Top Items:
Morgan Fischer / Phoenix New Times:
Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs — Embarrassed, she initially didn't want to report attack. Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's investigation is ongoing. — Add New Times — as a preferred source on Google — It was just after 2 a.m …
Discussion:
The Guardian and New Republic
Axios:
Exclusive: Paxton privately blames woes on Iran war, gas prices — Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton privately lamented the impact of the Iran war and gas prices on his campaign in a meeting last month, telling a group of donors and lobbyists, “I don't make the decisions,” according to audio obtained by Axios.
RELATED:
Politico:
Paxton's latest audio leak is making things tough for national Republicans — National Republicans have spent months trying to rescue Ken Paxton. He's complicating that effort. — Tensions are brewing with some Republicans after POLITICO published Paxton's closed-door comments that …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, MS NOW, NBC News, Alternet.org, The Hill and Newsweek
Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
The extraordinary amount of money pouring into the midterm elections
Discussion:
Executive Functions
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Spirals Into Fury as GOP Pollsters Deliver Bad News — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the October 7 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, LGBTQ Nation, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
RELATED:
Politico:
Republicans enter triage mode as their election hopes continue to dim — Republicans are flooding the electoral map with a deluge of advertising to defend their House and Senate majorities. But their once-towering financial advantage is starting to show its limits.
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, New Republic and Alternet.org
Matt Dixon / NBC News:
Florida poll: Republicans lead in the races for governor and Senate — The new survey shows the state's Hispanic voters shifting away from President Donald Trump after Republicans made gains in 2024. — Republican Byron Donalds holds a 7-percentage-point advantage over Democrat David Jolly …
Discussion:
The Hill, Newsweek, Scripps News, Politico, NewsMax.com and Fox News
David Nir / The Downballot:
Morning Digest: New spending shows Senate battlefield expanding into the Deep South
Elleiana Green / Politico:
Michigan's Mike Rogers says trade war with Canada needs to end
Michigan's Mike Rogers says trade war with Canada needs to end
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, CityNews Toronto, Newsweek, Forbes, The Hill, The Daily Wire, Axios, Political.org, KTVZ-TV, Mediaite and CityNews Montreal
Nathan Lee / ABC News:
Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election — The contract for a new plant in Baltimore is the latest linked to the brothers. — President Donald Trump and his sons Eric Trump, back left, and Donald Trump Jr., back, second right, and granddaughter Chole Trump …
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Daily Wire
Ali Swenson / Associated Press:
DNC sues Trump administration, alleging taxpayer-funded ads violate propaganda law — The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump's administration for recent television advertisements that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
RELATED:
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Americans don't want taxpayer dollars funding campaign ads: poll
Americans don't want taxpayer dollars funding campaign ads: poll
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos and Reuters
Molly Parks / Washington Examiner:
Mamdani draws heat over Oct. 7 statement: ‘Cannot give Jewish New Yorkers even a single day to mourn’ — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has drawn backlash from several pro-Israel political pundits and officials in response to his statement on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 …
RELATED:
Claudia Chiappa / Politico:
WHO seeks clarity on second pneumonia case in Russia amid plague fears — Donald Trump will speak with Vladimir Putin about the situation after the U.S. urged Russia to share more information following the death of a lab worker. — The World Health Organization is looking into reports …
Discussion:
Reuters, ABC News, The Hill, Straight Arrow, Associated Press, MS NOW, The Washington Sun, KTVZ-TV, Washington Examiner, Legal Insurrection, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, The Daily Wire, One America News Network, KOB 4, Malone News, Political.org, Fox News, Washington Post, CBS News, Healthbeat, UnHerd, Daily Mail, NewsNation and RTÉ
RELATED:
Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:
Trump wants to turn his West Palm Beach golf club into the new Camp David — The plan calls for the federal government to be granted part of the property, with the rest maintained as a private course. — SummaryLoading... Much of President Donald Trump's second term has focused on changes to the nation's capital.
Suha Kidwai / The Independent:
Naked statue of Trump named ‘Orange Plague’ unveiled at European Parliament — The creator of the sculpture said it was a ‘satirical outcry’ against Trump's volatile climate and foreign policies — Become an Independent member to bookmark this article — Want to bookmark your favourite articles …
Discussion:
New Republic, Telegraph, Breitbart and Mediaite
RELATED:
Oscar Holland / CNN:
‘King of Injustice’: Golden naked Trump statue installed at European Parliament
‘King of Injustice’: Golden naked Trump statue installed at European Parliament
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Examiner and HuffPost
Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
ICE probed hundreds of voter registration groups across the U.S. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the past year investigated hundreds of nonprofits across the U.S. that help people register to vote, according to new records analyzed by Democracy Docket.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Independent, Truthout, CNN and New Republic
Daniella Cheslow / Politico:
Rubio warns Europe faces ‘inflection point’ — Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Europe to “wake up from its long slumber” in an address in Athens on Wednesday, leaning hard into the combative stance that President Donald Trump has taken with the continent.
RELATED:
Susan Heavey / Reuters:
Trump administration plans to charge international students $70,000 for work authorization — The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed that international students pay at least $70,000 in training fees if they want to work in the country, according to a government notice posted online on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Bloomberg Law, Politico, Political.org, IJR News and Los Angeles Times
Steven Nelson / New York Post:
Trump threatens to ‘terminate’ top campaign advisers after revelation of work for pro-Russia Bosnia party — WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened Wednesday to “terminate” two key advisers after they were revealed to have raked in “hundreds of thousands of dollars each” …
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Washington Sun, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Townhall, Trump's Truth, The Independent, Mediaite, Alternet.org, NewsMax.com, Political.org and New York Times
Brett Meiselas / Meidas+:
Wednesday Update: Camp Mar-a-David — It's Wednesday and we are just 4 weeks out from Election Day, though many states have already begun to vote. — Here's what we are tracking today: — Trump's top campaign advisers took money from a pro-Putin government in Bosnia
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Fox News at 30: Even the pretense of impartiality is all but gone — Fox News' role as a Republican propaganda machine is clear to anyone who has bothered to peruse its programming — President Donald Trump knows it, Fox co-founder Rupert Murdoch knows it, disgraced network co-founder Roger Ailes knew it …
Ryan Mancini / The Hill:
Hillary Clinton unveils first endorsement in House, Senate midterm races — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday endorsed Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) in her bid for the Senate, marking the former first lady's first endorsement of a House or Senate candidate in 2026.
Discussion:
HuffPost and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Michelle Del Rey / The Washington Sun:
Hillary Clinton Endorses Her First Candidate of 2026
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
A Mysterious Nonprofit Run by SpaceXAI's Top Lawyer Is Paying the Salaries of Government Workers — The National Design Studio has been something of a successor agency to DOGE. A WIRED investigation finds some of its members are on loan from a nonprofit run by SpaceXAI's general counsel.
The Washington Sun:
Congress' Watchdog Finds Trump Illegally Withheld More Than $1 Billion in Federal Funds — Congress's watchdog arm has found that the Trump administration illegally withheld federal funds last year from federal government programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kyle Brown / KSTP-TV:
FBI arrests man who allegedly planned to shoot up Mall of America in support of Islamic State group — https://www.youtube.com/live/ inZ8NY2Q4OE?si=SNYCv89ruHzjzPcV — Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of plotting a terrorist attack at Mall of America and pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
Roger Marshall is running an all time terrible campaign — To commemorate PN's 5th anniversary, this week we're offering paid subscriptions at the special yearly rate of $40 (or about 16¢ per edition). This newsletter is only possible thanks to the support of paid subscribers.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Scripps News and Mediaite
Kadia Goba / The Washington Sun:
Republicans Want to Flip the Script on Health Care — Back in the summer, physician and former Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup and Trump-aligned pollster John McLaughlin offered coaching to House Republicans on how to talk about health care: Lean in. — Republican strategists say the party …
Discussion:
KFF
Joseph Nunn / Just Security:
No Emergency Exception: The Ban on Troops at the Polls Was Built for Crises — With the mid-term elections approaching, questions have arisen over whether the Trump administration might attempt to station federal troops at polling places. As the Brennan Center and many others have pointed out …
Jessica Grose / New York Times:
Billionaires Love This School Policy. Many Regular Parents Hate It. — “I've been voting Republican my whole life. I'm super conservative,” Pine Tree superintendent Steve Clugston tells the camera in an Instagram reel. “I'm gonna tell you what, when Greg Abbott sold us out to the billionaires …
Discussion:
Diane Ravitch's blog
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Could Democrats Win the Texas Governor's Race? The Party Is Starting to Spend There. — Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and the Democratic Governors Association are each sending $1 million to back Gina Hinojosa in a bid for Texas governor that appears increasingly competitive.
Discussion:
NBC News
Arthur Jones II / ABC News:
Democrats push back on Trump administration's ‘brazen’ attempt to roll back education standards — They're calling on HHS Secretary Kennedy to stop proposed changes to Head Start. — Stock image of children at pre-school. — Democrats are urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr …
Quinnipiac University Poll:
PA Governor's Race: Shapiro 59%, Garrity 34%, Quinnipiac University Pennsylvania Poll Finds; Voters Favor Dems To Win Control Of U.S. House By 15 Points — mail_outline — In the final weeks of Pennsylvania's gubernatorial race, 59 percent of likely voters support incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro …
Discussion:
The Hill and City & State Pennsylvania
Matt Cohen / Democracy Docket:
Maryland voters skeptical of Democrats' redistricting amendment, polls show — Maryland Democrats scored a win last month when the state's Supreme Court allowed a constitutional amendment on redistricting to appear on the November ballot. — But the victory might be short-lived.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Fox News:
Millions saved by blocking dead people payouts as Trump Treasury drops hammer on federal fraud — The ‘Do Not Pay’ program screened more than 1.1 billion federal payments totaling roughly $3.7 trillion in FY2026 — FIRST ON FOX: The Treasury Department blocked $175 million in federal payments tied …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, RedState, Breitbart, U.S. Department …, American Greatness and The Daily Caller

