Today’s notice: RFK Jr.’s star turn. Minnesota prepares to lose Medicaid funds. The Senate GOP walks away from North Carolina. Hinson v. Turek in Iowa. Schumer’s safe. And: Where the campaigns like to eat in D.C., with charts.
THE LATEST
Who are the surrogates of 2026? Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been unmuzzled in recent months by a White House that used to try to keep him quiet, The Washington Sun’s Paige Winfield Cunningham and Christa Dutton report today. “They’ve given him flexibility to be himself and do his Bobby Kennedy thing,” a senior administration official said.
One reason: the midterms. RFK Jr.’s tirades against food additives and pesticides resonate with voters in both parties, our team writes. And: He’s slightly less disliked than other national GOP politicians.
Trending
“He represents a brand of politics and a constituency that is outside the normal coalition,” said Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Michigan), one of the battleground Republicans who has stumped with Kennedy.
Despite polls showing voters turned off by Donald Trump, the president keeps rallying for Republicans — and Republicans keep appearing with him. They’re fighting on turf Trump won in 2024, hoping the voters who backed him then still turn out for a midterm.
Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are also doing big swings to Republican districts (mostly so they can stand up and call Democrats “communists”). Other big draws for Republicans on the stump: Vice President JD Vance and Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana).
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats find themselves in search of mainstream party figures. In Michigan, the party’s Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, has already campaigned with Kamala Harris and will appear soon with Barack Obama, despite the not-so-nice things he’s said about Obama’s presidency.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been some of the most popular surrogates this cycle, a Democratic strategist familiar with House races told The Sun. All three are politicians who can cross the partisan divide and whom voters find relatable, the strategist said.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) has been doing some surrogate trips of his own. The Sun’s Jasmine Wright asked him, for fun, who the best surrogates would be if he could pick anyone, alive or dead. His picks were all dead: Martin Luther King Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt and Frederick Douglass. With those guys unavailable, Mayor Pete, an astronaut and the guy who once put a dead fish in the mail will have to do.
More: Everything Is Bigger in Texas — Including the Number of Protests at Trump’s Rally • Forget ‘Kids’ — At the Trump Accounts Event, They’re ‘Shareholders’ • Election Deniers Have Trump’s Ear on a Voting Machine Conspiracy
FROM MINNESOTA
Scoop: White House’s Medicaid war is poised to escalate. Minnesota’s temporary human services commissioner, John Connolly, is preparing for federal health officials to officially withdraw up to $259 million in Medicaid payments the Trump administration froze earlier this year after reports of widespread fraud in state aid programs went viral. The Sun’s Natalie Alms and Paige Winfield Cunningham report on a fraud fight with Minnesota and California that could cost both states billions — even as the federal government has not offered specific evidence of fraud publicly or to state officials.
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Republicans are officially on defense in red states: “You have conservative states with problems that can be fixed. Even in a bad environment, they’re solvable if you’re able to get the rural Republican base to show up. That’s pretty much where the cycle is at this point,” a Republican strategist told The Sun’s Al Weaver as Senate Republicans shift resources to Kansas and South Carolina.
Meanwhile, they’re all but giving up on North Carolina. The Raleigh News & Observer reported yesterday that GOP nominee Michael Whatley is pausing his ads so the campaign can rethink strategy. Al reports that the national party is pulling money out of the state to help shore things up in other places.
More: Turning Point USA Is Spending Millions to Boost One of the Last Candidates Endorsed by Charlie Kirk • Three More Political Committees Struck by Fraudsters
FROM IOWA
Ashley Hinson responds to Sun reporting from the debate stage: “My husband’s not a lobbyist, he’s an insurance agent,” the Republican nominee said during Iowa’s first Senate debate last night. “He works in our basement. He’s still working at home tonight while he’s home with our kids.”
The Sun reported in August that Hinson’s husband, Matt Arenholz, held a government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group and helped arrange meetings with Hinson and other members of the Iowa congressional delegation. At the debate last night, Democratic nominee Josh Turek briefly made an issue of the story, calling it “corruption that we have to address.”
FROM A POTENTIAL FUTURE
Chuck Schumer’s cruising altitude: With the Senate campaign map expanding for Democrats, the days when a vocal group was calling for a new leader in the Senate appear to be fading out of view, The Sun’s Igor Bobic reports. Schumer is planning to run for another term as leader in November, regardless of whether Democrats win the Senate or not. If they don’t, there appears to be little appetite in the caucus for anyone to actually try to challenge Schumer.
“Generally, this is a pretty conflict-averse group of people,” a Democratic senator told Igor.
NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN
Where the campaigns eat (and raise money): The Sun’s Stephen Neukam analyzed more than 1.6 million FEC reports and identified 829 restaurants in the D.C. area where campaigns have so far plunked down over $9 million in the 2026 cycle. The results: Republicans favor The Capital Grille, Joe’s Seafood, Ocean Prime, Trattoria Alberto and Bobby Van’s. Democrats prefer Paraiso, Osteria Morini, Ama, L’Ardente and Bistro Cacao.
Our food critic Tom Sietsema’s summary of the list: “convenience and proximity to power.”
What a GOP strategist said: “I just think Republicans like steak.”
More: Judge Blocks an ‘Arbitrary’ Trump Policy That Bars Detainees From a Crucial Visa Screening Step • Flight Attendants’ Union Flags Safety Concerns Over Trump’s Proposed Arch • Arizona Congressional Candidate Says She Was Raped While Repairing Campaign Signs
NOT US
- ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage, by John Hendel for Politico
- Whistle-Blower Says I.R.S. Leaked His Tax Records in Retaliation, by Jesse Drucker for The New York Times
- Unions look beyond their rolls to build a new movement, by Brendan Ruberry for Semafor
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton.
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