The survey, released Thursday by the progressive advocacy group Progress Michigan, found that 69% of Michigan voters support U.S. aid to Gaza, including 45% who strongly support it. Just 22% oppose the aid, while 8% were unsure.
Support was highest among Democrats, with 67% strongly backing aid and another 20% somewhat in favor. Independents also favored action, with 43% strongly supporting aid and 21% somewhat supporting. Republicans were more divided, with 18% strongly supporting aid and 33% somewhat supporting, while 38% opposed.
Women were more likely than men to support aid, with 50% strongly in favor compared with 41% of men. By race, 68% of white respondents expressed support, with 45% strongly and 23% somewhat, and Black residents also supported U.S. involvement, including 39% strongly and 36% somewhat.
In each demographic, more people favored aid to Gaza than opposed it.
Progress Michigan
A poll from Progress Michigan found bipartisan support among Michigan residents calling for aid for Gaza.
“Some things are bigger than partisan politics, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza is one of them,” Sam Inglot, executive director of Progress Michigan, said. “Michiganders recognize that allowing an entire population to starve and suffer without medical care is a moral failure we cannot accept. People are fed up with the foot dragging and the excuses and are demanding an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Inglot said the poll shows voters want urgent action, not excuses from elected officials.
“We have a moral imperative to do everything we can to get food, water and medical supplies to those who still remain in Gaza, and end the bombings and killing of Palestinians,” Inglot said. “It’s time for our lawmakers to stop making excuses for the reprehensible actions of the Israeli government and step up to do the right thing.”
The results come from Progress Michigan’s monthly Lake Effect polls, which survey voters across the state.
After House Democrats absconded for more than two weeks in opposition to a Congressional redistricting bill, the Texas House on Wednesday passed the bill by a vote of 88-52.
It was passed after roughly eight hours of debate during which the majority of Democrats called Republicans racist.
State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, filed HB 4, the redistricting bill, which was added to the call for the first and second legislative special sessions. He also authored the redistricting bill the legislature passed in 2021 that remains in litigation.
“I’ve heard a lot of comments, and I will tell you I don’t take them personally,” Hunter said. “These are tough issues. I feel like sometimes that I’m a pinata with no candy, just being hit. But I respect all of you.” Speaking to Democrats who fled the state, he said, “you left for 17 to 19 days and most of the comments I’ve heard could have been handled, discussed or mutually resolved in this House within that time. You chose to leave … that’s your choice. We chose to stay. That was our choice.”
State Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, like her colleagues, said the redistricting plan was racist. Collier on Monday refused to comply with House rules she voted for, not leaving the chamber, The Center Square reported. On Wednesday, she asked Hunter if he was aware that during the time of slavery, Blacks fled, or that during Nazi rule, Jews fled. “They fled their oppressor,” she said, accusing House Republicans of being oppressors, saying they “don’t reflect the diversity of Texas.”
She also complained that House Democrats weren’t involved in the redistricting process, to which Hunter replied they were gone for 17 days and chose not to be a part of the process.
“When you are oppressed, you flee the oppressors,” she said.
In response, state Rep. Katrina Pierson, R-Rockwall, said, “Chairman Hunter may not have taken the personal attacks and disrespect personally, but I did. The opposition gets to stand here and grandstand and say pretty much anything that they want, and we’re expected to stand here and just take it.
“You call my voters racist. You call my party racist, but yet we’re expected to follow the rules. Well, that double standard ends today.”
“More minority voters are voting their values, not their skin color,” she continued. “Many of them are moving to Texas to escape blue states because their values have been successfully gerrymandered into suppression. I’ve heard the accusations that this mid-decade redistricting is going to silence voters, and that it misrepresents the population of Texas. The facts don’t match the rhetoric.”
She said that under current congressional maps, Texas has zero Black CVAP (citizen voting age population) districts. Under the new map, there are two. She also replied to Collier’s claim, saying that Blacks fled during slavery to Republican states.
“I have heard repeatedly that these maps are gerrymandered, but that doesn’t fit the narrative either. That’s just spin because in many parts of the state, the map eliminates gerrymandering; they emphasize compactness in whole counties and whole cities. Political performance isn’t just legal, it is fair. It reflects the voters of the state of Texas,” she said.
She also pointed out that President Donald Trump won Hispanic voters in Texas in the last election. “President Trump flipped 11 out of 18 counties on the Texas-Mexico border. He doubled his support from 2020. Political performance is the driver” behind the redistricting. “You lost,” she told Democrats. “Get over it.”
After the vote, House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, thanked members who carried the bill, also saying the new map is constitutional and legal.
“These past few weeks have not been easy, but the House members who showed up for work every day have shown a dedication to their constituents that will not be forgotten,” he said.
President Donald Trump is calling Texas lawmakers’ approval of a sweeping redistricting plan to add up to five new GOP-leaning congressional seats a “Big WIN” for Republicans.
Trump fired off a post via Truth Social hailing the state for “never letting us down,” saying the victory was more than a state win but a national turning point. He went on to urge other Republican-led states to follow the Lone Star State’s lead.
“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself. Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing. More seats equals less Crime, a great Economy, and a STRONG SECOND AMENDMENT. It means Happiness and Peace,” he said.
Following Texas Democratic lawmakers’ return on Monday, President Donald Trump urged the state legislature to move quickly to pass a highly controversial redistricting bill, saying, “Please pass this Map, ASAP.”(Sergio Flores/Getty; Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Trump also suggested that a move in that direction could secure as many as 100 additional seats for the GOP nationwide if they followed suit.
“But Republicans, there is one thing even better – STOP MAIL-IN VOTING, a total fraud that has no bounds. Also, go to PAPER BALLOTS before it is too late – At one tenth the cost, faster, and more reliable. If we do these TWO things, we will pick up 100 more seats, and the CROOKED game of politics is over. God Bless America!!!,” the post went on.
Texas Republicans pushed the new congressional map through the state House Wednesday in an 88–52 party-line vote, brushing aside Democratic objections in a bid to strengthen the GOP’s hold on Congress heading into 2026.
A major battle over congressional redistricting took place at the Texas State Capitol. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
While Trump celebrated the redistricting as a major Republican win, Democrats framed it as only the beginning of a much larger legal battle.
“This part of the fight is over, but it is merely the first chapter… Our best shot is in the courts. This is not over. We will continue fighting,” said Rep. Gene Wu of Houston.
Texas House Democrats also accused the GOP of trying to dilute minority voting power, saying the map was illegal and racially discriminatory.
Democrats have signaled retaliation in response to Republican redistricting efforts across the country, particularly in Texas.(Getty Images)
“Members, it breaks my heart to see how this illegal and rigged, mid-decade redistricting scheme is dividing our state and our country,” Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat, said. “This is Texas, it’s not Washington D.C. The impulses of outside politicians and their billionaire backers shouldn’t dictate what we do in this chamber, in this House.”
“This process was a total sham from the very beginning… This is a racist power grab that especially goes after our African American and Latino representatives,” said Rep. Jon Rosenthal
Republicans defended the map as necessary to reflect population growth and safeguard voter representation.
“Different from everyone else, I’m telling you, I’m not beating around the bush,” Rep. Todd Hunter, said about the map’s goal. “We have five new districts, and these five new districts are based on political performance.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats unveiled their new map last week in an effort to nullify the map Texas Republicans were creating. If that bill is passed, it would create five new Democratic-leaning congressional districts that would counteract Texas.
The dueling maps highlight the high-stakes fight for control of the House, with both parties using redistricting to try to lock in their advantage before 2026.
Democratic Governors Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul of California and New York, respectively, issued brief warnings to Texas after the Republican-led state legislature voted Wednesday evening to advance a controversial congressional redistricting plan.
Newsweek reached out to GOP Texas Governor Greg Abbott‘s office via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The vote occurred after weeks of partisan standoffs in Austin, including a Democratic walkout, as it heightened concerns that states could spark a mid‑decade redistricting “arms race” ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Texas Republicans said the map could produce as many as five additional GOP‑leaning seats; Democrats said they would mount legal challenges and urged broader pushback from governors and allies.
The Lone Star State’s GOP also felt partisan pressure and backing from President Donald Trump to press the plan further along and approve it.
What To Know
Posting to X after the vote passed, Newsom said, “It’s on, Texas.”
The Texas House approved the proposed congressional map by an 88-52 party‑line vote, advancing the legislation to the state Senate, where passage is expected.
What People Are Saying
Trump on Truth Social Tuesday: “CONGRATULATIONS TEXAS! The July Border Statistics are in and, once again, they are the LOWEST RECORDED NUMBERS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY. The U.S. Border Patrol reported ZERO releases of Illegal Aliens into the Country. Texas’ Border is Safe and Secure, and the entire World knows it. All we need to do is keep it this way, which is exactly why Texas Republicans need to help us WIN the 2026 Midterm Elections, and pass their new Bill, AS IS, for the ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP!
“With the Texas House now in Quorum, thanks to GREAT Speaker Dustin Burrows, I call on all of my Republican friends in the Legislature to work as fast as they can to get THIS MAP to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk, ASAP. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
This is a developing story that will be updated with additional information.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference on July 8 in Hunt, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Republican Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference on July 8 in Hunt, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Texas House approves controversial GOP congressional redistricting map – CBS News
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The Texas House on Wednesday night passed a controversial, Republican-backed proposal to redraw the state’s congressional maps. The bill now moves onto the Texas Senate. CBS News reporter Erica Brown has more.
Former President Barack Obama has waded into states’ efforts at rare mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying he agrees with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to alter his state’s congressional maps, in the wake of Texas redistricting efforts promoted by President Donald Trump aimed at shoring up Republicans’ position in next year’s elections. “I believe that Gov. Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach. He said this is going to be responsible. We’re not going to try to completely maximize it,” Obama said at a Tuesday fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, according to excerpts obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect.”While noting that “political gerrymandering” is not his “preference,” Obama said that, if Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.”According to organizers, the event raised $2 million for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general and heads up the group, also appeared.The former president’s comments come as Texas lawmakers return to Austin this week, renewing a heated debate over a new congressional map creating five new potential GOP seats. The plan is the result of prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives. Texas Democratic lawmakers delayed a vote for 15 days by leaving the state in protest, depriving the House of enough members to do business.Spurred on by the Texas situation, Democratic governors, including Newsom, have pondered ways to possibly strengthen their party’s position by way of redrawing U.S. House district lines, five years out from the Census count that typically leads into such procedures.In California — where voters in 2010 gave the power to draw congressional maps to an independent commission, with the goal of making the process less partisan — Democrats have unveiled a proposal that could give that state’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight for control of Congress next year. If approved by voters in November, the blueprint could nearly erase Republican House members in the nation’s most populous state, with Democrats intending to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43.A hearing over that measure devolved into a shouting match Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats, and a committee voted along party lines to advance the new congressional map. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead, and legislators are expected to approve a proposed congressional map and declare a Nov. 4 special election by Thursday to get required voter approval.Newsom and Democratic leaders say they’ll ask voters to approve their new maps only for the next few elections, returning map-drawing power to the commission following the 2030 census — and only if a Republican state moves forward with new maps. Obama applauded that temporary timeline.”And we’re going to do it in a temporary basis because we’re keeping our eye on where we want to be long term,” Obama said, referencing Newsom’s take on the California plan. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”___Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAPSee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Former President Barack Obama has waded into states’ efforts at rare mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying he agrees with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to alter his state’s congressional maps, in the wake of Texas redistricting efforts promoted by President Donald Trump aimed at shoring up Republicans’ position in next year’s elections.
“I believe that Gov. Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach. He said this is going to be responsible. We’re not going to try to completely maximize it,” Obama said at a Tuesday fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, according to excerpts obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect.”
While noting that “political gerrymandering” is not his “preference,” Obama said that, if Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.”
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NEW: President @BarackObama agrees. We have to stop Donald Trump’s attempts to rig our elections.
California will redraw our maps and neutralize any attempts Donald Trump makes to steal Congressional seats.
According to organizers, the event raised $2 million for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general and heads up the group, also appeared.
The former president’s comments come as Texas lawmakers return to Austin this week, renewing a heated debate over a new congressional map creating five new potential GOP seats. The plan is the result of prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives. Texas Democratic lawmakers delayed a vote for 15 days by leaving the state in protest, depriving the House of enough members to do business.
Spurred on by the Texas situation, Democratic governors, including Newsom, have pondered ways to possibly strengthen their party’s position by way of redrawing U.S. House district lines, five years out from the Census count that typically leads into such procedures.
In California — where voters in 2010 gave the power to draw congressional maps to an independent commission, with the goal of making the process less partisan — Democrats have unveiled a proposal that could give that state’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight for control of Congress next year. If approved by voters in November, the blueprint could nearly erase Republican House members in the nation’s most populous state, with Democrats intending to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43.
A hearing over that measure devolved into a shouting match Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats, and a committee voted along party lines to advance the new congressional map. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead, and legislators are expected to approve a proposed congressional map and declare a Nov. 4 special election by Thursday to get required voter approval.
Newsom and Democratic leaders say they’ll ask voters to approve their new maps only for the next few elections, returning map-drawing power to the commission following the 2030 census — and only if a Republican state moves forward with new maps. Obama applauded that temporary timeline.
“And we’re going to do it in a temporary basis because we’re keeping our eye on where we want to be long term,” Obama said, referencing Newsom’s take on the California plan. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”
___
Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Latest news on the Texas, California redistricting fights – CBS News
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Texas Democratic lawmakers are still seeking ways to prevent the implementation of new congressional maps in the red state. This comes as California lawmakers prepare for a potential vote on redistricting. CBS News’ Hunter Woodall reports.
Texas Republicans appear to have a clear path forward to pass their new congressional maps as soon as Wednesday, as lawmakers are set to reconvene on the House floor. CBS News’ Hunter Woodall joins CBS Morning News with what to expect.
SACRAMENTO — California’s push to redraw the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats faced early opposition Tuesday during legislative hearings, a preview of the obstacles ahead for Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies as they try to convince voters to back the effort.
California Democrats entered the redistricting fray after Republicans in Texas moved to reconfigure their political districts to increase by five the number of GOP members of Congress after the 2026 midterm elections, a move that could sway the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.
The proposed map of new districts in California that could go before voters in November could cost as many as five Golden State Republicans their seats in Congress.
In Sacramento, Republicans criticized Democrats for trying to scrap the independent redistricting process approved by voters in 2010, a change designed to remove self-serving politics and partisan game-playing. GOP lawmakers argued that the public and legislators had little time to review the maps of the proposed congressional districts and questioned who crafted the new districts and bankrolled the effort.
In an attempt to slow down the push by Democrats, California Republicans filed an emergency petition at the California Supreme Court, arguing that Democrats violated the state Constitution by rushing the bills through the legislature.
The state Constitution requires lawmakers to introduce non-budget bills 30 days before they are voted on, unless the Legislature waives that rule by a three-fourths majority vote. The bills were introduced Monday through a common process known as “gut and amend,” where lawmakers strip out the language from an older pending bill and replace it with a new proposal.
The lawsuit said that without the Supreme Court’s intervention, the state could enact “significant new legislation that the public has only seen for, at most, a few days,” according to the lawsuit filed by GOP state Sens. Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach and Suzette Martinez Valladares of Acton and Assemblymembers Tri Ta of Westminster and Kathryn Sanchez of Trabuco Canyon.
Democrats bristled at the questions about their actions, including grilling by reporters and Republicans about who had drawn the proposed congressional districts that the party wants to put before voters.
“When I go to a restaurant, I don’t need to meet the chef,” said Assembly Elections Committee chair Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz).
Democrats unveiled their campaign to suspend the independent redistricting commission’s work Thursday, proposed maps of the redrawn districts were submitted to state legislative leaders Friday, and the three bills were introduced in the legislature Monday.
If passed by a two-thirds vote in both bodies of the legislature and signed by Newsom this week, as expected, the measure will be on the ballot on Nov. 4.
On Tuesday, lawmakers listened to hours of testimony and debate, frequently engaging in testy exchanges.
After heated arguing and interrupting during an Assembly Elections Committee hearing, Pellerin admonished Assemblymembers Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) and David Tangipa (R-Clovis).
“I would like you both to give me a little time and respect,” Pellerin said near the end of a hearing that lasted about five hours.
Tangipa and the committee’s vice chair, Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare), repeatedly questioned witnesses about issues that the GOP is likely to continue to raise: the speed with which the legislation is being pushed through, the cost of the special election, the limited opportunity for public comment on the maps, who drew the proposed new districts and who is funding the effort.
Tangipa voiced concerns that legislators had too little time to review the legislation.
“That’s insanity, and that’s heartbreaking to the rest of Californians,” Tangipa said. “How can you say you actually care about the people of California?
Berman dismissed the criticism, saying the bill was five pages long.
In a Senate elections committee hearing, State Sen. Steve Choi (R-Irvine), the only Republican on the panel, repeatedly pressed Democrats about how the maps had been drawn before they were presented.
Tom Willis, Newsom’s campaign counsel who appeared as a witness to support the redistricting bills, said the map was “publicly submitted, and then the legislature reviewed it carefully and made sure that it was legally compliant.”
But, Choi asked, who drew the maps in the first place? Willis said he couldn’t answer, because he “wasn’t a part of that process.”
In response to questions about why California should change their independent redistricting ethos to respond to potential moves by Texas, state Sen. Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) was blunt.
“This is a partisan gerrymander,” she said, to counter the impacts of Trump administration policy decisions, from healthcare cuts to immigration raids, that are disproportionately impacting Californians. “That’s what we’re talking about here.”
Her comments prompted a GOP operative who is aiding the opposition campaign to the ballot measure to say, “It made me salivate.”
California Common Cause, an ardent supporter of independent redistricting, initially signaled openness to revisiting the state’s independent redistricting rules because they would not “call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarianism.”
But on Tuesday, the group announced its opposition to a state Senate bill.
“it would create significant rollbacks in voter protections,” the group said in a statement, arguing that the legislation would result in reduced in-person voting, less opportunities for underrepresented communities to cast ballots and dampens opportunities for public input. “These changes to the Elections Code … would hinder full voter participation, with likely disproportionate harm falling to already underrepresented Californians.”
If you want to understand the health of a political party, take a look at their voter registration numbers. And for the Democrats, it’s not looking good.
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Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier from Fort Worth returned to the Texas Capitol on Monday but says she remains locked inside the Capitol because she wouldn’t sign a permission slip to be under escort by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The escorts for all House Democrats who left the state of Texas last month — preventing a vote on a GOP-led redistricting effort — are meant as a guarantee that they will return to the House by 10 a.m. Wednesday for the next special session.
CBS News Texas spoke with Collier via Zoom on Monday, and she said the situation is wrong — just like the new Congressional maps she and other Democrats have tried to block from being passed.
“I have a right to resist, I have a right to oppose, just like my voters do, just like Texans have a right to challenge government, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m challenging these decisions that are being made. I don’t agree with them,” said Collier.
She continued, adding, “All the Democrats will be working together to get that legal record set so that we can take this fight to the court.”
Collier also said that, according to DPS, she must stay in the House chambers or inside her office at the Capitol.
CBS News Texas has reached out to DPS for comment.
In a statement, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said the police escorts were the “latest Republican tactic to monitor and control Democratic lawmakers following their successful quorum break.”
Collier and dozens of other House Democrats who returned to the Capitol on Monday received a Texas-sized welcome from their supporters as they walked from the rotunda into the House chamber minutes before the House session began around noon.
The Democrats had fled to blue states earlier this month after President Trump suggested the state should redraw its U.S. House district maps to secure more Republican seats. The Democrats had remained out of the state to deny Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a quorum, temporarily derailing a special legislative session that the governor called to reshape the state’s congressional maps.
The GOP-led redistricting effort would create five more Republican-leaning House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans currently have a narrow majority in the House.
Because the Democrats broke quorum for two weeks, there weren’t enough House members to hold the special session. On Monday, there were 120 members present on the floor, but 30 were still absent.
Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said their efforts to block the potential five Republican-leaning seats have now moved into their second phase, the legal phase.
On Monday evening, the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting approved the new maps along party lines by a 12-8 margin. The legislation goes to the full House which could vote on the maps as early as Wednesday.
The Texas Senate redistricting committee approved the maps on Sunday, and the full Senate will take them up sometime this week.
President Trump says he will sign an executive order aimed at eliminating voting through mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, joins “The Takeout” to discuss.
The Texas State House of Representatives could vote as early as this week on the state’s controversial congressional redistricting plan after Gov. Greg Abbott called a second special legislative session with Democrats ending their boycott and returning to the state. CBS News correspondent Nidia Cavazos has more.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the House Republicans are hoping to make up for lost time in a second special session that began Friday and includes all 18 items on the previous agenda, including redistricting, plus a new proposal for legislation to improve youth camp safety.
Abbott’s first special session adjourned last week without signing any new bills into law, due to the absence of a quorum prompted by House Democrats who left the state to avoid voting on new U.S. Congressional boundary lines. The rare mid-decade redistricting initiative was ordered by President Donald Trump to pick up five Republican seats in U.S. Congress ahead of the 2026 primaries.
The Democrats announced that they would return to Texas if the Legislature adjourned and if California introduced a redistricting plan that “would neutralize the Trump-Abbott voter suppression effort.” Both of those demands were met, and a quorum of lawmakers was expected to be in Austin by Monday, August 18.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state will call a special election to seek voter approval for a new congressional map that would pick up more blue seats, countering the effort in Texas.
The Democrats still think the proposed Texas redistricting maps are racist and illegal. Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, refiled House Bill 4 on Friday. Democrats say they’re preparing for a legal battle in court.
“Under the advice of legal counsel, Democrats must return to Texas to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle against a map that violates both the current Voting Rights Act and the Constitution,” officials with the Texas House Democratic Caucus said in a press release on August 14.
At least 50 Texas Democrats have been absent from the Capitol for about two weeks.
Screenshot
Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, announced the adjournment of the first special session on Friday morning and told lawmakers not to stray far from the Capitol, as he expected the governor would call a second special session “very, very soon.” A second special session began two hours later, and a quorum was still not present.
“I want to point out that today’s outcome may be a win for Texans and for the rest of the governor’s call,” Burrows said. “If our absent colleagues had shown up this morning, they could have used a few remaining days to stall, or possibly even block, the passage of critical legislation: property tax relief, protections for the unborn, safeguarding women’s private spaces, and reining in runaway local taxes.”
“By following Governor Newsom’s lead, instead of the will of Texans, they have allowed us to reset the clock,” he said, adding that he hopes to accomplish every item on the agenda and adjourn the second special session before Labor Day weekend.
A quorum of at least 100 state representatives and 21 senators — two-thirds of each elected body — is needed not just to pass redistricting legislation but to vote on disaster response, elimination of the STAAR test, THC reform and numerous other measures on Abbott’s special session call.
Scott Braddock, editor of the nonpartisan Texas political newsletter Quorum Report, said on social media last week that the Democrats are “about to come home to lose here while rallying their party to maybe win nationally.”
The Republican-majority Legislature has accused the Democrats of being cowardly and ducking their duties at the expense of important disaster response bills that would help families in the Texas Hill Country who are still recovering from deadly July 4 floods.
If you don’t show up to do your job, you lose your job.
The Democrats have said they wanted to consider flood legislation but Abbott pulled a fast one and instead made redistricting the top priority.
“We do not believe stealing five seats to attempt to determine the outcome of the next election is the right thing to bring us back for,” said Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, in a Zoom livestream from Chicago last week. “Yes, we are in the position of breaking quorum, which is an extraordinary and exceptional act but it is the only tool that we have in our toolbox, as the minority, to try and defeat [redistricting].”
The Dems would ultimately like Abbott to set aside redistricting, which technically doesn’t have to be taken up until the 2030 Census. Several have pushed for an independent redistricting commission to redraw the lines.
“I’ll offer it again and if Governor Abbott wants to accept that bill and put it up for a hearing, we can find out if both sides are really willing to do this,” Johnson said. “I would love it if the solution to all of this is that the people rise up and say, ‘Hey, politicians, stop drawing your lines. We’re going to draw them for you.’ To me, that’s the ultimate win.”
Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, is also on board with an independent redistricting commission.
“From my perspective, we should be doing what the people want us to do,” Rosenthal said, noting that about 99 percent of those who spoke at public hearings before the quorum break were against mid-decade redistricting. “I would love to see federal law enact a nonpartisan redistricting commission process.”
The redistricting conversation isn’t just about Texas, the lawmakers said.
“One of our big pushes, one of our big priorities, is for this to become a national conversation,” Rosenthal said. “Redistricting in Texas in the midterm just for the purpose of rigging an election will affect the entire country.”
Representatives from both parties have indicated they’re not backing down.
“Trump thought he could easily get his way in Texas with compliant Republicans, but Democrats fought back ferociously and took the fight to Trump across America,” Texas Dems said in a statement. “We will return to the House floor and to the courthouse with a clear message: the fight to protect voting rights has only just begun.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic lawmakers and their allies on Thursday launched a special election campaign urging California voters to approve new congressional districts to shrink the state’s Republican delegation, a move that could determine control of Congress next year and stymie President Trump’s agenda.
The special election effort is a response to Republican-led states, notably Texas, pushing at Trump’s behest to redraw their congressional maps to favor Republicans and reduce the number of Democrats in the narrowly divided U.S. House of Representatives.
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Speaking to a fired-up partisan crowd at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, Newsom described the effort by Republicans as a desperate effort by a failed president to hold on to power by keeping Congress under his control.
“He doesn’t play by a different set of rules — he doesn’t believe in the rules,” Newsom said. “And as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done. It’s not good enough to just hold hands, have a candlelight vigil and talk about the way the world should be. We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt, and we have got to meet fire with fire.”
The governor was joined by California’s U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff; Southern California’s Democrats in Congress, and union leaders who would provide the funding and volunteers for the campaign.
The ballot measure, the “Election Rigging Response Act,” would temporarily scrap the congressional districts enacted by the state’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission.
“We are ready to do whatever it takes to stop this power grab and fight back against any and all attacks on our democracy, on our students and on public education,” said Erika Jones, secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Assn., which represents 310,000 public school teachers.
The gerrymandering plan in California could increase the Democratic Party’s dominance in the state by making five House districts more favorable to Democrats, according to a draft map reviewed by The Times. Those changes could reduce by more than half the number of Republicans representing California in Congress.
Outside the rally, which took place on a historic site where Japanese American families boarded buses to incarceration camps during World War II, Border Patrol agents gathered and arrested at least one person. Newsom told the crowd inside that he doubted it was a coincidence.
Republicans criticized Newsom’s effort as antidemocratic and a thinly veiled attempt to boost a future presidential campaign.
The ballot measure, said Christian Martinez, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, is about “consolidating radical Democrat power, silencing California voters and propping up his pathetic 2028 presidential pipe dream.”
For Newsom’s plan to work, the Democratic-led state Legislature must vote to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot. The final decision would be up to California voters.
California should not “stoop to the same tactics as Texas,” said Amy Thoma, spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, which includes Charles Munger Jr., the son of a billionaire who bankrolled the ballot measure that created the independent commission.
“Two wrongs do not make a right, and California shouldn’t stoop to the same tactics as Texas. Instead, We should push other states to adopt our independent, nonpartisan commission model across the country,” Thoma said. She said Munger will vigorously oppose any proposal to circumvent the independent commission.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed independent redistricting in California and around the country, “believes that the politicians in Texas are ripping off the people with their gerrymander and that California’s best way to respond is by standing with the people, not by stooping to their level and rigging our system against the voters,” said his spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell.
Since voters approved independent congressional redistricting in 2010, California’s districts have been drawn once per decade, after the U.S. census, by a panel split between registered Democrats, registered Republicans and voters without a party preference.
The commission is not allowed to consider the partisan makeup of the districts, nor protecting incumbents, but instead looks at “communities of interest,” logical geographical boundaries and the Voting Rights Act.
The current map was drawn in 2021 and went into effect for the 2022 election.
Newsom is pushing to suspend those district lines and put a new map tailored to favor Democrats in front of voters on Nov. 4. That plan, he has said, would have a “trigger,” meaning a redrawn map would not take effect unless Texas or another GOP-led state moved forward with its own.
Sara Sadhwani, who served on the redistricting commission that approved the current congressional boundaries, said that while she is deeply proud of the work she and her colleagues completed, she approved of Newsom’s effort because of unprecedented threats to democracy.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures,” Sadhwani said, citing the immigration raids, the encouragement of political violence and the use of National Guard troops in American cities. “And if that wasn’t enough, we are watching executive overreach that no doubt is making our Founding Fathers turn in their graves. … These are the hallmarks of a democracy in peril.”
If voters approved the ballot measure, the new maps would be in effect for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, until the independent commission redraws the congressional boundaries in 2031.
To meet Newsom’s ambitious deadline, the Legislature would need to pass the ballot language by a two-thirds majority and send it to Newsom’s desk by Aug. 22. The governor’s office and legislative leaders are confident in their ability to meet this threshold in the state Assembly and Senate, where Democrats have a supermajority.
Newsom first mentioned the idea in mid-July, meaning the whole process could be done in about five weeks. Generally, redrawing the state’s electoral lines and certifying a measure to appear before voters on the ballot are processes that take months, if not more than a year.
In California, the gerrymandering plan taking shape behind closed doors would increase the Democratic Party’s dominance in the state by making five House districts more favorable to Democrats, according to a draft map reviewed by The Times.
Those changes could reduce by more than half the number of Republicans representing California in Congress. California has the nation’s largest congressional delegation, with 52 members. Nine are Republicans.
In the plans under discussion, a Northern California district represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) could shift to the south, shedding rural, conservative voters near the Oregon border and picking up left-leaning cities in Sonoma County. Sacramento-area Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) would see his district shift toward the bluer center of the city.
The plan would also add more Democrats to the Central Valley district represented by Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), who has been a perennial target for Democrats.
Southern California would see some of the biggest changes: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) would see his safely Republican district in San Diego County become more purple through the addition of liberal Palm Springs. And Reps. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) and Ken Calvert (R-Corona) would be drawn into the same district, which could force the lawmakers to run against each other.
The plan would also shore up Democrats who represent swing districts, such as Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Derek Tran (D-Orange).
It could also add another district in southeast Los Angeles County, in the area that elected the first Latino member of Congress from California in modern history. A similar seat was eliminated during the 2021 redistricting.
Trump’s prodding of Texas Republicans to redraw their maps has kicked off redistricting battles across the nation. That includes Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, where Republicans control the statehouse, and New York, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, where Democrats are in power.
Democratic lawmakers in Texas fled the state to block the Republican-led Legislature from approving a new map, preventing it from reaching the quorum necessary to approve the measure.
A second special session is expected to begin Friday. The absent lawmakers are facing threats of fines, civil arrest warrants and calls for being removed from office.
Times staff writer Taryn Luna in Sacramento contributed to this report.
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was the last commander in chief born a British subject and the first member of the Whig Party to win the White House. He delivered the longest inaugural address in history, nearly two hours, and had the shortest presidency, being the first sitting president to die in office, just 31 days into his term.
Oh, there is one more bit of trivia about the man who gave us the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.” Harrison was the last politician to lose his first presidential election and then win the next one (Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson managed that before him). Richard Nixon lost only to win way down the road. (Grover Cleveland and Trump are the only two to win, lose and then win again.)
Everyone else since Harrison’s era who lost on the first try and ran again in the next election lost again. Democrat Adlai Stevenson and Republican Thomas Dewey ran twice and lost twice. Henry Clay and William Jennings Bryan each ran three times in a row and lost (Clay ran on three different party tickets). Voters, it seems, don’t like losers.
These are not encouraging results for Kamala Harris, who announced last week she will not be running for governor in California, sparking speculation that she wants another go at the White House.
But history isn’t what she should worry about. It’s the here and now. The Democratic Party is wildly unpopular. It’s net favorability ( 30 points) is nearly triple the GOP’s (11 points). The Democratic Party is more unpopular than any time in the last 35 years. When Donald Trump’s unpopularity with Democrats should be having the opposite effect, 63% of Americans have an unfavorable view of the party.
Why? Because Democrats are mad at their own party — both for losing to Trump and for failing to provide much of an obstacle to him now that he’s in office. As my Dispatch colleague Nick Cattogio puts it, “Even Democrats have learned to hate Democrats.”
It’s not all Harris’ fault. Indeed, the lion’s share of the blame goes to Joe Biden and the coterie of enablers who encouraged him to run again.
Harris’ dilemma is that she symbolizes Democratic discontent with the party. That discontent isn’t monolithic. For progressives, the objection is that Democrats aren’t fighting hard enough. For the more centrist wing of the party, the problem is the Democrats are fighting for the wrong things, having lurched too far left on culture war and identity politics. Uniting both factions is visceral desire to win. That’s awkward for a politician best known for losing.
Almost the only reason Harris was positioned to be the nominee in 2024 was that she was a diversity pick. Biden was explicit that he would pick a woman and, later, an African American running mate. And the same dynamic made it impossible to sideline her when Biden withdrew.
Of course, most Democrats don’t see her race and gender as a problem, and in the abstract they shouldn’t. Indeed, every VP pick is a diversity pick, including the white guys. Running mates are chosen to appeal to some part of a coalition.
So Harris’ problem isn’t her race or sex; it’s her inability to appeal to voters in a way that expands the Democratic coalition. For Democrats to win, they need someone who can flip Trump voters. She didn’t lose because of low Democratic turnout, she lost because she’s uncompelling to a changing electorate.
Her gauzy, often gaseous, rhetoric made her sound like a dean of students at a small liberal arts college. With the exception of reproductive rights, her convictions sounded like they were crafted by focus groups, at a time when voters craved authenticity. Worse, Harris acquiesced to Biden’s insistence she not distance herself from him.
Such clubby deference to the establishment combined with boilerplate pandering to progressive constituencies — learned from years of San Francisco and California politics — makes her the perfect solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
Her choice to appear on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” for her first interview since leaving office was telling. CBS recently announced it was terminating both Colbert and the show, insisting it was purely a business decision. But the reason for the broadcast network’s decision stemmed in part from the fact that Colbert narrow-casts his expensive show to a very small, very anti-Trump slice of the electorate.
“I don’t want to go back into the system. I think it’s broken,” Harrislamented to Colbert, decrying the “naïve” and “feckless” lack of “leadership” and the “capitulation” of those who “consider themselves to be guardians of our system and our democracy.”
That’s all catnip to Colbert’s ideologically committed audience. But that’s not the audience Democrats need to win. And that’s why, if Democrats nominate her again, she’ll probably go down in history as an answer to a trivia question. And it won’t be “Who was the 48th president of the United States?”
L.A. Times Insights delivers AI-generated analysis on Voices content to offer all points of view. Insights does not appear on any news articles.
Perspectives
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Ideas expressed in the piece
The Democratic Party faces historic unpopularity, with a net favorability 30 points lower than Republicans, driven by widespread dissatisfaction among its own base over losses to Trump and perceived ineffectiveness in opposing his policies[1].
Kamala Harris’ political challenges stem from internal Democratic factions: progressives blame her for insufficient fight while centrists view her as emblematic of leftward shifts on cultural issues, both detractors united by a desire to win[1].
Harris’s VP selection was viewed as a diversity-driven symbolic gesture by Biden, limiting her ability to build broader appeal beyond traditional Democratic coalitions, as seen in her 2024 loss[1].
Her communication style is criticized as overly generic and focus-group-driven, lacking authenticity required to attract Trump voters, while her ties to Biden and reluctance to distance herself from his leadership are seen as electoral liabilities[1].
Historical precedents suggest candidates who lose once rarely regain viability in subsequent elections, with Harris’ potential 2028 bid viewed skeptically in light of this pattern[1].
Democratic messaging under Harris risks pandering to niche progressive audiences (e.g., her Colbert interview appeal) rather than expanding outreach to swing voters, exacerbating perceptions of elitism[1].
Different views on the topic
Harris remains a strong potential front-runner in the 2026 California governor’s race, with analysts noting her viability despite a crowded field and lingering questions about Biden’s health influencing her decision-making[1].
The Democratic Party is actively reassessing its strategy post-2024, focusing on reconnecting with working-class voters and addressing core issues like affordability and homelessness, suggesting a shift toward pragmatic problem-solving[1].
Harris’ announcement to forgo the governor’s race has been interpreted as positioning for a 2028 presidential bid, reflecting her ability to navigate political calculations with long-term ambition[2].
Internal criticisms, such as Antonio Villaraigosa’s demand for transparency on Biden’s health, reflect broader party debates about leadership accountability rather than a rejection of Harris’ Senate or VP legacy[1].
Other rising Democratic voices, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Tim Walz, embody alternatives to Harris’ messaging, indicating the party’s capacity to diversify leadership beyond established figures[2].
For nearly four decades in public office, Duggan has aligned himself with the Democratic Party. As a three-term mayor, he campaigned for presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. At the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, Duggan slammed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“Detroit is 18 months out of bankruptcy, something Donald Trump knows a little bit about. But unlike Donald Trump, Detroit is only going to do bankruptcy once,” Duggan said at the convention. Several months later, Duggan called Trump “the most phony party nominee that I have seen in my lifetime.”
When Metro Times asked Duggan’s campaign on Monday about his seemingly fluid position on Trump and the president’s attacks on people of color and the LGBTQ+ movement, a spokesperson referred us to the mayor’s recent comments to none other than conservative Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley. The campaign also deflected questions about Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that cost Michigan more than $1 billion, forcing steep cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid and food assistance that support millions of lower-income residents.
“I haven’t changed any positions, other than that I think the toxic relationship between the two parties is badly damaging the state and we need a different approach to get Republicans and Democrats to work together,” Duggan told Finley. “But I haven’t changed my position on any issue.”
But a review of recent interviews and social media posts show Duggan disproportionately attacking Democrats, raising questions about the sincerity of his past statements and the truth of his current ones.
“The Democratic support is crumbling for them, and I know they’re a little upset, but people are fed up with this Democratic Party in Michigan,” Duggan said on CBS News recently, before repeating a criticism he wrote on social media. “They care about two things: They hate the Republicans in general, and they hate Trump in particular, and they don’t stand for anything else. And a lot of people are deciding they have had enough of it.”
When the CBS reporter, Major Garrett, asked how his agenda would differ from Republicans, Duggan deflected: “The Republicans and Democrats both share the blame.”
In the Duggan campaign’s latest post on X, the mayor wrote, “So this week, Democratic Party insiders are attacking us for taking donations from Republicans.”
“They’re mad the independent campaign is getting support from both parties,” he added. “We shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the same old partisan playbook. Demonize anyone who tries to bring Democrats and Republicans together.”
Regardless of his current rhetoric, Duggan can’t change what he’s said and done in the past. In July, less than six months before he began attacking Democrats, Duggan endorsed Harris and was in “deep campaign mode” for her. At the time, he slammed Trump.
“I spent four years with Donald Trump as president,” Duggan said. “There was no good relationship then. Basically we tried to keep our head down during that time. I think our starting point is, we need to elect a president who cares about this city and cares about this state. I remember he did the visit to the church in the campaign in 2016 and says, ‘I will help Detroit’s rebuilding.’ He got elected and never visited once in the next four years.”
In October 2024, when Duggan was campaigning for Harris, he criticized Trump for saying Detroit is more “developing” than “most places in China.”
Calling Trump’s memory “a little fuzzy,” Duggan said, “Since Donald Trump left office, the unemployment rate in Detroit is way down, the homicide rate is way down, and our population is growing for the first time since the 1950s.”
He added, “The best thing that happened in Detroit was when Donald Trump left office and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came in and gave us real partners.”
“Are you here just to use Detroiters as props in a re-imaging campaign, or are you here to have a real conversation where you’re finally going to give us the specifics on what you’re going to do to make American cities better?” Duggan asked.
Duggan hosted several Democratic presidential candidates since he was mayor, calling Biden “the best friend Detroit ever had in the White House” and saying Harris was “a good friend.”
That doesn’t sound like someone tired of Democrats or what he alleges is their lack of principles beyond hating Republicans and Trump.
A year earlier, Duggan called Craig “maybe the best police chief in America.”
But when Craig announced he was running for governor as a Republican in September 2021, Duggan changed his tune. During the State of the City address in March 2022, Duggan tore into Craig, saying crime rose mercilessly during his last five months as chief. Crime didn’t begin to fall until Duggan hired Craig’s replacement, Chief James White, the mayor said at the time.
“The first five months of last year before we hired Chief White, it wasn’t good,” Duggan said, adding that Craig’s failure to develop and retain partnerships with law enforcement diminished the police department’s ability to fight violent crime.
“Chief White doesn’t attack the prosecutor or the judges or the Feds, and everybody works together,” Duggan said.
As Duggan runs as an independent, both Republicans and Democrats are calling bullshit. Republicans believe he’s still secretly a Democrat, while Democrats claim he’s selling out to Trump and his supporters.
“The more Michiganders see through Mike Duggan’s fake shtick and hear how he’s being bankrolled by the same people who funded Donald Trump, the more they come to see that he cannot be trusted,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman said in a statement Tuesday. “Duggan can lash out all he wants — but Michiganders will continue to see his self-serving and shady motives.”
Scott Urbanowski, a Democrat from Kent County, said Duggan’s big donations from Republican powerbrokers and Trump megadonors sends a message that he has abandoned his base.
“Whatever their motivation for backing him, these conservatives are inadvertently making it clear: Mike Duggan doesn’t give a flying flamingo about working-class Michiganders like me,” Urbanowski wrote on Facebook.
In his column Saturday, Finley wrote, “I’ve lost count of the number of calls I’ve received from Republicans expressing their skepticism about Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s abandonment of the Democratic Party in making his 2026 run for Michigan governor.”
He added, “Many are convinced Duggan is cloaking himself in independence for political expediency, rather than making a sincere break with the Democratic Party he served his entire career.”
“Detroit Democrat Mike Duggan sat down for an interview this weekend, said he’s still a Democrat, clarified none of his positions changed but he’s putting an ‘I’ after his name in the hopes some Republicans are dumb enough to vote for him,” Hoffman wrote on X.
Duggan has adopted Republican talking points, including calling undocumented immigrants “illegal” in January while speaking to business leaders. When called out by pro-immigration groups, Duggan dismissed the criticism as “political correctness,” another term that conservatives have adopted.
So who is Duggan as he runs for governor? So far, it’s anyone’s guess.
Republicans are expected to retake control of the U.S. Senate, creating obstacles for Vice President Kamala Harris if she is elected president and a potential glide path for former President Trump’s agenda if he wins the White House.
The GOP’s edge is created by a number of factors. Several of the Democratic senators up for reelection were initially elected during years favorable to their party, such as the 2006 backlash to then-President George W. Bush or during then-President Obama’s successful 2012 reelection campaign — and are facing headwinds for the first time.
“The nature of the calendar of Senate elections almost always gives one party or other an advantage in every cycle. Democrats have a lot more seats up this year and so they’re working at a disadvantage,” said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.
“One other way of looking at it is that 2018 was Trump’s first midterm election, and it ended up being a very good year for the Democrats,” Schnur added. “But now many of the senators who benefited from that climate six years ago are facing a much more difficult challenge this year.”
Additionally, Republicans recruited a number of wealthy candidates who have self-funded their campaigns or raised large sums of money. For example, Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is being challenged by GOP Sen. Eric Hovde, who has put $20 million into his campaign, more than her last two rivals spent combined, said Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan analyst of races.
“Our current projection is Republicans picking up between two and five seats,” Taylor said.
Democrats currently control 51 seats of the 100-member Senate because the three independents in the body caucus with Democrats. Republicans control 49 seats.
Which states are the best pickup opportunities for Republicans?
One of the Senate’s three independents is Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is retiring. Republicans are expected to easily win this open seat in a state Trump carried by nearly 70% of the vote in 2020.
Montana, where Republican businessman Tim Sheehy is challenging Democratic incumbent Jon Tester, is also expected to be a likely GOP pickup. Sheehy leads Tester by an average of 6.5 percentage points in recent polling compiled by Real Clear Politics.
Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was also believed to be vulnerable in a challenge by Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. The race is in effect tied in recent polling. Democrats have been hammering Moreno over a statement he was caught making on camera saying abortion rights shouldn’t be an issue for women over age 50. Taylor points to a new Iowa poll that showed a Democratic shift among older women that could boost Brown if it is happening in Ohio.
What other states are being watched closely?
Wisconsin’s Baldwin has a 1.4-point edge over Hovde in recent polling, according to Real Clear Politics. Contests in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada have similar tight contests, though the two Western states show an interesting dynamic:
Democrats Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada have narrow leads over their Republican challengers, but both outpace how Harris is expected to do in their respective states.
GOP incumbents are facing notable challenges in the red states of Texas and Nebraska.
In Texas, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz holds a 4-point lead over Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in recent polling, but the race is tight for such a traditional Republican state.
In Nebraska, incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer narrowly leads independent union leader Dan Osborn.
What does control of the Senate mean for the next president?
Schnur and Taylor agreed that a Republican-controlled Senate would allow Trump to enact the policies he has discussed throughout his campaign.
“If it’s a Republican Senate, you could certainly see Republicans passing a lot of Trump’s priorities — no tax on tips, tariffs, following his foreign policy guidelines,” Taylor said.
Schnur added that the filibuster would almost certainly be eliminated and the body would become “almost an assembly line” for Trump’s judicial nominees.
The exact opposite is true if Harris wins the White House, they said.
“If President Harris was given a Republican Senate, she would be the first president in almost 40 years not to take office with a Congress of the same party,” Schnur said. “So from Day One, it would be much more difficult for her to move her agenda forward.”
The Democratic National Committee plans to project unmissable messages in giant, all-capital letters on the New York City landmark, while Trump delivers his closing argument inside, that read “TRUMP PRAISED HITLER,” “TRUMP=UNSTABLE,” “TRUMP=UNHINGED,” “TRUMP=UNFIT,” and “TRUMP=CHEAT.”
As early voting begins in many states and Tuesday, November 5, looms, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has leaned hard on Trump’s shortcomings as part of her own final press. During Wednesday night’s town hall broadcast on CNN, Harris said outright that she believes Trump is a fascist and a “danger to the well-being and security of the United States of America.”
Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who served first under Trump as his secretary of homeland security, then as his chief of staff, delivered interviews this week in which he described his former boss as a fascist as well, offering up alternate descriptors of “authoritarian” and “dictator,” for the thesaurus-minded among readers. He also recalled that Trump “commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too,’” a replay of a 2021 sound bite, and in another interview recalled Trump speaking wistfully of “Hitler’s generals,” resurfacing another old chestnut that made headlines in 2022 and subsequently appears to have vacated the population’s minds.
Kelly recalled asking for clarification that Trump meant Hitler’s generals, and upon receiving it, Kelly reminded Trump, “You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” There have been two apparentassassination attempts on Trump in the past three months alone.
Trump’s admiration of Hitler is so old-hat that his late ex-wife Ivana Trump revealed in a 1990 Vanity Fair article that Trump kept a collection of Hitler’s speeches, My New Order, in a cabinet beside his bed.
When asked about the book, Trump responded, “If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them.”
“It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” she said. “All of this is further evidence for the American people of who Donald Trump really is. This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him side by side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room.”
“It’s time to sing a new song, a song that began 248 years ago,” she continued later. “The old notes—of downfall, discord, despair—no longer resonate. Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment right now—it’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity.”
As usual, Harris entered the stage to the sound of Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” This time, she was greeted by Queen Bey herself along with her blaring song. Harris hugged Rowland and then Beyoncé, then took the podium to stump in a state with some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws.
Until Friday, Beyoncé herself had kept mum on her choice of candidate. Rumors of a performance by Queen Bey on the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention back in August turned out to be greatly exaggerated, but, months later, in the final days before voters head to the polls, it came to fruition in Bey’s hometown.
The singer endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket back in the 2020 election, and in 2016, headlined a performance with her husband, Jay-Z, in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Audiences have long waited for Beyoncé to speak out officially, though she’s signaled her support in other ways.
The singer’s endorsement is more than just symbolic—her stamp of approval could actually sway voters. A recent poll conducted by Newsweek found that some 40% of surveyed Gen Z voters said that they were “more likely” or “significantly more likely” to vote for a candidate who had earned Beyoncé’s endorsement.
