Today’s notice: Live from South Carolina. Mike Rounds scrubs the president’s name from his campaign website. A look at state ballot initiatives. Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries on the trail. Democrats’ favorite northern neighbor. And: Florida’s confusing stock trading disclosure law.
THE LATEST
In South Carolina, Republicans still believe in Donald Trump. At least one very prominent one, Sen. Darline Graham, does. At the one (and Graham says, only) debate of the general election fight with Democratic nominee Annie Andrews last night, Graham defended the Iran war and praised ICE — two areas where other Republicans under pressure are trying to put as much distance as they can between themselves and the president.
We were in Columbia for the debate last night. The race has drawn more attention with national Republicans almost ceding Georgia and North Carolina. Andrews is trying to be the next southern Democratic hero, and is pressing all the buttons other red-to-purple state Democrats are vigorously mashing right now. She is focused on prices: “cut taxes, cut costs, cut waste” read the campaign signs waved by her supporters ahead of the debate.
Trending
She’s also selling herself as an independent, and not the kind of Democrat from Blue America. She’s against Medicare for All, for example. On the debate stage, she took offense when Graham tried to tie her to socialism. After the debate, Andrews told reporters in the spin room she did not want any national Democrat to come to South Carolina and campaign for her.
Graham has no such qualms about her party’s national leader. After the debate, spokesperson T.W. Arrighi told The Washington Sun “I don’t think you’ll ever see” Graham looking for distance from Trump. Why? “South Carolina is still Trump Country,” he told us.
Other Republicans continue to think differently about Trump. In South Dakota, Sen. Mike Rounds appears to be the latest member of his party to scour references to Trump from his campaign’s website, The Sun’s Jenna Monnin reports.
In an archived version of his site, text underneath the “ROUNDS FOR SENATE” banner previously read, “Mike is endorsed by President Trump and is working for South Dakota every single day.” The line on the current homepage appears to have nixed the nod to the president. A large “ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP” banner is now noticeably absent from the bottom of the site, and several references to Trump have been scrubbed from Rounds’ issues page.
Rounds’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But like Graham, he is feeling the heat amid a difficult moment for the incumbent party — recent polling shows independent candidate Brian Bengs potentially too close for Republicans’ comfort. The difference is, while Rounds is running away from Trump, Graham isn’t.
More: Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to End Promotional Ads • Bill Gates Warns of ‘Grim Possibilities’ Without More Control Over AI • Trump Declares That Russia and Ukraine Have Agreed to an ‘Energy Ceasefire’
FROM THE STATES
If at first you don’t succeed: Congressional Republicans did not pass the SAVE Act but voters in some states will face a question at the ballot box about whether they want to require voter ID going forward. The Sun’s Manuela Silva dug into more than 100 state ballot initiatives across the country and found a voter ID question in California, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio.
It’s a “70% issue, and yet our politicians can’t get their shit together to get it done,” California State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a Republican pushing the voter ID initiative, told Manuela. “We have to go to a ballot measure because politicians have failed us on both sides of the aisle on this important issue.”
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Department of Faint Praise: The top two House leaders, Speaker Mike Johson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are very active on the midterm trail this cycle despite public polling showing that voter anger toward Washington is near all-time highs, The Sun’s Paul Kane writes. Lucky for the leaders, they’re flying under the radar — or as Paul puts it, they simply lack the menace and notoriety in the public imagination to serve as political villains for ad makers in each party. Democrats want to talk about Trump, sparing Johnson from ads. Republicans want to talk about New Yorkers, but not Jeffries — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor Zohran Mamdani make better villains.
Blame Hug Canada: How Democrats in northern states sound this month: “If you want somebody that’s going to fight to repair the relationship with Ontario and Quebec, my campaign is for you,” Blake Gendebien, the party’s nominee in New York’s 21st Congressional District, told The Sun’s Raymond Fernández.
FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
It’s the first day on the job for Katie Zacharia, Trump’s new White House press secretary whom the president says “has been with me, in spirit, from the very beginning.” Get ready for Zacharia’s test drive in the briefing room Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
More: Trump Weighs Firing U.S. Ambassador to Greece After Reports of Misconduct
NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN
Florida tries and fails at political stock trade transparency: A new state law requiring all federal candidates to declare whether they plan to trade stocks while in office has confused many candidates and left many questions unanswered, The Sun’s Jenna Monnin reports. A candidate can check the box indicating they don’t plan to trade as long as their investment activity is conducted through trust or something similar.
That means a candidate can check no even if they do plan to continue trading through something like a mutual fund. Or, check yes out of concern that trades will be made in their name without their control.
That kinda defeats the purpose. Republican Ryan Elijah and Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, both candidates for Congress, checked the box saying they do plan to trade stocks in office — but both told Jenna they actually do not plan to. Elijah said his campaign had “zero guidance” on how to comply with Florida’s new stock trade disclosure law. He has a retirement account he doesn’t directly manage. Does that count? “Full disclosure, I probably wish I would’ve just checked ‘no,’ but I still think it’s the most honest answer to check ‘yes,’” he said.
More: Expect to See More Political Ads for Candidates You Can’t Vote For • Trump Administration Plans $65 Million Exhibit at Saudi Arabia’s ‘Expo 2030’ • Six Senators Call for Trump to Reverse Course on Russia Diesel Purchase
NOT US
- America’s Elected Officials Are Living in Fear, by Nick Corasaniti for The New York Times
- What Is John Fetterman Doing, by Sam Janesch for The Philadelphia Inquirer
- How Trump aide Natalie Harp’s family broke apart — and polarized, by Terrence McCoy for The Washington Post
- The Crew of Virtually Unknown Donors Powering the Rise of the New Left, by Maggie Severns, Anthony DeBarros and Kara Dapena for The Wall Street Journal
WEEK AHEAD
Today
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Trump holds a rally in Youngstown, Ohio.
Tuesday
Trump holds a rally in Wasilla, Alaska.
Maine Senate debate between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson.
Georgia Senate debate between Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins.Iowa’s Senate debate between Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek.
Wednesday
Iowa gubernatorial debate between Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand.
Monthly Consumer Price Index released.
Thursday
Maine Senate debate between Susan Collins and Jackson.
Alaska Senate debate between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
Maine 2nd Congressional District debate between Republican Paul LePage and Democrat Matt Dunlap.
FEC quarterly deadline.
Saturday
JD Vance participates in a CBS town hall in Michigan.
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Gaby Morera Di Núbila.
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