Former first lady Jill Biden said then-President Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance against Donald Trump in 2024 “frightened” her because she thought he might be experiencing a medical episode.
Jill Biden said in a CBS News “Sunday Morning” interview, a clip of which was released on Wednesday, that the former president “scared me to death” in his June 2024 debate against Trump, which prompted Democrats to begin pressuring Joe Biden to drop out of the race weeks before he ultimately suspended his campaign.
“I was frightened,” Jill Biden said of watching her husband debate Trump. “Because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since.”
“I don’t know what happened,” she continued. “As I watched it, I thought ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”
Joe Biden’s bumbling, unintelligible answers and sickly appearance in the debate reignited concerns about his age and capacity to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency. The moment triggered an avalanche of calls for the president to drop out of the race despite reassurances from Biden allies in the White House and the campaign, including Jill Biden.
In a post-debate campaign event, Jill Biden told supporters at the time that her husband “did such a great job.”
Since Trump’s victory, several former Biden allies, administration officials and campaign staff have criticized how Biden’s age was handled by top officials in the White House and the campaign.
Among those critics was former Vice President Kamala Harris, who wrote in her book that Jill Biden pressured her husband Doug Emhoff to continue backing Biden after the debate in a manner that angered Emhoff. Harris also wrote that she harbored concerns about Biden’s ability to beat Trump.
Rep. Andy Barr won Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, after being boosted in the testy contest by President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Barr will be the heavy favorite to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell in deep-red Kentucky.
The Lexington-area representative defeated former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who won the gubernatorial primary in 2023 but lost to Gov. Andy Beshear. His third statewide campaign was his first without institutional backing from McConnell, who Cameron criticized throughout his campaign.
Barr also fended off a well-funded challenge from Nate Morris, an entrepreneur who carried endorsements from Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr. and received financial support from Elon Musk. Morris sharply attacked McConnell and ridiculed Barr and Cameron — who both have ties to McConnell — as the senator’s “puppets.” His allies spent millions in TV ads lambasting Barr for being soft on immigration and not sufficiently aligned with Trump’s agenda.
But Morris’ flamethrowing campaign fizzled out in the final months of the race, and he ultimately dropped out, with Trump promising to nominate him for an unspecified ambassadorship.
The race to earn Trump’s endorsement, which Kentucky Republican officials said would all but predetermine the primary’s outcome in the deep-red state, saw each candidate tout their loyalties to the president while distancing themselves from both McConnell and Rep. Thomas Massie — two Trump enemies on opposite wings of the party.
But unlike Cameron and Morris, Barr’s criticisms of McConnell were relatively measured — which kept Barr in the good graces of Kentucky GOP donors and political operatives who still hold the longtime Senate Republican leader in high regard.
Those relationships appeared to pay off: Barr cemented a polling lead and fundraising advantage by April, paving the way for Trump to endorse.
“I know Andy well, and he is always a Vote we can count on because he knows what it takes to GET THINGS DONE and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trumpwrote on social media on Monday.
Barr will likely face off against either former state Rep. Charles Booker or former Marine Amy McGrath, the two Democrats who lost the last two Senate races in the state, in November. Even in a year that’s expected to have tough political headwinds for Republicans, Barr will be the favorite.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Friday that he will grant clemency to Tina Peters, a former county clerk and darling of election conspiracy theorists who was serving a nine-year prison sentence for allowing unauthorized access to voting machines after the 2020 election.
Polis, a Democrat, told CNN that he is halving her sentence, meaning she could be paroled within a month after accounting for time already served for aiding efforts to overturn the presidential election.
The Colorado governor said his decision came after Peters acknowledged her wrongdoing in an application for leniency, which was obtained by CNN. POLITICO has not independently reviewed the document.
Polis told CNN he believed Peters’ was unfairly punished for free expression in her comments alleging fraud in the 2020 election.
“I hope that Democrats don’t sacrifice our deeply held belief in free speech because of political expediency or disregard for what people are saying,” Polis told CNN. “There should be no consideration of what we say, how unpopular it is, how inaccurate it is in sentencing or in criminal proceedings.”
Polis’ decision followed months of intense pressure from President Donald Trump, who issued his own symbolic pardon of Peters last year, but cannot grant clemency for violations of state law.
Trump has repeatedly called on Polis to free Peters, and his pressure campaign came as his administration has taken a series of actions to slash funding to and litigate against Colorado. Also in December, Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill meant to bring clean water to the state, the first and only veto of his second term.
Polis told CNN he spoke with Trump privately about Peters’ case, but insisted he granted her clemency after “looking at the merits of the case.”
The Democratic governor, who has occasionally bucked his own party, suggested he was weighing granting Peters clemency in March, after a former Democratic state senator was sentenced to probation and community service after being convicted of similar charges.
“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law,” he wrote on X.
Peters’ conviction was upheld by an appeals court in April, but ruled that the lower court’s decision to impose a nine-year sentence was too harsh.
In a statement issued before Polis’ decision on Friday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat now running for attorney general, strongly urged Polis not to grant leniency to Peters.
"Peters organized the breach of the election equipment, broke the public trust and attacked the very foundations of our democratic process,” she said. “Her actions are still being used to try to undermine the 2026 election. She should get no special treatment by the Governor, and his statement is shocking and worrisome."
Peters’ case has long attracted the attention of prominent Republicans, including Trump, who falsely argue that former President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was fraudulent.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. “Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections.”
President Donald Trump has nominated Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano — two allies who waged failed bids for governor in battleground states — to diplomatic posts.
The White House announced Monday that Trump has nominated Lake to be ambassador to Jamaica and Mastriano to be ambassador to Slovakia. Both nominations require Senate confirmation.
Mastriano, who ran for governor of Pennsylvania, and Lake, who lost in Arizona, both embraced the president and his baseless election conspiracies and were rejected by voters in 2022.
“I look forward to representing our nation abroad, strengthening the friendship between our two countries, and advancing the interests of the American people,” Mastriano said in a statement posted online.
Lake, a former local TV personality who dismantled the Voice of America as Trump’s appointed head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said she was looking forward to her new role in the Caribbean.
“Jamaica is a country I know very well, full of incredible people, and if confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing America’s interests abroad, and building on the deep friendship shared by the American and Jamaican people,” she said in a social media post.
Mastriano said he will continue serving as a Pennsylvania state senator until his appointment is confirmed by the Senate. Lake’s future status leading the U.S. Agency for Global Media is unclear.
Mastriano’s appointment likely undermines an ascendant write-in campaign for him in Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary, the race he won in 2022. The campaign, which Mastriano supported but was not involved with, threatened to pose an obstacle for Republicans’ preferred pick, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, ahead of next Tuesday’s primary.
Lake earned an appointment to USGM last year after losing two statewide races in battleground Arizona. She lost to Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2022, then sought to succeed former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2024, but lost to Ruben Gallego.
Shortly after joining USGM in a non-Senate confirmed role, Lake oversaw the gutting of Voice of America as part of the administration’s remaking of the federal workforce. By the end of the administration’s cuts last year, roughly 85 percent of the agency’s staff had been removed.
But Lake’s work at USGM hasn’t withstood legal scrutiny. A federal judge ruled in March that Lake’s tenure at the head of the agency was improper because she was not confirmed by the Senate. Later in March, the same judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the staff members who had been placed on leave.
Former ICE official Madison Sheahan lost a GOP primary in a battleground Ohio House district on Tuesday, a relief to Republicans who worried she could sabotage their chances of flipping the seat.
Former state Rep. Derek Merrin won the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District for the second cycle in a row, and will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November. He lost to Kaptur by less than one percentage point in 2024.
Merrin’s victory comes with a sigh of relief from Republicans in the state who raised concerns about Sheahan’s background — she served as former deputy ICE director under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — being a soft target for Kaptur in a general election.
Sheahan drew attacks from fellow Republicans in the primary for her role in overseeing President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations in major cities, which triggered violent confrontations and protests.
Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. Sheahan launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the death of Alex Pretti.
Trump didn’t endorse ahead of the primary, but the race was defined in part by candidates seeking to be the most MAGA candidate in the field. Sheahan ran TV ads touting her role at ICE and her connection to the Trump administration. Merrin went up with an ad in the race’s final days highlighting the endorsement he received from Trump during his 2024 campaign.
Kaptur starts the general election fight with a significant resource advantage over Merrin. Federal Election Commission filings from mid-April showed Kaptur with $3.1 million in cash on hand, dwarfing Merrin’s $189,000 in reserves.
Both the DCCC and the NRCC are expected to invest significantly in the race.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Vice President JD Vance was greeted warmly by Republicans in Iowa on Tuesday, with would-be caucus goers and strategists optimistically curious about his potential as a 2028 presidential contender.
But first, they’re hoping he can help turn the economy around.
Vance's fate is unavoidably linked to President Donald Trump's. He'll either carry the mantle of Trump’s accomplishments all the way into his own term in the White House — or be dragged down by Trump's dismal approval ratings, which have spiraled amid an unpopular war in Iran and voters' economic pessimism.
During Vance’s first trip as vice president to the early caucus state — where he was campaigning for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn at a rally in a manufacturing warehouse in this battleground House district — Vance's close ties with Trump were on full display. He credited the president repeatedly for tariffs, tax cuts and agriculture industry aid. And he avoided any mention of 2028.
But his association with Trump's agenda presents a high-risk, high-reward proposition that could make or break his political future, operatives and rallygoers said.
“That's the risk of being part of an administration,” said Iowa GOP strategist David Kochel, an adviser to several Iowa presidential campaigns including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's. “This is the Kamala Harris problem.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is running for governor, said in between shaking hands with attendees that Iowans “absolutely” associate Vance with Trump and expressed confidence that the White House can deliver outcomes that benefit the state.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We trust Trump and the vice president and what they’re doing, and things are going to be great.”
Republicans in Iowa are loath to turn their back on Trump, the 2024 caucus winner who remains deeply popular among the base. Faded Trump-Vance campaign signs still line the rural roads around the state, and Iowa Republicans said they remained largely optimistic that Trump, with Vance by his side, can steer the economy in the right direction.
In a brief post-rally interview, Nunn said part of the benefit of the vice president’s trip was allowing Iowa Republican officials to “share what they want to see out of the next leader in 2028.”
But Americans’ patience for the administration’s economic policy to have a positive effect is wearing thin. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday found 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and 76 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of cost of living issues. And even as Vance blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for the teetering economy, an April POLITICO Poll found 46 percent of Americans feel Trump bears at least some responsibility for the state of the economy.
And the economic effects of Trump’s policies are particularly hard felt in Iowa’s vast agriculture industry. Trump’s tariff regime blocked off markets that had been reliable purchasers of U.S. agriculture goods, while the war in Iran has spiked the cost of diesel, which farmers depend on heavily.
Jake Chapman, a former president of the Iowa Senate who has advised multiple Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, said the conflict and the trade negotiations with other countries are top of mind for Iowa Republicans.
“A lot of people are thinking about foreign policy in particular, and how that impacts ag inputs and our agriculture economy,” he said.
In his speech, Vance acknowledged that the Trump administration hasn’t fully delivered on its economic promises. “We got a lot more work to do,” Vance told the crowd of hundreds. “We recognize that work. We're excited about that work. That's why you sent us to Washington, D.C.”
Still, those negative feelings towards Trump appear to be spilling over to Vance. That same poll found 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Vance — slightly worse than other senior Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and fellow potential 2028 candidate Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio’s ascension in the 2028 shadow primary — both in the eyes of Americans and in standing with Trump’s inner circle — further complicates Vance’s path to the nomination. Eric Branstad, the son of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and adviser to Trump’s three presidential campaigns in Iowa, said Vance’s portfolio may not resonate with Iowans as much as Rubio’s in an administration juggling multiple high-profile foreign conflicts.
“They've watched the secretary of state completely perform. He's been put in all of the tough spots, and he has overperformed,” Branstad said. “The vice president is performing great. It's just not been as noticeable as the secretary of state.”
Vance's 35 percent approval rating was also marginally higher than the other Trump officials, including Rubio's, as generally the most high-profile figure in the administration next to Trump.
Vance, however, has gotten an early start on building a campaign infrastructure, should he so choose to activate it. He has been a frequent surrogate and fundraiser for the GOP’s midterm operation and has campaigned for Republicans in battleground seats around the country. On Tuesday, he voted in Ohio’s competitive 1st District GOP primary and headlined a fundraiser in Oklahoma before travelling to Iowa.
“He’s the man who’s leading the charge to win the midterms,” Nunn said during his remarks.
Even as Vance stayed focused on this year’s elections on Tuesday, some Republicans are ready to look beyond the midterms. GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen said on the outskirts of the rally he thinks Iowa Republicans are eager to organize around the next generation of party leadership.
“I don’t know why not just start talking about 2028,” Steen said. “We need to know who we’re going to be getting behind. And if they did that now, I don’t think it’d offend anybody. I think it’d be a great thing.”
The vice president’s office declined to comment on Vance’s thinking about a future presidential campaign.
Whether or not the vice president can carry the ideological torch for Trump’s political movement may depend on how closely Vance — or any 2028 hopeful — can align with Trump. Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said at the rally he doesn’t believe the next Republican presidential nominee necessarily has to appeal directly to Trump’s base to be successful.
“The Republican Party is multifaceted,” Kaufmann said. “We have MAGA voters… We have Christian evangelicals, we have business, we have Libertarians. I think all of them together are going to unite around some of the basic principles that everybody shares.”
Yet being Trump’s vice president brings certain advantages with Republican voters. Even if Vance isn’t afforded the goodwill that brought the president a dominant wire-to-wire favorite in the 2024 Republican primaries, Kochel said Vance “gets one of the gold tickets” in the contest.
“[Vance] will be the front-runner going into any caucuses that we have here in Iowa,” GOP governor candidate and state Rep. Eddie Andrews said on the sidelines of Tuesday’s rally.
But Iowa caucusgoers are notoriously scrupulous when vetting future world leaders. And Nunn acknowledged that Vance will at some point need to forge his own path to leading the party.
“Nobody can walk in Donald Trump's footsteps, because it's Donald Trump,” Nunn said.
Republicans in Ohio are worried that a former administration official who helped oversee President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration tactics could cost them a chance to flip a battleground House district in November.
The GOP has its best chance in years to oust longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur from her Toledo-area seat after the Ohio Legislature redrew her district — which Kaptur won by less than 1 percent in 2024 — to be more favorable for Republicans last year.
But Madison Sheahan, who served as deputy director at Immigration and Customs Enforcement until she resigned to run for Congress earlier this year, has become the center of a contentious primary that GOP operatives in the state say could lead to the party squandering its chance to flip the seat.
At the heart of the concern is Sheahan’s role at ICE, where she helped lead the president’s sweeping immigration raids across the country — a high profile role that could be popular with Trump-friendly primary voters but toxic to a general electorate that has been critical of the immigration crackdown.
“Primary issues that help you win are a two-edge sword. They can help you in the primary, but they might pose challenges in the fall election,” said Ohio GOP strategist Terry Casey, who isn’t affiliated with any campaign in the primary. “There's obviously [a] debate of what happened in Minnesota and some other things.”
Sheahan worked at ICE amid enforcement operations in major cities that triggered violent confrontations and protests. Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. She launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the shooting death of Alex Pretti.
Even as her role as a top immigration official has buoyed her in the primary, her ties to the controversial shootings — which forced the Trump administration to recalibrate its approach on immigration — have opened her up to attacks from primary opponents.
And some Republicans think her record would make her a soft target for Kaptur in a general election battle.
“Republicans have this terrible impression — as I'm out there knocking on doors, ICE does come up a lot, and it's really divided the country, even some Republicans,” Alea Nadeem, one of her primary challengers, said during an April debate in Toledo.
Sheahan's campaign did not respond to an interview request but a campaign spokesperson dismissed the criticisms.
“Madison Sheahan’s opponents continue to push false narratives and baseless attacks as last-ditch efforts to save their failing campaigns,” spokesperson Robert Paduchik said. “Attacking her record of executing President Trump’s top priority to defend the homeland is a slap in the face to Ohioans who demanded closed borders and deportations.”
There’s been little public polling ahead of the May 5 primary, and Republicans in Washington are staying out of the primary. But that hasn’t stopped Sheahan from touting her ties to Trump and branding herself as the MAGA candidate in a bid to outflank the field, which includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who lost to Kaptur in 2024, state Rep. Josh Williams and Nadeem, an Air Force veteran.
Sheahan’s late entry into the race, months after the rest of the field started campaigning, caught Republicans in Ohio off-guard, including Barbara Orange, the chair of the Lucas County Republican Party. Orange heads the largest GOP chapter in the district and is staying neutral in the primary.
“We were very surprised that she jumped in the race,” Orange said. “I'm not sure really why, but it is her right to do so, and we'll just have to see how it plays out.”
For most of April, Sheahan was the only candidate running TV spots in the district. One of the ads highlights her role at ICE, including images of the president cut together with images of Sheahan in tactical gear and a voice-over pledging that Sheahan will “put America first.”
But that strategy is facing headwinds as Americans sour on Trump’s handling of immigration. A POLITICO poll from April found 51 percent of Americans believe Trump’s mass deportation campaigns and his widespread deployment of ICE agents is too aggressive. But the same poll found that 70 percent of Trump voters feel Trump’s immigration policies are either about right or not aggressive enough.
Some of Sheahan’s Republican opponents have attacked her over the issue, even while stressing they remain supportive of Trump’s deportation goals. During that debate, Nadeem said she’s spoken to Republicans in the district who are concerned about ICE agents’ conduct, and called on the agency to conduct “additional training” so that “we can actually have a good message out here for Republicans.”
Williams has tailored his jabs to specifically criticize Sheahan’s role at the agency by suggesting she’s accountable for the Minnesota shootings.
“She left in the middle of a scandal that happened under her watch when she was there,” Williams told The Columbus Dispatch.
During the debate, he blamed the violent protests in Minnesota on the Trump administration's initial inability to negotiate with state officials to allow ICE to take custody of immigrants in prisons and jails.
“Now the right people are in charge of ICE,” he said, seated feet away from Sheahan. “And we saw 80 county sheriffs in Minnesota sign on to allow us to get them out of the jails.”
Some Republicans in the state say Sheahan’s political career — which has taken place largely outside the Buckeye State — might alienate her from Ohio voters compared to other candidates with deeper roots in the region.
She grew up in Curtice, Ohio, and rowed crew at Ohio State University but worked for three years in Kristi Noem’s gubernatorial office in South Dakota and served a brief stint as head of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries before joining the Trump administration.
“She's got the weakest links to the district,” said unaffiliated Ohio GOP strategist Bob Clegg.
Orange, the county party chair, questioned whether Sheahan’s experience could translate to serving Ohio but declined to elaborate to maintain her neutrality in the race.
“I know for sure we have two excellent candidates running in Derek Merrin and Josh Williams,” she said. “They've lived here their whole lives.”
Paduchik dismissed this criticism, saying “Sheahan and her family lived in this district for decades.”
If Sheahan survives the primary, she may do so bruised by her opponents’ jabs and with a depleted campaign treasury ahead of the general. She reported having $67,000 in the bank in mid-April, according to Federal Election Commission filings, less than Nadeem, Merrin and Williams. But no GOP candidate came close to Kaptur’s $3.1 million in cash on hand.
That war chest could offer Kaptur a chance to capitalize on the attacks on Sheahan’s immigration record, strategists said, a tactic already being employed by her primary opponents.
“I would assume that Marcy will use that as an issue,” Clegg said. “I mean, she could have a big problem with it.”
CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated to clarify the location of Rep. Marcy Kaptur's current district.
President Donald Trump endorsed a Republican congressmember to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell while rejecting a self-styled MAGA candidate with backing from Elon Musk.
Trump announced his support Friday for Rep. Andy Barr in the Kentucky Republican primary, shortly after he said he asked businessperson Nate Morris to drop out of the race and take an unspecified role in the Trump administration.
The endorsement gives Barr a massive boost to win the GOP nomination over former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the deep-red state.
“I know Andy well, and he is always a Vote we can count on because he knows what it takes to GET THINGS DONE and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said on social media.
Trump said he asked Morris to serve as an ambassador but did not specify the exact diplomatic post, while praising him as a “strong MAGA Warrior.”
“Nate is Oxford educated, tough as nails, LOVES our Great Nation, and will represent the United States very well, overseas, or otherwise,” Trump said.
Morris endorsed Barr in a social media post, and called on “all Kentuckians to rally behind our next Senator.”
Morris has self-financed his campaign to stay financially competitive with Barr. But he did receive a significant investment from Elon Musk, who dropped $10 million into his campaign, according to federal campaign finance records from earlier this year.
The primary had been defined by Barr, Cameron and Morris seeking to distance themselves from McConnell, the lion of the Kentucky GOP who has grown into a Trump adversary and condemned the president for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
That maneuvering away from McConnell speaks to the power of Trump’s endorsement in the state, Kentucky Republican strategist Tres Watson said. He noted that Cameron will be familiar with the gift Trump has given Barr — Cameron won the GOP primary for governor in 2023 after getting Trump’s backing.
“It's all over but the shouting,” Watson said. “Donald Trump's endorsement effectively ends this campaign and Andy Barr can begin to turn his attention to the general election."
Barr’s allies celebrated Trump’s endorsement. Former Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer said it shows that Barr has run a “perfect race” thus far.
“I’m pleased that President Trump has endorsed Andy Barr,” Thayer said. “He likes to support winners and it’s been clear right from the start that Andy has what it takes to win the primary and the general and hold the seat for Republicans.”
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) holds an edge over Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in fundraising, well ahead of the state’s Democratic primary in August.
Craig raised $2.5 million in the first quarter of the year, according to Federal Elections Commission filings, besting Flanagan’s haul of $1.3 million. That sets up Craig with $4.8 million in cash on hand, more than the $1.1 million Flanagan has in the bank.
Flanagan’s filing also shows her burning money at a rapid rate: Her campaign spent more than $1 million in the first quarter, nearly as much as it raised.
Campaign contributions are poised to become a wedge issue in the competitive Democratic primary. Flanagan has attacked Craig for accepting contributions from corporate PACs and has pledged not to take their money.
Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s fundraising haul is dwarfing his opponent’s, keeping Democrats’ hopes of flipping the Ohio Senate seat alive.
Brown raised $10.1 million in the first quarter of the year compared with GOP Sen. Jon Husted’s $2.9 million, according to Federal Elections Commission filings. Brown carries $16.5 million in cash on hand, more than doubling Husted’s $8.2 million in cash reserves heading into both parties’ uncontested primaries in May.
Senate Republicans are planning major investments to help Husted win his first election after he was appointed to Vice President JD Vance’s former seat last year. Senate Leadership Fund, the top Senate GOP super PAC, pledged to spend $79 million in Ohio.
Democrats are hoping Brown, who served in Congress for over 30 years before he lost reelection to Sen. Bernie Moreno in 2024, can put the red-leaning state back within reach.
North Carolina Senate leader Republican Phil Berger, who touted President Donald Trump’s endorsement throughout his campaign, conceded defeat Tuesday in his primary election in a race he lost by just 23 votes.
Berger, a powerful figure in state politics, and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page were separated by just two votes when unofficial results first came in for the Greensboro-area seat on election night. A machine recount and a separate hand recount of ballots in some counties affirmed the 23-vote loss for the incumbent.
Page is expected to win the Republican-leaning district in November.
“While this was a close race, the voters have spoken, and I congratulate Sheriff Page on his victory,” Berger said in a statement. “Over the past 15 years, Republicans in the General Assembly have fundamentally redefined our state’s outlook and reputation. It has been an honor to play a role in that transformation.”
Page thanked Berger for conceding and bringing an end to a hard-fought campaign.
“I appreciate Senator Berger’s call earlier today and his concession,” he said in a statement. “I’m grateful for his years of service to our state, and I thank him for wishing me the best moving forward.”
The result adds an uncommon blemish to the president’s endorsement scorecard. Candidates he backed have almost universally either won or advanced to runoffs in primaries this cycle, although Trump withheld his endorsement in some heated contests.
Trump endorsed Berger in December, calling him an “America First Patriot” who is “doing an incredible job.” But he also praised Page as “great,” and said both candidates are “outstanding people.”
Berger’s defeat creates a power vacuum in Republican politics in North Carolina. He has led Republicans in the state senate since 2005, including all the nearly 15 years they have spent in the majority since 2011.
Berger has played a key role in crystallizing Republican control, leading a 2024 move to shift authority over elections from the governor to an elections board and to strip the governor and attorney general of key powers shortly before Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson entered office.
Last year, Berger helped redraw North Carolina’s congressional maps to give Republicans a better chance of defeating Democratic Rep. Don Davis in the 1st Congressional district.
Page’s primary challenge was ignited in part by pushback to a 2023 gambling expansion proposal touted by Berger that would have paved the way for a new casino in the district. Republicans ultimately abandoned the idea, but Page’s vocal opposition to the proposal gave him the platform for his campaign.
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