Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that Hurricane Milton could make landfall in the Sunshine State by Wednesday night.
DeSantis spoke with President Joe Biden Monday evening, according to the White House.
Late on Monday, DeSantis said, “Everything we’ve asked for from President Biden, he has approved.” DeSantis added that he was “not aware” that Vice President Kamala Harris had called him. NBC reported that DeSantis was ignoring her calls. got
It’s debate season. At least it is for House and Senate races anyway, since another presidential debate doesn’t look like it’s going to happen at this point. Not unless former President Donald Trump and his top advisers have a dramatic change of heart.
Just this week, there will be debates in key Senate races in Arizona, Michigan and Maryland. Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and his Republican opponent Dave McCormick will hold their second debate next Tuesday. In Montana, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and GOP candidate Tim Sheehy have already held two debates.
Some of these debates are one-and-done. GOP challenger and former baseball star Steve Garvey goes head-to-head with Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff tonight. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Colin Allred have a single debate scheduled for Oct. 15. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and her GOP opponent Sam Brown will hold their only debate on Oct. 17. In Wisconsin, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and her GOP opponent Eric Hovde will meet on Oct. 18. Republican Hung Cao probably wishes he’d never debated Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) after their lone meeting last week.
There may not be any debates in some high-profile races. In Ohio, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) and Republican Bernie Moreno seem likely to skip debates. Incumbent GOP Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) hasn’t agreed to get on stage with former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.). Hurricanes Milton and Helene have overwhelmed everything else there.
The decision to debate or not, as well as what’s said there, doesn’t always have a big impact on a Senate race. Yet for the underdog, it’s often the only way this late in the campaign to reset the race. Incumbents usually have more to lose than their challengers, especially at this late date.
So far, there haven’t been any knockout blows in the Senate debates. Beyond Cao’s comments, one of the biggest moments came when Sheehy acknowledged that some of his remarks last year about Native Americans were “insensitive.”
But Sheehy didn’t apologize, and he pushed back over immigration and campaign donations to Tester lobbyists. A Sheehy win in Montana combined with the almost guaranteed GOP pickup in West Virginia would be enough to swing control of the Senate to Republicans.
This week’s Senate contests: The Arizona Senate debate is sure to be a slugfest. Kari Lake, a Trump acolyte, will face off Wednesday against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who’s courting the state’s unique constituency of centrist Republicans and independent voters. Lake hasn’t done much to go after this key voter group, as we chronicled in August.
In Maryland, former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan has made what should’ve been an expected Democratic hold far closer than expected. Hogan, a popular figure who’s anti-Trump, is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, whose campaign is training its fire on what another Republican in the Senate would mean for issues like abortion rights. They’ll debate on Thursday.
And in Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) will go head-to-head tonight. This race features two candidates with national security backgrounds in a state that’s up for grabs in the presidential race too.
House highlights. There are candidate faceoffs in critical House races over the next couple of weeks as well. Democrats need to pick up four seats to win the majority. Yet thanks to redistricting, the universe of seats really in play is small, which makes the debates extra important.
Frontline Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) faced off for a second time against challenger Austin Theriault Monday night. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) will debate his GOP opponent, Mike LiPetri, tonight. Also tonight, we’ll see Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) squaring off against Democrat Janelle Stelson (more on that race below).
Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) and Republican Gabe Evans will hold their only live debate tonight. Democrat Janelle Bynum and Oregon GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer will meet tonight in the first of three debates over two weeks. GOP Rep. Zach Nunn and Democrat Lanon Baccam will face off on Tuesday. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) and Democrat Kirsten Engel’s debate will make good viewing.
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) takes on Republican Alison Esposito in this Wednesday, while New York GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro debates Democrat Josh Riley on Thursday.
Some standout debates next week include Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.) taking on Sue Altman on Oct. 13 and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) debating former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) on Oct. 16.
