Senate Democrats’ campaign arm is reserving $33 million in advertisements this fall, with the bulk of its resources devoted to protecting the party’s quartet of embattled incumbents in the hopes of keeping their tenuous hold on the majority.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is plowing most of its initial reservation money into backing Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. In the 50-50 Senate, just one Republican net gain would flip Senate control to the GOP next year, which makes each race critical.

And because the DSCC’s first job is to protect incumbents — which coincidentally is also the most straightforward path to retaining Senate control — the organization is also reserving ad slots in New Hampshire, which the Democratic Senate Majority PAC and Republican Senate Leadership Fund left off their initial reservation list. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) is running for reelection, and though her odds seem more favorable since GOP Gov. Chris Sununu declined to challenge her, Senate Democrats aren’t taking any chances.

The DSCC is reserving $8.4 million in Nevada, $7.5 million in Arizona, $7 million in Georgia and $4 million in New Hampshire, according to a DSCC aide. The party is also going on offense in two states, reserving $3 million in Pennsylvania, which is an open seat due to the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, and $3 million in Wisconsin, where GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is running for reelection.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is wading into the crowded Democatic gubernatorial primary in his home state of Maryland, endorsing author and entrepreneur Wes Moore.

Hoyer is the most prominent Maryland Democrat to weigh into the race so far, with the state’s two Democratic senators having not picked a side in the primary.

“While there are many great candidates in this year’s race, Wes stands out as a candidate whose experience, vision, and talent can lead Maryland toward a brighter future by inspiring our people — particularly our young people — to work together to face our toughest challenges,” Hoyer said in a statement, obtained first by POLITICO.

Hoyer is expected to join Moore for an event on Thursday to formally make the endorsement.

In some corners of the party, it’s caused intense frustration — and fingerpointing — about how it could be avoided.

“I think it looks bad. I think we’ve got egg on our face,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), who is retiring from her Long Island seat next year. She was among some Democrats who questioned whether the legislature had overreached when it created a map so heavily slanted toward Democrats when the state constitution placed a check on gerrymandering.

“It didn’t need to be that way,” she said. “We could have made lines that were fair and followed the rules and still have been effective at making sure that Democrats are represented.”

The redistricting mess dominated a discussion of the state’s Democratic delegation during a Zoom meeting on Thursday, according to multiple people on the call. Members expressed concern over the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the process and discussed potential legal avenues for fighting the ruling.

Earlier polling has shown Kemp with a substantial advantage in fending off Perdue's campaign to end his reelection bid early. The 11Alive/SurveyUSA poll confirms his strong standing with Georgia Republican primary voters.

The poll gives the governor a 25-point edge on Perdue, 56% to 31%. The full results break down below:

11Alive's poll suggests a second race between Kemp and Abrams would again go down as a close one.

With a margin of error of 3.4% from a polling sample of 1,278 likely general election voters, the result breaks down below:

If the November election for Georgia Governor were today, and these were the only candidates on the ballot, who would you vote for?
Brian Kemp - 50%
Stacey Abrams - 45%
Undecided - 5%

Two children had always been the plan for Anna Carey, and in early 2020 she was getting ready to start trying to conceive. Her daughter had just turned 2, and she and her husband were living happily, albeit far from family, in Toronto, where Ms. Carey had a part-time job at a marketing firm.

Of course, we all know what happened next.

With no safe child care options during a pandemic, Ms. Carey was forced to quit her marketing job in August 2020 to care for her daughter. What had felt almost certain a few months earlier now seemed unthinkable.

“We couldn’t imagine going through another pregnancy, birth and newborn phase with so few options for support,” she said.

For a while, she still held out hope that the situation would improve before her 35th birthday this July, which for genetic health reasons, she and her husband, Graham, had always considered a cutoff.

The final straw, though, was seeing how the pandemic revealed a glaring lack of structural support for families. Now, Ms. Carey said, she feels sad but resolute about her decision. “The new realization of just how little society values kids and parents — especially mothers — in any way beyond lip service was a major deterrent.”

Elon Musk is hard to love. Elon Musk is hard to like. On his way to becoming the world’s wealthiest person, Musk has emitted so many metric tons of self-indulgent puerility he might have violated the Paris Accords.

But one need not find Musk personally or politically appealing to appreciate that his contributions to humanity could end up being profound.

Through his endeavors in solar power and electric cars, Musk might do more to combat climate change than just about any lefty environmental activist or politician you can name. Musk looks even better when judged against other globe-straddling billionaires in his orbit. His is not an empire built on inheritance, dumb luck, monopoly or, subsidies notwithstanding, insider access. Indeed, his businesses seek to undermine some of the most harmful and politically entrenched industries on the planet, among them defense contractors, utilities, oil companies and combustion-engine automakers.

There is also something straightforwardly inspiring about Musk’s story. After a troubled childhood in South Africa, he immigrated first to Canada and then to the United States, put himself through college and made his own fortune through unending hard work and in pursuit of ambitions far grander than slapping “like” buttons all over the web. Even Musk’s bluster is excusable because underneath the big talk he has repeatedly delivered on his far-out promises. He makes innovative products that work well, that delight customers and that are on balance probably good for the world. Isn’t that the best one can hope for from capitalism?

The U.S. Space Force has some of the brightest minds in the military working to keep American satellites safe overhead, but it needs a little more time to work out something closer to home: pants.

Ever since the newest branch of the armed forces unveiled its prototype service dress uniform last month, onlookers have been lambasting the Space Force for taking too many cues from science fiction franchises like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.

“The Battlestar uniforms were so much better than this shit,” wrote one commenter on the Air Force subreddit.

“Star Trek did it better,” wrote another.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCJB) - Voting rights organizations are asking a judge to stop the congressional district map signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last week from being used while litigation continues.

The motion for a temporary injunction filed was filed on Tuesday. It argues the new map, which broke up the former district five in North Central Florida, violates the state constitution.

The plaintiffs claim the new map violates the “Fair Districts Amendment” which prohibits districts from being drawn to place political parties or minority groups at a disadvantage.

Democratic Rep. Al Lawson currently holds the seat. He says the new map will dilute the representation of African Americans in North Florida. DeSantis, who drew the new map, called the old district a “racial gerrymander” for linking minority communities in Jacksonville and the Florida Panhandle.

An email address linked to Charles Herbster, embattled Republican Nebraska governor candidate who is backed by Donald Trump, was used to set up an account on the cheating website Ashley Madison, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The address was among millions released by hackers in 2015.

The revelation will increase scrutiny of Herbster's troubled campaign after a GOP lawmaker accused him of groping her, and seven other women subsequently made similar allegations.

In a lawsuit lodged last Friday, Herbster said the accusations 'lack even a shred of credibility' and have damaged his reputation.