Politics

Take a breath and keep these 10 things in mind if you’re nervous about next week

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2024

Take a breath and keep these 10 things in mind if you’re nervous about next week

This is an adapted essay from “BLN Live Democracy 2024: The Insiders,” a virtual event featuring Jen Psaki, Steve Kornacki, Michael Steele and Claire McCaskill.

The days before an election are always a time of high anxiety. But as we approach this critical moment for our democracy, it’s important to take a step back, take a deep breath and relax.

So, here are 10 reasons why supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris shouldn’t freak out in these final days:

Number 1: We are more motivated.

Democrats’ enthusiasm has been a continuing trend across the polling. This isn’t always the case, it certainly wasn’t the case in 2016. But ever since President Joe Biden stepped aside and Harris stepped in, we have had more enthusiasm on our side of the aisle.

Number 2: Harris has closed the gap on economic issues.

The vice president started out way behind Donald Trump on key economic questions, like who voters believe is better for the economy and who they believe will look out for them. Those are the kinds of things that drive “feel” voters — people who make up their minds in the last two weeks of the election. That’s a good sign for Harris.

Number 3: We know what we’re doing in the field.

Just think about Trump’s buddy Elon Musk — he’s offering people $100 to sign a petition that says they support the First Amendment. Do you think Democrats signed that petition? I think some did. I think there’s probably a boatload of $100 bills going out to folks who are voting or already voted for Harris.

Musk’s approach isn’t an accurate way to get data to find low-propensity voters. It’s just another example of the billionaire thinking he’s the smartest guy in the world. With no political campaign experience, he thinks he can handle getting people to the polls in a crucial battleground state like Pennsylvania.

But our team actually knows what they’re doing. We’re more experienced. We’ve been building our ground game for over a year. That ground organization is one thing the Biden campaign did well, and Harris inherited it.

Number 4: It’s Trump’s bros and billionaires versus you and your family.

The former president’s campaign is geared toward people who think Hulk Hogan pulling off his shirt is important. It’s geared toward white men, bros who listen to Joe Rogan and billionaires like Musk. That’s not very appealing to people like you and me. I believe that will cost them at the ballot box.

Numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10: Dobbs and its impact on women.

We’ve already seen the data. Women are showing up. The polls were off in 2022 because nobody expected the Democrats to do as well as they did. Reproductive rights was and still is a driving force for women voters.

And anybody who thinks that emotion has gone away when we’re watching women die and when we’re watching women who have troubled pregnancies lose the ability to have children — it’s not going away.

It’s more acute, more emotional and more passionately felt by women of America now than ever before. That includes Republican women and women who are married to Trump supporters. And I don’t care if they tell them they’re doing it or not, I guarantee a whole bunch of them are casting their ballots for Harris this election.

Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. She is currently an BLN and NBC News political analyst.

Allison Detzel

contributed

Politics

Trump-backed Jay Feely wins GOP primary in Arizona’s battleground 1st District

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely cruised to victory in Arizona’s 1st District on Tuesday, one of the nation’s most competitive battlegrounds.

Feely, a close ally of President Donald Trump, leveraged Trump’s endorsement to topple former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik.

He’ll face a steep challenge defeating the Democratic nominee in November: The 1st District, which spans the affluent suburbs north of Phoenix, is one of House Democrats’ top targets after Trump won it by just three points in 2024. Feely is looking to keep the seat under GOP control amid a midterm year that presents major headwinds for the party.

Politics

Rep. Andy Biggs wins GOP primary for Arizona governor

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs has won the GOP primary to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November, setting up a marquee governor’s race in one of America’s most competitive states.

Biggs, a former chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus and a close ally of President Donald Trump, easily dealt with his only serious challenger, Rep. David Schweikert, on Tuesday. Before the primary results were official, he had already begun pivoting to the general election against Hobbs, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable Democratic governors this fall.

Republicans feel bullish about their odds of flipping the governorship, after Trump carried the state by five points in 2024. But even though Trump won last time, the state has gradually shifted to pure tossup territory over the past few years, electing Democrats to both Senate seats, as well as the attorney general and secretary of state’s offices.

Hobbs had already shifted her focus to Biggs as well. Her campaign has amassed a significant warchest for the race and has already started running ads. Biggs, given his lack of a significant primary challenge, has been able to hold onto more cash than his GOP rivals, but is still behind Hobbs.

The race will test whether Republicans, who are starting down a potentially bruising midterm cycle, can reclaim the top office of a state that has long been a place of success for the party.

During the Republican primary debate, Biggs spent more time talking about his working relationship with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly than he did flexing his endorsement from Trump or highlighting his House record, including his time atop the Freedom Caucus. Instead, he tried to refocus on his bipartisanship in Congress and his leadership in the state legislature.

“I know how to reach across the aisle,” Biggs said during the debate.

But he will still have to contend with many of his past stances, including his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

And Hobbs is already working to ensure voters know where Biggs stands on key issues as a longtime member of the House, including his anti-abortion positions and his role in 2020. Her campaign has repeatedly attacked him as “too extreme” for the state and has dubbed him “basement Biggs” for keeping a relatively low profile throughout the GOP primary.

Politics

Trump-backed Mark Lamb wins Arizona House primary despite sex scandals

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A scandal-plagued House candidate powered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement won a messy primary Tuesday.

Mark Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff, overcame a late push from self-funding candidate Daniel Keenan in Arizona’s 5th District. Lamb will enter November as the heavy frontrunner in the deep-red Phoenix-area district to replace Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who is running for governor.

Keenan had poured nearly $2 million of his own cash into the campaign and attempted to make Lamb’s alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of power central to the race. Lamb has denied the allegations.

But Lamb — bolstered by Trump and Arizona-based Turning Point USA — managed to ward off the attacks.

The race’s outcome reveals the strength of Trump’s endorsement, and it’s the latest example of how willing GOP primary voters have been to accept scandal-ridden candidates favored by the president.

Lamb, who served as sheriff until 2024, earned national notoriety as a gun-toting critic of the Biden administration’s immigration and border policy. He secured Trump’s backing for the 5th District contest last year.

Then in May, the Arizona Republic launched a multi-part investigation alleging that Lamb engaged in a yearslong pattern of sending sexual images and instigating intimate encounters between him, his wife and others. One woman involved, Jillian Stannard, accused Lamb of encouraging her husband to have sex with other women, including Lamb’s wife. She also alleged that Lamb threatened her, saying there would be consequences, when Stannard raised concerns to religious leaders.

Screenshots the Republic obtained of messages with another woman, Tammy Peacock, suggest Lamb — then a sitting county sheriff — threatened to leverage Arizona’s revenge porn law against her.

In a statement last week, Lamb spokesperson Ed Morabito told Blue Light News that “these allegations are false and come from long-discredited political opponents.”

Lamb did not lose any significant endorsements in the wake of the scandals — Trump reinforced his endorsement in mid-July — even as Keenan made the allegations central to his campaign.