I’m pretty bummed with last night’s NH primary results. It’s all dynasty politics and AIPAC supporters. I will happily vote for Goodlander in the House. And I am holding out hope that Pappas can win me over for the Senate. I’m open and I know he’ll be better than an AIPAC supported republican. But I’m really struggling with how to hold tight to my morals and still feel comfortable with that vote. What does one do when the party you agree with 95% of the time also supports something you find to be gross and immoral?
Anyway, I’ll definitely vote a straight ticket in November. How many contests I vote for is the question.
Vote blue no matter who. Not supporting a Democrat in a critically important Senate race just because of a position that the other candidate isn’t even better than them on doesn’t make sense. Plenty of Democrats don’t have perfect policy positions- Bill Clinton was soft on Wall Street, Obama conducted drone strikes in the Middle East, Hillary, Kerry, and Biden all supported the Iraq War - that doesn’t mean that you sit out and let the fascists win.
AIPAC support is a stumbling block for me. If you can try to see it through that lens, you can see the difficult position I’m in and maybe have some sympathy. And honestly it sucks for me. I’ve been a Democratic since I registered to vote and I want to support all Democratic candidates without moral reservations. I just can’t seem to do that right now and it makes me feel awkward and out-of-place in my own party sometimes.
I know this: I will absolutely vote in November. I will not vote for Sununu. I truly hope Pappas wins.
Whether or not I vote for Pappas, I’m not too sure. It’s a genuine moral struggle that I wish I didn’t need to have.
Absolutely. Just as I, a progressive, would ask moderates to vote for progressive nominees in the general like AES, I am fully prepared to support moderate nominees where they win. (I am actually planning to canvass for Cait Conley in my district when able.)
Controlling the Senate is vital if Democrats are going to stop the Trump administration and Senate Republicans from stuffing the federal courts with judges who won't even say that Biden won the 2020 election. And look at what that federal court judge (Trump appointed) just did to the Missouri gerrymandering mess. Think of your vote as saving the judiciary. Oh, and there is a likelihood that Trump will get another opportunity to nominate another Supreme Court justice in the next two years. We need the Senate majority to keep that nominee from going anywhere.
A practical leftist always votes for the furthest left reasonable, qualified candidate who can win. It's really a simple moral calculus, when you consider the difference between disagreeing on one issue, no matter how important, and dictatorship.
"AIPAC supporters" (as opposed to AIPAC-backed candidates) and discussion of morals in this context feels like code for discussions not allowed here...
New Hampshire nominated and elects moderate Democrats. Hassan and Shaheen are typical. I can’t think of a left Democrat who has been elected, and most senators have been Republican.
Something I learned recently is that the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, which Truman reluctantly signed because congress was already out of session, actually favored non-Jewish German refugees over Jews and people from other countries. So we basically let in a bunch of "displaced" Nazis, rather than their victims, in the aftermath of WWII. Because, despite everything that happened, the anti-semites were still dictating immigration policy.
Worth noting: "Of the undecideds in the Glengariff MI Sen poll, Trump has 83% disapprove to 3% approve (not a typo, 3% approve), and 74% strongly disapprove. I don't think Rogers is going to have a good time picking up those undecideds."
this poll was also conducted for The Detroit News, which is a conservative news outlet. That doesn't *necessarily* mean it must be biased towards Rogers, but it's definitely not a point in favor of the poll when you take into account Glengariff's already existing problems
In a word: shitty. I worked on a ballot campaign that they did polling for and I was not impressed. They (Czuba) make very suspect choices in their sampling process and likely voter modeling.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must answer to a contempt inquiry issued by the state Supreme Court relating to his reasoning behind attempting to implement a congressional map against the court's orders. An in person hearing will be tomorrow morning.
Not necessarily. If we ignore their mediocre track record/potential biases, Glengariff's last poll had El-Sayed down by 10, now he's down by only 2 points with Rogers actively losing support as opposed to El-Sayed merely catching up. That's an 8 point swing. And among the most likely to vote voters, El-Sayed leads by 3.
Basically, even if he didn't lead in this poll, his momentum is still building.
Re: The Secretary of State race in Indiana. If the Lincoln Party gets 2% of the vote, then its candidates will appear on the ballot, without having to gather signatures, for the next four years. This article has a lot of details about how elections work for minor parties in Indiana.
If enough Republicans vote for the Lincoln party, then it adds another split in the Republican voting base, along with the Libertarians who usually take about 5% of the vote. That's why Engling is throwing such a fit. Note that the Democratic response is subdued.
I'm typically not big on nepo-babies/political dynasties but I really do appreciate that Beau is running for a non-flashy but still very important office, rather than just trying to jump immediately to governor or senator
He probably knows that, in a red state like Indiana, he'll have better luck running for an office that's seen as less partisan than Governor or Senator. Also, his father (former Senator Evan Bayh) also got his start in politics by running for Indiana SOS.
Normally I would consider voting for the Lincoln Party just for them to get ballot access (in Texas I sometimes voted Libertarian in races we had no pray in to help the party keep ballot access) but this is a rare Indiana race where (at least on paper) we seem to have a chance.
It is also a fight for who is going to be in charge of elections in 2028. That's why Senator Banks put one of his aides in as the Republican candidate.
Bucks County Democrats have shifted their messaging focus this year to affordability. In the past few years, their main messaging was about aborition protection and access, but now they are focusing more on affordability for both PA-01 and the state legislative seats in Bucks County.
Bob Brooks, Democratic Nominee for PA-07, has released his first ad where he is a firefighter putting out a dumpster fire, while mentioning Rep Mackenzie, corporate PACs and to “smoke out the billionaires and their lobbyists”.
If you were thinking, that Jamaica situation with Bevin's adopted son sounds horrible after reading the item above but didn't click the link after Jonah's age...
I clicked the link. It's as horrible as it sounds. How Matt Bevin is only in jail for failure to appear is beyond me. He and his wife should be in for much more. On the plus side, seems Paris Hilton is a major advocate for closing down abusive residential youth facilities. Not being engaged in pop culture, that was news to me.
I’ve actually been very pleased with Paris Hilton‘s advocacy on this issue. It really shows how grown-up she’s become. I think she testified at the Utah legislature a few years ago about a bill regarding something like this.
She did, according to something I read after clicking that link, probably Wikipedia. The residential school her folks shipped her off too, where she was abused, was in Utah. She'd been locked in my mind as a vacuous celeb famous for being a nepobaby. But she's 45 years old now, and as you said, she's become a grown up.
Paris Hilton does seem to have changed from the days when Democrats invoked her in a derogatory way to criticise GOP tax cuts on inherited and otherwise unearned wealth, on the grounds of "why should spoiled wastrels who did nothing to earn their wealth pay lower taxes than working people?"
And keep in mind, this is after the horrible incumbent/potentially easier opponent to beat Diego Morales did not get renominated. It's a tossup even after that.
I just saw a TV ad for Rebecca Bennett openly proclaiming she is refusing to take corporate PAC money and proudly noting she sold her stocks, and will fight corruption (“in both parties”). (The ad was on CBS — technically I’m supposed to be boycotting them but if it’s any consolation, I was not watching their news, I was watching The Price is Right which I watch regularly.)
Combined with Cait Conley of NY-17 recently saying on CNN that she’ll vote to impeach Pete Hegseth, it seems the base’s demands for the Dems are starting to catch on.
Bobby Charles is having a rough morning. I mentioned this in the Discord too, but in addition to the bad polling from CNN today, his sister has written an Op-Ed in the Portland Press Herald saying she's voting for Hannah Pingree and highlighting his ties to Dennis Hastert, who he has (according to her) never disavowed.
In any case, Pingree running up the margins can only hurt Collins further. It's hard to imagine a double digit win would still have enough ticket-splitting to re-elect Collins
I’m pretty bummed with last night’s NH primary results. It’s all dynasty politics and AIPAC supporters. I will happily vote for Goodlander in the House. And I am holding out hope that Pappas can win me over for the Senate. I’m open and I know he’ll be better than an AIPAC supported republican. But I’m really struggling with how to hold tight to my morals and still feel comfortable with that vote. What does one do when the party you agree with 95% of the time also supports something you find to be gross and immoral?
Anyway, I’ll definitely vote a straight ticket in November. How many contests I vote for is the question.
Vote blue no matter who. Not supporting a Democrat in a critically important Senate race just because of a position that the other candidate isn’t even better than them on doesn’t make sense. Plenty of Democrats don’t have perfect policy positions- Bill Clinton was soft on Wall Street, Obama conducted drone strikes in the Middle East, Hillary, Kerry, and Biden all supported the Iraq War - that doesn’t mean that you sit out and let the fascists win.
True. At least JD didn't insinuate they would actually vote Republican.
I would never vote Republican! Sununu sucks. I already had to deal with his brother as Governor. Barf.
...and if you don't want to deal with him as a Senator, then you need to vote for Pappas.
Yeah, but not voting is highly irresponsible.
AIPAC support is a stumbling block for me. If you can try to see it through that lens, you can see the difficult position I’m in and maybe have some sympathy. And honestly it sucks for me. I’ve been a Democratic since I registered to vote and I want to support all Democratic candidates without moral reservations. I just can’t seem to do that right now and it makes me feel awkward and out-of-place in my own party sometimes.
I know this: I will absolutely vote in November. I will not vote for Sununu. I truly hope Pappas wins.
Whether or not I vote for Pappas, I’m not too sure. It’s a genuine moral struggle that I wish I didn’t need to have.
Absolutely. Just as I, a progressive, would ask moderates to vote for progressive nominees in the general like AES, I am fully prepared to support moderate nominees where they win. (I am actually planning to canvass for Cait Conley in my district when able.)
As a moderate who asks progressive to support moderate nominees, I was out canvassing for AES the last two weekends.
Controlling the Senate is vital if Democrats are going to stop the Trump administration and Senate Republicans from stuffing the federal courts with judges who won't even say that Biden won the 2020 election. And look at what that federal court judge (Trump appointed) just did to the Missouri gerrymandering mess. Think of your vote as saving the judiciary. Oh, and there is a likelihood that Trump will get another opportunity to nominate another Supreme Court justice in the next two years. We need the Senate majority to keep that nominee from going anywhere.
A practical leftist always votes for the furthest left reasonable, qualified candidate who can win. It's really a simple moral calculus, when you consider the difference between disagreeing on one issue, no matter how important, and dictatorship.
"AIPAC supporters" (as opposed to AIPAC-backed candidates) and discussion of morals in this context feels like code for discussions not allowed here...
It 100% is, and I don't know why no one has shut it down yet...
New Hampshire nominated and elects moderate Democrats. Hassan and Shaheen are typical. I can’t think of a left Democrat who has been elected, and most senators have been Republican.
Carol Shea-Porter arguably was pretty left-leaning at first. But that definitely made holding her House seat a challenge over the years.
Pappas would be the first openly gay man ever elected to the US Senate. He is very progressive on many issues. This decision shouldn't be hard.
Out of curiosity, which issues? My understanding of him is that’s he’s a pretty generic moderate.
This is veering VERY close to prohibited territory (no pun intended) for discussion here...
“[A]nd then there’s the Nazi thing, which is not a killer, but when you add them all up it’s like, ‘eh.’”
That quote right there tells you where the Republican Party is at
Something I learned recently is that the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, which Truman reluctantly signed because congress was already out of session, actually favored non-Jewish German refugees over Jews and people from other countries. So we basically let in a bunch of "displaced" Nazis, rather than their victims, in the aftermath of WWII. Because, despite everything that happened, the anti-semites were still dictating immigration policy.
This is why I am happy Platner never made it to the general
What’s Glengariff’s record as a pollster? Because that isn’t a good poll if they’re legit.
Bad
Worth noting: "Of the undecideds in the Glengariff MI Sen poll, Trump has 83% disapprove to 3% approve (not a typo, 3% approve), and 74% strongly disapprove. I don't think Rogers is going to have a good time picking up those undecideds."
Also worth noting that Glengariff had El-Sayed down by 10 in their last poll, 49-39. Interesting trend
Yes, the trend is quite poor for Rogers - loses 3 and AES gains 5. Also, AES leads 47-44 in the definitely going to vote sample.
this poll was also conducted for The Detroit News, which is a conservative news outlet. That doesn't *necessarily* mean it must be biased towards Rogers, but it's definitely not a point in favor of the poll when you take into account Glengariff's already existing problems
In a word: shitty. I worked on a ballot campaign that they did polling for and I was not impressed. They (Czuba) make very suspect choices in their sampling process and likely voter modeling.
https://missouriindependent.com/2026/09/08/us-supreme-court-denies-gop-effort-to-revive-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must answer to a contempt inquiry issued by the state Supreme Court relating to his reasoning behind attempting to implement a congressional map against the court's orders. An in person hearing will be tomorrow morning.
Virginia and Colorado should ignore their court rulings if this BS stands. Dems +6 seats.
Spanberger doesn't strike me as someone who would be willing to do that. Idk about Weiser
Now the lunatic has gone to federal court seeking an injunction against the Missouri Supreme Court holding him in contempt.
https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3mv3zn5ahpc2f
Which was denied.
Anyone here from Michigan want to give us a vibe check on the Senate election? That new poll negates some of the prior polling momentum sadly…
Glengariff sucks. Not from Michigan but it's not hard to tell from their previous results.
Yes. Almost as bad as Mitchell. EPIC-MRA is probably the best of the Michigan pollsters.
A new CNN poll released today shows AES at 47-44.
Not necessarily. If we ignore their mediocre track record/potential biases, Glengariff's last poll had El-Sayed down by 10, now he's down by only 2 points with Rogers actively losing support as opposed to El-Sayed merely catching up. That's an 8 point swing. And among the most likely to vote voters, El-Sayed leads by 3.
Basically, even if he didn't lead in this poll, his momentum is still building.
Re: The Secretary of State race in Indiana. If the Lincoln Party gets 2% of the vote, then its candidates will appear on the ballot, without having to gather signatures, for the next four years. This article has a lot of details about how elections work for minor parties in Indiana.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/09/08/whats-the-lincoln-party-ballards-secretary-of-state-run-could-expand-indiana-ballot-access/?_bhlid=f36e8fe44af3a469034ec34552120b199e11a9a4
If enough Republicans vote for the Lincoln party, then it adds another split in the Republican voting base, along with the Libertarians who usually take about 5% of the vote. That's why Engling is throwing such a fit. Note that the Democratic response is subdued.
Ballard on the ballot helps us. Beau only has to get to the mid 40s now to win.
I received and put out my Beau Bayh sign yesterday where everyone driving on our road can see it.
I'm typically not big on nepo-babies/political dynasties but I really do appreciate that Beau is running for a non-flashy but still very important office, rather than just trying to jump immediately to governor or senator
He probably knows that, in a red state like Indiana, he'll have better luck running for an office that's seen as less partisan than Governor or Senator. Also, his father (former Senator Evan Bayh) also got his start in politics by running for Indiana SOS.
Normally I would consider voting for the Lincoln Party just for them to get ballot access (in Texas I sometimes voted Libertarian in races we had no pray in to help the party keep ballot access) but this is a rare Indiana race where (at least on paper) we seem to have a chance.
It is also a fight for who is going to be in charge of elections in 2028. That's why Senator Banks put one of his aides in as the Republican candidate.
News from Pennsylvania:
Bucks County Democrats have shifted their messaging focus this year to affordability. In the past few years, their main messaging was about aborition protection and access, but now they are focusing more on affordability for both PA-01 and the state legislative seats in Bucks County.
https://share.inquirer.com/4VvuDp
Bob Brooks, Democratic Nominee for PA-07, has released his first ad where he is a firefighter putting out a dumpster fire, while mentioning Rep Mackenzie, corporate PACs and to “smoke out the billionaires and their lobbyists”.
https://share.inquirer.com/NyJiKC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaGzKAL1HyM
If you were thinking, that Jamaica situation with Bevin's adopted son sounds horrible after reading the item above but didn't click the link after Jonah's age...
I clicked the link. It's as horrible as it sounds. How Matt Bevin is only in jail for failure to appear is beyond me. He and his wife should be in for much more. On the plus side, seems Paris Hilton is a major advocate for closing down abusive residential youth facilities. Not being engaged in pop culture, that was news to me.
I’ve actually been very pleased with Paris Hilton‘s advocacy on this issue. It really shows how grown-up she’s become. I think she testified at the Utah legislature a few years ago about a bill regarding something like this.
She did, according to something I read after clicking that link, probably Wikipedia. The residential school her folks shipped her off too, where she was abused, was in Utah. She'd been locked in my mind as a vacuous celeb famous for being a nepobaby. But she's 45 years old now, and as you said, she's become a grown up.
Paris Hilton does seem to have changed from the days when Democrats invoked her in a derogatory way to criticise GOP tax cuts on inherited and otherwise unearned wealth, on the grounds of "why should spoiled wastrels who did nothing to earn their wealth pay lower taxes than working people?"
Yeah, she apparently testified in front of Congress about it earlier this year.
Who what?
Referring to the above comment. I forgot to reply right on it lol.
FL-22 poll up in Trump +10 seat https://x.com/cjwarnke/status/2097678890370048292?s=20
Sounds about right
Internal.
CNN:
Jackson 48
Collins 45
Pingree up 52-39
El Sayed up 47-44
Benson up 50-41
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/09/politics/cnn-polls-maine-senate-michigan-senate-abdul-el-sayed-susan-collins
Sabato moves Indiana SOS race to tossup…👀
https://x.com/purrtah/status/2097711331441078694?s=46
Wow.
And keep in mind, this is after the horrible incumbent/potentially easier opponent to beat Diego Morales did not get renominated. It's a tossup even after that.
Yes! As a convention delegate this summer for Beau I was extremely worried about Morales not being the nominee. Not anymore.
Perhaps the Bayh name still carries some weight in Indiana.
NJ-7:
I just saw a TV ad for Rebecca Bennett openly proclaiming she is refusing to take corporate PAC money and proudly noting she sold her stocks, and will fight corruption (“in both parties”). (The ad was on CBS — technically I’m supposed to be boycotting them but if it’s any consolation, I was not watching their news, I was watching The Price is Right which I watch regularly.)
Combined with Cait Conley of NY-17 recently saying on CNN that she’ll vote to impeach Pete Hegseth, it seems the base’s demands for the Dems are starting to catch on.
New Texas poll from YouGov/Univision poll | 8/27-9/4 RV
Texas statewide races 2026
US Senate
🟦James Talarico 48%
🟥Ken Paxton 43%
——
Texas Governor
🟥Greg Abbott 47% (incumbent)
🟦Gina Hinojosa 47%
——
Generic congressional ballot 2026 (TX)
🟦Democratic 48%
🟥Republican 46%
Bobby Charles is having a rough morning. I mentioned this in the Discord too, but in addition to the bad polling from CNN today, his sister has written an Op-Ed in the Portland Press Herald saying she's voting for Hannah Pingree and highlighting his ties to Dennis Hastert, who he has (according to her) never disavowed.
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/09/09/im-bobby-charles-sister-im-voting-for-hannah-pingree-opinion/
ME-Gov is Solid D now.
Also, over on Twitter, Senate Majority PAC is now calling out Susan Collins for not disavowing Charles. Hopefully this can damage her some, too.
https://x.com/MajorityPAC/status/2097733559288988116
In any case, Pingree running up the margins can only hurt Collins further. It's hard to imagine a double digit win would still have enough ticket-splitting to re-elect Collins
Historically, it wasn't hard to imagine in the past.
In most cases, I would agree, but if anyone can pull it off, it'd be Collins. That said, I'd consider Jackson a slight favorite at this point.
Do we think McKee hangs on in Rhode Island today?
Highly, Highly unlikely. He has never lead in any poll for at least the last year.
Whether Matos hangs on or not is the more interesting question, McKee is disliked and is a general election risk, he’s finished.
It would be an enormous upset if he hung on.