Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Data: Associated Press; Chart: Axios VisualsThey're still counting votes in 28 uncalled House races, but even Democrats admit that Republicans are on track to keep their majority in 2025.Why it matters: House Democrats are the last shot to prevent a GOP trifecta in D.C. next year. Republicans have retaken the Senate majority, and President-elect Trump will be inaugurated on Jan. 20. [The chart above is organized over how the races were expected to go ahead of Election Day. Republicans lead in two seats that were expected to go to Democrats, while Democrats lead in zero races expected to go red.]State of play: Democrats are looking to five Republican-held seats in California and two in Arizona — as well as GOP incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa who's likely headed for a recount — as their last hope of obtaining the chamber.Republicans currently lead in all those seats, and Democrats also need to protect remaining vulnerable seats in California, Colorado and elsewhere.House Democrats' optimism is dwindling, with some now predicting their best case scenario is falling just one seat short of the House majority.Zoom in: Both parties are looking to California as the final House battleground, especially if Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) hold on.Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Josh Harder (D-Calif.) all lead by surprisingly narrow margins, though Republicans concede those are long-shots and Democrats feel confident about all three.Both parties say the race between Republican Scott Baugh and Democrat Dave Min for retiring Rep. Katie Porter's (D-Calif.) seat could go either way.Republicans believe they have a shot at protecting all five of their vulnerable incumbents in California, though Rep. John Duarte's (R-Calif.) and Mike Garcia's (R-Calif.) races both appear to be particular nail-biters.What they're saying: Duarte told Axios he is "in a better position now" than in 2022 against Democratic opponent Adam Gray, when he squeaked out a win by less than half a percentage point.The California races were discussed on a Democratic leadership call on Wednesday, with one senior House Democrat coming out of the call predicting "a few seats in [California] ... will move our way."

Former President Donald Trump has clinched a second term in the White House, and his Republican Party has won control of the Senate. But control of the House of Representatives is still up for grabs, as is the size of the incoming Senate majority.With votes still being counted, here’s a look at the key races that remain uncalled by the NBC News Decision Desk (read more about how those races are called). While some of the battleground states may be projected relatively quickly, it could take days or even weeks to resolve control of the House.Presidential battlegroundsWith Trump’s victory in Michigan projected by NBC News Wednesday afternoon, two battleground states remain uncalled.In the Sun Belt, Trump is also leading in Arizona and Nevada, but Arizona remains too early to call, while Nevada is too close to call.Alaska, where Trump is leading, is also too early to call.Senate races left to callArizona Senate: Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is leading Republican Kari Lake in the vote count, but the race is still too early to call. Lake is trailing Trump’s margin in the state, while Gallego is outperforming Harris. Gallego, a Marine veteran, touted his military service in his race against Lake, a former local TV news anchor. Lake ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, and she made false claims that her 2022 race was affected by voter fraud.Michigan Senate: GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers is locked in a tight race against Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a contest that is too close to call. Rogers and Slotkin are competing to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.Nevada Senate: Republican Sam Brown, a military veteran who was wounded in combat, is in a very tight race against Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, who is seeking her second term in the Senate. Nevada has been narrowly divided in recent elections, with Republican Joe Lombardo flipping the Governor’s Mansion in 2022 even while Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto won re-election. But while Democrats had been hopeful that the state’s abortion referendum could help boost turnout for Democratic candidates, the margin in the race remains extremely tight.Pennsylvania Senate: Although Trump is projected to win Pennsylvania, the Senate race there is still too close to call. Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is running for a third term against Republican Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nomination in 2022.Wisconsin Senate: The race between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and GOP businessman Eric Hovde remains too close to call. While Democrats have touted Baldwin as a senator who has appeal in rural parts of the state, Republicans also flooded the airwaves painting her as a creature of Washington and making note of the first openly gay senator’s sexual orientation.House control on the lineControl of the House is still unclear in part because dozens of competitive races remain uncalled, including a number of key races in California alone. There are also other races that are not expected to be competitive but have not yet been projected because few votes have been counted.Alaska At-Large District: Republicans are looking to pick up this seat, which encompasses the entire state. Republican Nick Begich is leading Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, but he is hovering around the 50% threshold required to win the race outright. If he falls short of that threshold, the race will head to ranked-choice voting, but Republicans are confident they would still carry the seat in that scenario.Arizona’s 1st District: GOP Rep. David Schweikert is in a competitive race in the Phoenix suburbs against Democrat Amish Shah, a former state legislator.Arizona 6th District: GOP Rep. Juan Ciscomani is trailing his Democratic opponent, former state Sen. Kirsten Engel, in this competitive district in the Tucson suburbs.California’s 9th District: Democratic Rep. Josh Harder is narrowly leading his Republican opponent, Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln.California’s 13th District: GOP Rep. John Duarte is locked in a tight race against Democrat Adam Gray, a former state legislator, in this Central Valley district.California’s 22nd District: GOP Rep. David Valadao, one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, is leading his Democratic opponent, former state Assemblyman Rudy Salas.California’s 27th District: GOP Rep. Mike Garcia is in a tight race against Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff and Virgin Galactic CEO, in this Southern California district.California’s 41st District: Democrats have targeted this Riverside County-based district, and GOP Rep. Ken Calvert is in a competitive race with Democrat Will Rollins, a former prosecutor.California’s 45th District: GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is leading Democratic Army veteran Derek Tran in one of the most expensive races in the country.California’s 47th District: Republicans are looking to flip this open seat in Southern California, and Republican Scott Baugh, a former state legislator, is in a competitive race against former state Sen. Dave Min.California’s 49th District: Also in Southern California, Democratic Rep. Mike Levin is in a tight race against auto dealer Matt Gunderson, a self-described “pro-choice” Republican.Colorado’s 3rd District: GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s decision to run in the neighboring 4th District, which is more Republican, opened up this seat on the Western Slope. Democrat Adam Frisch, who came close to defeating Boebert in 2022, is in a competitive race against Republican Jeff Hurd.Colorado’s 8th District: Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo is locked in a tight race in the Denver suburbs against Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans.Iowa’s 1st District: Just a few hundred votes separate Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohannan, a former state representative. It is familiar territory for Miller-Meeks, who won her 2020 race by just six votes.Maine’s 2nd District: Democratic Rep. Jared Golden has been a top GOP target, and he is hovering just above the 50% threshold that would allow him to win outright over Republican state Rep. Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver (the state holds ranked-choice elections).Maryland’s 6th District: Democratic Rep. David Trone’s unsuccessful Senate run opened up this Frederick-based district. Democrat April McClain Delaney, a former Commerce Department official and the wife of former Rep. John Delaney, is locked in a tight race against Republican Neil Parrott, a former state legislator.Montana 1st District: Democratic attorney Monica Tranel trails Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who was Trump’s first interior secretary in between stints in the House.Nebraska’s 2nd District: Harris carried this Omaha-based district and nabbed one of the state’s electoral votes, but GOP Rep. Don Bacon is in a close race against Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas.North Carolina’s 1st District: Democratic Rep. Don Davis is in a competitive race against Republican Laurie Buckhout, an Army veteran and businesswoman.Nevada’s 3rd District: Democratic Rep. Susie Lee is in a competitive race with Republican marketing consultant Drew Johnson in the Las Vegas suburbs.Nevada’s 4th District: Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford is leading former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, the Republican nominee.New York’s 4th District: GOP Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is locked in a tight race against Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor, in this Long Island-based district that was one of Democrats’ top targets.New York’s 19th District: Democratic attorney Josh Riley and GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro are running neck and neck in a rematch of their close 2022 race.Ohio’s 9th District: Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is locked in an extremely tight race with GOP state Rep. Derek Merrin.Oregon’s 5th District: Democrat Janelle Bynum narrowly leads Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.Oregon’s 6th District: Democratic Rep. Andrea Salinas leads GOP businessman Mike Erickson in another rematch. Salinas beat Erickson by 3 percentage points in 2022.Pennsylvania’s 10th District: GOP Rep. Scott Perry, a former Freedom Caucus chairman, has a slight lead over former local news anchor Janelle Stelson, a Democrat.Texas’ 34th District: Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez faces a rematch against former GOP Rep. Mayra Flores, with Gonzalez slightly ahead.Virginia’s 7th District: Democrat Eugene Vindman has a slight lead over Republican Derrick Anderson. Both candidates are veterans, and Vindman came into the public spotlight in 2019 when his brother, Alexander Vindman, testified in Trump’s impeachment hearings about a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Washington’s 3rd District: Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez leads Republican Joe Kent, whom she defeated by less than 1 point in 2022.Washington’s 4th District: Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse narrowly leads Republican former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler. (Washington’s primary advances the top two vote-getters to the general election, regardless of party.)Sessler has Trump’s endorsement over Newhouse, who is one of the two Republicans left in the House who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Donald Trump defeats Kamala Harris to become the next U.S. president, NBC News projectsTrump won the presidency. Here’s what he’s said he’ll do.5 key takeaways from election night 2024

The Associated Press as of Wednesday has not called the race in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District because the margin is close enough that it could prompt a recount

Republican Bernie Moreno from Ohio won a Senate seat campaigning for U.S. "energy dominance."

Iowa has a long history as a presidential battleground state, but when voters cast their ballots in the general election on Nov. 5, it’s the races further down the ballot that may get the most attention

Both House Democrats and Republicans are out with new ads in Southeast Iowa's hotly contested 1st Congressional District.

An attorney for Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ campaign has urged the University of Iowa to take action over an apparent trademark infringement by Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan.

Christina Bohannan and Mariannette Miller-Meeks challenged each other’s positions and voting records on abortion and immigration throughout a televised debate this week.

Republicans are kicking their defensive messaging on abortion into high gear, aiming to blunt Democrats’ attempts to paint them as extreme in the run-up to the election. In debates, GOP congressional candidates are taking a more aggressive approach when talking about the issue, accusing Democrats of misrepresenting their position. Republican campaigns are successfully pitching fact-checks [...]

Friday saw visits to Iowa's 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts by nationally-known Republican and Democratic leaders as the election nears.

Read about the candidate's stances on the issues and their top priorities if elected.

Democrats have a fair shot at flipping control of the House — largely because of the boost provided by Vice President Harris at the top of the ticket — but the battle is a horse race that is too close to call heading into the final weeks of the campaign, according to a host of [...]

The race for Iowa's 1st Congressional District heats up Saturday as incumbent Miller-Meeks campaigns in Walcott while her challenger Christine Bohannon attends forum in Davenport.

State investigators are probing complaints against a secretive group that recruited fervent Donald Trump supporters to run as spoiler candidates in key swing districts against Republicans.

Democrats and Republicans disagree about the fundamental of the Texas Senate race, but Democratic Rep. Colin Allred has seen the race shift toward him and his party.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, is trailing three points behind her Democratic challenger, Christina Bohannan, according to a Monday poll.

Iowa U.S. senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst joined Republican colleagues to block a bill by Democrats that would establish a federal right to access fertility treatments.

Several little-known pro-Trump candidates are running for Congress in key races as independents, recruited by the same shadowy group. Candidates have been recruited in Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Virginia and Minnesota.

Several little-known pro-Trump candidates are running for Congress in key races as independents, and an Associated Press review finds they were recruited and backed by the same shadowy group.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Joe Wiederien was an unlikely candidate to challenge a Republican congressman in one of the nation’s most competitive House districts. A fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump, Wiederien was registered as a Republican until months earlier. A debilitating stroke had left him unable to drive. He had never run for [...]The post Secretive Group Recruited Far-Right Candidates in Key US House Races. It Could Help Democrats appeared first on GV Wire.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, is in a more competitive race.

Marquee toss-up races and high-profile candidates have dominated the political conversation as both parties battle for the House and Senate, but some potential sleeper contests could offer political observers a surprise. Democrats’ razor-thin edge in the Senate is at risk this fall, and observers are eyeing a small handful of races that could deliver surprise [...]

Three Libertarian candidates running for Congress in Iowa will not be named on the ballot this November

The state supreme court ruled Wednesday the three Libertarian congressional candidates, including Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District, will not appear on the ballot. All three plan write in campaigns.

The White House is plotting with Democratic leaders in Congress to try to force Republicans to accept a short-term spending bill that would fund the government through mid-December, Axios has learned.Why it matters: The Biden administration's embrace of a three-month stopgap measure is an attempt to establish the terms of the spending debate with House Republicans, who are pushing for a six-month bill.If Congress and the White House can't agree on how to fund the government by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the federal government will shut down in early October, weeks before Election Day.The December timeline Democrats want would require Congress to return to the Capitol for a lame-duck session when lawmakers — and the next president — would know who was going to control what branches of government starting in January.The new Congress begins Jan. 3, and the new president is to be sworn in on Jan. 20.Driving the news: White House officials spoke separately with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) late last week to agree on a strategy, according to people familiar with the matter.On the call from the White House's team were Jeff Zients, chief of staff; Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president; Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget and Management, and Shuwanza Goff, director of legislative affairs.Biden's team wants to be on the same page with congressional Democrats heading into the year-end funding battle to force House Republicans to accept a plan to fund the government largely at fiscal 2024 levels.Speaker Mike Johnson told his members last week to prepare to vote for his six-month plan early this week.Johnson wants a spending plan that would include a measure requiring voters to offer proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.Zoom in: This week, the White House will begin to highlight the risks of a six-month continuing resolution on military readiness, veterans care, disaster relief and other national security priorities, like competing with China.Democrats also want to avoid handing a potential President Harris a tight deadline to fund the government in the first few months of her term.A six-month timeline would set up a massive spending showdown before March 31, which for Democrats is uncomfortably close to the April 30 deadline for the Fiscal Responsibility Act to take effect.After that date, automatic cuts would kick in across the board, affecting spending levels for education, veterans, the military and border security.Zoom out: With Congress struggling to pass funding bills in a timely manner, year-end showdowns over a shutdown have become a feature of modern politics.Many conservative Republicans are willing to either shut down the government or bluff about doing so, more moderate lawmakers worry that voters will blame them for failing to keep the government open and operating."How long do we take this?," Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) asked her colleagues on a GOP call last week. "Are we going to take this to a shutdown?"What they're saying: "As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party," Schumer and Senate Appropriations chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a joint statement Friday."This tactic didn't work last September and it will not work this year either," they said of Johnson adding conditions to a temporary spending resolution. "The House Republican funding proposal is an ominous case of déjà vu."

Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks held her annual tailgate fundraiser Saturday in Iowa City.

A state panel’s ruling to remove Libertarian candidates for Congress from Iowa’s ballots in the First, Third and Fourth Congressional Districts.

A state panel’s ruling to remove three Libertarian candidates for Congress from Iowa’s ballots in the Nov. 5 election was upheld Saturday by a judge.

'I hope it doesn’t hold up the funding'

Mike Pompeo, secretary of state under the Trump administration, is endorsing the Republican incumbent in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District race.

Iowa Democratic U.S. House candidate Christina Bohannan aims to make abortion rights a central issue for voters in her renewed bid to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

More than a dozen House Republicans on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) asking him not to axe clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if the GOP maintains or expands its House majority next year. In the letter, first shared with Politico’s E&E News and led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino [...]

Welcome to the Daily Kos Elections Live Digest, your liveblog of all of today's campaign news. You can find our collection of public data at dailykosdata.com.Please note: The Live Digest is a Democratic presidential primary-free space. It’s also a place to discuss elections, not policy.Subscribe to our podcast, The Downballot! New episodes every Thursday morning. Embedded Content UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 6, 2024 · 10:26:12 PM +00:00 · Stephen Wolf • TN-05: NewsChanel 5's Phil Williams reports that the FBI executed a search warrant on Republican Rep. Andy Ogles last week, though neither the FBI nor Ogles' attorney would confirm or deny the search and what it involved. Williams, whose previous reporting revealed how Ogles seemingly had fabricated large parts of his life story and submitted fraudulent campaign finance reports, relays that the search may have been related to the latter issue and involved the congressman's electronic devices.Williams notes that the Department of Justice generally avoids openly investigating candidates within 60 days of Election Day so as not to influence the results, and the search happened the very next day after Ogles won Thursday's primary by 57-43 over Metro Nashville Councilmember Courtney Johnston.Back in May, Ogles drew unwelcome attention after he dramatically amended his 2022 campaign finance reports to say he loaned his effort $20,000, rather than the $320,000 he'd previously claimed. Williams previously pointed out that the congressman's personal financial disclosures showed he lacked the wealth to make a loan of that size. (On those forms, Ogles did not even list any bank accounts.)Those inflated figures allowed Ogles to claim he had considerably more money available three weeks before the primary than the paltry $2,000 he now says he had in the bank, and that exaggerated war chest may have convinced outside group allies like the Club for Growth that he was in stronger shape than he was. While Ogles would likely still be favored to win this fall in a heavily gerrymandered district that backed Trump 55-43 in 2020, it remains to be seen how much legal jeopardy he may be in. UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 6, 2024 · 9:05:48 PM +00:00 · Stephen Wolf • DE-Gov: A group called Change Can't Wait PAC has launched a new TV ad ahead of the Sept. 10 Democratic primary that praises New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer's healthcare plan and his support for abortion rights. While federal law prevents this type of organization from running ads directly telling viewers to vote for or against a candidate, Delaware Spotlight's Karl Baker reports that some of Meyer's supporters are behind it.• CA-16: Assemblyman Evan Low has publicized a Tulchin Research survey that finds former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a fellow Democrat, leading him just 30-29 with a 41% plurality of voters undecided in this dark blue open seat. Last month, Liccardo's campaign shared a late-June internal from Lake Research Partners that showed him ahead 39-28, and no other polls have recently surfaced here.• FL-13: EMILYs List has endorsed former Pinellas County transportation official Whitney Fox with just two weeks left until the Aug. 20 primary for the Democratic nomination to take on freshman Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. This seat in the St. Petersburg area, which Republicans gerrymandered following the 2020 census, favored Donald Trump by a 53-46 margin four years ago.• MN-02: Despite saying last month that he was suspending his House campaign to serve as an adviser to Donald Trump's campaign, attorney Tayler Rahm has still been sending campaign mailers. The Star Tribune's Sydney Kashiwagi reports that Rahm appears to be engaged in a "shadow primary" campaign against former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab, who has the support of Donald Trump and House GOP leadership in the Aug. 13 GOP primary.While Rahm himself again declared last week that he had suspended his effort, 2nd District GOP chair Joe Ditto told Kashiwagi he believed that Rahm still could pull off an upset next week. "It sounds like if [Rahm’s] victorious in the primary, he will unsuspend his campaign and run against Angie in the general," said Ditto. • NV-02: Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has endorsed wealthy investor Greg Kidd, a self-funding independent who is challenging Republican Rep. Mark Amodei in a race where Democrats did not field a candidate. Trump won this northern Nevada district 54-43, and while Democrats have not seriously contested it since Amodei's initial landslide in a 2011 special election, Kidd's lack of a party label could give him more of an opening.• TX-18: Former Houston Councilmember Dwight Boykins has ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination to replace the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee after her children endorsed former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, with Boykins saying, "I respect their decision." Local party precinct chairs are set to meet on Aug. 13 to choose a replacement nominee for November's ballot in this dark blue seat. UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 6, 2024 · 8:24:55 PM +00:00 · Stephen Wolf Poll Pile:AZ-Sen: Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph: Ruben Gallego (D): 42, Kari Lake (R): 36 (44-43 Harris with third-party candidates)NM-Sen: Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph: Martin Heinrich (D-inc): 40, Nella Domenici (R): 34 (44-37 Harris with third-party candidates)NV-Sen: Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph: Jacky Rosen (D-inc): 41, Sam Brown (R): 38 (40-40 presidential tie with third-party candidates) (July: 45-40 Rosen)PA-Sen: Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph: Bob Casey (D-inc): 45, Dave McCormick (R): 40 (46-44 Trump with third-party candidates) (July: 46-39 Casey)NC-Gov: Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph: Josh Stein (D): 43, Mark Robinson (R): 38 (44-41 Trump with third-party candidates) (July: 38-34 Stein)Ad Roundup:MT-Sen: Tim Sheehy (R); Last Best Place - anti-SheehyOH-Sen: Sherrod Brown (D-inc)PA-Sen: Dave McCormick (R) - anti-Bob Casey (D-inc); One Nation - anti-CaseyNH-Gov: Kelly Ayotte (R)CO-08: House Majority Forward - pro-Yadira Caraveo (D-inc) (in English and Spanish)IA-01: Christina Bohannan (D) - anti-Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-inc)ME-02: House Majority Forward - pro-Jared Golden (D-inc)NY-04: House Majority Forward - anti-Anthony D’Esposito (R-inc)NY-18: Pat Ryan (D-inc) - anti-Alison Esposito (R)WI-08: Roger Roth (R) UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 6, 2024 · 4:30:38 PM +00:00 · Jeff Singer • MN-Gov: Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, a decision that could usher in a new era of leadership in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become Minnesota's new chief executive should the Harris-Walz ticket prevail in November, an ascension that would make her the first woman to lead the state. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would also be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any state. No matter what, though, this office will next be on the ballot in 2026 for a full four-year term.Walz, writes KARE 11's Jeremiah Jacobsen, would be the state's first governor to resign since 1976, when Sen. Walter Mondale's election as Jimmy Carter's vice president set off a volatile chain of events back home that proved disastrous for Democrats.Following Mondale's departure for Washington, Democratic Gov. Wendell Anderson stepped down from his post and arranged for his lieutenant governor, Rudy Perpich, to appoint him to Mondale's Senate seat. These insider dealings, however, backfired with voters, leading to the "Minnesota massacre" of 1978: Republican Rudy Boschwitz trounced Anderson in the race for Senate while Republican Al Quie unseated Perpich as governor.Walz's succession would be a far simpler affair, but there's also the matter of who would replace Flanagan in her current role. State constitutional law expert Quinn Yeargain explains in Guaranteed Republics that the next person in line to become lieutenant governor is the president of the state Senate, a post that's held by Democrat Bobby Joe Champion. Should Champion succeed Flanagan, he, too, would make history, as the first Black person to serve as Minnesota's lieutenant governor.There's a potential hitch, though. The 67-member Senate is currently tied because Democratic state Sen. Kelly Morrison, who is the favorite to replace retiring Rep. Dean Phillips in Congress, resigned in July so that a special election could be held simultaneously with the November general election. The rest of the Senate, however, isn't up for election again until 2026, so this one race will determine who controls the upper chamber next year.Fortunately for Democrats, Morrison's 45th District, which is based in the Minneapolis suburbs, will be tough for the GOP to flip, especially now that Walz is on the national ticket. This constituency supported Joe Biden by a 57-41 margin in 2020, according to VEST data from Dave's Redistricting App, while the Walz-Flanagan team scored an identical win two years later. Three Democrats are competing in the Aug. 13 primary; the winner will face Republican Kathleen Fowke, who lost to Morrison 56-44 in 2022.But even if Republicans were to pull off an upset in this special election at the same time Harris and Walz prevail in the Electoral College, Yeargain writes that it's possible that Walz could time his resignation to ensure that Champion still becomes lieutenant governor.That would be a far better outcome for Democrats than the last time the number two slot became vacant. When then-Gov. Mark Dayton selected Lt. Gov Tina Smith to fill Al Franken's Senate seat after he resigned in early 2018, the GOP had control of the state Senate. As a result, Republican Michelle Fischbach was elevated to the lieutenant governorship and served for a year before waging a successful bid for Congress in 2020.Looking ahead, because Minnesota does not have term limits, whoever is governor—whether that's Walz or Flanagan—will be able to run in 2026. Voters, however, have never awarded an incumbent three consecutive terms. The last to try was Perpich, who staged a successful comeback in 1982 and won two full terms. But when he sought a third straight in 1990, he lost a close and chaotic battle to Republican Arne Carlson.Republican Tim Pawlenty tried to win a third non-consecutive term in 2018, nearly a decade after retiring to prepare for what would be a doomed presidential campaign. But primary voters passed him over in favor of Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, who went on to badly lose the general election to none other than Walz.

Iowa Democrats on Monday called out Republicans over an Iowa law that took effect Monday, banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The Democrats' House Majority PAC is zeroing in on three new Republican incumbents as part of a major $24 million addition to their fall ad campaign. The television reservations, which add to an initial $186 million in television and digital reservations announced earlier this year, put Wisconsin Reps. Derrick Van Orden (R), Bryan Steil (R) [...]

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NATSO, representing America's travel centers and truck stops, SIGMA: America's Leading Fuel Marketers, and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), commended a bipartisan group of lawmakers for introducing the "Biodiesel Tax...