1. LEADING OFF

Happy Friday, and happy thirty-two days out. 

We’re officially into October, which in political campaign speak is the final sprint. The last fundraising quarter ended on Wednesday, and campaigns have until October 15th to release their numbers, though most will post well before that if they met or beat expectations. 

Here at The Caucus, we’ll be watching to see who raised what and who has what cash on hand. You’ll be the first to know how it affects our race ratings. This week our Senate rankings saw Texas move higher up our likely to flip list thanks to Washington Democrats finally showing a willingness to invest in James Talarico, who has a massive cash advantage over Republican Ken Paxton. 

Also this week, I got an exclusive Q&A with Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor, and potential 2028-er, Josh Shapiro, who is running for reelection on a Get Stuff Done message. He’s had a divided state legislature his first term, but so far that hasn’t slowed him down. 

And as the Senate held its last votes before election day, our Surina Venkat wrote a great recap on the final bills the Senators voted on and, more importantly, why they were the final bills.

Stay tuned next week for fundraising press releases, more TV ad buys, and the first full week of campaign sprint season. We’ll be here to cover who’s moving up, who’s going where, and what it all means.

On a personal note:

Politics, as any seasoned campaign pro will tell you, is fickle. It’s a foreign language and a science rolled into one. It’s no wonder voters have a hard time cutting through the noise to actually find out who is worth their attention and vote. 

This week we got an email from a Caucus member who said he joined because this time of year he is inundated with campaign fundraising emails, and that he uses The Caucus to help him learn more about the candidates and issues he cares about. 

This is why we started The Caucus. 

Democrats deserve a place to learn the truth about all the candidates and policies. Not just the horserace polls or high-profile seats in the major cities. We believe that Democrats from every corner of the country and every corner of the party are worth being covered. 

If you care about Democrats and want to support independent journalism covering the fight for the future of the Democratic Party, please consider donating to The Caucus, or better yet, becoming a member. 

We aren’t affiliated with any party organization or group. We’re reader supported and independent. 

Thank you for reading and supporting us so far. We are so excited to have you all as a part of The Caucus community.

— Jake Rakov, Co-Founder, The Caucus

2. STORIES WORTH READING

3. MOST READ THIS WEEK: A GOVERNOR WHO GETS STUFF DONE

We asked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is running for re-election in November and could have a bigger office in mind after that, about his first-term accomplishments, how he moves his agenda forward in a divided state government, AI regulation, and more.

Read our full Q&A with Gov. Shapiro at The Caucus.

4. IN THE NEWS

— The DCCC continues to increase its spending as the House Democrats’ campaign arm expands its map to flip the chamber. The committee added $11 million in ads across 35 districts, including some that were seen as reaches just last month. (The Caucus)

— Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) posted a video of his opponent, Democrat Rebecca Cooke, campaigning with former President Joe Biden. The issue? It’s fake. Cooke’s attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Congressman in a case that could have wide-ranging implications about the use of deepfake videos in political campaigns. (The Washington Sun)

— Democrat Xavier Becerra Republican and Steve Hilton sparred on CNN in the one, and likely only, debate to replace California’s termed-out Governor Gavin Newsom. Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, California Attorney General, and Congressman, has been pretty quiet since unexpectedly winning the primary but used the opportunity to tie Hilton to President Trump. (The Caucus)

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