July 28, 2026

2026 Elections

The Florida state house district President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate resides in will now have a Democrat representing it after a special election saw Democrat Emily Gregory narrowly beat Trump-endorsed Republican John Maples. Trump won in this same region by 11 points in 2024. The special election was needed to replace retired Republican Mike Caruso, who won his last election by 19 points in 2024.

Blurb:

Democrats flip Florida state seat in Trump’s backyard

Blurb:

USC was set to hold a debate for California’s gubernatorial candidates. There was no problem with this, so a disgruntled candidate made one up. Subsequently, the event was canceled less than 24 hours before the scheduled time because the candidates were too white for the left.

According to The Desert Sun:

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democratic candidate for governor, accused USC of using an “arbitrary formula that favors wealthy candidates” and said the criteria resulted in the exclusion of all candidates of color from the debate.

In other words, Becerra was beside himself, as he could not comprehend how he did not meet this “viability” score.

Maybe, just maybe, the reason he did not qualify for the debate had nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with the fact that he is polling at 3%.

USC said it stood by the independence of the data-driven formula used to determine candidate “viability,” but acknowledged the controversy had become a distraction from issues voters care about.

“We recognize that concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” the university said, adding that it would “look for other opportunities to educate voters on the candidates and issues”.

Blurb:

A new poll from Quantus Insights — one of the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 presidential election — found Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading longtime Senator John Cornyn in the runoff election for the state’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.

The poll, which surveyed 1,217 likely voters between March 22-23, found Paxton leading with 48.8 percent of the vote to Cornyn’s 41.3 percent. An additional 9.9 percent of respondents indicated that they remain undecided.

When asked about their likelihood of voting in the runoff, 89 percent said they were certain to vote, 8.9 percent said they probably would vote, and 2.1 percent said it was 50-50. When asked to recall their vote in the initial March 3 primary, 40 percent of respondents said they voted for Cornyn, 38.6 percent for Paxton and 10.6 percent for U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

The now former Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) has been confirmed by the Senate in a 54-45 vote to take over as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security. He takes over for Kristi Noem, who was reassigned to a South America project.

The Governor of Oklahoma, Republican Kevin Stitt, has chosen an energy executive, Alan Armstrong, to take the now-vacant seat. Stitt said of his selection, “He’s a strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government. He’s spent his career fighting for Oklahoma’s energy industry and providing affordable, reliable energy to all of America.”

Blurb:

Oklahoma governor names political outsider to replace Markwayne Mullin – theblaze.com

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma went outside the world of politics to fill the Senate seat of newly confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

On Tuesday morning, Stitt tapped energy executive Alan Armstrong following Mullin’s Senate confirmation Monday night. Mullin is now set to be sworn in Tuesday afternoon to replace current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who leaves the department on March 31.

 

Blurb:

In a stunning turn of events, Virginia Democrats are discovering that their effort to gerrymander their state could blow up in their faces.

The April 21 special election referendum is one month away, and Democrats who once crusaded against partisan map-rigging are sweating bullets, because it looks as if voters won’t approve their plan to eliminate four Republican-held seats and make Virginia one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country. They assumed this would be easy.

Even Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed on to the effort, despite her past opposition to gerrymandering. Back in 2019, she said, “gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy, and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates,” and insisted that “opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”

That quote hasn’t aged particularly well, and it could prove to be her major defeat as governor.

“Some supporters of the Virginia referendum acknowledge the challenge of convincing voters to back a gerrymandered map when Democrats, who several years ago backed the formation of the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission, have criticized Republicans for similar moves,” NBC News reports. “Virginia voters are also not accustomed to going to the polls in April, when Democrats scheduled the special election, making turnout particularly unpredictable.”

Blurb:

While the Supreme Court on Monday expressed skepticism about states accepting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, an overwhelming majority of voters have already decided against the practice, according to a recent poll conducted just days before the high court heard oral arguments in Watson v. RNC.

As The Federalist’s Shawn Fleetwood reported, Watsondeals with a challenge to a Mississippi law authorizing absentee ballots to be accepted up to five days after Election Day so long as they are postmarked before or on the day of the contest.”

A survey of 1,600 likely voters conducted on behalf of the Honest Elections Project earlier this month found that 93 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of Independents, and 74 percent of Democrats agree ballots “should be received by Election Day.” While overall, 83 percent of those surveyed agree with this deadline, a significant majority — 57 percent — “strongly agree.”

The survey also found that 60 percent of likely voters agree officials should not count mail-in ballots if they are “received after polls close on Election Day.” This includes 80 percent of Republicans and, although not a majority, a significant 42 percent of Democrats.

A majority of respondents indicated that counting ballots received after Election Day polls are closed “endanger[s] public trust in elections.” Sixty percent total, including 79 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of Democrats, think this practice “makes it easier to cheat” in elections. However, an overwhelming 90 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats say requiring ballots to be received “by the end of Election Day makes elections more secure.”

Blurb:

45,800.

That’s how many more ballots were counted than were cast in Riverside, California.

Let that sink in. If tens of thousands of ballots can appear out of nowhere in a single county, how many elections—local, state, even federal—have been compromised? How many outcomes were decided not by voters, but by a broken system no one wants to examine?

Passing the SAVE Act isn’t optional. It’s urgent. It’s the bare minimum to start restoring order to an election system that’s spiraling out of control.

ABC7: RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has launched an investigation into a potential discrepancy in the number of ballots cast in last year’s special election. On one hand, the Riverside County registrar of voters said the number of ballots counted by machines numbered more than 657,000. But an independent investigation by a group of concerned citizens shows the number of handwritten logs filled out by various elections officials and poll workers showed just more than 611,000 votes cast. “I’m not saying anyone is lying, or there’s a series of mistakes,” said Bianco at a news conference Friday morning. “I’m saying I don’t know.” “We’re not talking about ten, we’re not even talking about a thousand. We’re talking about the difference between having a perfect count, and a 45,800 vote difference. That’s massive,” he said. (ABC 7)

Blurb:

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments in a case over whether states may count mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day.

The court heard arguments in Watson v. Republican National Committee,case from Mississippi that could also affect voters in 13 other states and the District of Columbia, which have varying grace periods for mail ballots.

According to Just the News, the Mississippi law, which was enacted in 2020 during COVID-19, allows for mail-in ballots to be counted up to five business days after an election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared to be skeptical of state laws that allow a grace period for for mail-in ballots that arrive at election offices after Election Day, citing concerns about fraudulent ballots, as well as state laws that may run afoul of Congressional statutes establishing Election Day as a holiday for federal offices.

Justice Samuel Alito was particularly doubtful about state laws creating a grace period and pointed to “Independence Day, [Washington’s] Birthday and Election Day” all being specific days rather than a longer period of time.

Blurb:

James Talarico may have won the Democratic primary for Senate in Texas based on electability, but that’s only relative to his competition, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

In the past few weeks, Talarico — a state representative, former teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian — has had his past statements prove just how marginal the relative electability advantage really was.

In the latest of a trove of opposition research that’s gone over well with the left but will get played from now until Election Day for normal Texans, Talarico said that not only did he think positively of the illegal immigrant students he taught, but they were actually more American than Americans.

“Before I was a politician, I was a public school teacher in San Antonio, Texas, on the west side of the city, and I taught a lot of undocumented students, and those students tended to be my most patriotic students,” Talarico said in an interview last week.

“They understood something about this country that a lot of us who are native-born forget: that this is supposed to be the land of opportunity,” he continued.

 Attempts to kill the SAVE Act, a bill that would make it mandatory for voters to show photo ID to vote and end request-only mail-in voting (what we refer to as mass mailer voting), have failed in the Senate, with a 51-49 vote keeping the bill alive. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) appears ready to simply offer the bill for an up-or-down vote, without forcing the Senate to vote on changing the filibuster rule to require a verbal, rather than a procedural action.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) is proposing the Republicans pass the measure as a budget resolution bill, making a simply majority vote in the Senate sufficient to pass the bill. Efforts by the Democrat press to demonize the bill have failed to move the needle of support, with 80% of the country as a whole supporting requiring photo ID for voting. A new tactic is to claim the bill is an unfunded mandate, placing a price tag on election integrity.

The GOP Texas Senate candidates have reached the point of no return in their race, meaning the offer made by AG Paxton to withdraw from the race if Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) does everything he can to assure the SAVE Act passes. This deadline means that door is shut for both Cornyn and for the SAVE Act supporters.

Blurb:

US Sen. Cornyn, AG Paxton stay in Texas Senate race as deadline to drop out passes  – KVUE
from news.google.com

 The deadline for Republican candidates to remove their names from the primary runoff ballot in the intense Texas Senate race has come and gone.

Neither incumbent Sen. John Cornyn nor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton dropped out by Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline. It was the last chance for either of the two men to take their name off the ballot and avoid what is sure to be an extensive, ugly and bruising few months leading up to the runoff in May, since neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold.

“At this point, both of those candidates are on the ballot no matter what, and there’s really no incentive for either of them to drop out at this point unless the situation facing them really changes in a fundamental way,” Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said.

Blurb:

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is determined to continue missing opportunities, but wants you to know that it’s not his fault. In the latest scene of this farce, last week Thune swore that he would bring the SAVE Act to the Senate floor for a vote (like he already promised to do at the end of February) … but, since he doesn’t have 60 votes, he would be “very, very surprised” if it passed.

The word “saboteur” comes to mind.

The Republicans could easily end the “zombie” filibuster — a piece of Senate paraphernalia of no nostalgic or traditional importance — by lowering cloture (the procedure to end debate and actually vote on a bill) from 60 to a simple 51 majority with Vice President Vance ready to break any ties.

But it’s even easier than that. Several weeks ago, in Human Events, Connie Hair (Rep. Louie Gohmert’s chief of staff for more than ten years) wrote concerning the Senate misheva over SAVE:

The Senate’s Standing Rules have been dissected ad nauseam since the House took S.1383, a bill already passed by the Senate, gutted its text, replaced it entirely with the SAVE America Act, and returned it as a privileged message. That procedural posture matters. There is no need to “nuke” the filibuster lowering the cloture threshold from 60 votes to 51 to call up the bill (emphasis mine). Under the Senate’s existing rules, the message can be called up for debate. After the two-speech rule is exhausted or there is no one left wishing to speak, the bill is voted up or down by simple majority.

The GOP candidate for a special election for the House of Delegates District 98 seat beat the DNC challenger by 25 points. Republican Andrew Rice defeated Democrat Cheryl Smith 62.5% to 37.5%. While the district is already Republican, the depth of the victory by a non-incumbent over a Democrat challenger serves as a warning to the Virginia Democrats in power that support for their radical agenda is not as deep and profound as they imagine.

Blurb:

GOP Candidate Notches Landslide Special Election Win Ahead Of Democrat-Led Redistricting Vote – trendingpoliticsnews.com

Republican candidate Andrew Rice cruised to victory in the special election for Virginia House of Delegates District 98, ultimately defeating Democrat Cheryl Smith by a wide margin of 25 percentage points. The result constitutes a significant over-performance when compared with President Donald Trump’s margin of victory in the 2024 presidential election and comes ahead of a key redistricting referendum that could draw out three U.S. House districts currently controlled by the GOP.

Official results showed Rice receiving 7,316 votes, or 62.5 percent, compared to Democrat candidate Cheryl Smith’s 4,392 votes, or 37.5 percent

The election filled the vacancy left by the death of longtime Republican incumbent Delegate Barry Knight earlier this year. Knight had represented the district, which covers parts of southern Virginia Beach including rural communities such as Pungo, for many years and won re-election in 2023 with nearly 90 percent of the vote and in 2025 with roughly 57 percent against Smith.

Rice, a deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia Beach and a lifelong district resident, defeated five other Republicans in a February 2026 firehouse primary to secure the nomination.

Blurb:

The candidate endorsed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker secured the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton prevailed in a closely watched primary.

The primary was widely viewed as a test of the Democrat governor’s political influence in his home state.

Pritzker’s Pick Prevails in Competitive Primary

Stratton captured 39.7% of the vote, defeating Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).

Krishnamoorthi received 33.4%, with 85% of ballots counted, according to the Associated Press.

Pritzker endorsed Stratton early in the race and backed her campaign with significant financial support, contributing at least $5 million and helping shape the contest.

The governor, who is running for a third term and is widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, faced criticism for his heavy involvement in the primary.

Blurb:

There’s a little bit of good news to report out of Virginia this Wednesday morning that might be a harbinger for how the April 21 gerrymandering referendum being pushed by Democrats will fare. Republican Andrew Rice has won a special election in Virginia’s 98th House District and will now succeed the late GOP Del. Barry Knight, who died last month after representing the Virginia Beach area for over a decade.

 

Blurb:

Election experts from around the country are sounding alarms that the SAVE Act (full name: SAVE Trump’s Ass From The Epstein Files Act) would cause mayhem and set up the elections and the country for failure. In large part, this is because many of the act’s requirements are unfunded.

The so-called SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump is relentlessly pushing, would create chaos for state and local elections administrators by immediately imposing several new requirements without adding funding, former North Carolina elections chief Karen Brinson Bell said on a press call Tuesday organized by Washington U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

“I cannot emphasize enough the Herculean effort that the SAVE America Act would present for election officials across this country,” Brinson Bell, who now advises election officials as a co-founder of the group Advance Elections, said. “Please do not set our country or these public servants up for failure. Bring us to the table. Develop this legislation properly and provide adequate funding and resources so we can all succeed.”

Blurb:

The results are in.

On Tuesday night, Illinois voters headed to the polls for the Republican gubernatorial primary.

The race was between farmer and two-time Republican Gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, and real estate developer and owner Rick Heidner

The race was not close at all, and Bailey came out on top.

Newsweek reported more on the results and gave insight if Repiblicans have a chance to flip the Governor’s seat:

Darren Bailey won the Illinois Republican primary on Tuesday and will now face Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in the November election. Polling on the race is pretty threadbare at the moment, but prediction markets aren’t hopeful Republicans can win.

The Republican primary left the party at a crossroads, with voters deciding between putting state Senator Darren Bailey up against Pritzker despite his huge loss in 2022 or putting up a lesser-known candidate. Pritzker has easily won both of his elections. But gubernatorial control in Illinois jostles back and forth between political parties, making it a long shot for Republicans, though not out of the realm of possibility.

On Tuesday, Bailey won the GOP primary with 48.8 percent of the vote when the race was called. He beat out Ted Dabrowski, James Mendrick and Rick Heidner. All four campaigned on affordability, crime and dissatisfaction with Pritzker’s leadership, but they differed sharply in background, tone and strategy as they tried to emerge from a low‑budget, relatively quiet primary.

There’s only been one general election poll for Illinois governor, which was conducted months ago, in November. Performed by Victory Research, a majority of those polled said they’d vote for Pritzker in a head-to-head matchup against the individual candidates. Over 54 percent said they would vote for Pritzker in a matchup with Bailey.

Given the timing of that poll, it’s not a great indicator of how people plan to vote moving forward. But prediction markets are also putting the race in Democrats’ favor.

Blurb:

Democrats in Congress continue to resist the SAVE America Act by claiming that it seeks a return to the “Jim Crow era” and “discriminates” against women, but can they back up their claims?

Democrats in the House and Senate have repeatedly claimed the legislation is discriminatory, though many of the bill’s provisions, which include requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter ID, poll overwhelmingly positively with Americans.

The SAVE America Act has already passed the House, but the Senate is considering the bill this week.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, claimed in an online video statement that married women would be banned from registering to vote if they change their name.

“If you’re a woman who got married, changed your last name, and if your last name doesn’t match the last name on your birth certificate, you’re not going to be able to register to vote,” the Hawaii senator claimed. “That I call stealing our votes.”

Blurb:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is intensifying opposition to the SAVE America Act, calling the election integrity measure “one of the most despicable pieces of legislation.”

Schumer blasted the President Donald Trump-backed bill ahead of a planned Senate vote this week.

The bill, formally known as the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, has been backed by Republicans as part of broader efforts to strengthen voter verification standards.

Blurb:

Wyoming bears all the hallmarks of a “red state.” Its executive offices and legislature are dominated by Republicans, and Donald Trump won it by more than 40 points in the last three presidential elections.

But like many “red states” in America today, Wyoming’s Republican rule is in many ways a mirage. So-called “Republican” elected officials have often gone out of their way to stifle and kill conservative priorities.

The state’s recently concluded budget session perfectly illustrates this problem.

Despite Republicans possessing supermajorities in the state House (56-6) and Senate (29-2), the House rejected six bills containing provisions long supported by election integrity activists and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus (WYFC), which holds a governing majority in the chamber. According to local media, these measures would have prohibited the use of ballot drop boxes, restricted ballot harvesting, “required random ballot hand count audits, directed counties to use pen and paper ballots, expanded poll watcher access and raised the bar for independent candidates to appear on the general election ballot.”

Blurb:

Amid uncertainty in a vital global shipping lane brought on by the conflict with Iran, gas pump prices are way up.

Some in Congress think that could be a problem for their constituents and for Republicans’ chances in the midterms.

“Naturally, we’re all really concerned,” Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., told The Daily Signal of the gas prices.

Nevertheless, Justice framed it as part of the cost of taking on Iran.

Blurb:

 

Despite pressure from President Donald Trump and the more than 90% of Republicans who support the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has declined to pursue either of the two paths that could potentially carry this bill across the finish line.

The SAVE America Act would require voters to present proof of citizenship when they register to vote and a photo ID at the ballot box. Regardless of party affiliation, roughly 80% of the electorate supports this legislation.

Blurb:

Sen. John Fetterman says he no longer would support the SAVE America Act in its “current state,” and that President Donald Trump is “constantly critical on mail-in voting,” which, according to Fetterman, is “safe.”

But mass mail-in voting is highly insecure — and the SAVE America Act would help solve several critical issues with voting by mail.

President Trump is about to be tested after the U.S. Senate just passed a bill, a fair housing bill favored by the Democrats (but with bipartisan support). Before the passage, President Trump declared “I won’t sign any new legislation until SAVE Act is Passed.” The SAVE Act would make citizen-based photo ID required and would also end mass mailer elections (which are no elections at all).

John Thune appears to be doing everything he can to protect his RINO colleagues from vote accountability by pushing for a straight floor vote requiring 60 votes to pass. He has chosen this route rather than force his RINO colleagues to vote down a procedural change that would force the Democrats to do a verbal filibuster. Due to a procedural rule change that started to be exploited in the 70s, the procedural filibuster replaced the verbal one. This has allowed the filibuster to become a de facto requirement for nearly every bill passed by the Senate (which has sometimes helped the republicans).

Blurb:

Trump: I Won’t Sign Any New Legislation Until SAVE Act Is Passed – gellerreport.com

Nothing illustrates how deeply corrupted and dangerously compromised the American voting system has become more than the extraordinary resistance Americans encounter when attempting to enact even the most basic voter safeguards and anti-fraud protections.

A healthy democracy welcomes safeguards. Only a corrupted system fights them. When a nation must wage a political battle simply to enact the most basic safeguards against voter fraud, it is no longer merely debating policy — it is confronting the corruption of its own electoral system.

The president knows how to force movement on the issues most important to him. He drew a line in the sand Friday, declaring he will veto every bill that reaches his desk until the SAVE America Act passes the Senate: “I will not sign any other legislation until the SAVE Act is passed,” Trump announced (Townhall).

Hours later, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) announced his support for ending the silent filibuster to pass the bill—a procedural breakthrough that likely clears the path to final passage. Notably, Cornyn is in a runoff with Texas AG Ken Paxton who announced: The Save America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I’m committed to helping President Trump get it done. I would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act (Paxton).

The president’s ultimatum puts every appropriations bill, every defense authorization, and every continuing resolution on hold until Senate Democrats and wavering Republicans decide whether election integrity is worth the standoff. Trump: It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed (Truth).

Excellent. Without election integrity nothing else matters. The Save Act must pass.

Blurb:

A Republican won a deep-blue Northern Virginia county-level seat in a major upset Tuesday after revelations that her Democratic opponent made racist social media posts more than 10 years ago.

Republican Jeannie LaCroix, 64, won a special election for a Prince William County Board of Supervisors seat, defeating Democratic nominee Muhammed Sufiyan Casim, 36, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant, who in the 2010s made a series of online posts containing racist, misogynist and antisemitic content, Potomac Local News reported.

Blurb:

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said on Wednesday that he will never vote for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in its current form.

Fetterman said on “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that he is against restrictions on mail-in voting, arguing that it is safe and has even been supported by Republicans. The SAVE Act would require all Americans to show proof of citizenship with documentation in person before voting, which would largely impact mail-based and online voter registration.

I don’t support [it] in its current state to vote Save America. And the president is constantly critical on mail-in voting, and that’s ridiculous,” Fetterman said. “It’s safe. Some of the best examples in the country are from red states like Ohio and Florida, of course. And now I have a unique perspective on that too, as in 2019, as I was lieutenant governor, the Republicans in Pennsylvania pushed for mail-in voting.”

Blurb:

A source familiar with the matter has confirmed to The Daily Signal that Senate Majority Leader John Thune will bring the SAVE America Act to a vote next week without moving forward with a talking filibuster.

The suspected vote was previously reported by Politico and the Washington Examiner.

“I can confirm, it looks like Thune is planning to bring it to a vote next week as a show vote,” the source told The Daily Signal. “Despite outrage from GOP voters and the specific request of the president, he is not planning on pursuing a standing filibuster or any other method to actually pass the bill.”