An Ohio edge.  An Iowa tossup.  New CNN polls give Democrats hope in a pair of red states  —  Election polls Congressional news Donald Trump Senate election  —  Widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the country has opened up a prime Senate pickup opportunity for Democrats in Ohio …

‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account  —  Text messages with a MAGA ally show her seeking funds and offering access to top administration officials ahead of her confirmation as ambassador to Greece  —  Kimberly Guilfoyle was preparing …

Trump Is Considering a Plan to Strike Iran Before the Midterms  —  Pentagon planners are weighing options though no final decision has been made.  —  After months of on-again, off-again fighting, the United States hasn't struck Iran in several weeks.  The stretch of relative tranquility …

Trump faces his worst bankruptcy yet  —  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.

Kennedy Plans Federal Vaccine Injury Initiative, Drawing Wary Eye From Experts  —  Vaccine safety experts say more research into the side effects would be welcome yet question whether the health secretary's effort will be grounded in science.  —  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. …

‘We have to suck it up’: Ken Paxton privately suggests cutting federal benefit programs to reduce national deficit  —  In a conversation that has been leaked in pieces to multiple publications, the GOP Senate nominee called for “reasonable cuts to mandatory spending,” which is driven by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

ICE has quietly used this warehouse as a detention facility all summer, neighbors say  —  ROXBURY, N.J. — On a warm morning, on Sept. 4, masked immigration agents rolled into Dover, New Jersey.  —  Footage of the raids rippled across social media, sent people into hiding and reignited rumors …

Mainers to walk 76 miles to protest Susan Collins  —  PORTLAND — Julie Sherman, a community organizer for Maine People's Alliance, says she's never walked 76 miles in one sitting before.  But this week, she's among a group of at least 15 who are marching from Biddeford to Augusta to demand …

Trump interrupted by protesters as he fights to rally Texas voters behind Paxton in US Senate race  —  President Donald Trump, facing protesters and a poor political climate, fought to rally Texas voters behind embattled Senate candidate Ken Paxton on Wednesday night in a bid to stave off …

WIRED's Midterms Races to Watch  —  From data centers to Elon Musk funding to the AI lobby, the 2026 midterms are the most WIRED elections yet.  These are the candidates we're following closely.  —  The midterm elections are a month away and the candidate pool has never been more WIRED.

GOP Rep. Brad Finstad Runs Attack Ad That Erases Critical Voter From Photo  —  “What a poor decision,” Beth Benike said of her congressman altering her photo with Democrat Jake Johnson to make a fake image of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.  —  WASHINGTON - Minnesota small business owner Beth Benike …

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 …

EU drops sponsorship of disinformation conference at Trump officials' request  —  Lithuania and Canada were also pressured to withdraw, and days before #Disinfo2026, logos were wiped off website  —  The Trump administration pressured multiple countries to withdraw their sponsorship …

Exclusive: Mike Johnson raises record $156 million for House GOP  —  House Speaker Mike Johnson raised $30 million in the third quarter, bringing his total haul this cycle to $156 million as Republicans fight to hold on to their increasingly endangered majority, Axios has learned.

CDC Is Moving Forward With a Previously Shelved Controversial Hepatitis B Vaccine Study  —  “It's a wholly unethical trial, and it shouldn't be allowed,” says Dr. Paul Offit  —  Two months after the Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

Inside Trump's blow-up at Fox News over El-Sayed coverage … The frustration boiled into public view Tuesday when President Trump lashed out at his favorite network. … - Polls show El-Sayed, a critic of Israel's government who'd be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, in a tight race against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R).

Trump Pats Himself On The Back For Not Doing ‘Bad Things’ To Obama, Clinton, Biden  —  “I can do whatever I want if I want,” he said during an Oval Office event on Wednesday.  —  President Donald Trump said he easily could have targeted to his political rivals if he wanted to when asked …

Republican megadonors dominate 2026 midterm election as crypto and AI money surges, CNBC analysis finds … The biggest donors in the 2026 midterm election are breaking decisively toward Republican candidates and causes, a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission records found.

I'm Writing a Column for The Free Press  —  Looking for ways to understand this strange-and-getting-stranger century?  Meet our new columnist.  —  Upgrade to Listen  —  Sometime in the fall of 2020, shortly after she departed The New York Times, I had a brief conversation with Bari Weiss.

Mamdani booed, berated by anti-Israel protesters waving Hamas flags at NYC Oct. 7 memorial: ‘Shame on you’  —  Mayor Zohran Mamdani was berated and booed at an Oct. 7 candlelight vigil in Union Square on Wednesday night by anti-Israel protesters who believe he turned his back on Palestinian causes.

How a U.S. Diplomat Suppressed and Altered Reports Critical of Israel  —  A top aide to Ambassador Mike Huckabee skewed information to portray the Netanyahu government in a favorable light, according to multiple officials and documents obtained by The Times.

On the Front Line of the Vaccine Wars  —  For decades, West Virginia has had a “halo” of protection around it, thanks to a compulsory-vaccine law.  But now, there's a case that could topple that law — and have major implications for the rest of the country

Sens. Merkley and Daines: Our bipartisan plan to reform the U.S. Senate  —  For too long, both parties have been hamstrung by the Senate's tangled rules.  —  Loading...  Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, represents Oregon, and Steve Daines, a Republican, represents Montana in the U.S. Senate.

Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90  —  Over two decades at MIT, Hamilton forged new paths in computer science and engineering.  Her groundbreaking work included leading the team that programmed the first computers that took humans to the moon.

Remember this on Election Day: Council Meeting in Iowa Opens With Prayer to SATAN — Councilwoman Objects When Mayor Calls for Prayer to “Reverse” It  —  The moral decay forced upon America by radical leftists has reached a terrifying new low right in the heart of the Midwest.

Slovak Premier Wants Statue Mocking Trump at EU Parliament to Go  —  Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called for the immediate removal of a statue mocking US President Donald Trump from the European Parliament's premises in Strasbourg.  —  “At a time that calls for dialog and mutual respect …

Trump Says He'll Award Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom  —  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to fireballer Roger Clemens, calling the seven-time Cy Young winner “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time.”

Federal Judge Rules DHS Must Bring Back Gay Arizona Man Imprisoned in Africa  —  A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to return Ahmed Soliman to the United States, five months after he was expelled to Equatorial Guinea, a country where he has no ties …

Toss-ups, triage and targets: How to read the wide-open 2026 House map  —  With just under a month to go until Election Day, financial decisions made by both parties appear to suggest the question being asked is not if Democrats take control of the House, but how large the majority may be.

In Cornell Sexual Assault Case, Democrats Forget the Lessons of the Duke Lacrosse Scandal  —  Two decades ago, a spectacular allegation of gang rape at a prestigious university seized the public's attention.  We all know how the Duke lacrosse case ended: with the prosecutor disgraced and disbarred …