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By Mary Ellen McIntire, Daniela Altimari and Niels Lesniewski
With Southern states like Florida, Georgia and North Carolina still reeling, it’s not clear how Hurricanes Helene and Milton will affect this fall’s elections. But officials in those states are taking steps to make sure residents are able to vote.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections approved emergency measures earlier this week to make it easier for voters who live in counties struck by Hurricane Helene, such as allowing them to request and pick up absentee ballots in person until Nov. 4 and to drop off completed ballots at polling locations until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. The measures are also meant to give county boards of elections more flexibility in modifying voting locations and recruiting poll workers.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state board, said in a press briefing that early voting was still set to begin next Thursday across North Carolina.
After Hurricane Milton slammed his state overnight, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could also take action, like he did in an executive order for areas hit by Helene that allows for new polling locations if existing ones were destroyed.
Several politicians have sought to counter misinformation in the wake of Helene, as our colleagues David Jordan and Valerie Yurk reported. North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards, who represents the devastated western part of the state, released a statement “debunking” misinformation about the hurricane and the federal and state response.
“While it is true, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Helene has had its shortfalls, I’m here to dispel the outrageous rumors that have been circulated online,” he said.
Edwards, who is running for a second term representing North Carolina’s 11th District, is strongly favored to win reelection. He announced last week that he would suspend campaign activity to help the region recover.
Starting gate
Two for Texas — and Georgia: Two court rulings on abortion access in Georgia and Texas could fuel Democrats in their campaigns in those states.
Financing fundraising: The Federal Election Commission deadlocked, 3-3, on issuing guidance on whether joint fundraising committees can fully finance campaign-style television ads that also include a short fundraising solicitation. Democrats have argued that Republicans are exploiting a loophole by airing such ads.
Caregivers’ clout: Our colleagues Jessie Hellmann and Ariel Cohen dig into a new Harris campaign proposal that aims to allow seniors to remain at home under the care of family members.
ICYMI
New York pulse check: An Emerson College poll of two competitive New York House races showed both incumbents leading. In the 17th District, Rep. Mike Lawler led Democrat Mondaire Jones 45 percent to 44 percent, while Rep. Pat Ryan led Republican challenger Alison Esposito 48 percent to 43 percent in the 18th District.
Marist mirror: The latest Marist polls include snapshots of the Senate races in Ohio and Florida, showing a rather curious result: the two contests as mirror images. Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown is leading Republican Bernie Moreno, 50-48 percent, while Republican incumbent Rick Scott is leading former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by precisely the same margin. The third set of numbers the pollster released Thursday shows Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, further ahead.
Elsewhere in the Senate poll-verse: The newest New York Times/Siena polling showed a promising picture for the GOP, with Scott leading by 9 points and Cruz holding a 4-point advantage. The story accompanying the surveys (which also included Republican Tim Sheehy ahead in Montana) ran with a headline saying the Republicans were “poised” to control the Senate in 2025.
Crime and the border: The GOP leadership-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund is running new TV ads in House battlegrounds that take Democrats to task on crime and immigration policy. The ads are running in Michigan’s 10th District, Arizona’s 6th District, Ohio’s 9th District, Nebraska’s 2nd District and New York’s 19th District.
Slotkin vs. Rogers: The candidates for Michigan’s open Senate seat, Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Rep. Mike Rogers, squared off in a debate Tuesday night, with the Detroit Free Press reporting that at one juncture, Rogers said of Slotkin, “I’m not sure she could even pass the polygraph test in the CIA anymore.” The Democratic congresswoman was an intelligence officer before her congressional career.
Gallego vs. Lake: There was a Senate debate in Arizona on Wednesday night, with Republican Kari Lake sounding very much like the former TV news anchor she was before getting into politics. The Associated Press has a rundown of the debate, in which Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego repeatedly pushed Lake about her refusal to accept she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race.
Abortion comments: Speaking about an issue that continues to dog GOP candidates up and down the ballot, Sheehy, running against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, said young women have been “indoctrinated” for years on the issue of abortion. “That’s all they want to talk about. They are single-issue voters,” Sheehy said at an event in 2023, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News.
A husker’s haul: Dan Osborn, an unaffiliated candidate running to unseat Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, said he brought in more than $3.2 million in the third quarter. Osborn’s campaign is also touting a new poll showing him leading Fischer, 46 to 43 percent, with 10 percent undecided.
What we’re reading
Election changes: Route Fifty provides a rundown on state ballot measures in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Washington, D.C., that would change how elections are conducted by instituting ranked choice voting and, in some cases, nonpartisan primaries. Meanwhile, voters in Alaska will consider whether to scrap the state’s ranked choice system, and voters in Missouri will decide whether to ban the practice altogether.
Tech rising: The New Yorker looks at the expanding power of Silicon Valley. From crypto companies to AI firms, the tech industry is pouring millions of dollars into super PACs, remaking politics in the process.
Remaining neutral: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement reiterating its institutional neutrality on politics while encouraging its members to be active citizens, according to the Deseret News. The church also called for civil discourse and affirmed its opposition to abortion for its members except in cases of rape or incest, when the mother’s life is in danger or when the fetus has severe health issues that are not compatible with survival after birth.
The limits of liberalism? Portland, Ore., which has endured a string of crises related to violent protests and the decriminalization of all drugs, is poised for major changes after voters threw out the liberal city’s entire government structure. Politico reports on the crowded field of mayoral and City Council candidates who are seeking to be part of the rebuilding effort.
Key race: #AZ06
Candidates: It’s a rematch of 2022 between Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and former Democratic State Sen. Kirsten Engel.
Why it matters: Redistricting made the district among the most closely divided in the country — President Joe Biden would have won it by 1.5 percentage points in 2020, according to Inside Elections data — and Democrats view the seat as a strong pickup opportunity. Our friends at Inside Elections say Engel was a slight outperformer last cycle, according to her Vote Above Replacement score. The race is rated Tilt Republican.
Cash dash: Both candidates are set to file their third-quarter fundraising reports with the FEC by Tuesday, but outside groups have been involved here. As of Oct. 7, the DCCC and House Majority PAC spent a combined $2.9 million, while CLF had also dropped around $2.9 million.
Backers: Ciscomani and Engel have the full backing of their respective national campaign apparatuses, with Engel being part of the DCCC’s Red to Blue program and challenging with the endorsement of EMILY’s List.
What they’re saying: Ciscomani and Engel met for their only debate of the cycle Tuesday night, with a heavy focus on immigration, abortion rights and the economy. Engel attacked Ciscomani for opposing the Senate-negotiated bipartisan border bill and criticized his position on abortion. Ciscomani said he believed abortion limits were best handled as a state issue, and there’s a ballot question this fall that would enshrine rights in the state constitution. Engel said, when pressed about support for any restrictions, that “we need to leave this to women and their doctors,” noting cases of women who have died. The Arizona Republic had a full report on the debate.
Terrain: Most of the population is in suburban Tucson, but the district covers sprawling terrain of the desert southwest, including part of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Wild card: The ads are charged. The Congressional Leadership Fund’s latest spot in the race attacks Engel on crime, while the League of Conservation Voters is running an ad against Ciscomani over a mining project.
The count: 26 seconds
That’s the amount of a 30-second ad paid for by a joint committee that is effectively allowed to be “indistinguishable to the viewer from a standard campaign advertisement,” following a split decision by the FEC on Thursday.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had called upon the commission to issue guidance on conflicts between statutes governing candidate advocacy and regulations on joint committee fundraising efforts.
Republicans have used the lack of clarity to their advantage. Joint fundraising committees for Senate candidates in Maryland, Arizona, Montana and Nebraska have recently run ads attacking Democratic candidates and making a fundraising appeal. Democrats have complained that vague cues like “Join my team and donate now” and a closing four-second glimpse at a QR code could be used to recast the entire ad as a fundraising appeal rather than candidate advocacy.
The commission was ultimately unable to agree on guidance, enabling joint fundraising committees to continue financing such ads.
Coming up
Yes, there’s the usual array of October campaign events across the country, but there’s also the oddity of former President Donald Trump campaigning in the Coachella Valley of California, where he has a rally scheduled for Saturday.
Photo finish
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The post At the Races: Weary of the storm appeared first on Roll Call.
