Roy Cooper is expected to announce his bid for US Senate on Monday.
DonOLD has ditched Lara (and Eric) again. Cooper's likely opponent is MAGAt:
Michael Whatley (born 1968 or 1969) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the 66th chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) since March 2024. He previously served as chair of the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 to 2024, the last year of which he also served as the RNC's general counsel....
He has political experience, but has never run for nor been elected to anything. I hate it when people of any party seek high office without paying their dues and learning the trade.
The obscene amounts of money raised and spent in this purple state will shatter records.
Cooper will be a strong candidate. Whatley is not bad, but it will be a uphill battle. His only chance is to tie to successfully tie Cooper to the national democrat party.
... National and North Carolina strategists from both parties said the race — likely between Cooper and Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement — could be one of the costliest Senate races in the 2026 midterms, topping out at $650 to $800 million, according to private estimates described by both parties. That would crack the previous national record set by the 2022 Georgia Senate race, which cost nearly $500 million....
I hate this. This is NOT what democracy looks like!
It's a good thing there aren't any hungry kids or homeless people, otherwise one might consider having to throw all that money down a pisshole just to get elected is a waste..
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly has had “serious” discussions about running for governor in Tennessee, and he would have to surrender his Cabinet gig to do so.
NBC News on Tuesday cited two people who spoke with the beleaguered military leader about the possibility. One said they talked about eligibility standards and Hegseth’s chances of winning; the other said they covered the “realities” of a campaign....
A recent report from a conservative tabloid claimed that several Pentagon officials, citing dysfunction and poor morale under him, are planning to urge his removal in a letter....
Ouch.
... Current Gov. Bill Lee (R) is ineligible for reelection, opening up the post for the 2026 election.
Desi Lydic: I am so sorry, Tennessee, but you've got to take one for the team.
Add to that the antics of the legislature. Apparently the only prohibition on holding public office is if you've participated in a duel. It is specifically legal to eat roadkill, though.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly has had “serious” discussions about running for governor in Tennessee, and he would have to surrender his Cabinet gig to do so.
NBC News on Tuesday cited two people who spoke with the beleaguered military leader about the possibility. One said they talked about eligibility standards and Hegseth’s chances of winning; the other said they covered the “realities” of a campaign....
A recent report from a conservative tabloid claimed that several Pentagon officials, citing dysfunction and poor morale under him, are planning to urge his removal in a letter....
Ouch.
... Current Gov. Bill Lee (R) is ineligible for reelection, opening up the post for the 2026 election.
Desi Lydic: I am so sorry, Tennessee, but you've got to take one for the team.
I know. I read that story earlier this morning. Pentagon Pete looks to be staying put it would seem. But all those other "candidates" could easily stand in for him.
... The poll showed Paxton holding a 5-point lead among likely primary voters, 44 percent to 39 percent, in a two-way race with Cornyn. Another 17 percent said they were undecided. The last Texas Southern University poll released in May showed Paxton with a 9-point lead over Cornyn....
Wednesday’s poll comes after an Emerson College survey released last week showed the incumbent senator and attorney general locked in a dead heat. That poll showed Cornyn leading Paxton 30 percent to 29 percent, with 5 percent saying they prefer another candidate and 37 percent saying they were undecided....
Do we want the worst AG in the country because he's more likely to lose to a Dem? Or, do we want the reliably MAGAt incumbent senator because he's not the worst AG in the country?
Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is polling close in Ohio, but where do Dems pick up the 4th seat they need? Surprisingly, Texas may be the state if the current leader in the polls and worst AG in America, Ken Paxton, wins the primary over incumbent Sen and OLD MAGAt John Cornyn. Paxton is polarizing and may lead many Repubs and Repub-leaning independents to flip. Fingers crossed for 2026. Texas can't gerrymander a Senate seat and has probably already suppressed all the voters it can get away with.
... Valentina Gomez, a repeat book burner and previously failed GOP candidate who’s now running to represent Texas’ 31st Congressional District next year, posted the inflammatory video on X, which has limited the post’s visibility over concerns about hateful conduct.
... Gomez, an ardent Donald Trump supporter who failed to win a single county when she ran for Missouri secretary of state last year, has repeatedly attacked Muslim Americans in campaign videos, often referring to them as “pedophiles.”
Her video comes as anti-Muslim hate remains at an all-time high following the war in Gaza, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a report issued earlier this year.
In Texas, there have been multiple reports of vandalized mosques since last fall, including three on a single evening in May. Last year, a Dallas man was sentenced to 37 years in prison after he killed one person and attempted to kill four others at a Muslim-owned business. The Justice Department called it a hate crime fueled by Islamophobia.
This isn’t the first time Gomez has had the idea to use a flamethrower to get her point across. During her failed campaign last year, she posted a video of her using one to set a stack of LGBTQ+ books ablaze, falsely claiming they were indoctrinating and sexualizing children.
She also carried out a stunt last year in which she staged a mock execution of an immigrant, using a handgun and a dummy. In her post, she said those who commit violent crimes “don’t deserve deportation, they deserve to be ended.” It was later taken down by X.