Today’s notice: News from the midterm map. The search for a new NRCC chair. Centrists think they have the numbers to quiet progressives. Hegseth potential impeachment. Moving on at the White House. And: What MAGA thinks of JD Vance’s attempt at honesty.
THE MAP
Mississippi: Democrats think they’ve got it. Senate nominee Scott Colom, currently ahead in the official vote count by the smallest of margins, said yesterday he’s “confident once the process lays out where we are, where the ballots are, we’re gonna win.” Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith have both launched recount funds.
Alaska: Counting continues. Democrats are already celebrating down-ballot, Alaska Public Media reports. But in the high-profile Senate race, Republicans are feeling themselves. The title of a new memo from Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign: “State of the Race: Senator Sullivan Wins Once Ranked Choice Votes Are Counted.” It’ll be a while before we find out who should laugh or cry in Alaska.
Trending
Michigan: AOC’s POTUS launchpad? The star of the night here was of course Democratic Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed. But The Washington Sun’s Christa Dutton reports from Detroit that El-Sayed supporters are thinking they have the formula to launch Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the party’s presidential nomination thanks to Michigan’s new status as an early primary state. “She’s got to run,” progressive strategist Bhavik Lathia said.
Texas: Transition begins. Outgoing Republican Sen. John Cornyn spoke with Democratic Sen.-elect James Talarico after the party swept the GOP out of much of its entrenched power in the state, The Sun’s Daniella Diaz reports.
More: How Talarico Turned Texas Into a 2028 Battleground • Republicans Redistricted to Win More Seats. They Won Almost None of Them. • Midterm Voters Reject Data Centers
FROM THE HILL
Progressives: Too much of a good thing? Too many Democrats won Tuesday for even an upsized Squad to play the major role it hoped to in the coming congressional majority. At least that’s how moderates see it, The Sun’s Hill team reports. “It’s a big enough win with many people who won in districts that are going to be tough to hold onto, so the center is going to have a huge ‘block,’” one senior House Democrat told the team. They added: “That’s what I was hoping for.” Welp, that’s the end of that for the next two years! Right? Riiiiiight?
No. Progressive group Indivisible sent us the first look at a memo it’s blasting out to its membership today — urging them to call their Democratic senators, congratulate them on their wins and then demand Chuck Schumer step aside as leader.
Republicans: New leaves being turned. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina conceded his race yesterday. Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia, Hudson’s well-respected candidate recruiter at the NRCC, is running to be the next chair.
Pete Hegseth: Impeachment starts early. The new Congress won’t even be seated before the defense secretary’s new problems on the Hill begin, The Sun’s Joe Gould reports. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of the Republicans defeated in the MAGA primary wave, plans to force a House vote on articles of impeachment against Hegseth when Congress returns next week for the lame duck.
Investigations: Project 2027? Advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative has a 181-page dossier laying out a constant stream of high-profile confrontations next year with executives of health care, tech and energy firms for the incoming Congress to get going with, The Sun’s Jeff Stein reports. The book is a hot commodity for senior congressional Democrats, Jeff writes, though the incoming caucus has yet to resolve internal arguments over how much time and political capital to spend on going after corporate America.
More: House Republicans Have No Clue Who Will Lead Them • Democrats Snagged Control Over Trump’s Judicial Picks
FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
Moving on: “It’s basically business as usual because it’s the only option,” a GOP source close to the White House told The Sun’s Jasmine Wright. “I think people are obviously very unhappy. The mood is sour. But there’s nothing else really for a lot of people to do other than just keep on keeping on.”
Impeachment: Donald Trump says he’s not worried about it — “not even a little bit,” he said — but Jasmine reports that some of the president’s top officials lawyered up. Senior White House officials have even suggested some outside allies be prepared for an onslaught of investigations.
The VP of it all: JD Vance gets real. He offered the only real public acknowledgement inside the White House orbit of the scale of Tuesday’s massive defeat, in the form of a 600+ word post declaring the Iran war to be the major problem. (And, explicitly saying it was not immigration enforcement.)
The reaction has been mixed. The source close to the White House told Jasmine that Vance’s comments were “self-serving” and meant to create a healthy distance as the vice president mulls a 2028 run. Another Trumpworld operative told The Sun’s Ben T.N. Mause: “Whether his analysis is right or wrong, you have to respect the transparency.”
FROM 2028
Rubiomentum: The secretary of state has many more people calling on him to run for president after the midterm failure of MAGA, The Sun’s Igor Bobic reports. Last night, Newt Gingrich publicized the effort in a post on X: “The number of people who want to draft Secretary of State Marco Rubio is staggering.”
PODCAST
The blue wave cometh: Congress editor Deirdre Walsh tackles the massive flip in the House and Senate with reporters Paul Kane, Oriana González, Al Weaver and Igor Bobic.
NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN
Unstocked: Nearly 100 races this year featured at least one advertisement that highlighted congressional stock trading, according to an analysis by The Sun’s Dave Levinthal of AdImpact data. And it seemed to work. Some of the House and Senate’s most prolific stock and bond traders lost their races this week.
“This should be a wake-up call to anyone that Americans are saying, ‘We’re sending you there to Washington to serve the people, and it seems you’re there instead to serve yourself,’” former Rep. Brian Baird told Dave.
More: Could a Democratic Wave Revive Immigration Reform? • Leon Black Sues Rep. Robert Garcia Over Epstein Comments
NOT US
- How a Democrat shocked the world in South Carolina, by Burgess Everett for Semafor
- Democrats’ midterm gains could sideline Electoral College by 2028, by Andrew Pantazi for Axios
- $500 Million Bought Elon Nothing, by Charlie Warzel for The Atlantic
- What’s Idaho’s top gun? Here’s what voters chose among the six offered, by Mark Dee for the Idaho Statesman
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton.
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