Morning Digest: The Downballot rings in its first anniversary today!

We're celebrating with a special 25% off sale for our readers

Leading Off

We really can't believe it: Today is already The Downballot's first anniversary!

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We've always felt extremely privileged to do the work that we do because it truly matters. Now, though, the stakes are higher than ever.

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Redistricting Roundup

TX Redistricting

Texas House Democrats ended a two-week walkout on Monday, returning to the Capitol in Austin for the first time since most of the caucus left the state to deny Republicans a quorum needed to pass their new gerrymandered congressional map.

Democrats had said that they'd return home after their counterparts in California unveiled their new map intended to counter the aims of the Texas GOP, which they did on Friday. Republicans in Texas will now be able to enact their new map without much difficulty, though Democrats have argued that their walkout nonetheless had an impact.

"We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape," House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement.

Democrats have also pledged to challenge the GOP's gerrymander in court.

That same day, a House committee advanced a revised map that makes the 9th District—which is held by Democratic Rep. Al Green—even redder than the version the GOP drafted last month. The proposed boundaries extend Donald Trump's margin of victory in 2024 from an already brutal 15 points all the way to 20 points. The rest of the plan closely resembles the proposal Republicans introduced last month.

The Texas Tribune's Kayla Guo says the map "appears to be headed for a full floor vote as soon as Wednesday."

Senate

IA-Sen

State Rep. J.D. Scholten announced Monday that he was exiting the Democratic primary and endorsing fellow state Rep. Josh Turek's campaign to take on Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Scholten, who's also a minor league baseball pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers, used his departure to highlight his common background with Turek, who won two gold medals and a bronze as a wheelchair basketball player at the Paralympics.

"From the very beginning, I thought a prairie populist athlete from Western Iowa would be the best candidate to win in the General election," Scholten said in a statement. "I still do, but instead of me, I have complete confidence that Josh Turek can take this on."

Turek still faces Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris, military veteran Nathan Sage, and state Sen. Zach Wahls in next June's Democratic primary. Ernst has not yet announced if she'll seek reelection.

KS-Sen

Former Biden administration official Christy Davis tells the Kansas Reflector that she'll challenge Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who is seeking a second term in a state that last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1932.

Davis ran for Kansas' 1st Congressional District in 2020 to succeed Marshall, who was leaving his safely red seat to run statewide, but she lost in the primary. She went on to work at the USDA and is now the first notable Democrat to oppose Marshall.

NH-Sen

Progressive activist Karishma Manzur announced over the weekend that she would wage a long-shot campaign to defeat Rep. Chris Pappas in next year's Democratic primary for Senate.

The new candidate, a science writer who serves on the state party's Rules Committee, has written several opinion pieces faulting the U.S. government for continuing to provide military aid to Israel. Manzur does not appear to have run for office before.

New Hampshire's primary is set for Sept. 8 of next year, which makes the state with the first-in-the-nation presidential primary one of the very last to hold downballot nominating contests. Legislators considered moving the state's non-presidential primary to either June or August, but they adjourned at the end of June without taking action.

OH-Sen

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown announced Monday that he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted, a decision that officially gives national Democrats a candidate they'd spent months recruiting in a tough state.

Brown, who lost reelection last year for Ohio's other Senate seat, kicked off his comeback effort the week after the Plain Dealer's Jeremy Pelzer first reported he'd decided to run. Brown and Husted, whom GOP Gov. Mike DeWine appointed in January, will compete in next year's special election for the rest of the term JD Vance won in 2022. The seat will be up again for a full six-year term in 2028.

The former senator, who cultivated a reputation as a progressive populist during his long career in Buckeye State politics, reinforced that image in a launch video filmed in a warehouse.

"Their reckless tariffs and economic chaos are increasing prices and threatening the survival of small businesses all across our state," Brown says of Republicans. "I didn't plan to run for office again, but when I see what's going on, I know I can do something about it for Ohio."

Brown, who entered the race with the support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leader Kirsten Gillibrand, is unlikely to struggle to win the nomination, but he might be in for a more expensive primary than he predicted.

Wealthy businessman Fred Ode told Pelzer last week that he'd also run as a Democrat and was willing to self-fund millions. The first-time candidate, however, stopped well short of actually promising to spend seven figures.

Ode informed Pelzer he wouldn't "spend a lot" if he's "laughed at and it's obvious this isn't going to work." He continued, "If I get traction, and this is looking good, I'm assuming that I'll put millions [in]."

Governors

AK-Gov

Former state Sen. Tom Begich on Monday became the first major Democrat to enter the race for Alaska's open governorship, a decision that comes as former Rep. Mary Peltola continues to keep state and national Democrats in suspense about her plans.

Begich, who previously served as the Senate's minority leader, acknowledged to the Anchorage Daily News that he's one of them.

"Many of us in the nonpartisan world and on the Democratic side of the aisle are very supportive of her future and will continue to be so, and I think that's a factor that has kept the lane clear, as they say," Begich said.

However, he argued that Democrats couldn't afford to wait indefinitely. Begich said last month that he would wait on Peltola to decide before making his own plans, adding that he'd support her if she ran for governor. Now, though, he tells the paper that "there has to be a countervailing voice" to the eight Republican candidates running for governor.

Peltola hinted last month that she was learning toward running to succeed GOP incumbent Mike Dunleavy, who cannot seek a third term. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer remains determined to recruit Peltola to challenge GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan instead, as Axios reported last week.

Morning Digest: A new poll shows Mary Peltola cruising if she runs for governor

Begich, for his part, hails from one of the most prominent political families in Alaska—though it's no longer an exclusively Democratic one.

His father, Democrat Nick Begich, served as Alaska's sole House member in the early 1970s until the plane he was on disappeared between Anchorage and Juneau in 1972. The elder Begich, along with Louisiana Rep. Hale Boggs, the pilot, and a Begich aide, were declared dead after a lengthy search failed to find their aircraft or remains.

Mark Begich, who is Tom's younger brother, became the state's first Democratic U.S. senator in decades following his 2008 victory, but he narrowly lost to Sullivan in 2014.

Tom Begich won a seat in the state Senate two years later, while his sibling lost to Dunleavy in a competitive 2018 race for governor. Begich retired from the legislature in 2022 as his nephew, Nick Begich III, was unsuccessfully running as a Republican for the House.

The younger Begich had more success on his next try, when he narrowly unseated Peltola in 2024. That prompted his uncle to write an op-ed earlier this year slamming his conservative relative for his allegiance to the Trump administration, saying, "My nephew may share my father's name, but he does not share his values."

AZ-Gov, AZ-01

Republican Rep. David Schweikert is considering running for governor of Arizona, Punchbowl News reports—a move that would set off an open-seat race in one of the nation's swingiest House seats and shake up the GOP primary to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. A Schweikert consultant confirmed the congressman's interest in a subsequent interview with Axios.

We apparently won't be in suspense long, though: Punchbowl says that Schweikert will decide by the end of August.

For now at least, Schweikert is defending the 1st District, which is based in northeastern Phoenix and Scottsdale. Calculations by The Downballot show that Donald Trump won it by just a 51-48 margin, four years after Joe Biden carried it by an even skinnier 50-49 spread.

Five notable Democrats are running, and Schweikert's departure would force Republicans to find a viable candidate to replace him.

The GOP primary for governor, by contrast, is well underway. Wealthy businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson, who narrowly lost the 2022 primary, launched her second campaign with Trump's endorsement, but she wasn't his sole favorite for long. Trump announced in April that he was also backing Rep. Andy Biggs, saying the contest featured two "fantastic candidates."

And Schweikert may hope to pick up Trump's complete but by no means total endorsement if he runs for governor, too.

A three-pack endorsement from the party's supreme master wouldn't be unprecedented: Last year, Trump hedged his bets in the GOP primary for governor of Missouri by backing all three major candidates. That made it easy for him to celebrate the victor in a social media post blaring, "Mike Kehoe wins! Endorsed by President Trump."

ME-Gov

Nirav Shah, who served as Maine's health director during the COVID pandemic, told the Portland Press Herald last week that he's interested in joining the already busy Democratic primary for governor.

Shah, who left the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2023 to take a post with the federal CDC, said he did not have a timeline for when he'd decide. Shah, who is the son of immigrants from India, would be the first person of color elected to lead Maine if he were to win the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who cannot seek a third term.

NY-Gov

Rep. Ritchie Torres on Monday called for New York Democrats to "unite under the leadership" of Gov. Kathy Hochul, praise that came after Torres had spent months floating a challenge to an incumbent he'd said last November was "fundamentally ineffective at governing."

Acknowledging his past stance, Torres told reporters this week that "there might have been moments when I've underestimated the governor." He added, "[M]y message to Donald Trump is, you underestimate Gov. Hochul at your own peril."

The congressman's newfound praise comes 10 months before Hochul faces Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado in the Democratic primary that Torres decided not to enter. A recent poll from Siena University showed Hochul holding off Delgado 50-15.

PA-Gov

Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Monday became the first prominent Pennsylvania Republican to launch a campaign against Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, but GOP operatives are warily waiting to see whether she'll be joined by one of the very worst candidates they've ever fielded anywhere.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who lost to Shapiro 56-42 following a catastrophic effort, responded to Garrity's entry by retweeting a fan's missive, "Nope. Not voting for her for Governor, sorry. The only candidate is @dougmastriano #doug4gov."

The state senator had previously sounded unlikely to oppose Garrity, whom the Associated Press' Marc Levy says was "perhaps the GOP's most visible surrogate for Mastriano" in 2022. Rather, in March, Mastriano said he was interested in running as a ticket with Garrity, and he even suggested that he was willing to take the lieutenant governor slot for such a "team up."

In an interview with a conservative radio host on Monday, Mastriano said he still wanted to run alongside Garrity—just with the treasurer in the number-two spot. Pennsylvania is one of just seven states that nominate governors and lieutenant governors in separate primaries, with the winners joined together in what can often be an awkward "shotgun wedding."

Garrity, for her part, has focused her attention strictly on Shapiro. Though the governor has posted high approval ratings throughout his tenure, Garrity has chastised him as more interested in his national ambitions than in helping Pennsylvania.

"While Josh Shapiro has been spending his time running for president and fundraising in California and other liberal states, raising money from far-left mega donors like [Mike] Bloomberg and [George] Soros, critical problems in Pennsylvania have been ignored," says the narrator for Garrity's launch video. Bloomberg and Soros, like Shapiro, just happen to be Jewish.

Garrity's message goes on to tout her as "a strong ally of President Trump" and shows a picture of the two together. Trump narrowly carried this perennial swing state in 2016 and 2024, while he lost a close race to Joe Biden in 2020.

Just a few months ago, though, Trump had a different nominee in mind. Rather than boost Garrity, who would be the first woman elected to lead Pennsylvania, Trump instead praised Rep. Dan Meuser at a May rally and told him that "if you run, you have my support." Meuser announced last month that he would not challenge Shapiro.

Garrity, a retired Army Reserve colonel who served in Iraq, first won elected office in 2020, the one year Trump failed to carry Pennsylvania. That year, Garrity unseated Democratic Treasurer Joe Torsella 49-48 even as Shapiro was convincingly winning reelection as attorney general.

Despite her victory, though, the new treasurer has spread conspiracy theories about the same electorate that put her into office. In 2022, she told the audience at a Trump rally, "We know that he won."

Democrats hoped to target Garrity last year, but they got some unwelcome news when perennial candidate Erin McClelland won the nomination over a better-funded opponent. McClelland, who struggled to raise money, loudly criticized Shapiro when Kamala Harris was considering making him her running mate, and Shapiro later announced he'd stay neutral in the general election.

Garrity benefited from this infighting to win 52-46. Her decisive victory in a presidential year also made her the top vote-getter in Pennsylvania history, a record Shapiro had first notched in 2020.

SC-Gov

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace has publicized an internal poll that shows her ahead in next year's Republican primary for governor, though she's far from the majority she'd need to avoid a runoff.

The survey from Meeting Street, which was shared by the Post and Courier's Nick Reynolds, has Mace in front with 30% as Attorney General Alan Wilson leads Rep. Ralph Norman 21-12 for second place. Two other Republicans, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, are further behind with 7% and 4%, respectively.

This is the first poll we've seen of this primary since Mace entered the race earlier this month to replace termed-out Gov. Henry McMaster, a fellow Republican.

Morning Digest: Nancy Mace’s favorite person in the world launches bid for governor

TN-Gov, TN-Sen

Rep. Tim Burchett on Monday joined numerous other Tennessee Republicans in backing Sen. Marsha Blackburn in next year's primary for governor over his colleague, Rep. John Rose.

Burchett's decision to side with the frontrunner is anything but a surprise, though, as he's one of many politicians jockeying for an appointment from Blackburn to the Senate seat she may leave behind. Blackburn is unlikely to award this coveted prize to anyone who stays neutral in the primary—and especially not to anyone who backs Rose.

But Blackburn's colleagues in the upper chamber may not be too excited about the prospect of serving alongside Burchett, who in 2023 fired off evidence-free claims that "powerful people" who "write the big checks" get their way in Congress through sexual blackmail. They may also have mixed feelings about having a coworker who has mused about the existence of underwater aliens.

WI-Gov

State Rep. Francesca Hong is considering entering the Democratic primary for Wisconsin's open governorship, she tells State Affairs. The prospective candidate said, "I am really taking that seriously, what bold, progressive leadership can do for our state."

Hong, who is the daughter of Korean immigrants, made history in 2020 when she became the first Asian American elected to the state legislature, and she'd be both the first woman and person of color to lead this perennial swing state.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, meanwhile, sounds like he's decided to wage his own campaign to replace retiring Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat.

After telling WISN 12 that he hadn't "even been thinking about this run" as his community recovers from heavy flooding, Crowley used the word "when" as he described a future statewide campaign.

"[A]s I look for what the possibilities are when I enter this race, it's really going to be focused on kind of an extension of what Gov. Evers has been able to do for us right now," the executive said. Crowley would be Wisconsin's first Black governor.

So far, the only Democrat seeking the nod is Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who launched her campaign the day after Evers announced he would not seek reelection.

House

AL-01

Former Rep. Jerry Carl on Monday launched a comeback campaign in Alabama's 1st District, a heavily Republican constituency located in the southern part of the state. Carl is campaigning to replace Rep. Barry Moore, who narrowly beat Carl in an incumbent vs. incumbent primary last year and is now leaving to run for the Senate.

Carl was elected in 2020 after overcoming heavy spending by the Club for Growth, the well-funded radical anti-tax organization, which backed one of his primary opponents. The new congressman quickly aligned himself with the GOP leadership, though that didn't stop him from joining most of his caucus by voting against recognizing Joe Biden's win in the hours after the Jan. 6 attack.

Carl launched his new campaign around the same time that Army Special Forces veteran Joshua McKee entered the race, though McKee's announcement didn't generate much attention. Other Alabama Republicans are also sure to take a look at running here.

IL-02

State Sen. Willie Preston began collecting signatures over the weekend to earn a spot on the March Democratic primary ballot for Illinois' open 2nd District, a safely blue seat that Rep. Robin Kelly is giving up to run for the Senate.

It's not clear when Preston, who was elected in 2022, publicly announced he was in. The legislator set up a fundraising committee in July as part of what he said was an exploratory committee, but he hasn't generated much coverage over the ensuing month.

MN-02

Democratic state Sen. Erin Maye Quade on Monday endorsed former state Sen. Matt Little for Minnesota's 2nd District, an open seat that Maye Quade didn't rule out seeking back in April. Little is one of several candidates from both parties running to succeed Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, who is running for the Senate.

NE-01

Businessman Eric Moyer, who works in the renewable resource sector, just became the first Democrat to announce a campaign against GOP Rep. Mike Flood in Nebraska's conservative 1st District, but he may have company soon.

Chris Backemeyer, who served in the State Department during the Biden administration, recently told Axios he would spend "the next month or two" considering.

Flood attracted national attention earlier this month after his constituents loudly booed him during a town hall event in Lincoln. The congressman, who argued that there was "a lot of misinformation out there" about the GOP's budget bill—which he voted for—was greeted with chants of "Liar! Liar!"

Flood's constituency, though, is challenging turf for Democrats. Donald Trump carried the 1st District, where voters in rural eastern Nebraska outnumber the electorate in Democratic-leaning Lincoln, 56-43.

NV-03

Cardiologist James Lally announced last week that he would challenge Rep. Susie Lee from the left in next year's Democratic primary for Nevada's swingy 3rd District. Calculations by The Downballot show that Donald Trump narrowly prevailed 49.5 to 48.8 in this district in the southwestern Las Vegas area, four years after Joe Biden carried it 52-46.

But Lally, who is running for office for the first time, believes the 3rd should have a more progressive member of Congress.

Lally launched his campaign by criticizing Lee for voting for the Laken Riley Act, which empowers the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants who haven't been convicted of criminal charges. He also accused her of being too close to the hawkish pro-Israel group AIPAC.

NY-22

Republican Assemblyman John Lemondes announced Monday that he'd challenge Democratic Rep. John Mannion in New York's 22nd District, and he's not letting Donald Trump's 54-46 loss here stop him from running as a MAGA true believer.

Lemondes informed Syracuse.com's Mark Weiner that he believes the 2020 election was stolen. He also claimed that liberal financier George Soros had paid some of the 5,000 people who showed up to protest at Syracuse's June "No Kings" event.

Lemondes, who did not provide evidence for either conspiracy theory, also highlighted his opposition to abortion rights.

PA-08

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is "expected" to challenge Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, the New York Times says—a potential development that reporter Annie Karni writes has Democrats "enthusiastic." Cognetti, who is up for reelection this November, didn't rule out such a campaign in June.

Pennsylvania's 8th District favored Donald Trump 54-45 last year, but Republicans fret that the wealthy Bresnahan's status as one of the most active stock traders in Congress could cost them this seat.

Bresnahan, who previously called the practice of lawmakers trading stocks "sickening," flipped the 8th last year after he attacked Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright for not co-sponsoring a bill to ban such trades. Karni, though, reported in April that the new congressman had purchased and sold millions in stock in his first three months in office.

Bresnahan is continuing to draw scrutiny over his ongoing trading, as well as what NOTUS characterizes as a "secret helicopter."

His fellow Republicans are not happy. One GOP consultant recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer on the record, "Whether he realizes it or not his continuing scuffles on this issue are making him an even more inviting target for Democrats."

Another Republican consultant, who declined to be named, was even harsher: "I don't know what he's doing but he's throwing away his seat."

Prosecutors & Sheriffs

Hennepin County, MN Attorney

State Rep. Cedrick Frazier on Monday became the first notable candidate to enter the race to succeed Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, a criminal justice reformer and fellow Democrat who announced her retirement earlier this month. Frazier tells the Minnesota Star Tribune that he would be the first Black person elected to serve as a county prosecutor anywhere in Minnesota.

The new contender, who co-chaired Moriarty's transition team following her win in 2022, launched his campaign with an endorsement from Attorney General Keith Ellison, a prominent progressive. Frazier, though, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that, while he shares an outlook with the incumbent, he's not "Mary 2.0."

All candidates will face off on a single ballot next August, with the top two vote-getters advancing to a fall general election. The next attorney for Hennepin County, a solidly blue community that includes Minneapolis, is likely to be a Democrat.

Editor's note: In the previous Morning Digest, we incorrectly said that California Democrat Dave Min flipped the 47th Congressional District in 2024. He successfully defended the district, which had been held by fellow Democrat Katie Porter.