Prez’s national attention turns to local election
Climate hinging on key races
All politics may be local, but this year President Trump is nationalizing them — and key close races across the nation tomorrow will serve as harbingers of the national political climate.
Vulnerable Senate Democrats
“My primary focus has been on the Senate, and I think we’re doing really well in the Senate,” Trump told reporters yesterday, an acknowledgement that the GOP’s best hopes rest in the upper chamber.
Stops on Trump’s frenzied campaign rally schedule leading up the election include Missouri, where Sen. Claire McCaskill’s race against challenger Josh Hawley is seen as a referendum on Trump, and Florida where vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson is fending off a challenge by GOP Gov. Rick Scott. Other vulnerable Democrats include Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Late House returns from West Coast
Democrats’ path to try to regain control of the House goes all the way through California, where several Republican-held districts are in play and issues like immigration and health care ring loudly. Polls there don’t close until 11 p.m. Eastern time — setting up a late night for East Coast political watchers.
GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is in the closest re-election bid of his congressional career as he faces Democratic challenger Harley Rouda in the 40th congressional district. The once strong Republican stronghold went to Hillary Clinton in 2016. If Rohrabacher, a Trump ally, loses his seat it could signal Trump’s drag on the GOP even when he’s not on the ballot.
Other close races in the state include GOP Rep. Jeff Denham’s re-election bid against challenger Josh Harder in the 10th and Rep. Steve Knight facing Democrat Katie Hill in the 25th.
Governors races draw national attention
If Democrats can score historic gubernatorial wins in southern states — potentially giving Florida its first black governor and the nation its first black female governor in Georgia — it will be seen as a strong rebuke of Trump in an age of deep political polarization and racially divisive campaign messaging.
Trump has loomed large in both races, and he’s even used his Twitter feed to blast Democratic candidates Andrew Gillum, who faces Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis in Florida, and Stacey Abrams who is facing Republican Brian Kemp of Georgia. Those races have also drawn high-profile Democratic-side surrogates, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Oprah Winfrey.