What's News
MASSACHUSETTS: Sen. Ed Markey (D), 80, held off his second generational challenge in a row, easily defeating 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton (D-06), 65%-35%, in the Democratic primary. Despite being outspent on the air by more than two-to-one, Markey improved upon his 2020 performance against former Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D)—underscoring Moulton’s challenges in shedding his moderate image. In his final campaign, Markey is favored to win another six-year term against 2024 nominee John Deaton (R), who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination. (AP)
- MA-01. Rep. Richard Neal (D) fended off a progressive challenge from teacher Jeromie Whalen (D) and leads 54%-46%. Whalen lacked major endorsements and was outspent on a more than 10-to-1 basis, but nonetheless brought the race within single digits. (AP)
- MA-06. Former Biden administration official Dan Koh (D) won the race to succeed Moulton, relying on healthy fundraising and his ties to nationally prominent Democrats to win 41% in a six-way field. State Rep. Tram Nguyen (D), the top progressive option, followed at 30%, and fintech executive John Beccia (D) lingered with 12%. (AP)
- MA-08. Longtime Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) defeated attorney Patrick Roath (D), 55%-45%. The 71-year-old incumbent faced age-based criticisms from the 39-year-old Roath, and the latter had major backing from former Gov. Deval Patrick (D) and the David Hogg-led progressive group Leaders We Deserve. (AP)
- GOVERNOR. Businessman Mike Minogue (R) handily won the GOP nomination to take on Gov. Maura Healey (D), who ran unopposed. With nearly all votes counted, Minogue led former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority chief administrator Brian Shortsleeve (R), 76%-24%. (AP)
OH GOV: Democrats looking to flip the governor’s seat are hoping to seize on backlash to 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s (R) proposal to consolidate the state’s public universities to address declining enrollment.
- NO PLACE LIKE HOME. “Unlike other states under big umbrella university systems, Ohio’s 14 public universities are separate and unique, with their own sports teams, traditions, and communities. And because of that, they represent more than just an education.” Backlash to Ramaswamy’s plan could be especially potent in Northeast Ohio, a region that would be hit hardest by potential school closures and where Democrats have lost ground in the Trump era. While former state Department of Health Director Amy Acton’s (D) has criticized Ramaswamy’s proposal, she has not offered a detailed plan of how she would address declining college enrollment. (Hotline reporting)
FIRST IN HOTLINE: A TX-35 poll (Aug. 27-31; 500 LVs; +/- 4.4%) sponsored by the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC found Bexar County Deputy Sheriff Johnny Garcia (D) at 44% and Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz (R) at 45%. President Trump carried this district of San Antonio suburbs by 10 points in 2024.
- ELSEWHERE ON THE BALLOT. The Normington Petts poll tested the Senate and gubernatorial races in the district. State Rep. James Talarico (D) led state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in the Senate race, 51%-45%, with 5% undecided. In the governor’s race, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) were statistically tied, 49%-48%. (release)
REPUBLICANS: Republicans plan “to raise millions of dollars during the” GOP’s midterm convention next week, “including asking donors to pay” $88,600 for a photo with Trump and $250,000 for a roundtable with the president. “A second roundtable featuring Vice President JD Vance on Sept. 10 will cost $75,000 per person. Similar to Trump’s event, donors can separately select to take a photo with Vance at the event for $35,000.” (Wall Street Journal)
- POOR RECORD. Of “more than 70 GOP candidates and members” asked whether they would attend, 45 said they would not, citing prior obligations, personal conflicts, and a desire to remain close to their battleground districts. “Dozens more declined to share their plans.” (Politico)
ME SEN: Pine Tree Results PAC, a super PAC working to reelect Sen. Susan Collins (R), launched a $1.1 million ad campaign slamming former state Senate President Troy Jackson (D) for supporting a state Senate bill that allows transgender women to be housed in women’s prisons. Towards the end of the ad, Jackson is featured alongside controversial oyster farmer Graham Platner (D), Democrats’ previous nominee against Collins. “[F]or the first time this cycle, Republicans are taking the transgender issue into a blue-state Senate race.” (Axios)
- NOT BURYING THE LEDE. During an interview with Politico’s Jonathan Martin, Collins portrayed Jackson as “essentially a democratic socialist.” The senator also said, “I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin … It’s not something that I’m going to be emphasizing.” (Politico)
NJ-07: Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R) brought out the big guns for a new TV ad: his father. Former Gov. Tom Kean (R), a beloved governor from the 1980s, narrated a new television ad for his son, who faces a tough challenge from Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett (D). The former governor said his son fought to protect Medicare and Medicaid. (New Jersey Globe)
GA-13: Rep. Everton Blair (D) took the oath of office Tuesday, becoming Georgia’s first openly gay member of Congress. Blair is finishing the term of the late Rep. David Scott (D), who died in April. Blair defeated Scott’s daughter, Marcye Scott (D), in a special election, and he is not on the ballot for a full term. The House now stands at 218 Republicans, 213 Democrats, one dependent, and three vacancies. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
VOTING: Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon urged employees of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division “to sign up as election monitors, in what appears to be part of a plan to deploy 1,000 monitors to polls in November. … Former Civil Rights Division officials questioned how the office would manage to recruit and train anywhere near 1,000 monitors in time to be sent to the field for Election Day.” (NOTUS)
TECH CORNER: “Over the last several months, a new generation of YouTube growth-hackers have flooded American politics with sensationalized, low-quality content, reaching millions of viewers with nearly identical videos taking aim at progressive politicians including” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D). “While the videos are presented as laypeople giving straight-to-camera ideological news recaps, they feature actors and spokespeople paid small amounts of money to read nearly identical scripts laced with misleading claims and outright falsehoods.” (Semafor)
MIDTERM MADNESS: The House “passed a stopgap bill” in an overwhelming 370-48 vote “to avert a government shutdown” on Sept. 30, “punting a spending fight until after the midterm elections.” The bill bars “the Trump administration from transferring funds to the Border Patrol.” (New York Times)
2028 WATCH: California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) southern tour will avoid Georgia and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). “Some Democrats say the travel schedule may suit both camps, allowing Ossoff to keep the focus on his reelection fight without the chatter of 2028—and the horse race of who’s up and who’s down—stealing the oxygen.” While some Democrats say Newsom can better serve Ossoff’s campaign from afar, those close to the governor “say people shouldn’t read anything into the fact that” he’s skipping Georgia this week. (The Hill)
NE SEN: Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) and 2024 candidate Dan Osborn (I) faced off in a Tuesday debate at the Nebraska State Fair—the “first fair debate since 2018.” Ricketts sought to paint Osborn as a Democrat throughout the debate, routinely referring to him as “Democrat Dan.” The independent reiterated his pledge that he wouldn’t caucus with either party in the Senate, urging voters “to take off these red and blue jerseys and come back together as Americans.” Both notably criticized the president’s 90-day waiver on beef tariffs, with the senator arguing that “short-term solutions” aren’t satisfactory for cattle ranchers. (Nebraska Examiner)
- MORE CANDIDATES. Nebraska Working People Party Chair Robin Richards will run for the Senate herself while the America First Party nominated Chuck Conboy to challenge Ricketts. Former labor leader Mike Marvin, the Legal Marijuana NOW Party’s nominee, suspended his campaign and endorsed Osborn last month, but will remain on the November ballot. (Nebraska Examiner)
FL GOV: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) backed Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19) during a leadership forum alongside other Republican nominees. DeSantis said “I think you could see they’ve all done a great job thinking about these issues. And so, I’m hoping you’ll do what I do. I’m endorsing the slate here tonight.” Donalds, who has had a rocky relationship with the governor, quickly affirmed the endorsement in a social media post. (WFLA)
OH-07: Newly unearthed police records found Brook Park City Councilman Brian Poindexter (D) had several run-ins with the law in his past. One in 1998, when he allegedly swallowed a rock of suspected crack cocaine, which his campaign denied; and one in 2013, when he allegedly slapped a man at a Cleveland baseball game over a comment about how quickly he had swallowed a hot dog on Dollar Dog Day. (Washington Free Beacon)
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