Today’s notice: What “God is nonbinary” meant. Everyone’s turning Senate staffers into election monitors. Super PAC shenanigans in the Bay Area. John Kennedy, super surrogate. Jim Justice, super downer. A bunch of little midterm scoops. And: The left doesn’t want to talk about permitting reform.
THE LATEST
A question of faith: Worlds collided on CNN last night as the traditional TV town hall (tightly controlled, predictable) tried to join with the YouTube debate format (looser, wilder). At the center was James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, a man who, with just one false move, could blunt his surprisingly consistent momentum.
About an hour into the strange mash-up of television and the Internet, Talarico spent three minutes face-to-face with Sarah Gardner, an involved Republican from the Dallas area, who challenged him on his faith. Comments like “God is nonbinary” (the centerpiece of many a campaign ad) have “led a lot of Christian voters to question the authenticity” of Talarico’s faith, Gardner said.
Trending
“When I said that, I was being provocative, and I want to admit that and come clean about that,” Talarico said, calling her critiques of the phrasing fair. But he didn’t back down entirely. “I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically — the idea that we can’t define God using human categories.”
Gardner said Talarico should be more careful about using “modern cultural terms when talking about God,” and Talarico agreed.
“Preachers often will say something shocking in a sermon to get your attention,” Talarico said. “That’s something I’m still learning how to do in a responsible way.”
More: Trump Blames Biden for High Prices Hours After News of Rising Inflation • Trump Says Officials Who Leak Information to the Press ‘Should Be Shot’ • Candidates Are Increasingly Icing Out Reporters on the Campaign Trail
FROM THE POLLS
The Senate staffers are coming: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Alex Padilla of California announced yesterday that they are sending a little more than 100 trained staffers to key locations to monitor voting in Senate races for the first time, The Washington Sun’s Adora Brown tells us. Padilla mentioned Michigan, Ohio and Georgia as some of the potential spots on a call with reporters. “They’ll be there for at least a couple days after the Election Day,” Padilla said. “If there’s a need for them to stay days or even weeks longer, we’re prepared for that scenario.”
Not to be outdone, Senate Republicans announced yesterday that they’re also training staffers to monitor the polls in battleground states.
FROM A BATTLEGROUND NEAR YOU
Sen. John Kennedy’s star turn: The colorful Republican from Louisiana is in high demand on the stump this cycle, The Sun’s Igor Bobic and Al Weaver report. “It’s like following the baton twirler in the talent show,” Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, said after Kennedy appeared at an event with him.
FROM CALIFORNIA
Pushing the envelope in the race to succeed Pelosi: State Sen. Scott Wiener has forged an unusual arrangement with a federal super PAC: direct coordination. The Sun’s Mark Alfred reports that the PAC and Wiener’s campaign share staff, a fundraising consultant, a pollster and a headquarters. FEC rules have allowed super PAC–campaign coordination when it comes to paid canvassing activities, but federal election law typically does not permit campaign committees and super PACs to coordinate efforts beyond that. The super PAC denied it’s doing anything wrong.
FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Lowered expectations: Republican Sen. Jim Justice was not optimistic about his party’s chances in the upcoming midterms during a trip to a chicken-processing facility in Moorefield.
“From a Republican standpoint, unless something really changes, I don’t think it’s going to be a pretty baby,” Justice told The Sun’s Tyler Spence after the event.
The longtime political leader of a rural, red state offered his blunt assessment on why Republicans seem to be struggling. “We chase like crazy to save the federal government $14 so we can get on a soapbox and act how proud we are,” the senator said, arguing that you can’t cut your way to solutions. “So many folks are getting hurt, and that’s not what we’re supposed to be there for.”
FIRST ON THE SUN: MIDTERM ROUNDUP
House GOP conference chair will campaign with JD Vance in Michigan: Rep. Lisa McClain, a Republican from Michigan’s 9th District, will appear with Vance, Rogers and Rep. Tim Walberg (5th District) today in Monroe. McClain is the latest member of House leadership to hit the trail, and she is expected to deliver a message similar to the one we’ve heard from Speaker Mike Johnson and others. McClain will tell voters, “On one side stands common sense and on the other stands communist crazy,” according to The Sun’s Kadia Goba.
Randi Weingarten hits the road: The American Federation of Teachers president kicks off a 10-state GOTV bus tour today in St. Paul, Minnesota, The Sun has learned. Future stops include Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia and Ohio.
Caregiver-focused field effort hits fever pitch: The progressive PAC Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy says it’s knocked on the doors of more than 5.3 million voters in the past month or so as part of a $59 million effort to focus voter attention on the high cost of being a caregiver in battleground districts. Public polling from earlier this year found huge numbers of Americans reporting that they act as a caregiver for a relative and that the role has been a financial strain.
A little Trump cash for Maine: The president’s MAGA Inc. super PAC has finally entered the chat in Maine’s Senate race, disclosing a whopping $44,506.23 on a digital media buy from last week. The PAC had long avoided getting involved on behalf of incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, who is distancing herself from the president.
FROM THE 2028 WATCH
Mini, maximized: At an event in North Carolina today, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) will become the latest potential presidential candidate to sit down with Reproductive Freedom for All’s president, Mini Timmaraju. The group was formerly called NARAL, and it stands as one of the strongest advocates for abortion rights. The issue is emerging as a top one for these possible presidents, and Timmaraju is becoming a key voice. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona have all appeared on her podcast. Kamala Harris is set to appear on an episode that will come out on Election Day.
More: Nevada Democrats Are Suddenly 2028 Kingmakers
NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN
A notable hush: It’s been two weeks since Congress unveiled a bipartisan permitting reform proposal to reshape the future of energy and infrastructure projects in America — and some of the biggest environmental groups and leading progressive lawmakers still haven’t come out with a full-throated position on it. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office told The Sun’s Mara Hoplamazian it had nothing to share, while Sen. Bernie Sanders’s office did not respond to their request for comment.
More: Voting Rights Groups Say Texas Failed to Process Voter Registrations • A Watchdog Group Is Challenging Jared Kushner’s Foreign Policy Role • ‘Democrats for Mike Rogers’ Super PAC Changes Its Name After FEC Demand
NOT US
- Starlink Suspicions and a Frantic Warning: Inside Trump’s Turn on Zelensky, by Robbie Gramer, Lindsay Wise and Marcus Walker for The Wall Street Journal
- Going Hungry in Trump’s Economy, by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez for The Atlantic
- Kirsten Gillibrand, Crypto’s Favorite Democrat, by Nate Weisberg for New York magazine
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton.
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