Politics, Parties, Candidates
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Politics, Parties, Candidates
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Mich. Democratic Party: Winnie Brinks Condemns John James' Healthcare Record, Calls Out Votes to Cut Healthcare and Raise Costs
LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026:
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Winnie Brinks Condemns John James' Healthcare Record, Calls Out Votes to Cut Healthcare and Raise Costs
SOUTHFIELD - Today, Senate Majority Leader and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks was joined by Metro Detroit elected officials at a press conference where she called out John James for voting for the Trump-backed budget law that cut Medicaid and raised healthcare prices--all while handing out tax cuts to millionaires like himself. While James is looking ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * Winnie Brinks Condemns John James' Healthcare Record, Calls Out Votes to Cut Healthcare and Raise Costs SOUTHFIELD - Today, Senate Majority Leader and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks was joined by Metro Detroit elected officials at a press conference where she called out John James for voting for the Trump-backed budget law that cut Medicaid and raised healthcare prices--all while handing out tax cuts to millionaires like himself. While James is lookingout for himself and lining his own pockets, Brinks is working alongside Jocelyn Benson to expand access to affordable healthcare and cut costs for Michiganders.
"John James voted for Trump's big ugly bill which is forcing hundreds of thousands of Michiganders, including children and seniors in nursing homes, off of their healthcare coverage," said Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks. "This bill is bad for Michigan, but it's good for John James' relationship with Trump. As always, James puts himself and Trump first. And with that vote James betrayed Michiganders, and he did it enthusiastically, even leading the charge on the disastrous effort ... The bottom line is this: John James needs to answer to the hundreds of thousands of families across our state who have now lost coverage or who are struggling to pay their premiums because of his actions."
"In a moment where families need leaders who will fight to make healthcare more affordable, John James has repeatedly chosen a different path," said State Representative Jason Hoskins. "John James supported the largest Medicaid cuts in history through his vote for Trump's big ugly bill. His vote is forcing nearly 500,000 Michiganders to lose their coverage ... He has supported legislation to roll back basic ACA protections and didn't lift a finger to extend the ACA tax credits that expired last year. And despite repeatedly saying he will protect people with pre-existing conditions, John James backed legislation that would weaken those protections. Michiganders deserve better than a politician who says one thing and votes another way when it matters."
"The impacts from James's votes have been disastrous on Michigan families," said State Representative Natalie Price. "An estimated 200,000 Michiganders have already lost their Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage after Republicans gutted health care. Over 150,000 Michiganders have dropped their ACA healthcare coverage after their premiums skyrocketed, and premiums for Michiganders receiving ACA tax credits have increased by an average of 30% this year. These costs are real, the suffering is real, and Michiganders are now paying the price for James's record."
Background on James' record of cutting healthcare while only looking out for himself:
* James 'led the charge' and voted for Donald Trump's price-hiking budget law that cut Medicaid, all to give tax cuts to millionaires like himself. As Michiganders suffer from his votes to cut healthcare, James is benefitting personally from the millionaire tax cuts in Trump's budget law and he's enriched himself by making hundreds of stock trades.
* James has left the door open to ending Medicaid expansion entirely in Michigan, and he's previously called for repealing the ACA while labeling it a "monstrosity."
* Trump's budget failed to extend the ACA tax credits--forcing premiums to rise for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders--and James voted against a bipartisan bill that would've extended the ACA tax credits.
* While he's voted in Congress to cut healthcare, James has enriched himself by making hundreds of stock trades--even violating the STOCK Act by failing to properly disclose more than 145 trades. In June, James' family purchased stock in Elon Musk's SpaceX.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/winnie-brinks-condemns-john-james-healthcare-record-calls-out-votes-to-cut-healthcare-and-raise-costs/
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Winnie Brinks Condemns John James' Healthcare Record, Calls Out Votes to Cut Healthcare and Raise Costs
SOUTHFIELD - Today, Senate Majority Leader and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks was joined by Metro Detroit elected officials at a press conference where she called out John James for voting for the Trump-backed budget law that cut Medicaid and raised healthcare prices--all while handing out tax cuts to millionaires like himself. While James is looking ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * Winnie Brinks Condemns John James' Healthcare Record, Calls Out Votes to Cut Healthcare and Raise Costs SOUTHFIELD - Today, Senate Majority Leader and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks was joined by Metro Detroit elected officials at a press conference where she called out John James for voting for the Trump-backed budget law that cut Medicaid and raised healthcare prices--all while handing out tax cuts to millionaires like himself. While James is lookingout for himself and lining his own pockets, Brinks is working alongside Jocelyn Benson to expand access to affordable healthcare and cut costs for Michiganders.
"John James voted for Trump's big ugly bill which is forcing hundreds of thousands of Michiganders, including children and seniors in nursing homes, off of their healthcare coverage," said Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Winnie Brinks. "This bill is bad for Michigan, but it's good for John James' relationship with Trump. As always, James puts himself and Trump first. And with that vote James betrayed Michiganders, and he did it enthusiastically, even leading the charge on the disastrous effort ... The bottom line is this: John James needs to answer to the hundreds of thousands of families across our state who have now lost coverage or who are struggling to pay their premiums because of his actions."
"In a moment where families need leaders who will fight to make healthcare more affordable, John James has repeatedly chosen a different path," said State Representative Jason Hoskins. "John James supported the largest Medicaid cuts in history through his vote for Trump's big ugly bill. His vote is forcing nearly 500,000 Michiganders to lose their coverage ... He has supported legislation to roll back basic ACA protections and didn't lift a finger to extend the ACA tax credits that expired last year. And despite repeatedly saying he will protect people with pre-existing conditions, John James backed legislation that would weaken those protections. Michiganders deserve better than a politician who says one thing and votes another way when it matters."
"The impacts from James's votes have been disastrous on Michigan families," said State Representative Natalie Price. "An estimated 200,000 Michiganders have already lost their Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage after Republicans gutted health care. Over 150,000 Michiganders have dropped their ACA healthcare coverage after their premiums skyrocketed, and premiums for Michiganders receiving ACA tax credits have increased by an average of 30% this year. These costs are real, the suffering is real, and Michiganders are now paying the price for James's record."
Background on James' record of cutting healthcare while only looking out for himself:
* James 'led the charge' and voted for Donald Trump's price-hiking budget law that cut Medicaid, all to give tax cuts to millionaires like himself. As Michiganders suffer from his votes to cut healthcare, James is benefitting personally from the millionaire tax cuts in Trump's budget law and he's enriched himself by making hundreds of stock trades.
* James has left the door open to ending Medicaid expansion entirely in Michigan, and he's previously called for repealing the ACA while labeling it a "monstrosity."
* Trump's budget failed to extend the ACA tax credits--forcing premiums to rise for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders--and James voted against a bipartisan bill that would've extended the ACA tax credits.
* While he's voted in Congress to cut healthcare, James has enriched himself by making hundreds of stock trades--even violating the STOCK Act by failing to properly disclose more than 145 trades. In June, James' family purchased stock in Elon Musk's SpaceX.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/winnie-brinks-condemns-john-james-healthcare-record-calls-out-votes-to-cut-healthcare-and-raise-costs/
NRCC: FEC Complaint Filed Against Cait Conley for Illegally Coordinating With Outside Groups
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news:
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FEC Complaint Filed Against Cait Conley for Illegally Coordinating with Outside Groups
An FEC complaint was just filed against out of touch Democrat Cait Conley for violating federal election law.
The complaint alleges that a spokeswoman for Conley's campaign was not paid by the campaign, but rather by an outside group, which amounts to an in-kind contribution to Conley's campaign that exceeds campaign contribution limits.
It also flags shady payments that seem to indicate that Conley's ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * FEC Complaint Filed Against Cait Conley for Illegally Coordinating with Outside Groups An FEC complaint was just filed against out of touch Democrat Cait Conley for violating federal election law. The complaint alleges that a spokeswoman for Conley's campaign was not paid by the campaign, but rather by an outside group, which amounts to an in-kind contribution to Conley's campaign that exceeds campaign contribution limits. It also flags shady payments that seem to indicate that Conley'scampaign illegally coordinated with outside groups.
"Out of touch Democrat Cait Conley appears to have broken federal law in an effort to have DC insiders operate her campaign. From failing to keep our service members safe abroad to campaigning on raising taxes on New Yorkers, this is just the latest example that Hudson Valley families cannot trust Cait Conley." - NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole
Read the full story here (https://nypost.com/2026/08/23/us-news/wannabe-ny-house-dem-cait-conley-illegally-coordinated-with-outside-groups-in-shady-payment-scheme-fec-complaint/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social) or see excerpts below:
Wannabe NY House Dem Cait Conley illegally coordinated with outside groups in shady payment scheme: FEC complaint
New York Post
Carl Campanile
August 23, 2026
New York House Democratic candidate Cait Conley's campaign violated law by coordinating with outside groups in a shady payment deal, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission.
[...]
Andres Gil, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party and a Lawler ally, filed the complaint against the Conley campaign, several Democratic group and a Conley spokesman at the center of it all, Jackie Rosa.
"This complaint concerns a single political operative, Jackie Rosa, who simultaneously served as a de facto communications spokesperson for the Conley Committee, was compensated by one or more outside political organizations - MD PAC and Precinct - rather than by the campaign for that work, and is tied to an entity, Precinct LLC, that the Conley Committee itself paid as a `campaign consultant,' " Gil wrote in his Aug. 14 complaint to the FEC.
"That combination presents two related, investigable violations of the [Federal Election Campaign] Act," he said.
Rosa functioned as the Conley campaign's press contact during a competitive Democratic primary earlier this year, the complaint said.
[...]
"The Conley Committee did not pay for those 2026 services: its only disclosed payments to Precinct were two disbursements totaling $20,000 made in August 2025, months before the services at issue, and it reports no payment of any kind to Ms. Rosa," the complaint said.
The payment for Rosa's services by some other group amounts to an in-kind contribution to the Conley Committee, which would exceed the campaign contribution limits and appears to violate election law, the complaint said.
The eight-page complaint also discusses potential coordination with the Conley campaign through a common vendor.
The August 2025 payments confirm Conley's campaign paid Precinct -- and Rosa -- as a paid vendor.
Coordination among outside groups is not illegal, but such coordination between an outside group and the candidate could be, the complaint said.
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/08/24/new-fec-complaint-filed-against-cait-conley-for-illegally-coordinating-with-outside-groups/
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FEC Complaint Filed Against Cait Conley for Illegally Coordinating with Outside Groups
An FEC complaint was just filed against out of touch Democrat Cait Conley for violating federal election law.
The complaint alleges that a spokeswoman for Conley's campaign was not paid by the campaign, but rather by an outside group, which amounts to an in-kind contribution to Conley's campaign that exceeds campaign contribution limits.
It also flags shady payments that seem to indicate that Conley's ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The National Republican Congressional Committee posted the following news: * * * FEC Complaint Filed Against Cait Conley for Illegally Coordinating with Outside Groups An FEC complaint was just filed against out of touch Democrat Cait Conley for violating federal election law. The complaint alleges that a spokeswoman for Conley's campaign was not paid by the campaign, but rather by an outside group, which amounts to an in-kind contribution to Conley's campaign that exceeds campaign contribution limits. It also flags shady payments that seem to indicate that Conley'scampaign illegally coordinated with outside groups.
"Out of touch Democrat Cait Conley appears to have broken federal law in an effort to have DC insiders operate her campaign. From failing to keep our service members safe abroad to campaigning on raising taxes on New Yorkers, this is just the latest example that Hudson Valley families cannot trust Cait Conley." - NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole
Read the full story here (https://nypost.com/2026/08/23/us-news/wannabe-ny-house-dem-cait-conley-illegally-coordinated-with-outside-groups-in-shady-payment-scheme-fec-complaint/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social) or see excerpts below:
Wannabe NY House Dem Cait Conley illegally coordinated with outside groups in shady payment scheme: FEC complaint
New York Post
Carl Campanile
August 23, 2026
New York House Democratic candidate Cait Conley's campaign violated law by coordinating with outside groups in a shady payment deal, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission.
[...]
Andres Gil, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party and a Lawler ally, filed the complaint against the Conley campaign, several Democratic group and a Conley spokesman at the center of it all, Jackie Rosa.
"This complaint concerns a single political operative, Jackie Rosa, who simultaneously served as a de facto communications spokesperson for the Conley Committee, was compensated by one or more outside political organizations - MD PAC and Precinct - rather than by the campaign for that work, and is tied to an entity, Precinct LLC, that the Conley Committee itself paid as a `campaign consultant,' " Gil wrote in his Aug. 14 complaint to the FEC.
"That combination presents two related, investigable violations of the [Federal Election Campaign] Act," he said.
Rosa functioned as the Conley campaign's press contact during a competitive Democratic primary earlier this year, the complaint said.
[...]
"The Conley Committee did not pay for those 2026 services: its only disclosed payments to Precinct were two disbursements totaling $20,000 made in August 2025, months before the services at issue, and it reports no payment of any kind to Ms. Rosa," the complaint said.
The payment for Rosa's services by some other group amounts to an in-kind contribution to the Conley Committee, which would exceed the campaign contribution limits and appears to violate election law, the complaint said.
The eight-page complaint also discusses potential coordination with the Conley campaign through a common vendor.
The August 2025 payments confirm Conley's campaign paid Precinct -- and Rosa -- as a paid vendor.
Coordination among outside groups is not illegal, but such coordination between an outside group and the candidate could be, the complaint said.
[...]
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Original text here: https://www.nrcc.org/2026/08/24/new-fec-complaint-filed-against-cait-conley-for-illegally-coordinating-with-outside-groups/
Mich. Democratic Party: Report - Mike Rogers Supports Trump's Reckless Tariffs And Healthcare Cuts As Costs Spike for Michiganders
LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release:
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REPORT: Mike Rogers Supports Trump's Reckless Tariffs And Healthcare Cuts As Costs Spike for Michiganders
New reporting from Michigan Independent highlights how Mike Rogers' agenda spikes costs: from his support for Trump's reckless tariffs that have "raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners," to his repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums.
Read more:
Michigan Independent ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * REPORT: Mike Rogers Supports Trump's Reckless Tariffs And Healthcare Cuts As Costs Spike for Michiganders New reporting from Michigan Independent highlights how Mike Rogers' agenda spikes costs: from his support for Trump's reckless tariffs that have "raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners," to his repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums. Read more: Michigan Independent(https://michiganindependent.com/politics/affordability-senate-rogers-el-sayed-2026-costs-healthcare/): Affordability takes center stage in Michigan Senate race between Rogers and El-Sayed
* For voters in Michigan, where households face rising housing, food, and energy costs and where the median income is 10% lower than the national average, November's election to fill the Senate seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters may come down to which candidate best addresses the issue of affordability.
* The two contenders, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, offer very different approaches to tackling high costs.
* [...] Rogers has defended President Donald Trump's use of tariffs as a means to bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas but, rather than creating jobs, the tariffs have actually raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners.
* Heartland Signal reported that Rogers, speaking at a September 2025 event in Lapeer County, said, "Costs are up, but I'm telling you what: I'd rather have good manufacturing jobs here."
* Experts told the Washington Post in August that the role of tariffs in spurring growth in the economy is not clear. They noted that other factors affecting trends include the growth of the artificial intelligence industry, the war in Iran, and job losses that offset any gains in employment.
* During his time in Congress, Rogers voted against passing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and repeatedly voted to repeal the law. Studies have shown the Affordable Care Act has increased the number of people with health insurance, improving access to healthcare for millions of Americans.
* Rogers also voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law to prevent sex-based wage discrimination in the workplace, in 2007 and 2009. In 2008 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would have combated wage discrimination in the workplace.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/report-mike-rogers-supports-trumps-reckless-tariffs-and-healthcare-cuts-as-costs-spike-for-michiganders/
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REPORT: Mike Rogers Supports Trump's Reckless Tariffs And Healthcare Cuts As Costs Spike for Michiganders
New reporting from Michigan Independent highlights how Mike Rogers' agenda spikes costs: from his support for Trump's reckless tariffs that have "raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners," to his repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums.
Read more:
Michigan Independent ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: * * * REPORT: Mike Rogers Supports Trump's Reckless Tariffs And Healthcare Cuts As Costs Spike for Michiganders New reporting from Michigan Independent highlights how Mike Rogers' agenda spikes costs: from his support for Trump's reckless tariffs that have "raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners," to his repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would spike Michiganders' monthly healthcare premiums. Read more: Michigan Independent(https://michiganindependent.com/politics/affordability-senate-rogers-el-sayed-2026-costs-healthcare/): Affordability takes center stage in Michigan Senate race between Rogers and El-Sayed
* For voters in Michigan, where households face rising housing, food, and energy costs and where the median income is 10% lower than the national average, November's election to fill the Senate seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters may come down to which candidate best addresses the issue of affordability.
* The two contenders, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, offer very different approaches to tackling high costs.
* [...] Rogers has defended President Donald Trump's use of tariffs as a means to bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas but, rather than creating jobs, the tariffs have actually raised the cost of everyday goods and soured America's relationships with its trading partners.
* Heartland Signal reported that Rogers, speaking at a September 2025 event in Lapeer County, said, "Costs are up, but I'm telling you what: I'd rather have good manufacturing jobs here."
* Experts told the Washington Post in August that the role of tariffs in spurring growth in the economy is not clear. They noted that other factors affecting trends include the growth of the artificial intelligence industry, the war in Iran, and job losses that offset any gains in employment.
* During his time in Congress, Rogers voted against passing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and repeatedly voted to repeal the law. Studies have shown the Affordable Care Act has increased the number of people with health insurance, improving access to healthcare for millions of Americans.
* Rogers also voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law to prevent sex-based wage discrimination in the workplace, in 2007 and 2009. In 2008 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would have combated wage discrimination in the workplace.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/report-mike-rogers-supports-trumps-reckless-tariffs-and-healthcare-cuts-as-costs-spike-for-michiganders/
Mich. Democratic Party: John James Tax - Trump Trade War To Raise Prices on State
LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026:
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The John James Tax: Trump Trade War To Raise Prices on Michigan
Jocelyn Benson: "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries."
-
This weekend, Donald Trump escalated his reckless trade war with Canada, allowing trade talks to collapse while imposing sweeping 50% tariffs on Michigan's largest trading partner.
The new tariffs will have devastating impacts on Michigan's economy--with prices rising even further ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * The John James Tax: Trump Trade War To Raise Prices on Michigan Jocelyn Benson: "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries." - This weekend, Donald Trump escalated his reckless trade war with Canada, allowing trade talks to collapse while imposing sweeping 50% tariffs on Michigan's largest trading partner. The new tariffs will have devastating impacts on Michigan's economy--with prices rising even furtheron groceries, gas, and housing while our manufacturing industry continues to suffer. Trump-backed John James has enthusiastically supported the president's trade war, even voting in favor of tariffs with Canada in February, and James has not said anything about the new 50% tariffs that have gone into effect.
On Saturday, Democratic nominee for governor Jocelyn Benson called out James and Trump's reckless tariffs and trade war:
"These chaotic, reckless tariffs are man-made price hikes courtesy of John James and Donald Trump. James had the chance to bring costs down. Instead, he chose to vote to support Trump's tariff war that is directly hurting you," said Benson. "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post highlighted how Trump's trade war with Canada has specifically hurt Michigan--as the state has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs, food prices have gone up, the cost of building a home has spiked, and farming exports have cratered since James and Trump's tariffs were introduced.
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Original text here: https://michigandems.com/the-john-james-tax-trump-trade-war-to-raise-prices-on-michigan/
* * *
The John James Tax: Trump Trade War To Raise Prices on Michigan
Jocelyn Benson: "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries."
-
This weekend, Donald Trump escalated his reckless trade war with Canada, allowing trade talks to collapse while imposing sweeping 50% tariffs on Michigan's largest trading partner.
The new tariffs will have devastating impacts on Michigan's economy--with prices rising even further ... Show Full Article LANSING, Michigan, Aug. 25 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * The John James Tax: Trump Trade War To Raise Prices on Michigan Jocelyn Benson: "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries." - This weekend, Donald Trump escalated his reckless trade war with Canada, allowing trade talks to collapse while imposing sweeping 50% tariffs on Michigan's largest trading partner. The new tariffs will have devastating impacts on Michigan's economy--with prices rising even furtheron groceries, gas, and housing while our manufacturing industry continues to suffer. Trump-backed John James has enthusiastically supported the president's trade war, even voting in favor of tariffs with Canada in February, and James has not said anything about the new 50% tariffs that have gone into effect.
On Saturday, Democratic nominee for governor Jocelyn Benson called out James and Trump's reckless tariffs and trade war:
"These chaotic, reckless tariffs are man-made price hikes courtesy of John James and Donald Trump. James had the chance to bring costs down. Instead, he chose to vote to support Trump's tariff war that is directly hurting you," said Benson. "Let's call this what it is: the John James tax on your small businesses, your gas prices, and your groceries.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post highlighted how Trump's trade war with Canada has specifically hurt Michigan--as the state has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs, food prices have gone up, the cost of building a home has spiked, and farming exports have cratered since James and Trump's tariffs were introduced.
* * *
Original text here: https://michigandems.com/the-john-james-tax-trump-trade-war-to-raise-prices-on-michigan/
DSCC, DCCC, DNC, DGA Issue Statement on Supreme Court Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic National Committee:
* * *
DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DGA Chair Andy Beshear, and DNC Chair ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic National Committee: * * * DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DGA Chair Andy Beshear, and DNC ChairKen Martin released the following statement:
"This is the latest attempt from Trump to rig the midterms because Republicans know their corrupt, cost-hiking policies are deeply unpopular and hurting people every day.
"Democrats will not let them get away with it, and we are confident the American people will reject these Republican schemes in November.
"We're going to fight every day until Trump's illegal executive order, and all of his other attempts to undermine our free and fair elections, are completely thrown out."
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/dscc-dccc-dnc-and-dga-statement-on-supreme-courts-procedural-ruling-regarding-trumps-executive-order-to-restrict-mail-in-voting/
* * *
DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DGA Chair Andy Beshear, and DNC Chair ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic National Committee: * * * DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DGA Chair Andy Beshear, and DNC ChairKen Martin released the following statement:
"This is the latest attempt from Trump to rig the midterms because Republicans know their corrupt, cost-hiking policies are deeply unpopular and hurting people every day.
"Democrats will not let them get away with it, and we are confident the American people will reject these Republican schemes in November.
"We're going to fight every day until Trump's illegal executive order, and all of his other attempts to undermine our free and fair elections, are completely thrown out."
* * *
Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/dscc-dccc-dnc-and-dga-statement-on-supreme-courts-procedural-ruling-regarding-trumps-executive-order-to-restrict-mail-in-voting/
DNC, DCCC, DSCC, DGA Issue Statement on Supreme Court Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic National Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:
* * *
DNC, DCCC, DSCC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DNC Chair Ken Martin, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, and DGA Chair ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic National Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: * * * DNC, DCCC, DSCC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DNC Chair Ken Martin, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, and DGA ChairAndy Beshear released the following statement:
"This is the latest attempt from Trump to rig the midterms because Republicans know their corrupt, cost-hiking policies are deeply unpopular and hurting people every day.
"Democrats will not let them get away with it, and we are confident the American people will reject these Republican schemes in November.
"We're going to fight every day until Trump's illegal executive order, and all of his other attempts to undermine our free and fair elections, are completely thrown out."
* * *
Original text here: https://democrats.org/dnc-dccc-dscc-and-dga-statement-on-supreme-courts-procedural-ruling-regarding-trumps-executive-order-to-restrict-mail-in-voting/
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DNC, DCCC, DSCC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting
Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DNC Chair Ken Martin, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, and DGA Chair ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic National Committee issued the following statement on Aug. 24, 2026, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: * * * DNC, DCCC, DSCC, and DGA Statement on Supreme Court's Procedural Ruling Regarding Trump's Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting Following a decision by the Supreme Court staying a permanent injunction of Trump's Executive Order to restrict mail-in voting, DNC Chair Ken Martin, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, and DGA ChairAndy Beshear released the following statement:
"This is the latest attempt from Trump to rig the midterms because Republicans know their corrupt, cost-hiking policies are deeply unpopular and hurting people every day.
"Democrats will not let them get away with it, and we are confident the American people will reject these Republican schemes in November.
"We're going to fight every day until Trump's illegal executive order, and all of his other attempts to undermine our free and fair elections, are completely thrown out."
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Original text here: https://democrats.org/dnc-dccc-dscc-and-dga-statement-on-supreme-courts-procedural-ruling-regarding-trumps-executive-order-to-restrict-mail-in-voting/
10 Weeks Out - Democrats' "Growing Momentum" Stretches "Toss-Up" Battle for Senate Control "Deep Into Trump Country"
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026:
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TEN WEEKS OUT: Democrats' "Growing Momentum" Stretches "Toss-Up" Battle for Senate Control "Deep into Trump Country"
Axios: "At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority 'herculean.' Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up"
NBC News' Ryan Nobles: "The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviously ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * TEN WEEKS OUT: Democrats' "Growing Momentum" Stretches "Toss-Up" Battle for Senate Control "Deep into Trump Country" Axios: "At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority 'herculean.' Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up" NBC News' Ryan Nobles: "The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviouslythe situation in Texas looks encouraging to them"
New York Times: "Voters are uneasy about President Trump's handling of the economy, and his unpopular war with Iran has driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain"
NOTUS: "Democrats see signs of growing momentum in the battle for the Senate, and they're increasingly optimistic they can expand the map into traditionally red territory ahead of November's midterm elections"
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With Election Day just 10 weeks away, wall-to-wall coverage is highlighting how Democrats have "opened up more than one path to winning control of the Senate" with a "sprawling" map that stretches "deep into Trump country" and are feeling "as confident as they ever have been during this cycle" about regaining control of the "increasingly up for grabs" chamber.
Meanwhile, "Republicans are nervous" and "concede their candidates are facing a difficult environment" as voters roundly reject the toxic GOP agenda that has "driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain."
Now, with GOP Senate candidates "embroiled in unsavory scandals," "individual Democratic Senate candidates are handily out-raising their Republican opponents" and "lead in most battleground state polls," while "Republicans are spending the summer defending territory they typically don't worry about."
See what they're saying:
NBC News - Meet The Press: Texas and Iowa Senate Races Move to Toss Up
NBC News' RYAN NOBLES: The Democrats right now feel as confident as they ever have been during this cycle about their - at least potential - opportunity to win back the Senate. [...]
The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviously the situation in Texas looks encouraging to them.
CNN - Inside Politics Sunday: New Analysis: Texas Senate, Iowa Senate Now Toss-Up Races
CNN's MANU RAJU: I want to talk about the race rating changes that happened in the Cook Political Report that just came out this past week. It says that Texas has shifted from lean GOP to a toss-up. That's the same for Iowa, another Red state which is in play this election cycle.
Democrats have to win in Red states to take back the Senate. And then you look at the money between the Texas Democratic candidate and the Texas Republican candidate - cash on hand between the two candidates - James Talarico has 21.5 million bucks to Ken Paxton's $1.8 million. Remember, Trump backed Paxton. This was Trump's candidate here over John Cornyn, the incumbent. This is exactly what Republican Senators were warning about.
Bloomberg's JEFF MASON: Exactly what they warned him about. And it raises questions, again, about whether or not the President has put his own sort of personal feelings ahead of political smarts with some of these endorsements. It's fascinating to see that money differential; Democrats smell an opportunity to win a seat that they haven't even had a chance of winning in decades [...]
MS NOW - Morning Joe: Iowa & Texas Senate Races Shift to "Toss Up"
MS NOW's WILLIE GEIST: Let's talk a little politics here. The latest projections from the Cook Political Report now consider races in Texas and Iowa as toss-ups headed into the midterms [...]
NBC News' JOHN HEILEMANN: You have a situation [in Texas], as we've said 100 times, a uniquely bad, disliked, corrupt Republican nominee against a maybe a generational Democratic talent in James Talarico, [...], someone who does not look like a lot of the Democrats that have run in Texas over the past 20, 30 years. And it could be this could be the year.
Those Iowa races, though, which we can talk about, are just as or just as compelling, given the way that state has gone so hard red over the course of the last 20-25 years. The possibility of a Democrat [...] taking that Senate seat is another thing that has become increasingly clear from the data is within reach for Democrats. Again, these are going to be very close races, most likely. But boy, talk about a signal of what's happening on the national scene; you should look no further than Iowa.
New York Times: Can Democrats Win Back the Senate? Why Their Chances Are Improving
* Democrats have opened up more than one path to winning control of the Senate, according to strategists in both parties and independent analysts, reshaping the battle on a map where Republicans still hold significant advantages.
* Voters are uneasy about President Trump's handling of the economy, and his unpopular war with Iran has driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain.
* [...] Mr. Trump's approval rating is below 40 percent, unnerving Republicans, who worry that voters in the center will break for Democrats. And rank-and-file Democratic voters are plainly energized: They have been turning out in huge numbers for primaries.
* Now the battle for the Senate, once seen as tilting heavily toward the G.O.P., is increasingly up for grabs.
* The latest show of Democratic strength came last week in conservative-leaning Alaska. Former Representative Mary Peltola [...] led Senator Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, by more than five percentage points in the state's nonpartisan primary, according to incomplete results.
* "I haven't seen that kind of energy for a Democrat in Alaska in decades," said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, a former chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm. "Democrats are energized. You see it across the country."
* By Thursday, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election forecaster, moved races in Texas and Iowa from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up," citing polling and the economic environment. The shift grew the core Senate battlefield from four states -- Alaska, Maine, Michigan and Ohio -- to six, widening Democrats' margin for error.
* "It's a 50-50 tossup," said Douglas Heye, a Republican strategist. "Republicans are nervous. They've watched Trump's numbers be a constant limbo contest of 'How low can they go?'"
* [...] individual Democratic Senate candidates are handily out-raising their Republican opponents in most of the key Senate races.
* "The truth is that all the money in the world should not change the fact that Trump and the Republicans in Congress have made life much more difficult," said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm, adding: "People are fed up. And they're exhausted. And they can't afford anything. And they're going to change who's in charge."
* By May, when the average gas price rose as high as $4.56 a gallon, Mr. Trump had dismissed the economic costs of the war with Iran, saying they were outweighed by national security interests. "I don't think about Americans' financial situation," he told reporters in mid-May. In a cabinet meeting later that month he declared, "I don't care about the midterms."
* Gas prices [...] remain elevated, and the fallout from the fighting has spilled across the economy, driving inflation that has outpaced wage growth. Voters say they feel gloomy about the economy. Some states at the center of the Senate battle have been hit hard.
* In Alaska, the cost of a gallon of gas on Sunday was $4.82, roughly 70 cents above the national average, according to the AAA motor club.
* Josh Turek, a centrist Democrat, is trying to flip a Senate seat in Iowa, which has a farming-heavy economy that has struggled under Mr. Trump's tariff policies in his second term. Those troubles have been exacerbated by fertilizer prices that have soared since the war began.
* The same economic forces are at play in Ohio, another agriculture-heavy state. There, Sherrod Brown, a former senator and a Democrat, is trying to stage a comeback and has out-raised Senator Jon Husted, the Republican incumbent, by an overwhelming margin.
* Dale Butland, a Democratic strategist in Ohio, said the signs of deep voter discontent were plainly visible. "It's bad here," Mr. Butland said of economic conditions in Ohio. But politically, he added, "it's all breaking now in our favor."
* In Texas [...] Democrats believe Republicans offered them an opening by nominating Ken Paxton, the state's scandal-plagued attorney general.
* Mr. Paxton has been indicted on securities fraud charges (he reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid a criminal trial), has escaped an impeachment trial, has been accused of adultery by his estranged wife and was even caught on video years ago pilfering a prize pen.
* Democrats have nominated James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who has made his Christian faith a centerpiece of his campaign. The popular podcaster Joe Rogan once told him to run for president.
* The contrast between the candidates has fed Democratic hopes and Republican fears that Texas might slip out of G.O.P. hands for the first time in three decades.
* Nowhere is the Senate picture brighter for Democrats than in the South, where two popular and well-known Democrats have raced out to leads in states Mr. Trump carried two years ago.
* In Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat and the youngest sitting senator, has a huge war chest and consistently leads his Republican rival, Representative Mike Collins, in the polls. His advantage, which Georgia Republicans attribute in part to his focus on constituent services, has led some Republicans to write off the race [...]
* In neighboring North Carolina, the Democratic nominee, former Gov. Roy Cooper, is trying to flip a seat and is running as a tough-on-crime moderate. He has never lost an election. Mr. Cooper consistently leads his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, in the polls, with some showing him ahead by double digits.
Axios: Dems turning more GOP Senate strongholds into midterm battlegrounds
* Ten weeks from Election Day, the Senate battlefield is sprawling, scattered -- and stretching deep into Trump country.
* Why it matters: In a normal year, Republicans wouldn't think twice about Alaska, Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, [...] or Texas. This isn't a normal year.
* The fact that they're still in play has turned the midterms into a game of chess, giving Democrats more openings to attack -- and leaving Republicans with more pieces to defend.
* Driving the news: As of Thursday afternoon, the Texas and Iowa Senate races are rated as "toss-ups" by Cook Political Report.
* They were "lean Republican" previously.
* That makes six GOP seats that are now toss-ups or lean Democratic.
* Ohio: Trump won the once quintessential battleground the past three elections, and its governor and senators are all Republicans.
* But former Sen. Sherrod Brown is mounting a comeback under two very different conditions from 2024: Trump isn't on the ballot and crypto PACs aren't bludgeoning him with $40 million [...]
* Brown led Husted 53% to 45% in a recent Fox News survey -- a margin unchanged since June.
* One major issue that could cost Husted the election: AI data centers.
* Alaska: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) worked hard to recruit former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who has already won statewide twice. [...]
* Peltola is running neck-and-neck with Sen. Sullivan in a state where ranked-choice voting can reward candidates with crossover appeal -- a formula she used to win her House seat in 2022.
* Iowa: A Democrat hasn't won an Iowa presidential or Senate race since then-President Obama in 2012.
* But the farm state has been battered by soaring fertilizer and diesel costs as well as Trump's tariffs, putting Republicans on defense.
* Texas:
* Trump's Hispanic support in the Rio Grande Valley has fallen off, and Republicans dropped close to $20 million in negative ads on Attorney General Ken Paxton in the primary runoff alone.
* Republicans spent the last year warning that a Paxton nomination would be far more difficult to defend than if Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) had held on.
* Meanwhile, Democrat James Talarico has dominated the fundraising game and multiple early polls have him narrowly leading Paxton.
* Kansas: Megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton is making Sen. Roger Marshall's (R-Kansas) reelection less certain.
* Cook Political Report this month moved the race from "solid R" to "likely R" and SMP has recent polling with Marshall up by only one point.
* Schumer has been talking up Kansas as a state to watch. "Kansas is a good example of why you can't paint every state with the same brush," he told Punchbowl News last week. "This guy is a minister, a moderate Methodist. He's a seasoned politician."
* While Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, the current Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is proof the party can win statewide.
* Mississippi: Democrat Scott Colom is on a mission to make the Mississippi seat competitive.
* He outraised Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the second quarter, with a $766,000 haul.
* Schumer told Semafor earlier this month that Hyde-Smith was "extremely weak" and Colom is a "tough prosecutor who's won elections in a tough district."
* Democrats see the SNAP and Medicaid cuts in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" as especially powerful issues in the state.
* The bottom line: When he took over the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) warned senators in safe seats not to expect any bailouts. His plan was to put red states away early and use the party's money to go on offense.
* Instead, Republicans are spending the summer defending territory they typically don't worry about.
* At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority "herculean." Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up.
NOTUS: Democrats Are Getting More Bullish About Taking the Senate
* Democrats see signs of growing momentum in the battle for the Senate, and they're increasingly optimistic they can expand the map into traditionally red territory ahead of November's midterm elections.
* They're targeting states like Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska, Kansas and even Mississippi, hoping to force Republicans to defend the state of the economy, the war in Iran and making a broader argument about corruption in Washington. They see a narrow path to the majority next year, a dramatic change in what once looked like a very difficult cycle for the party.
* "The battle for the Senate is now a toss-up, and Democrats are on the path to victory," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement this week. "Republicans thought they had the Senate locked down. Instead, Democrats have blown the map wide open -- and are poised to win the Senate majority."
* "Senate Democrats have built the strongest map we've had in years by competing everywhere, even in red states," Schumer continued. "Relentless recruitment, impressive candidates and a message rooted in delivering for Americans have turned even Republican strongholds into battlegrounds and given us multiple paths to the majority."
* Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to win a Senate majority. Their most likely path to 51 seats was initially thought to run through Maine, Ohio, Alaska and North Carolina. But now they're seeing other ways to get there.
* On Thursday, the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted its ratings for both the Texas and Iowa Senate races to "toss-up" from "lean Republican." The analyst cited the shifting political environment and the quality of candidates as reasons Democrats may win there [...]
* The biggest factors for the change? The negative economic effects of Trump's tariffs and his war in Iran.
* "I think that right now, where voters see the economy is perhaps baked in for November," Jessica Taylor, an editor for Cook Political Report, told NOTUS. "Gas prices have been higher in a place like Iowa. Fertilizer and diesel prices have been higher. The tariffs have impacted agriculture there."
* Republicans have struggled to defend high gas prices amid the ongoing war in Iran. They've framed the spike as a temporary necessity while Trump attempts to secure peace in the Middle East, six months after launching strikes against Iran. Some have even asked voters to stomach the higher costs out of a sense of patriotism and skip a trip to Starbucks, as Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya suggested earlier this year.
* Trump's cratering approval numbers aren't helping his party. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll marked his lowest rating at just 33 percent, and there are signs his political power is waning as more Republican voters shrug off his preferred candidates in primaries this year.
Wall Street Journal: Why Democrats Still Have a Shot at Winning the Senate
* "We have a very good chance to take the majority back," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). He said Democrats had "expanded the map and have the strongest map we've had in years where many states that are purple or even red are now poised to go into the Democratic column."
* Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats must gain a net pickup of four seats to win back power during President Trump's final two years in office. The president's party typically suffers losses in midterm elections, and Republicans concede their candidates are facing a difficult environment, marked by high fuel prices, the war with Iran and Trump's poor approval ratings. Prediction markets see the odds for control as about even.
* Surveys show Democratic voters are more enthusiastic about voting in the midterms than Republicans. GOP candidates won't have the benefit of Trump generating higher turnout among infrequent voters when he leads the ticket.
* "We've got political headwinds at us, there's no question about it, some frankly economic headwinds too that we're facing," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) recently told reporters in South Dakota.
* In a sign of how the election could be tilting Democrats' way, the Cook Political Report shifted the Senate campaigns in Texas and Iowa into the "tossup" column last week after listing them as "lean Republican."
* Democrats want to make the campaign a referendum on Trump, pointing to his inability to rein in the cost of living, the Iran war and allegations of corruption.
* Trump remains broadly unpopular. A Pew Research poll last month showed his approval rating at 34%--and the nation has been grappling with six months of war with Iran, which has driven up prices for gasoline, fertilizer and diesel fuel used by truck drivers and farmers who live in many of the Senate battlegrounds.
* Trump defeated Harris in four Republican-leaning states prized by Democrats--Iowa, Ohio, Alaska and Texas--with at least 54.5% of the vote. Democrats said they were encouraged by Senate nominee Mary Peltola's performance in last week's Alaska open primary, finishing several points ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. They will meet again in the fall.
* Republicans have grown increasingly worried about Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff entered the campaign cycle as one of the most vulnerable Democrats but has dominated Republican Rep. Mike Collins in fundraising and opinion polls.
* In North Carolina, polls have shown former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper with an edge over Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman and Trump ally, in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.
* Much of the fall campaign might hinge on the outcome in Maine. Democrats view the state as a top target, and party strategists contend they are in a stronger position with Jackson, the former state Senate president, as their nominee after an unusual July convention replaced Graham Platner on the ballot. Recent polling has shown Jackson, a fifth-generation Mainer with deep union ties, with a slight lead.
New York Times: The Midterms Feel Like 2006 All Over Again
* The war in the Middle East is increasingly unpopular. So is the president as his numbers dip perilously -- a common development in the sixth year of a presidency. Congressional Republicans are embroiled in unsavory scandals. Americans are shelling out big bucks for gas while economic anxiety runs high.
* The grim backdrop for November's midterm elections has created a steep challenge for Republicans and opportunities for Democrats that look much the same as those they encountered in 2006. Back then, congressional Republicans faced the voters at the midpoint of President George W. Bush's second term, with the public roiled by the war in Iraq, high fuel prices and a series of ugly accusations against members of the G.O.P. majority on Capitol Hill.
* "It is striking," said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader and chief architect of his party's Senate campaign strategy this year and two decades ago. "The analogy is amazing."
* [...] the comparisons are instructive, as officials in both parties stare down the final months of an election that will determine who controls Congress for the remainder of President Trump's term.
* "This is 2006 2.0," said Rahm Emanuel, who in 2006 was an ambitious Democratic House member from Illinois and Mr. Schumer's counterpart across the Capitol as the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The similarities are eerie."
* Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Schumer both have good reason to look back fondly on 2006, when Democrats triumphed in a blue wave.
* Exceeding expectations that year, Democrats picked up six seats in the Senate, taking control of the chamber. In the House, where the Republican majority seemed to have exhausted itself after a dozen years, Democrats gained 31 seats and installed Nancy Pelosi, who is now retiring, as the first woman speaker. Mr. Bush, another victim of the six-year presidential itch, famously branded the outcome "a thumping."
* This year [...] Democrats have benefited from some political twists in places where they had not anticipated being competitive, such as in Texas, where Mr. Trump's primary endorsement of the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, over Senator John Cornyn, put that seat in play.
* The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Thursday moved its ratings of the Texas and Iowa Senate races from leaning Republican to a toss up, underscoring the expanding battleground that Democrats would need in order to replicate 2006. Democrats say that they believe they are also increasingly competitive in other states carried by Mr. Trump two years ago, including Kansas.
* Then as now, Democrats tried to capitalize on kitchen-table economic concerns with the potential to drive voters. In 2006, it was Mr. Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security, which never came to pass. Now, it is the Republican-written law slashing Medicaid and other safety net programs to pay for large tax cuts, as well as the G.O.P.'s decision to allow health care subsidies to expire, sending premiums soaring.
* Another undercurrent of the 2006 campaign has an equivalent today: the image of disturbing Republican misconduct. Twenty years ago, Democrats campaigned against a "culture of corruption," pointing to a series of financial and sex scandals that led to resignations and jail time for a series of senior Republicans.
* Then, in September 2006, it was disclosed that Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, had sent sexually suggestive messages to male House pages, and that Republican leaders had failed to take action even when they had been alerted to his actions, putting a cloud over the party two months before the election.
* This year, Republicans have again had to contend with high-profile sexual misconduct accusations against multiple House members, though Democrats have had their own to deal with as well, a difference from 20 years ago.
* Top Democrats have sought to emphasize Republican conduct on Capitol Hill and in an administration in which the president, his family and his allies have faced scrutiny for profiteering.
* [...] Nathan Gonzales, the editor of the nonpartisan Inside Elections, sees the potential for the factors working against Republicans building into a resounding voter backlash against the party in power, as they did two decades ago.
* "I remember 2006 when everything snowballed against Republicans," Mr. Gonzales said. "Ordinarily unrelated events got lumped together under one umbrella. Everything was Bush's fault. The war with Iraq and Mark Foley really had nothing to do with each other, but it cultivated an appetite for change. I could see that happening again."
Inside Elections: Democrats Seek Majority in Most Republican Senate Class
* One year ago, the conventional wisdom was that Republicans would probably keep their Senate majority, regardless of what happened in the House. The 2026 Senate map is simply not good for Democrats. They need to gain four seats for the majority, a task that requires winning in multiple states that President Donald Trump carried by at least 10 points in 2024.
* But with November's elections now less than three months away, the narrative has shifted. The national electorate increasingly disapproves of the Trump administration, weighing down Republican candidates. And Democrats feel optimistic about their own class of Senate recruits, who lead in most battleground state polls and are fundraising at record rates.
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/ten-weeks-out-democrats-growing-momentum-stretches-toss-up-battle-for-senate-control-deep-into-trump-country/
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TEN WEEKS OUT: Democrats' "Growing Momentum" Stretches "Toss-Up" Battle for Senate Control "Deep into Trump Country"
Axios: "At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority 'herculean.' Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up"
NBC News' Ryan Nobles: "The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviously ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release on Aug. 24, 2026: * * * TEN WEEKS OUT: Democrats' "Growing Momentum" Stretches "Toss-Up" Battle for Senate Control "Deep into Trump Country" Axios: "At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority 'herculean.' Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up" NBC News' Ryan Nobles: "The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviouslythe situation in Texas looks encouraging to them"
New York Times: "Voters are uneasy about President Trump's handling of the economy, and his unpopular war with Iran has driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain"
NOTUS: "Democrats see signs of growing momentum in the battle for the Senate, and they're increasingly optimistic they can expand the map into traditionally red territory ahead of November's midterm elections"
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With Election Day just 10 weeks away, wall-to-wall coverage is highlighting how Democrats have "opened up more than one path to winning control of the Senate" with a "sprawling" map that stretches "deep into Trump country" and are feeling "as confident as they ever have been during this cycle" about regaining control of the "increasingly up for grabs" chamber.
Meanwhile, "Republicans are nervous" and "concede their candidates are facing a difficult environment" as voters roundly reject the toxic GOP agenda that has "driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain."
Now, with GOP Senate candidates "embroiled in unsavory scandals," "individual Democratic Senate candidates are handily out-raising their Republican opponents" and "lead in most battleground state polls," while "Republicans are spending the summer defending territory they typically don't worry about."
See what they're saying:
NBC News - Meet The Press: Texas and Iowa Senate Races Move to Toss Up
NBC News' RYAN NOBLES: The Democrats right now feel as confident as they ever have been during this cycle about their - at least potential - opportunity to win back the Senate. [...]
The results in Alaska during this last primary were as good as they could possibly be with Mary Peltola. They have very encouraging signs in Iowa; obviously the situation in Texas looks encouraging to them.
CNN - Inside Politics Sunday: New Analysis: Texas Senate, Iowa Senate Now Toss-Up Races
CNN's MANU RAJU: I want to talk about the race rating changes that happened in the Cook Political Report that just came out this past week. It says that Texas has shifted from lean GOP to a toss-up. That's the same for Iowa, another Red state which is in play this election cycle.
Democrats have to win in Red states to take back the Senate. And then you look at the money between the Texas Democratic candidate and the Texas Republican candidate - cash on hand between the two candidates - James Talarico has 21.5 million bucks to Ken Paxton's $1.8 million. Remember, Trump backed Paxton. This was Trump's candidate here over John Cornyn, the incumbent. This is exactly what Republican Senators were warning about.
Bloomberg's JEFF MASON: Exactly what they warned him about. And it raises questions, again, about whether or not the President has put his own sort of personal feelings ahead of political smarts with some of these endorsements. It's fascinating to see that money differential; Democrats smell an opportunity to win a seat that they haven't even had a chance of winning in decades [...]
MS NOW - Morning Joe: Iowa & Texas Senate Races Shift to "Toss Up"
MS NOW's WILLIE GEIST: Let's talk a little politics here. The latest projections from the Cook Political Report now consider races in Texas and Iowa as toss-ups headed into the midterms [...]
NBC News' JOHN HEILEMANN: You have a situation [in Texas], as we've said 100 times, a uniquely bad, disliked, corrupt Republican nominee against a maybe a generational Democratic talent in James Talarico, [...], someone who does not look like a lot of the Democrats that have run in Texas over the past 20, 30 years. And it could be this could be the year.
Those Iowa races, though, which we can talk about, are just as or just as compelling, given the way that state has gone so hard red over the course of the last 20-25 years. The possibility of a Democrat [...] taking that Senate seat is another thing that has become increasingly clear from the data is within reach for Democrats. Again, these are going to be very close races, most likely. But boy, talk about a signal of what's happening on the national scene; you should look no further than Iowa.
New York Times: Can Democrats Win Back the Senate? Why Their Chances Are Improving
* Democrats have opened up more than one path to winning control of the Senate, according to strategists in both parties and independent analysts, reshaping the battle on a map where Republicans still hold significant advantages.
* Voters are uneasy about President Trump's handling of the economy, and his unpopular war with Iran has driven increases in the costs of fuel, food and health services, putting Republicans on the defensive in states they once saw as much safer terrain.
* [...] Mr. Trump's approval rating is below 40 percent, unnerving Republicans, who worry that voters in the center will break for Democrats. And rank-and-file Democratic voters are plainly energized: They have been turning out in huge numbers for primaries.
* Now the battle for the Senate, once seen as tilting heavily toward the G.O.P., is increasingly up for grabs.
* The latest show of Democratic strength came last week in conservative-leaning Alaska. Former Representative Mary Peltola [...] led Senator Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, by more than five percentage points in the state's nonpartisan primary, according to incomplete results.
* "I haven't seen that kind of energy for a Democrat in Alaska in decades," said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, a former chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm. "Democrats are energized. You see it across the country."
* By Thursday, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election forecaster, moved races in Texas and Iowa from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up," citing polling and the economic environment. The shift grew the core Senate battlefield from four states -- Alaska, Maine, Michigan and Ohio -- to six, widening Democrats' margin for error.
* "It's a 50-50 tossup," said Douglas Heye, a Republican strategist. "Republicans are nervous. They've watched Trump's numbers be a constant limbo contest of 'How low can they go?'"
* [...] individual Democratic Senate candidates are handily out-raising their Republican opponents in most of the key Senate races.
* "The truth is that all the money in the world should not change the fact that Trump and the Republicans in Congress have made life much more difficult," said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm, adding: "People are fed up. And they're exhausted. And they can't afford anything. And they're going to change who's in charge."
* By May, when the average gas price rose as high as $4.56 a gallon, Mr. Trump had dismissed the economic costs of the war with Iran, saying they were outweighed by national security interests. "I don't think about Americans' financial situation," he told reporters in mid-May. In a cabinet meeting later that month he declared, "I don't care about the midterms."
* Gas prices [...] remain elevated, and the fallout from the fighting has spilled across the economy, driving inflation that has outpaced wage growth. Voters say they feel gloomy about the economy. Some states at the center of the Senate battle have been hit hard.
* In Alaska, the cost of a gallon of gas on Sunday was $4.82, roughly 70 cents above the national average, according to the AAA motor club.
* Josh Turek, a centrist Democrat, is trying to flip a Senate seat in Iowa, which has a farming-heavy economy that has struggled under Mr. Trump's tariff policies in his second term. Those troubles have been exacerbated by fertilizer prices that have soared since the war began.
* The same economic forces are at play in Ohio, another agriculture-heavy state. There, Sherrod Brown, a former senator and a Democrat, is trying to stage a comeback and has out-raised Senator Jon Husted, the Republican incumbent, by an overwhelming margin.
* Dale Butland, a Democratic strategist in Ohio, said the signs of deep voter discontent were plainly visible. "It's bad here," Mr. Butland said of economic conditions in Ohio. But politically, he added, "it's all breaking now in our favor."
* In Texas [...] Democrats believe Republicans offered them an opening by nominating Ken Paxton, the state's scandal-plagued attorney general.
* Mr. Paxton has been indicted on securities fraud charges (he reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid a criminal trial), has escaped an impeachment trial, has been accused of adultery by his estranged wife and was even caught on video years ago pilfering a prize pen.
* Democrats have nominated James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who has made his Christian faith a centerpiece of his campaign. The popular podcaster Joe Rogan once told him to run for president.
* The contrast between the candidates has fed Democratic hopes and Republican fears that Texas might slip out of G.O.P. hands for the first time in three decades.
* Nowhere is the Senate picture brighter for Democrats than in the South, where two popular and well-known Democrats have raced out to leads in states Mr. Trump carried two years ago.
* In Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat and the youngest sitting senator, has a huge war chest and consistently leads his Republican rival, Representative Mike Collins, in the polls. His advantage, which Georgia Republicans attribute in part to his focus on constituent services, has led some Republicans to write off the race [...]
* In neighboring North Carolina, the Democratic nominee, former Gov. Roy Cooper, is trying to flip a seat and is running as a tough-on-crime moderate. He has never lost an election. Mr. Cooper consistently leads his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, in the polls, with some showing him ahead by double digits.
Axios: Dems turning more GOP Senate strongholds into midterm battlegrounds
* Ten weeks from Election Day, the Senate battlefield is sprawling, scattered -- and stretching deep into Trump country.
* Why it matters: In a normal year, Republicans wouldn't think twice about Alaska, Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, [...] or Texas. This isn't a normal year.
* The fact that they're still in play has turned the midterms into a game of chess, giving Democrats more openings to attack -- and leaving Republicans with more pieces to defend.
* Driving the news: As of Thursday afternoon, the Texas and Iowa Senate races are rated as "toss-ups" by Cook Political Report.
* They were "lean Republican" previously.
* That makes six GOP seats that are now toss-ups or lean Democratic.
* Ohio: Trump won the once quintessential battleground the past three elections, and its governor and senators are all Republicans.
* But former Sen. Sherrod Brown is mounting a comeback under two very different conditions from 2024: Trump isn't on the ballot and crypto PACs aren't bludgeoning him with $40 million [...]
* Brown led Husted 53% to 45% in a recent Fox News survey -- a margin unchanged since June.
* One major issue that could cost Husted the election: AI data centers.
* Alaska: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) worked hard to recruit former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who has already won statewide twice. [...]
* Peltola is running neck-and-neck with Sen. Sullivan in a state where ranked-choice voting can reward candidates with crossover appeal -- a formula she used to win her House seat in 2022.
* Iowa: A Democrat hasn't won an Iowa presidential or Senate race since then-President Obama in 2012.
* But the farm state has been battered by soaring fertilizer and diesel costs as well as Trump's tariffs, putting Republicans on defense.
* Texas:
* Trump's Hispanic support in the Rio Grande Valley has fallen off, and Republicans dropped close to $20 million in negative ads on Attorney General Ken Paxton in the primary runoff alone.
* Republicans spent the last year warning that a Paxton nomination would be far more difficult to defend than if Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) had held on.
* Meanwhile, Democrat James Talarico has dominated the fundraising game and multiple early polls have him narrowly leading Paxton.
* Kansas: Megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton is making Sen. Roger Marshall's (R-Kansas) reelection less certain.
* Cook Political Report this month moved the race from "solid R" to "likely R" and SMP has recent polling with Marshall up by only one point.
* Schumer has been talking up Kansas as a state to watch. "Kansas is a good example of why you can't paint every state with the same brush," he told Punchbowl News last week. "This guy is a minister, a moderate Methodist. He's a seasoned politician."
* While Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, the current Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is proof the party can win statewide.
* Mississippi: Democrat Scott Colom is on a mission to make the Mississippi seat competitive.
* He outraised Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the second quarter, with a $766,000 haul.
* Schumer told Semafor earlier this month that Hyde-Smith was "extremely weak" and Colom is a "tough prosecutor who's won elections in a tough district."
* Democrats see the SNAP and Medicaid cuts in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" as especially powerful issues in the state.
* The bottom line: When he took over the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) warned senators in safe seats not to expect any bailouts. His plan was to put red states away early and use the party's money to go on offense.
* Instead, Republicans are spending the summer defending territory they typically don't worry about.
* At the start of the cycle, Cook Political Report called Democrats' path to a Senate majority "herculean." Last week, it declared the battle for the Senate a toss-up.
NOTUS: Democrats Are Getting More Bullish About Taking the Senate
* Democrats see signs of growing momentum in the battle for the Senate, and they're increasingly optimistic they can expand the map into traditionally red territory ahead of November's midterm elections.
* They're targeting states like Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska, Kansas and even Mississippi, hoping to force Republicans to defend the state of the economy, the war in Iran and making a broader argument about corruption in Washington. They see a narrow path to the majority next year, a dramatic change in what once looked like a very difficult cycle for the party.
* "The battle for the Senate is now a toss-up, and Democrats are on the path to victory," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement this week. "Republicans thought they had the Senate locked down. Instead, Democrats have blown the map wide open -- and are poised to win the Senate majority."
* "Senate Democrats have built the strongest map we've had in years by competing everywhere, even in red states," Schumer continued. "Relentless recruitment, impressive candidates and a message rooted in delivering for Americans have turned even Republican strongholds into battlegrounds and given us multiple paths to the majority."
* Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to win a Senate majority. Their most likely path to 51 seats was initially thought to run through Maine, Ohio, Alaska and North Carolina. But now they're seeing other ways to get there.
* On Thursday, the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted its ratings for both the Texas and Iowa Senate races to "toss-up" from "lean Republican." The analyst cited the shifting political environment and the quality of candidates as reasons Democrats may win there [...]
* The biggest factors for the change? The negative economic effects of Trump's tariffs and his war in Iran.
* "I think that right now, where voters see the economy is perhaps baked in for November," Jessica Taylor, an editor for Cook Political Report, told NOTUS. "Gas prices have been higher in a place like Iowa. Fertilizer and diesel prices have been higher. The tariffs have impacted agriculture there."
* Republicans have struggled to defend high gas prices amid the ongoing war in Iran. They've framed the spike as a temporary necessity while Trump attempts to secure peace in the Middle East, six months after launching strikes against Iran. Some have even asked voters to stomach the higher costs out of a sense of patriotism and skip a trip to Starbucks, as Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya suggested earlier this year.
* Trump's cratering approval numbers aren't helping his party. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll marked his lowest rating at just 33 percent, and there are signs his political power is waning as more Republican voters shrug off his preferred candidates in primaries this year.
Wall Street Journal: Why Democrats Still Have a Shot at Winning the Senate
* "We have a very good chance to take the majority back," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). He said Democrats had "expanded the map and have the strongest map we've had in years where many states that are purple or even red are now poised to go into the Democratic column."
* Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats must gain a net pickup of four seats to win back power during President Trump's final two years in office. The president's party typically suffers losses in midterm elections, and Republicans concede their candidates are facing a difficult environment, marked by high fuel prices, the war with Iran and Trump's poor approval ratings. Prediction markets see the odds for control as about even.
* Surveys show Democratic voters are more enthusiastic about voting in the midterms than Republicans. GOP candidates won't have the benefit of Trump generating higher turnout among infrequent voters when he leads the ticket.
* "We've got political headwinds at us, there's no question about it, some frankly economic headwinds too that we're facing," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) recently told reporters in South Dakota.
* In a sign of how the election could be tilting Democrats' way, the Cook Political Report shifted the Senate campaigns in Texas and Iowa into the "tossup" column last week after listing them as "lean Republican."
* Democrats want to make the campaign a referendum on Trump, pointing to his inability to rein in the cost of living, the Iran war and allegations of corruption.
* Trump remains broadly unpopular. A Pew Research poll last month showed his approval rating at 34%--and the nation has been grappling with six months of war with Iran, which has driven up prices for gasoline, fertilizer and diesel fuel used by truck drivers and farmers who live in many of the Senate battlegrounds.
* Trump defeated Harris in four Republican-leaning states prized by Democrats--Iowa, Ohio, Alaska and Texas--with at least 54.5% of the vote. Democrats said they were encouraged by Senate nominee Mary Peltola's performance in last week's Alaska open primary, finishing several points ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. They will meet again in the fall.
* Republicans have grown increasingly worried about Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff entered the campaign cycle as one of the most vulnerable Democrats but has dominated Republican Rep. Mike Collins in fundraising and opinion polls.
* In North Carolina, polls have shown former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper with an edge over Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman and Trump ally, in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.
* Much of the fall campaign might hinge on the outcome in Maine. Democrats view the state as a top target, and party strategists contend they are in a stronger position with Jackson, the former state Senate president, as their nominee after an unusual July convention replaced Graham Platner on the ballot. Recent polling has shown Jackson, a fifth-generation Mainer with deep union ties, with a slight lead.
New York Times: The Midterms Feel Like 2006 All Over Again
* The war in the Middle East is increasingly unpopular. So is the president as his numbers dip perilously -- a common development in the sixth year of a presidency. Congressional Republicans are embroiled in unsavory scandals. Americans are shelling out big bucks for gas while economic anxiety runs high.
* The grim backdrop for November's midterm elections has created a steep challenge for Republicans and opportunities for Democrats that look much the same as those they encountered in 2006. Back then, congressional Republicans faced the voters at the midpoint of President George W. Bush's second term, with the public roiled by the war in Iraq, high fuel prices and a series of ugly accusations against members of the G.O.P. majority on Capitol Hill.
* "It is striking," said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader and chief architect of his party's Senate campaign strategy this year and two decades ago. "The analogy is amazing."
* [...] the comparisons are instructive, as officials in both parties stare down the final months of an election that will determine who controls Congress for the remainder of President Trump's term.
* "This is 2006 2.0," said Rahm Emanuel, who in 2006 was an ambitious Democratic House member from Illinois and Mr. Schumer's counterpart across the Capitol as the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The similarities are eerie."
* Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Schumer both have good reason to look back fondly on 2006, when Democrats triumphed in a blue wave.
* Exceeding expectations that year, Democrats picked up six seats in the Senate, taking control of the chamber. In the House, where the Republican majority seemed to have exhausted itself after a dozen years, Democrats gained 31 seats and installed Nancy Pelosi, who is now retiring, as the first woman speaker. Mr. Bush, another victim of the six-year presidential itch, famously branded the outcome "a thumping."
* This year [...] Democrats have benefited from some political twists in places where they had not anticipated being competitive, such as in Texas, where Mr. Trump's primary endorsement of the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, over Senator John Cornyn, put that seat in play.
* The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Thursday moved its ratings of the Texas and Iowa Senate races from leaning Republican to a toss up, underscoring the expanding battleground that Democrats would need in order to replicate 2006. Democrats say that they believe they are also increasingly competitive in other states carried by Mr. Trump two years ago, including Kansas.
* Then as now, Democrats tried to capitalize on kitchen-table economic concerns with the potential to drive voters. In 2006, it was Mr. Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security, which never came to pass. Now, it is the Republican-written law slashing Medicaid and other safety net programs to pay for large tax cuts, as well as the G.O.P.'s decision to allow health care subsidies to expire, sending premiums soaring.
* Another undercurrent of the 2006 campaign has an equivalent today: the image of disturbing Republican misconduct. Twenty years ago, Democrats campaigned against a "culture of corruption," pointing to a series of financial and sex scandals that led to resignations and jail time for a series of senior Republicans.
* Then, in September 2006, it was disclosed that Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, had sent sexually suggestive messages to male House pages, and that Republican leaders had failed to take action even when they had been alerted to his actions, putting a cloud over the party two months before the election.
* This year, Republicans have again had to contend with high-profile sexual misconduct accusations against multiple House members, though Democrats have had their own to deal with as well, a difference from 20 years ago.
* Top Democrats have sought to emphasize Republican conduct on Capitol Hill and in an administration in which the president, his family and his allies have faced scrutiny for profiteering.
* [...] Nathan Gonzales, the editor of the nonpartisan Inside Elections, sees the potential for the factors working against Republicans building into a resounding voter backlash against the party in power, as they did two decades ago.
* "I remember 2006 when everything snowballed against Republicans," Mr. Gonzales said. "Ordinarily unrelated events got lumped together under one umbrella. Everything was Bush's fault. The war with Iraq and Mark Foley really had nothing to do with each other, but it cultivated an appetite for change. I could see that happening again."
Inside Elections: Democrats Seek Majority in Most Republican Senate Class
* One year ago, the conventional wisdom was that Republicans would probably keep their Senate majority, regardless of what happened in the House. The 2026 Senate map is simply not good for Democrats. They need to gain four seats for the majority, a task that requires winning in multiple states that President Donald Trump carried by at least 10 points in 2024.
* But with November's elections now less than three months away, the narrative has shifted. The national electorate increasingly disapproves of the Trump administration, weighing down Republican candidates. And Democrats feel optimistic about their own class of Senate recruits, who lead in most battleground state polls and are fundraising at record rates.
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Original text here: https://www.dscc.org/article/ten-weeks-out-democrats-growing-momentum-stretches-toss-up-battle-for-senate-control-deep-into-trump-country/