Today’s notice: A memorable night on the debate stage(s). The NRCC chair goes on TV in his own district. On the ground in Alaska and Nevada. And: Following the Freedom 250 money.
THE LATEST
Slugfest Thursday. All you really need to know about a truly astounding debate in Michigan last night: Coming back from the ad break, a frustrated but unflappable Rick Albin, the moderator from WOOD-TV, told viewers, “In 30 years of debates I’ve never seen one continue during the commercials, but it did.”
Supporters of each Senate candidate got plenty to enjoy. Both Republican nominee Mike Rogers and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed landed hits. Each candidate struggled a bit: El-Sayed refused to answer when asked if Iran or Israel is the bigger threat to the U.S. (Both “have proven dangerous in their own way,” he said.)
Trending
Rogers’ toughest moments came thanks to Donald Trump. Rogers tried to create distance with the president on tariffs and the Iran war but ended up saying a lot of supportive things about both. After the debate, Rogers told reporters he would welcome a Trump campaign stop in Michigan.
What defined the debate: Name-calling. Rogers called El-Sayed a “con man,” while El-Sayed dubbed Rogers “weak, cowardly.” Rogers did not call his opponent a terrorist, but El-Sayed said he got close enough that he should just “go ahead and say it.” Rogers did not.
It was not the only feisty Senate debate of the night. In Georgia, Republican Rep. Mike Collins needed a big night, but Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff — the 2026 master of viral lines — was ready. Referring to Collins’ multiple staffing scandals, Ossoff said his opponent had “hired half the Third Reich” to staff his office.
Maine had another Senate debate, and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson again tried to chip away at incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ reputation as an independent voice. She pointed out that Jackson has changed his position evolved over the years on abortion. “Was I voting the wrong way? Yeah,” Jackson said. “But the fact of the matter is that I can admit when I was wrong. Sen. Collins can’t. She still won’t admit that she was wrong in putting Brett Kavanaugh on [the Supreme Court], which took away Roe v. Wade.”
What’s the takeaway from last night? Candidates were prepped and ready, and races like Michigan and Maine remain close after yesterday. But the candidates with the tougher job right now are the Republicans, and on debate stages across the country, they spent more time on defense.
More: Mamdani Tells ICE to Leave New York After an Agent Shot a Man • Pentagon Says Fort Hood Shooter’s Execution Will Be Livestreamed • NYT: Pentagon Draws Up New Iran Strike Plans as Trump Hesitates
FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Uh-oh: The NRCC chair, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-North Carolina), has reserved tens of thousands of dollars in TV ad buys in his own district, The Washington Sun’s Kadia Goba and Chase Pellegrini de Paur report. The district voted Trump +16 in 2024. “Congressman Hudson runs hard every cycle, and this one is no different. He was on air at home in 2022, he was on air in 2024, and he’s on air now,” Hudson’s campaign manager told The Sun. The campaign did not provide documentation suggesting past cycle spending was comparable to the spending his campaign is doing now.
FROM ALASKA
Mary Peltola is confronted over trans rights: The Sun’s Alex Roarty reports from Anchorage, where the Democratic nominee for Senate came face-to-face with backlash over the party’s shift away from trans issues. Peltola is currently running a TV ad pushing back on trans-focused ads run by Republicans. “No, I don’t want kids getting surgeries to change genders or men in girls’ bathrooms,” she says into the camera.
The rhetoric upset a 23 year-old trans man, who confronted Peltola at a campaign stop. He accused Peltola of buying into “a false slander” with the ad and asked the candidate if she planned to support trans rights in the Senate. She did not answer the question directly, Alex writes.
FROM NEVADA
2028 report: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) stumped for Democratic candidates in Nevada this week, which just so happens to be an early state on the party’s 2028 nominating map. The Sun’s Christa Dutton traveled with the pastor for a story about the role faith is playing in so many Democratic campaigns this year. “I think Democrats make a huge mistake when we cede all this ground, when we cede all the terrain around faith and values to Republicans,” he told Christa. “Why would we do that? Especially given the fact that on matters of morality, in my view, they’ve got so much of it wrong.”
FROM THE HILL
Stock buyback fight in defense bill: Major unions are backing a proposal to restrict stock buybacks and dividends by defense contractors in the Senate’s defense policy bill. Major business groups are strongly opposed to the idea. The Sun’s Joe Gould reports on how this argument is scrambling traditional political alliances ahead of the Senate’s return after the midterms.
NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN
Where’s the Freedom 250 money? Documents released by a watchdog group yesterday suggest that despite Trump’s promise to fund the nation’s semiquincentennial events through private donations, taxpayers largely footed the bill for the White House’s celebrations. (Reminder: these events were different from the America250 events organized by the commission established by Congress.) The budget estimates leave open questions about where tens of millions in private donations ended up, The Sun’s Jenna Monnin reports.
More: Army Finds Systemic Failures Behind D.C. Midair Collision
NOT US
- Young men who carried Trump to victory are mad. Vance is trying to win them back. By Megan Messerly, Myah Ward and Alex Gangitano for Politico
- Trump’s Nobel ambitions fade, but Norway still fears his wrath, by Michael Birnbaum for The Washington Post
- Conservative Podcasters Can’t Stop Talking About Affordability, by Neil Mehta and Shradha Dinesh for The Wall Street Journal
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton.
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