rogers what his experience was in the auto industry, the campaign at first said it was at Cars & Concepts. When fact checking this story, the campaign then said that he worked at a second facility. Before Michigan Advance published this piece, the Rogers campaign said he also worked at Thermofil, but did not provide dates for when he worked with the company, when asked a third time.
* When asked, Rogers' team asserted that his autowork experience came solely from Cars & Concepts and Thermofil. The assertion does not square up with what Reyes told the Advance he and other fellow autoworkers would consider actual automotive assembly line or parts manufacturing experience.
* Reyes, who also served in the military, said he doesn't doubt that Rogers served in the military because he speaks about his experience in the U.S. Army in a way that only someone who served can. That was not the case in terms of automotive experience, Reyes added, and likened Rogers' claims as "stolen valor" from the auto industry.
* "It's insulting to my brethren who have spent their lives chasing the chain, whether it's an assembly plant or a parts plant, sequencing, packaging, whatever it is; the supply chain of the automotive industry," he said. "If you did not do time in the plant, that's fine, but don't act as if you had, and don't talk to Michiganders about something which millions of us over the generations have experienced, have made careers of, have raised families on because of the collective bargaining power of the UAW."
* * *
Original text here: https://michigandems.com/breaking-mike-rogers-claims-he-was-an-assembly-line-worker-the-uaw-said-that-is-stretching-the-truth-michigan-advance/
DSCC Friday Takeaways: NRSC's Bad Vibes and Worse Map, Chameleon Changes Its Skin... But Not Its Habits, Kao-ruption, and Crickets From Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release:
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Sep 25, 2026
DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: NRSC's Bad Vibes and Worse Map, A Chameleon Changes Its Skin... But Not Its Habits, Kao-ruption, and Crickets From Sullivan
TGIF. Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC - your weekly update from the DSCC Press Team on what you need to know across the Senate battlegrounds. There are 39 days until the midterms. DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org.
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GOP'S BAD VIBES AND WORSE MAP: With less than 40 days until the midterms, Republicans are "fret[ting] ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 25, 2026 DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: NRSC's Bad Vibes and Worse Map, A Chameleon Changes Its Skin... But Not Its Habits, Kao-ruption, and Crickets From Sullivan TGIF. Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC - your weekly update from the DSCC Press Team on what you need to know across the Senate battlegrounds. There are 39 days until the midterms. DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org. - GOP'S BAD VIBES AND WORSE MAP: With less than 40 days until the midterms, Republicans are "fret[ting]about the deteriorating national mood," "sounding the alarm," and "acknowledg[ing their] situation has deteriorated since Labor Day" as Democrats' strong candidates outpace their flawed GOP opponents, amid widespread "anger" over "brutal" gas prices and "Trump's handling of the economy and the Iran War."
* SCOTT FREE: NRSC Chair Tim Scott told Republicans that they are "in the fight for [their] lives" as wall-to-wall coverage details how "meaningful shares of non-MAGA Republicans are turning away" from the party and the GOP stares down a voter enthusiasm problem that is "spilling beyond swing states into red bastions such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa" - causing "growing anxiety" as party officials and even GOP Senators concede that they "may lose in the midterm."
* TRIAGE SEASON: In the final weeks of the election, Democratic Senate candidates "lead in most battleground state polls," while Republicans are reportedly facing "hard choices this fall as they shape their strategy for keeping the Senate," as they "consider moving money away from races where its candidates are struggling to gain traction." Somebody's about to find out they're getting left out in the cold...
*KAO-RUPTION: A new shocking report from ProPublica lays out in "detail" how Senator Susan Collins was a "willing participant" and the "most important patron" at the center of a pay-for-play corruption scheme - allegedly taking donations around "official action" that included steering "tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding" from her senior position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to her major donor Martin Kao, who is now convicted and in prison for fraud.
* HOLY KAO: The report describes "voluminous" details about how Collins herself met "face-to-face" with participants in the scheme - telling them "you've seen me deliver" - meetings between senior Collins campaign operatives, and lengthy "email correspondence between Navatek and Collins' inner circle." The scheme drew a lengthy FBI investigation, which ended when President Trump returned to office.
- STILL ON PAYROLL?: Multiple individuals named in the reporting around the scheme still "remain in Collins' inner circle," including "the finance director for her 2026 reelection effort," and the chair of the "main Collins super PAC."
- SAVED BY THE BELL: Now, as Collins faces "arguably the toughest re-election campaign of her three-decade career," legal experts are sounding the alarm about these "very serious allegations of corruption" and demanding answers about why the FBI's inquiry was closed under the Trump administration, as the story "dominate[s] basically every major news outlet in Maine."
- THIS ONE COULD STING: Election analysts argue that Collins' "shocking" display of "corruption of the highest order" "'could sting' Collins' re-election chances" and is giving voters "pause" as they begin "reconsider[ing] the support that they may have had for [her]."
- KNOCK KNOCK: Meanwhile in Portland, Democrats held a press conference outside of her office to condemn her corruption and call her out for being "beholden to wealthy donors." No answer, as usual...
- OLD HABITS DIE HARD: This week's ProPublica investigation was far from the first time that Susan Collins' corruption has been exposed:
= While Mainers struggle with rising costs, Collins' wealth has grown by millions since coming to D.C., while she remains the only member of the Maine delegation to oppose ending congressional stock trading.
- In 2024 alone, her stock portfolio grew by nearly 80%.
- Collins also violated the STOCK Act by failing to report her husband's stock trades at least 25 times, on transactions with a value of up to $445,000.
x Collins is no stranger to the lobbyist pay-to-play pipeline thanks to her wealthy former lobbyist husband.
- Collins has taken more than $1.2 million from lobbyists and has repeatedly refused to crack down on corruption - failing seven times to support a ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists. She was even given an award at this year's "lobbyist prom."
x Collins has the backing of more than 100 billionaires and their spouses and has received more money from private equity than any other elected politician in America.
x Collins voted five times against resolutions that could have ended the Iran War. Meanwhile, Collins' stock portfolio has surged - she and her husband hold up to $115,000 in natural gas stocks, which have potentially raked in thousands more for the couple since the war began.
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CHANGING COLORS: Despite national backlash, nearly every Senate Republican, including those in tight races in key Senate battleground states, just voted to continue the price-hiking war in Iran - which has gas prices approaching "their highest level of the year" and diesel prices "registering new daily all-time highs."
* LIKE A CHAMELEON: This comes after GOP Senate candidates shamelessly and desperately scrambled to paper over their extensive records supporting, advocating for, and defending the unpopular war - including Sens. Husted and Sullivan, who tried to claim they wanted to end the war, only to vote to continue it today.
* READ MORE HERE
- CHAIR'S REPORT: DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand laid out in a recent interview how Senate Democrats are in the strongest position yet to reclaim the majority. She discussed how "our candidates are better, and they are stronger and they are on-message to what voters actually care about," emphasizing how Democrats' relentless focus on "cost of groceries, cost of housing, [and] cost of healthcare" is "resonating, pretty much everywhere."
- GAS ME UP: This comes as the cost of gas and diesel, fertilizer and food continues to climb, with gas prices approaching "their highest level of the year" and diesel prices "registering new daily all-time highs," as a result of the Iran war, which every GOP candidate is on record supporting and advocating for.
* HIGH PRICES, HIGHER RETURNS: Republican Senate candidates are now shamelessly scrambling to distance themselves from their extensive records backing the unpopular war and dismissing voters' economic pain all while they see "their stock portfolios soar [...] because of their investments in oil and gas."
* PAYING AT THE PUMP AND THE POLLS: With nearly 40 days until the midterm elections, new data shows that "voters blame Republicans for rising gas prices by a 30-point margin" - and that they "trust the Democratic Party more" to bring gas costs down. Analysts are calling gas prices "a killer issue for the Republicans," which has "decided midterms many times" and likely "will again" thanks to voters' growing "frustration over prices."
* TEN YEARS AT HIS SIDE: Meanwhile, in another bombshell report, Paxton was exposed this week for spending "more than a decade cultivating a political alliance with Paul Pressler," the infamous pedophile pastor and GOP power broker who led the Southern Baptist Convention - with Paxton calling Pressler a man he "admired and respected" and naming him to his advisory committee when he first became Attorney General.
* CHECKS DIDN'T STOP: Paxton reportedly accepted campaign donations from the Presslers even after the child abuse allegations became public, and the report concluded that Paxton "built his political career in part on the backing of a man later called a 'monster' and 'dangerous predator' by the Southern Baptist Convention."
* PREDATOR PROTECTOR PAXTON: But that wasn't the only time Paxton was called out for his ties to child predators this week - at his rally this weekend, an attendee confronted him and demanded answers on the Epstein-style sweetheart plea deal he gave an admitted child molester that let him out of jail in mere days without having to register as a sex offender... WATCH:
* * CCP(AXTON): Ken Paxton's extensive and well-documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party took center stage in the Texas Senate race this week after Paxton was exposed for being bankrolled by Chinese investors trying to buy Texas land and "facilitate the exact kind of Chinese investments he has criticized" in ads, according to bombshell new reporting in the Houston Chronicle...
* * BEIJING BACKERS: According to the report, Paxton has received $40,000 from donors with links to Chinese real estate companies. Two of the donors previously worked for Modern Land, a company with a Chinese Communist Party branch, and began donating to Paxton this year and haven't given to other federal candidates. These China-linked real estate developers who are bankrolling Paxton's campaign now work to facilitate wealthy China investors looking for help buying Texas land, "expanding into AI data center development," and have built major projects that have "drawn criticism from conservative activists."
* * EUROPE ON THE BRAIN: Looks like that wasn't Paxton's only headline-making flub at a rally last weekend... In a now-deleted social media post, Paxton seems to have confused Cypress, Texas, with Cyprus, the island off Europe... Maybe it's because he's spent a little too much time in Europe?
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A CHAMELEON CHANGES ITS SKIN: New reporting from the Alaska Current exposed Dan Sullivan's ties to yet another associate of Jeffrey Epstein this week... According to the report, Sullivan accepted donations from disgraced billionaire Leon Black months AFTER Black's ties to Epstein first became public. Black was held in contempt of Congress this week for refusing to elaborate on his relationship with Epstein...
* BUT NOT ITS HABITS: Black's extensive ties to Epstein include having his name appear in the flight logs for Epstein's plane, and he paid Epstein $150 million - making him "the latest, and most high-profile, Epstein associate to be revealed as being on Sullivan's donor list."
* CRICKETS FROM SULLIVAN ON CORRUPTION: Alaska Democrats kicked off a weeklong extravaganza to spotlight Sullivan's corruption: "Fat Cat Week." Over the week, Alaska Democrats highlighted Sullivan's self-dealing, self-enriching record... that includes raking in record dividends as his family's company raised prices, tripling his wealth while in the Senate, and accepting thousands in donations from associates of Jeffrey Epstein after voting against releasing the Epstein files.
* * *
THE PROPERTY LINE: Weeks after CNN's KFILE released a damning report exposing GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins for his "close ties to White nationalist influencer" - his son-in-law David Alan Scheer - the fallout continued this week after Haaretz revealed that Collins allowed Scheer - an admitted neo-Nazi propagandist - to build and live on Collins' own property, where Scheer continues to produce white nationalist and neo-Nazi propaganda.
* NO DENYING IT: Haaretz reports that "in a video about building a shed on the property that Scheer posted on November 12, 2024 he confirmed" that Collins gave him "a parcel" of his land. "We've got seven acres beside their 40 or 50," Scheer says in one of his videos. According to Haaretz, Collins' land is where the neo-Nazi propagandist "film[s] antisemitic content that he shares online," including videos "where he describes why 'I'm NOT a Judeo Christian' and 'Why Christians are 'God's Chosen People'' and 'NOT THE JEWS.'"
* RELEASE THE TALLEY FILES: Meanwhile, Collins' additional ties to white nationalists took the spotlight this week as Senator Jon Ossoff held a press conference to demand that Collins release every form of communication between himself, his associates, and any notorious white nationalists with ties to Collins or his office. Sen. Ossoff's demands follow the sudden replacement of Collins' top aide, Kip Talley, who was revealed to have worked with white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer, to try to get a Holocaust denier out of jail.
* * *
DATA CENTER DIVIDENDS: North Carolinians are reading in Fox News that Whatley has made thousands off of his stock holdings in data center companies (including GE Vernova, a massive data center energy provider), all while downplaying concerns about data centers on the campaign trail... As Fox reports: "Those holdings raise questions about whether Whatley or his family stands to benefit from his support of data center expansion, an issue that has drawn national attention over community zoning, energy use and state growth."
* MICHAEL WHO? At a rally in Gastonia last week, Republican voters "did not even know who Whatley was" or "expressed a lack of interest in--and even disdain for--Whatley" ... His own base says that his ads are "misleading, if not full of lies" and that they "don't like what he stands for."
* BROKEN RECORD: In an interview on O'Connor & Company on Thursday, Whatley quadrupled down on the Iran War despite rising gas prices, saying we need to "stay the course when it comes to Iran" after being asked about the cost of diesel...
- O'Connor & Company: "Diesel prices seem to be the sort of topic of the week...What's your answer to people who, they don't really care what caused it, they want a solution."
* Whatley: "We need to make sure that we stay the course when it comes to Iran."
= EASY FOR HIM TO SAY: Now, as North Carolinians face over $4 per gallon for gas and $6 for diesel, Whatley is insisting that "we are not getting gouged" at the gas pump despite himself admitting that North Carolina farmers are facing record-high fuel prices from the war... Don't forget that, like the data center industry, Whatley has up to $1.39 million invested in the oil and gas industry, which has spiked by up to "$219,660" since the war began...
* RICHER BY MONDAY: Now, Whatley is touting increased oil production in Venezuela - and conveniently leaving out the fact that it's spiking his stock portfolio... In a recent interview, Whatley bragged that "we're producing more oil right now than the rest of the world...The deal that [the president] just struck with Venezuela is tremendously important about getting those resources on." One problem: Reporting uncovered Whatley's "windfall" after his stock portfolio spiked following the Trump administration's pledge to increase oil production in Venezuela earlier this year - a move Whatley celebrated. These actions spiked his up to $1.39 million in oil and gas stocks, allowing him to reap up to $63,000 in a SINGLE WEEKEND.
* CALL HIM, MAYBE: Meanwhile, new reporting from the Asheville Citizen-Times revealed that "recovery czar" Whatley has had hardly any communication with local, state, or federal disaster recovery officials, despite being tasked with delivering federal aid to Western North Carolina. After nearly two years as the "recovery czar," Whatley only has "six text messages and five telephone calls totaling 38 minutes" to show for it.
NOTED: This week, a Politico report revealed that the top GOP Senate super PAC is "sounding the alarm in Iowa" - saying that Ashley Hinson is losing the race because of her unwavering support for the costly Iran War that's driving up prices for Iowa families... Now, Hinson is shamelessly and desperately trying to paper over her extensive record supporting, advocating for, and defending the unpopular war... Unfortunately for her, Iowans saw right through her empty statements after she was brutally community-noted on Twitter:
* LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Just last week, Hinson cast her seventh vote to continue the war in Iran as it devastates Iowa with "record diesel prices," "surg[ing]" gas costs, fertilizer prices "near peak levels," and inflation higher than the national average.
* SAYS ONE THING: Hinson is continuing to publicly defend the war in Iran and downplay the impact on Iowans, despite admitting in private that it's becoming a "political liability."
* WAR CHEST: Hinson has raked in tens of thousands of dollars from Big Oil companies seeing record profits up to $14 billion from the Iran war.
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BUILT DIFFERENT: Damning new reporting out this week from Michigan Advance laid out how Rogers stretched the truth by repeatedly claiming he worked on a car assembly line... But a UAW and Michigan Advance investigation found Rogers is "greatly inflating his experience" to mislead Michiganders, prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor." Rogers has consistently claimed he "worked in an automotive factory," where he "built" vehicles on an "assembly line," but the facility where Rogers claims he worked did not build cars, nor did it have an assembly line; and the Chrysler Sebring he claims to have built wasn't manufactured until 1995 - more than a decade after Rogers allegedly worked there...
* TOO LATE, MIKE: CNN's KFILE exposed Price Hike Mike Rogers' consistent, full-throated support for the Iran war despite his eleventh-hour election pivot shamelessly trying to "campaign against the pain it caused" ... CNN reports that Rogers "consistently supported President Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran" from the very start of the war, calling it "long overdue," "the best opportunity for peace in the Middle East I think I've ever seen in my lifetime," and "the right thing to do" - while repeatedly predicting over the course of months that the war would be over "soon."
* YOU OWN IT: According to KFILE's investigation, Rogers argued in March that "Americans should unite behind the military operation against Iran and 'get it done right' before debating whether the intervention was wise," saying there "shouldn't be a date" when the war should definitively end. In July, while Michigan gas prices were still skyrocketing, Rogers "supported giving Trump more time on the war," saying "I don't mind giving the president authority to continue [the Iran war]. You can't stop in mid-negotiation. I think that would not be good for America."
* ROGERS' REWRITE: MS NOW's Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki exposed Mike Rogers for being a "long-time proponent of intervention in Iran" who supported Trump's war from the start, pledged to give Trump "the authority to continue" the Iran war, and made "dismissive" comments as Michiganders struggled with skyrocketing gas prices...
- MS NOW's CHRIS HAYES: Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers released this ad highlighting the impact the war is having on prices just yesterday. [...] The thing is, Mike Rogers has long called for U.S. war with Iran, and even gave this dismissive answer on the war's impact on gas prices back when it was launched in March. [...] 'We're gonna be fine. We've got plenty of oil.' It is a global commodity. It's priced globally. We learn this all the time.
- MS NOW'S JEN PSAKI: Then there's Michigan's Republican candidate for Senate, Mike Rogers, a long-time proponent of intervention in Iran, who is now so intent on distancing himself from this war [...] Just two months ago, [Rogers] was saying things like this: [...] 'I mean, I don't mind giving the president authority to continue. You can't stop in mid-negotiation. I think that would not be good for America.' But you can cut a campaign ad, I guess?
* BAD MEDICINE: Meanwhile, to mark this week's anniversary of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders' monthly premiums while his campaign is bankrolled by Big Pharma and the insurance industry.
* FOOL ME TWICE: New WMUR reporting reveals that on the campaign trail, Sununu said he's "willing to" privatize Social Security again, exposing New Hampshire seniors' retirement savings to the risky stock market. Sununu -- who "helped lead the charge" to privatize Social Security when he last held office -- told voters, "I was willing to do it before. And I'm willing to do it again."
* AT THIS A WHILE: In Congress, he repeatedly introduced legislation to privatize Social Security that would have exposed Granite Staters' retirement savings to stock market crashes and increased profits for Wall Street firms. Sununu has long been a "leading figure in the effort" to privatize Social Security, and he co-sponsored legislation that had been projected to accelerate the timeline of Social Security's insolvency.
* CONCORD CALL OUT: In response, Democrats held a press conference in Concord calling out John Sununu's record of trying to privatize Social Security, repeatedly voting for Medicare cuts, and saying he would've voted for the toxic GOP plan to cut Granite Staters' health care...
* SPECIAL DELIVERY: This press conference came before the NHGOP's Amos Tuck Dinner, featuring Florida Senator Rick Scott, who once authored a plan that would've "sunset Social Security and Medicare" within just five years. Driving through Concord and Manchester, a digital billboard truck highlighted Sununu's abysmal anti-senior record.
* DOWNHILL FROM HERE: Meanwhile, new Granite Post reporting shows that Sununu's investments in his family's ski resort and related assets have benefited from more than $28 million in taxpayer money... Sununu owns up to $600,000 worth of assets through his stake in the Waterville Valley ski resort, the Tyrell Development company, and real estate, helping him pad his pockets as "Waterville Valley's total property valuation more than doubled" from 2019 to 2024...
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FAITH LEADERS SAY... Jewish and Black faith leaders across Cleveland came together to condemn Jon Husted for hiring a Nazi enthusiast as a member of his senior campaign team. The Washington Post reported that Jon Husted hired a Nazi sympathizer "wearing an SS uniform" as his political director, who used a "photo of SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo and recently added to a public playlist of songs celebrating Rhodesia," an apartheid colony that has become a rallying symbol for white supremacists.
* * *
IN THE STATES:
* AK - Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: We can trust Mary Peltola to fight for Alaska families
* GA - 11 Alive: Sen. Ossoff urges Rep. Collins to release transcripts on aide's alleged white nationalist ties
* IA - MS NOW: 'IOWANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH!': Dem Senate nominee Turek blasts GOP rival Hinson for backing Trump's war
* ME - Forbes: Susan Collins Bribery Report Throws Wrench Into Razor-Thin Senate Battle
* MI - CNN: Michigan GOP Senate candidate who praised the Iran war now campaigns against the pain it caused
* NC - WXII: Former Governor Roy Cooper makes stop in Piedmont Triad ahead of November election
* OH - WLWT: Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown meets voters in Hamilton
* TX - KVII: Talarico calls for reversing USDA cuts, tariffs to aid Panhandle ranchers
* * *
TWEETS OF THE WEEK:
Maeve Coyle
@maevemcoyle
Maddy McDaniel
@maddymcdaniel14
Monica Robinson
@mo_robz
Tommy Garcia
@Tommy_D_Garcia
Joe Bush
@TheJoeBush
Jackson Buttler
@jackson_buttler
Suhani Patel
@suhaniiipatel
DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/dscc-friday-takeaways-nrscs-bad-vibes-and-worse-map-a-chameleon-changes-its-skin-but-not-its-habits-kao-ruption-and-crickets-from-sullivan/
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Sep 25, 2026
DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: NRSC's Bad Vibes and Worse Map, A Chameleon Changes Its Skin... But Not Its Habits, Kao-ruption, and Crickets From Sullivan
TGIF. Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC - your weekly update from the DSCC Press Team on what you need to know across the Senate battlegrounds. There are 39 days until the midterms. DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org.
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GOP'S BAD VIBES AND WORSE MAP: With less than 40 days until the midterms, Republicans are "fret[ting] ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * Sep 25, 2026 DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: NRSC's Bad Vibes and Worse Map, A Chameleon Changes Its Skin... But Not Its Habits, Kao-ruption, and Crickets From Sullivan TGIF. Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC - your weekly update from the DSCC Press Team on what you need to know across the Senate battlegrounds. There are 39 days until the midterms. DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org. - GOP'S BAD VIBES AND WORSE MAP: With less than 40 days until the midterms, Republicans are "fret[ting]about the deteriorating national mood," "sounding the alarm," and "acknowledg[ing their] situation has deteriorated since Labor Day" as Democrats' strong candidates outpace their flawed GOP opponents, amid widespread "anger" over "brutal" gas prices and "Trump's handling of the economy and the Iran War."
* SCOTT FREE: NRSC Chair Tim Scott told Republicans that they are "in the fight for [their] lives" as wall-to-wall coverage details how "meaningful shares of non-MAGA Republicans are turning away" from the party and the GOP stares down a voter enthusiasm problem that is "spilling beyond swing states into red bastions such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa" - causing "growing anxiety" as party officials and even GOP Senators concede that they "may lose in the midterm."
* TRIAGE SEASON: In the final weeks of the election, Democratic Senate candidates "lead in most battleground state polls," while Republicans are reportedly facing "hard choices this fall as they shape their strategy for keeping the Senate," as they "consider moving money away from races where its candidates are struggling to gain traction." Somebody's about to find out they're getting left out in the cold...
*KAO-RUPTION: A new shocking report from ProPublica lays out in "detail" how Senator Susan Collins was a "willing participant" and the "most important patron" at the center of a pay-for-play corruption scheme - allegedly taking donations around "official action" that included steering "tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding" from her senior position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to her major donor Martin Kao, who is now convicted and in prison for fraud.
* HOLY KAO: The report describes "voluminous" details about how Collins herself met "face-to-face" with participants in the scheme - telling them "you've seen me deliver" - meetings between senior Collins campaign operatives, and lengthy "email correspondence between Navatek and Collins' inner circle." The scheme drew a lengthy FBI investigation, which ended when President Trump returned to office.
- STILL ON PAYROLL?: Multiple individuals named in the reporting around the scheme still "remain in Collins' inner circle," including "the finance director for her 2026 reelection effort," and the chair of the "main Collins super PAC."
- SAVED BY THE BELL: Now, as Collins faces "arguably the toughest re-election campaign of her three-decade career," legal experts are sounding the alarm about these "very serious allegations of corruption" and demanding answers about why the FBI's inquiry was closed under the Trump administration, as the story "dominate[s] basically every major news outlet in Maine."
- THIS ONE COULD STING: Election analysts argue that Collins' "shocking" display of "corruption of the highest order" "'could sting' Collins' re-election chances" and is giving voters "pause" as they begin "reconsider[ing] the support that they may have had for [her]."
- KNOCK KNOCK: Meanwhile in Portland, Democrats held a press conference outside of her office to condemn her corruption and call her out for being "beholden to wealthy donors." No answer, as usual...
- OLD HABITS DIE HARD: This week's ProPublica investigation was far from the first time that Susan Collins' corruption has been exposed:
= While Mainers struggle with rising costs, Collins' wealth has grown by millions since coming to D.C., while she remains the only member of the Maine delegation to oppose ending congressional stock trading.
- In 2024 alone, her stock portfolio grew by nearly 80%.
- Collins also violated the STOCK Act by failing to report her husband's stock trades at least 25 times, on transactions with a value of up to $445,000.
x Collins is no stranger to the lobbyist pay-to-play pipeline thanks to her wealthy former lobbyist husband.
- Collins has taken more than $1.2 million from lobbyists and has repeatedly refused to crack down on corruption - failing seven times to support a ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists. She was even given an award at this year's "lobbyist prom."
x Collins has the backing of more than 100 billionaires and their spouses and has received more money from private equity than any other elected politician in America.
x Collins voted five times against resolutions that could have ended the Iran War. Meanwhile, Collins' stock portfolio has surged - she and her husband hold up to $115,000 in natural gas stocks, which have potentially raked in thousands more for the couple since the war began.
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CHANGING COLORS: Despite national backlash, nearly every Senate Republican, including those in tight races in key Senate battleground states, just voted to continue the price-hiking war in Iran - which has gas prices approaching "their highest level of the year" and diesel prices "registering new daily all-time highs."
* LIKE A CHAMELEON: This comes after GOP Senate candidates shamelessly and desperately scrambled to paper over their extensive records supporting, advocating for, and defending the unpopular war - including Sens. Husted and Sullivan, who tried to claim they wanted to end the war, only to vote to continue it today.
* READ MORE HERE
- CHAIR'S REPORT: DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand laid out in a recent interview how Senate Democrats are in the strongest position yet to reclaim the majority. She discussed how "our candidates are better, and they are stronger and they are on-message to what voters actually care about," emphasizing how Democrats' relentless focus on "cost of groceries, cost of housing, [and] cost of healthcare" is "resonating, pretty much everywhere."
- GAS ME UP: This comes as the cost of gas and diesel, fertilizer and food continues to climb, with gas prices approaching "their highest level of the year" and diesel prices "registering new daily all-time highs," as a result of the Iran war, which every GOP candidate is on record supporting and advocating for.
* HIGH PRICES, HIGHER RETURNS: Republican Senate candidates are now shamelessly scrambling to distance themselves from their extensive records backing the unpopular war and dismissing voters' economic pain all while they see "their stock portfolios soar [...] because of their investments in oil and gas."
* PAYING AT THE PUMP AND THE POLLS: With nearly 40 days until the midterm elections, new data shows that "voters blame Republicans for rising gas prices by a 30-point margin" - and that they "trust the Democratic Party more" to bring gas costs down. Analysts are calling gas prices "a killer issue for the Republicans," which has "decided midterms many times" and likely "will again" thanks to voters' growing "frustration over prices."
* TEN YEARS AT HIS SIDE: Meanwhile, in another bombshell report, Paxton was exposed this week for spending "more than a decade cultivating a political alliance with Paul Pressler," the infamous pedophile pastor and GOP power broker who led the Southern Baptist Convention - with Paxton calling Pressler a man he "admired and respected" and naming him to his advisory committee when he first became Attorney General.
* CHECKS DIDN'T STOP: Paxton reportedly accepted campaign donations from the Presslers even after the child abuse allegations became public, and the report concluded that Paxton "built his political career in part on the backing of a man later called a 'monster' and 'dangerous predator' by the Southern Baptist Convention."
* PREDATOR PROTECTOR PAXTON: But that wasn't the only time Paxton was called out for his ties to child predators this week - at his rally this weekend, an attendee confronted him and demanded answers on the Epstein-style sweetheart plea deal he gave an admitted child molester that let him out of jail in mere days without having to register as a sex offender... WATCH:
* * CCP(AXTON): Ken Paxton's extensive and well-documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party took center stage in the Texas Senate race this week after Paxton was exposed for being bankrolled by Chinese investors trying to buy Texas land and "facilitate the exact kind of Chinese investments he has criticized" in ads, according to bombshell new reporting in the Houston Chronicle...
* * BEIJING BACKERS: According to the report, Paxton has received $40,000 from donors with links to Chinese real estate companies. Two of the donors previously worked for Modern Land, a company with a Chinese Communist Party branch, and began donating to Paxton this year and haven't given to other federal candidates. These China-linked real estate developers who are bankrolling Paxton's campaign now work to facilitate wealthy China investors looking for help buying Texas land, "expanding into AI data center development," and have built major projects that have "drawn criticism from conservative activists."
* * EUROPE ON THE BRAIN: Looks like that wasn't Paxton's only headline-making flub at a rally last weekend... In a now-deleted social media post, Paxton seems to have confused Cypress, Texas, with Cyprus, the island off Europe... Maybe it's because he's spent a little too much time in Europe?
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A CHAMELEON CHANGES ITS SKIN: New reporting from the Alaska Current exposed Dan Sullivan's ties to yet another associate of Jeffrey Epstein this week... According to the report, Sullivan accepted donations from disgraced billionaire Leon Black months AFTER Black's ties to Epstein first became public. Black was held in contempt of Congress this week for refusing to elaborate on his relationship with Epstein...
* BUT NOT ITS HABITS: Black's extensive ties to Epstein include having his name appear in the flight logs for Epstein's plane, and he paid Epstein $150 million - making him "the latest, and most high-profile, Epstein associate to be revealed as being on Sullivan's donor list."
* CRICKETS FROM SULLIVAN ON CORRUPTION: Alaska Democrats kicked off a weeklong extravaganza to spotlight Sullivan's corruption: "Fat Cat Week." Over the week, Alaska Democrats highlighted Sullivan's self-dealing, self-enriching record... that includes raking in record dividends as his family's company raised prices, tripling his wealth while in the Senate, and accepting thousands in donations from associates of Jeffrey Epstein after voting against releasing the Epstein files.
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THE PROPERTY LINE: Weeks after CNN's KFILE released a damning report exposing GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins for his "close ties to White nationalist influencer" - his son-in-law David Alan Scheer - the fallout continued this week after Haaretz revealed that Collins allowed Scheer - an admitted neo-Nazi propagandist - to build and live on Collins' own property, where Scheer continues to produce white nationalist and neo-Nazi propaganda.
* NO DENYING IT: Haaretz reports that "in a video about building a shed on the property that Scheer posted on November 12, 2024 he confirmed" that Collins gave him "a parcel" of his land. "We've got seven acres beside their 40 or 50," Scheer says in one of his videos. According to Haaretz, Collins' land is where the neo-Nazi propagandist "film[s] antisemitic content that he shares online," including videos "where he describes why 'I'm NOT a Judeo Christian' and 'Why Christians are 'God's Chosen People'' and 'NOT THE JEWS.'"
* RELEASE THE TALLEY FILES: Meanwhile, Collins' additional ties to white nationalists took the spotlight this week as Senator Jon Ossoff held a press conference to demand that Collins release every form of communication between himself, his associates, and any notorious white nationalists with ties to Collins or his office. Sen. Ossoff's demands follow the sudden replacement of Collins' top aide, Kip Talley, who was revealed to have worked with white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer, to try to get a Holocaust denier out of jail.
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DATA CENTER DIVIDENDS: North Carolinians are reading in Fox News that Whatley has made thousands off of his stock holdings in data center companies (including GE Vernova, a massive data center energy provider), all while downplaying concerns about data centers on the campaign trail... As Fox reports: "Those holdings raise questions about whether Whatley or his family stands to benefit from his support of data center expansion, an issue that has drawn national attention over community zoning, energy use and state growth."
* MICHAEL WHO? At a rally in Gastonia last week, Republican voters "did not even know who Whatley was" or "expressed a lack of interest in--and even disdain for--Whatley" ... His own base says that his ads are "misleading, if not full of lies" and that they "don't like what he stands for."
* BROKEN RECORD: In an interview on O'Connor & Company on Thursday, Whatley quadrupled down on the Iran War despite rising gas prices, saying we need to "stay the course when it comes to Iran" after being asked about the cost of diesel...
- O'Connor & Company: "Diesel prices seem to be the sort of topic of the week...What's your answer to people who, they don't really care what caused it, they want a solution."
* Whatley: "We need to make sure that we stay the course when it comes to Iran."
= EASY FOR HIM TO SAY: Now, as North Carolinians face over $4 per gallon for gas and $6 for diesel, Whatley is insisting that "we are not getting gouged" at the gas pump despite himself admitting that North Carolina farmers are facing record-high fuel prices from the war... Don't forget that, like the data center industry, Whatley has up to $1.39 million invested in the oil and gas industry, which has spiked by up to "$219,660" since the war began...
* RICHER BY MONDAY: Now, Whatley is touting increased oil production in Venezuela - and conveniently leaving out the fact that it's spiking his stock portfolio... In a recent interview, Whatley bragged that "we're producing more oil right now than the rest of the world...The deal that [the president] just struck with Venezuela is tremendously important about getting those resources on." One problem: Reporting uncovered Whatley's "windfall" after his stock portfolio spiked following the Trump administration's pledge to increase oil production in Venezuela earlier this year - a move Whatley celebrated. These actions spiked his up to $1.39 million in oil and gas stocks, allowing him to reap up to $63,000 in a SINGLE WEEKEND.
* CALL HIM, MAYBE: Meanwhile, new reporting from the Asheville Citizen-Times revealed that "recovery czar" Whatley has had hardly any communication with local, state, or federal disaster recovery officials, despite being tasked with delivering federal aid to Western North Carolina. After nearly two years as the "recovery czar," Whatley only has "six text messages and five telephone calls totaling 38 minutes" to show for it.
NOTED: This week, a Politico report revealed that the top GOP Senate super PAC is "sounding the alarm in Iowa" - saying that Ashley Hinson is losing the race because of her unwavering support for the costly Iran War that's driving up prices for Iowa families... Now, Hinson is shamelessly and desperately trying to paper over her extensive record supporting, advocating for, and defending the unpopular war... Unfortunately for her, Iowans saw right through her empty statements after she was brutally community-noted on Twitter:
* LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Just last week, Hinson cast her seventh vote to continue the war in Iran as it devastates Iowa with "record diesel prices," "surg[ing]" gas costs, fertilizer prices "near peak levels," and inflation higher than the national average.
* SAYS ONE THING: Hinson is continuing to publicly defend the war in Iran and downplay the impact on Iowans, despite admitting in private that it's becoming a "political liability."
* WAR CHEST: Hinson has raked in tens of thousands of dollars from Big Oil companies seeing record profits up to $14 billion from the Iran war.
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BUILT DIFFERENT: Damning new reporting out this week from Michigan Advance laid out how Rogers stretched the truth by repeatedly claiming he worked on a car assembly line... But a UAW and Michigan Advance investigation found Rogers is "greatly inflating his experience" to mislead Michiganders, prompting the UAW to draw comparisons to "stolen valor." Rogers has consistently claimed he "worked in an automotive factory," where he "built" vehicles on an "assembly line," but the facility where Rogers claims he worked did not build cars, nor did it have an assembly line; and the Chrysler Sebring he claims to have built wasn't manufactured until 1995 - more than a decade after Rogers allegedly worked there...
* TOO LATE, MIKE: CNN's KFILE exposed Price Hike Mike Rogers' consistent, full-throated support for the Iran war despite his eleventh-hour election pivot shamelessly trying to "campaign against the pain it caused" ... CNN reports that Rogers "consistently supported President Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran" from the very start of the war, calling it "long overdue," "the best opportunity for peace in the Middle East I think I've ever seen in my lifetime," and "the right thing to do" - while repeatedly predicting over the course of months that the war would be over "soon."
* YOU OWN IT: According to KFILE's investigation, Rogers argued in March that "Americans should unite behind the military operation against Iran and 'get it done right' before debating whether the intervention was wise," saying there "shouldn't be a date" when the war should definitively end. In July, while Michigan gas prices were still skyrocketing, Rogers "supported giving Trump more time on the war," saying "I don't mind giving the president authority to continue [the Iran war]. You can't stop in mid-negotiation. I think that would not be good for America."
* ROGERS' REWRITE: MS NOW's Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki exposed Mike Rogers for being a "long-time proponent of intervention in Iran" who supported Trump's war from the start, pledged to give Trump "the authority to continue" the Iran war, and made "dismissive" comments as Michiganders struggled with skyrocketing gas prices...
- MS NOW's CHRIS HAYES: Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers released this ad highlighting the impact the war is having on prices just yesterday. [...] The thing is, Mike Rogers has long called for U.S. war with Iran, and even gave this dismissive answer on the war's impact on gas prices back when it was launched in March. [...] 'We're gonna be fine. We've got plenty of oil.' It is a global commodity. It's priced globally. We learn this all the time.
- MS NOW'S JEN PSAKI: Then there's Michigan's Republican candidate for Senate, Mike Rogers, a long-time proponent of intervention in Iran, who is now so intent on distancing himself from this war [...] Just two months ago, [Rogers] was saying things like this: [...] 'I mean, I don't mind giving the president authority to continue. You can't stop in mid-negotiation. I think that would not be good for America.' But you can cut a campaign ad, I guess?
* BAD MEDICINE: Meanwhile, to mark this week's anniversary of the ACA's Patient's Bill of Rights going into effect, the Michigan Democratic Party held a virtual press conference to call out Mike Rogers' dangerous plans to gut healthcare and spike Michiganders' monthly premiums while his campaign is bankrolled by Big Pharma and the insurance industry.
* FOOL ME TWICE: New WMUR reporting reveals that on the campaign trail, Sununu said he's "willing to" privatize Social Security again, exposing New Hampshire seniors' retirement savings to the risky stock market. Sununu -- who "helped lead the charge" to privatize Social Security when he last held office -- told voters, "I was willing to do it before. And I'm willing to do it again."
* AT THIS A WHILE: In Congress, he repeatedly introduced legislation to privatize Social Security that would have exposed Granite Staters' retirement savings to stock market crashes and increased profits for Wall Street firms. Sununu has long been a "leading figure in the effort" to privatize Social Security, and he co-sponsored legislation that had been projected to accelerate the timeline of Social Security's insolvency.
* CONCORD CALL OUT: In response, Democrats held a press conference in Concord calling out John Sununu's record of trying to privatize Social Security, repeatedly voting for Medicare cuts, and saying he would've voted for the toxic GOP plan to cut Granite Staters' health care...
* SPECIAL DELIVERY: This press conference came before the NHGOP's Amos Tuck Dinner, featuring Florida Senator Rick Scott, who once authored a plan that would've "sunset Social Security and Medicare" within just five years. Driving through Concord and Manchester, a digital billboard truck highlighted Sununu's abysmal anti-senior record.
* DOWNHILL FROM HERE: Meanwhile, new Granite Post reporting shows that Sununu's investments in his family's ski resort and related assets have benefited from more than $28 million in taxpayer money... Sununu owns up to $600,000 worth of assets through his stake in the Waterville Valley ski resort, the Tyrell Development company, and real estate, helping him pad his pockets as "Waterville Valley's total property valuation more than doubled" from 2019 to 2024...
* * *
FAITH LEADERS SAY... Jewish and Black faith leaders across Cleveland came together to condemn Jon Husted for hiring a Nazi enthusiast as a member of his senior campaign team. The Washington Post reported that Jon Husted hired a Nazi sympathizer "wearing an SS uniform" as his political director, who used a "photo of SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo and recently added to a public playlist of songs celebrating Rhodesia," an apartheid colony that has become a rallying symbol for white supremacists.
* * *
IN THE STATES:
* AK - Anchorage Daily News: Opinion: We can trust Mary Peltola to fight for Alaska families
* GA - 11 Alive: Sen. Ossoff urges Rep. Collins to release transcripts on aide's alleged white nationalist ties
* IA - MS NOW: 'IOWANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH!': Dem Senate nominee Turek blasts GOP rival Hinson for backing Trump's war
* ME - Forbes: Susan Collins Bribery Report Throws Wrench Into Razor-Thin Senate Battle
* MI - CNN: Michigan GOP Senate candidate who praised the Iran war now campaigns against the pain it caused
* NC - WXII: Former Governor Roy Cooper makes stop in Piedmont Triad ahead of November election
* OH - WLWT: Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown meets voters in Hamilton
* TX - KVII: Talarico calls for reversing USDA cuts, tariffs to aid Panhandle ranchers
* * *
TWEETS OF THE WEEK:
Maeve Coyle
@maevemcoyle
Maddy McDaniel
@maddymcdaniel14
Monica Robinson
@mo_robz
Tommy Garcia
@Tommy_D_Garcia
Joe Bush
@TheJoeBush
Jackson Buttler
@jackson_buttler
Suhani Patel
@suhaniiipatel
DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/dscc-friday-takeaways-nrscs-bad-vibes-and-worse-map-a-chameleon-changes-its-skin-but-not-its-habits-kao-ruption-and-crickets-from-sullivan/
DNC: New - Trump's Disastrous Economy Continues to Sink Consumer Sentiment to Historic Lows
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic National Committee posted the following news release:
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September 25, 2026
NEW: Trump's Disastrous Economy Continues to Sink Consumer Sentiment to Historic Lows
According to new data released today, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in four months, down 15% from January 2026, and the second-worst reading on record dating back to the 1950s. Even Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than in January 2026.
Under Donald Trump and JD Vance, Americans have already spent an additional $4,200 on essentials, from gas to groceries. Despite Trump's ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic National Committee posted the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 NEW: Trump's Disastrous Economy Continues to Sink Consumer Sentiment to Historic Lows According to new data released today, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in four months, down 15% from January 2026, and the second-worst reading on record dating back to the 1950s. Even Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than in January 2026. Under Donald Trump and JD Vance, Americans have already spent an additional $4,200 on essentials, from gas to groceries. Despite Trump'spromise of $2 gas, the national average price of gas is $4.49 per gallon, and diesel has reached an all-time high, continuing to hover above $6.50 per gallon. Yet, as working families struggle to get by with no breathing room, a new report revealed that Trump's countless vanity projects are expected to cost more than $1.8 billion, including taxpayer dollars.
While Trump chooses to turn a blind eye to the pain everyday Americans are feeling, it's no wonder his approval ratings have dropped to an all-time low. Only 27% of Americans approve of Trump on the economy, and two-thirds of Americans say Trump has worsened economic conditions.
In response, DNC Deputy Communications Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement:
"Donald Trump's reckless economic agenda continues to price Americans out of groceries, healthcare, and their own homes. It's no surprise that consumer sentiment has dropped to historic lows as Trump refuses to provide any relief for working families. Trump is more focused on escalating a costly trade war and an unpopular war of choice with Iran while everyday Americans are breaking the bank to pay for essentials. The American people have been clear -- their priorities should never be shelved, and come November, voters will remember who turned their backs on them."
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Original text here: https://democrats.org/new-trumps-disastrous-economy-continues-to-sink-consumer-sentiment-to-historic-lows/
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September 25, 2026
NEW: Trump's Disastrous Economy Continues to Sink Consumer Sentiment to Historic Lows
According to new data released today, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in four months, down 15% from January 2026, and the second-worst reading on record dating back to the 1950s. Even Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than in January 2026.
Under Donald Trump and JD Vance, Americans have already spent an additional $4,200 on essentials, from gas to groceries. Despite Trump's ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- The Democratic National Committee posted the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 NEW: Trump's Disastrous Economy Continues to Sink Consumer Sentiment to Historic Lows According to new data released today, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in four months, down 15% from January 2026, and the second-worst reading on record dating back to the 1950s. Even Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than in January 2026. Under Donald Trump and JD Vance, Americans have already spent an additional $4,200 on essentials, from gas to groceries. Despite Trump'spromise of $2 gas, the national average price of gas is $4.49 per gallon, and diesel has reached an all-time high, continuing to hover above $6.50 per gallon. Yet, as working families struggle to get by with no breathing room, a new report revealed that Trump's countless vanity projects are expected to cost more than $1.8 billion, including taxpayer dollars.
While Trump chooses to turn a blind eye to the pain everyday Americans are feeling, it's no wonder his approval ratings have dropped to an all-time low. Only 27% of Americans approve of Trump on the economy, and two-thirds of Americans say Trump has worsened economic conditions.
In response, DNC Deputy Communications Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement:
"Donald Trump's reckless economic agenda continues to price Americans out of groceries, healthcare, and their own homes. It's no surprise that consumer sentiment has dropped to historic lows as Trump refuses to provide any relief for working families. Trump is more focused on escalating a costly trade war and an unpopular war of choice with Iran while everyday Americans are breaking the bank to pay for essentials. The American people have been clear -- their priorities should never be shelved, and come November, voters will remember who turned their backs on them."
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Original text here: https://democrats.org/new-trumps-disastrous-economy-continues-to-sink-consumer-sentiment-to-historic-lows/