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RandySF's JournalDem governors say party's midterm strategy must focus on pocketbook concerns
Phoenix — Democratic governors met this weekend in Arizona, looking to parlay last month’s big victories for the party in New Jersey and Virginia into campaigns for next year’s midterms, when a majority of governor's seats will be up for election.
Those elections helped Democrats zero in on what they see as a strategy to help grow their ranks in office and recover from big losses in 2024, when voters put Donald Trump back in the White House and gave Republicans majorities in both houses of Congress.
The plan is to focus intently on making life more affordable, a message they hope will work even in some conservative-leaning states.
“We have to be laser focused on people’s everyday concerns and how hard life is right now for the American people,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the new chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and a possible candidate for president in 2028. “Everybody wants the economy of tomorrow, but paying the bills today is absolutely critical."
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/07/democratic-governors-say-party-midterm-strategy-must-focus-on-pocketbook-concerns/87662628007/
Swing District Republicans in States Like Pennsylvania Brace for Political Fallout if Health Care Subsidies Expire
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Republicans in key battleground U.S. House districts are working to contain the political fallout that may come when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act.
For a critical sliver of the Republican majority, the impending expiration of what are called enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 is a pressing concern as they potentially face headwinds in a 2026 midterm election that will be critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
One of those is first-term U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., whose victory for the Allentown-area seat last year was among the narrowest in the nation.
Mackenzie is part of a bipartisan group that has been pressing for an eleventh-hour compromise, advocating for an extension of the tax credits that tries to fix perceived flaws and bring down health care costs. But the push is a long shot due to entrenched GOP opposition to the health overhaul known as “Obamacare.”
https://buckscountybeacon.com/2025/12/swing-district-republicans-in-states-like-pennsylvania-brace-for-political-fallout-if-health-care-subsidies-expire/
Nancy Mace Says Pelosi Was the Most Effective Speaker
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), writing in the New York Times:
“Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century. I agree with her on essentially nothing. But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent. When Democrats hold the majority, they ram through the most progressive policies they can. They deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power.”
“Republicans do the opposite. We get the majority, then become petrified of losing it. We pass the most moderate policies we can pressure conservatives to accept, betraying the coalition that delivered us here. Ms. Pelosi was ruthless, but she got things done. The current House is restrictive and ineffective, control with barely any results. Republican leadership seems intent on replicating her model of consolidation without her bold vision to push through the policies that won us the majority.”
https://politicalwire.com/2025/12/08/nancy-mace-says-pelosi-was-the-most-effective-speaker/
TX-33: Texas Rep. Marc Veasey to drop his reelection bid
Rep. Marc Veasey is set to drop his House bid in a Dallas-area seat and will instead run for Tarrant County judge, according to a person familiar with the situation granted anonymity.
It’s the latest reshuffle brought on by the Texas GOP’s gerrymander, which could yield the party as many as five additional seats in next year’s midterms. Veasey’s north Texas district was redrawn to favor Republicans.
Veasey had been expected to run for the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who launched her Senate campaign on Monday after former Rep. Colin Allred dropped out of that race. Punchbowl News first reported Veasey’s decision.
Allred’s decision to bow out of the Senate race and instead run for a seat in the House sets up yet another primary battle between the former NFL linebacker and Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) in the state’s newly redrawn 33rd Congressional District. Johnson succeeded Allred after he left the House for his first Senate bid in 2024.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/08/congress/dems-crypto-market-bill-00682090
MAHA group begins state election endorsements
MAHA Action, a political advocacy group dedicated to advancing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda, made its first state-level election endorsement last week by wading into a key farm state's gubernatorial race.
Why it matters: The group is branching out to state politics while top Republicans rally the wide-ranging MAHA coalition to prevent control of the House from flipping in the midterms.
Driving the news: MAHA Action is endorsing Republican candidate Zach Lahn in the crowded 2026 Iowa gubernatorial race.
Lahn is positioning himself as a Trump-aligned populist and socially conservative candidate. He runs a firm that invests in agriculture, real estate and technology, per the Des Moines Register.
https://www.axios.com/2025/12/08/maha-group-state-election-endorsements
The (San Francisco) District 4 supervisor race will be nasty, brutish -- and short
There’s an old joke in which two old ladies are sitting down to dinner. One complains that “The food in this place is terrible.” The other responds, “I know! And such small portions!”
That, in a nutshell, will be your District 4 supervisor race. It’s going to be a reductive and nasty — and terrible — slog. But Sunset residents will be voting in less than six months.
The sleepy Sunset, the Outer Boroughs of San Francisco, has, counter-intuitively, become San Francisco’s political Wild Wild Westside. Voters in September overwhelmingly recalled their supervisor, Joel Engardio, for championing the transformation of the Upper Great Highway into a park.
It was the first of many regime changes — Mayor Daniel Lurie on Nov. 6 launched a thousand Google searches by tapping unknown 29-year-old Beya Alcaraz to the role — only for her to resign a week later after post-appointment vetting by the media revealed allegations of appalling conditions at Alcaraz’s former pet shop and her own text messages copping to paying workers “under the table” and skimping on taxes.
https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sunset-election-d4-upzoning-great-highway-alan-wong-natalie-gee-david-lee/
Hamtramck City Clerk Sues, Alleging She Was Put On Leave As Act Of Retaliation For Reporting Election Misconduct
The city of Hamtramck continues to churn out political drama.
Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj, who has been placed on paid leave, filed a lawsuit over the weekend against the mayor, six City Council members and the interim city manager. She claims she was retaliated against after reporting election misconduct to the state and after 37 absentee ballots were discovered following the November election, Anne Snabes of The Detroit News reports.
Faraj was placed on paid administrative leave on Nov. 10.
The city accused her of meddling in the latest election and failing to count 37 absentee ballots that were found in her office the day after the election in which 11 votes separated the two mayoral candidates.
https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/33966/hamtramck_city_clerk_sues_alleging_she_was_put_on_leave_as_act_of_retaliation_for_reporting_election_misconduct
Ex-clerk Stephanie Scott (R) arraigned on election interference charges
HILLSDALE — Stephanie Scott, the former clerk of Adams Township, and Stefanie Junttila (Lambert), an attorney she hired to investigate alleged fraud following the 2020 presidential election, were formally arraigned Dec. 8 in Hillsdale County’s 1st Judicial Circuit Court.
Scott and Junttila face multiple felony charges filed by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, centered on allegations of election interference and breaches of election security. They've both retained Coldwater-based attorney Rhonda Ives.
The cases were bound over to circuit court Dec. 1 after nearly a year of testimony and legal wrangling in 2B District Court. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against Scott and Junttila in May 2024, alleging they allowed an unauthorized computer examiner access to voter data, including non-public information.
Scott faces charges of using a computer to commit a crime; unauthorized computer access; conspiracy to commit unauthorized computer access; misconduct in office; and disobeying a lawful instruction or order of the secretary of state.
https://www.hillsdale.net/story/news/courts/2025/12/08/former-clerk-stephanie-scott-arraigned-in-circuit-court-for-misconduct/87667191007/
Braddock Voters To Choose Next Supervisor In Special Election
BURKE, VA — Tuesday is the last day for residents of the Braddock District to vote in the special election to choose who will represent them on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Candidates Kenneth Paul Balbuena (R), Carey Chet Campbell (I), and Rachna Sizemore Heizer (D) are competing to finish former Supervisor James Walkinshaw's (D) term, which runs until Nov. 2, 2027.
The seat became vacant when Walkinshaw defeated Republican challenger Stewart Whitson in the Sept. 9 special election, filling the congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), who died in May. The former supervisor's victory created the need for the Dec. 9 special election.
Early voting for the special election started on Oct. 24 and ended on Saturday. On Tuesday, polls open at 6 a.m. on and close at 7 p.m. Everyone in line at 7 p.m. will be able to cast a ballot. View a sample ballot on the Fairfax County Board of Elections website.
https://patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/amp/33313659/braddock-voters-to-choose-next-supervisor-in-special-election
MI-04: Anti-Trump PAC targets Huizenga's 4th Congressional District in midterm election spending campaign
The anti-Trump Save America Movement PAC, the spending arm of a nonprofit organization founded by former Republicans to combat policies of President Donald Trump, launched its “Save America Seats” midterm election spending campaign.
The campaign will target districts held by GOP incumbents, as well as defending battleground districts currently held by Democrats. Among the first districts targeted in the campaign is Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Holland Township).
The initial spending push will focus on 11 congressional districts, but the group hopes to expand to over 50 U.S. House races, a press release from the organization said.
“SAM PAC is applying one standard to its evaluation of Congressional districts: any member, Democrat or Republican, who backs Trump’s economic agenda at the expense of their own constituents will face accountability,” the press release stated.
https://michiganadvance.com/briefs/anti-trump-pac-targets-huizengas-4th-congressional-district-in-midterm-election-spending-campaign/
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