I'm very focused on coalition right now, and that includes pillars of our Democratic coalition, like the building trades workers I was with in Toledo or in Nevada, and certainly Black voters who are so vital to the past, present, and future of the party.
The companies flooded the state's Democratic primaries with millions of dollars to promote candidates they believed would have a light touch when it came to regulating technologies that have begun to upend how people do their jobs and manage their finances. Using super PACs that are allowed to spend unlimited sums of money, they ran television advertising and distributed campaign fliers that only occasionally alluded to their industries.
AIPAC pivoted in the final week of the campaign to focusing its fire on the more pro-Palestinian Abughazaleh than Biss, who was backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Another AIPAC affiliate, Chicago Progressive Partnership, ran ads painting Abughazaleh as a closet Republican and boosting a lower tier leftist in the race, Bushra Amiwala.
Three recent appointments demonstrate Mamdani's commitment to that long-cited political adage that personnel is policy. He and his team are drawing qualified, visionary, sometimes unconventional talent from the best of previous administrations-all deployed to pull on as many levers as possible to make New York a more just and affordable city.
This group of people here this morning is the best reminder of what's at stake. We are in a crisis for working people in this country. I would say that the transition from Jan Schakowsky to me is one of generational change, for sure. There's nobody else who's done both things that I think we need right now—fought and won inside of government, making real change, and fought and won out on the streets as an activist.
Primaries are not an inconvenience, they are the foundation of democratic legitimacy. You cannot argue that democracy is on the ballot in November while narrowing democracy in the primaries from now through August. If a candidate is strong, they should be able to earn support in open competition.
His age, energy and accomplishments in San Jose place him a cut above all others in this crowded race. When I saw him running up my street distributing flyers announcing a community meeting on the topic of a homeless encampment in my neighborhood, I thought, this man is destined for greatness. When I heard him speak to a crowded audience, his focus and passion stood out. He sold me on his ideas moving forward.
State of play: As Axios previously reported,members are tailoring their approaches, though the common thread is to challenge Trump. Some plan to deliver direct addresses or attend counter-rallies, including Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Others, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), will likely skip the speech altogether. And some, like Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), might attend and cause distractions, defying House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' warning against disruptions.
I don't know about other people. I've been challenged with my weight for, you know, most of my life so the idea and I have succeeded and failed, I mean, like a lot people, you lose weight, you gain weight over the course of your life. I realize that other people want to make this about something that it's not, the governor said.
On Thursday, Tom Homan, the corrupt, fascist, "border czar" the media insists on treating as respectable, announced an end to "Operation Metro Surge," which is the Trump administration's name for its unconstitutional invasion of Minnesota. Homan declared "success," shared some data on the numbers of immigrants who've been deported or sent to concentration camps, didn't list the numbers of people his goons have assaulted, injured, or murdered, and scuttled off.
The governor has said for months that she plans to seek reelection, and her campaign kicked off this week with a revamped website and a splashy announcement video. "These are tough times, and Donald Trump is making everything worse," Healey said in the video. Healey highlighted actions she took in her first term: filing legislation meant to reduce energy costs, facilitating the construction of close to 100,000 new homes, capping health care deductibles and co-pays, investing in housing and services for veterans, protecting SNAP benefits, strengthening the MBTA system, and making community colleges free for some students.
Trump on Monday announced he would send his border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to oversee immigration operations following Pretti's killing. Unlike the broader ICE enforcement surge currently underway in the state, Homan has reportedly favored deportations focused on people he considers criminals and national security threats. Reducing Border Patrol officers Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some federal agents will be leaving Minnesota on Tuesday, according to local leaders and multiple media reports.
Listen and subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google | Wherever You Listen to receive our twice-weekly News & Politics newsletter. The Washington Roundtable is joined by Robert Kagan, a historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, for a conversation about the pressures facing American democracy, the security of elections, and how these domestic tensions interact with the collapse of international norms.
Pine Tree Results, a super PAC supporting Collins, raised another $5 million in the second half of the year, Axios has learned. The PAC will start the year with $10 million in cash on hand, according to a person familiar with the matter. Zoom in: Democrats view Maine as one of their top pickup opportunities, but the party is deeply divided. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has declared that Mills is the "best candidate" to defeat Collins.
Driving the news: In a memo Thursday, the Kennedy-aligned political advocacy group MAHA Action warned the chairs of the Republican Senate and House campaign committees and House and Senate leaders that the GOP "is renting MAHA voters. They haven't decided to purchase them yet." The group says Republicans could still close the polling gap with appeals to this segment, which it said could represent 10% of the electorate.
The siege of Minneapolis represents a fitting, if foreboding, capstone to the first year of President Donald Trump's second term. Since returning to office one year ago, Trump has pursued no goal more passionately or persistently than breaking the ability of blue jurisdictions and their leaders to resist him. In the process, he is straining the nation's fundamental cohesion in ways that may escalate beyond his control.
