Democrats favored to win House, underdogs in Senate 100 days out

By Julia Mueller

Democrats are favored to win the House but are slight underdogs in the fight for the Senate with 100 days to go before the midterms, according to the latest forecast from Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ). 

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Lettuce explain: Cyclospora outbreaks test Trump administration messaging

By Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi

The Trump administration is facing a key messaging test as it tries to stop potentially multiple outbreaks of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness. 

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Jackson enters 100-day sprint with Collins as Maine Democrats hit reset  

By Caroline Vakil

BANGOR – Democrats in Maine anointed progressive Troy Jackson as their pick to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R) with a tall order: Beat the five-term incumbent who has defied political gravity for three decades in 100 days.  

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Appeals court upholds injunction on President Trump’s mail-in voting order

By Mira Bhakta

A federal appeals court on Saturday ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to implement stricter mail-in voting rules before midterm elections in the coming months, with control of both the House and Senate up for grabs.

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Jackson formally clinches Democratic nod to take on Collins in Maine Senate race

By Caroline Vakil

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson formally clinched the Democratic nod to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in November, giving the party just 100 days to quickly turn the tides in the must-win race.

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5 standout moments from Trump’s appearance at makeup WHCA dinner

By Steff Danielle Thomas

President Trump was given a second chance Friday evening to deliver a speech before the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner — his first time addressing the crowd as president.

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Trump tariffs come back to haunt GOP as elections near

By Julia Manchester

President Trump’s newly announced tariffs could put Republican candidates at risk going into the midterms as Democrats seek to go on the offensive over the economic impact of Trump’s trade agenda. 

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Iran war threatens to blunt GOP turnout in midterm battlegrounds

By Julia Manchester and Laura Kelly

The escalating war with Iran is threatening to depress Republican turnout ahead of the midterms, as new polling shows President Trump’s MAGA base increasingly turned off by the conflict. 

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Zelensky says US, Ukraine moving forward on joint drone production

By Finya Swai

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the U.S. and Ukraine plan to build a drone factory in the U.S. as part of a new defense partnership combining American manufacturing with Ukraine’s battlefield-tested drone technology.

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JD Vance is bringing back old-school politics, and it just might save the Republican Party

By Douglas Mackinnon

OPINION | In so many ways, what was considered normal when it came to basic politics has been turned upside-down during the turbulent and ever more anarchistic Age of Trump. For more than a decade now, campaigning, communicating and vetting, has been plunged into a seemingly bottomless abyss of reimagined reality governed by continually changing ideological rules. 

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Will MAGA outlive Trump? Don’t bet on it.

By Garry South

OPINION | A lot of brain power has been spent engaging in speculation about who might inherit the so-called MAGA base when Trump finally exits stage right in 2028. Bringing history into the equation, the short answer may be no one.

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The New York Times: Inside the Phone-Throwing Drama at the Troubled, Broke Democratic Party

By Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein

The Democratic Party is so short on cash that leaders at its headquarters have undertaken a new gambit to mask the severity of the problems: asking vendors not to send bills until after the midterm elections.

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The Wall Street Journal: Unreleased Documentary Footage Captures Graham’s Obsessive Push for Iran War

By Josh Dawsey

Sen. Lindsey Graham planned to travel to Florida in early March to persuade President Trump to join Israel in the bombing of Hezbollah in Lebanon—until a friend talked him out of it.

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The Associated Press: Airstrikes have paused and talks are pressing forward. But can the US and Iran take the off-ramp?

By Ben Finley, Samy Magdy and Darlene Superville

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war.

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The Washington Post: Republicans see ‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms

By Liz Goodwin and Ben Binday

Republican pollsters and political groups are raising the alarm that their party faces a listless and demotivated base ahead of November’s midterm elections.

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