Today’s notice: Why some normie Democrats are backing El-Sayed. Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race gives DSA its biggest test yet. Moreno says his ex-son-in-law congressman is unfit for office. The DNC strikes a first-of-its-kind info-sharing deal. Why some candidates can’t say no to corporate cash. Democratic senators reject DSA’s push to axe the Senate. And: Trump’s plan to supercharge local immigration enforcement.
THE LATEST
What’s happening in Michigan? The defining Democratic primary of the cycle — the Senate race between Rep. Haley Stevens and former Wayne County health department chief Abdul El-Sayed — is not only about how the left learned how to win, NOTUS’ Alex Roarty reports. It’s just as much about how badly the mainstream Democratic Party has lost trust.
Alex examines the average, normie Democrats — Boomers, relatively affluent, Clinton-supporting types — who are on the El-Sayed train. Many of them voted against El-Sayed in 2018, when he ran for governor as the left’s alternative to Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. He notched only 30% of the primary vote. But polls are showing him comfortably ahead in Tuesday’s Senate primary.
Trending
Progressive activists say privately that they think these voters’ movement toward candidates like El-Sayed is less about a newfound acceptance of lefty policies like single-payer health care, and more about anger with the Democratic establishment, Alex writes. Many Democrats once skeptical of Stevens now think she might have turned the corner in using attacks against her as slights against the whole state — but the election may hinge on whether normies take a ride with the left’s loftier ideas instead of the establishment’s status quo.
The big example, of course, is the debate around Israel. NOTUS’ Akbar Shahid Ahmed connects the dots, tracing how the debate has become a simple way for many Democrats to find the outsider fighter they’re looking for. “Palestine is a credibility test now,” said Greg Krieg of the American Priorities PAC, which was built to counter AIPAC. “If voters think you won’t be honest about it, they won’t trust you on anything else.”
The Michigan primary could be summarized in one sentence: El-Sayed is unabashedly pro-Palestine, Stevens is benefiting from millions in AIPAC spending, and that’s all many primary voters need to know.
Open tabs: Gulf States Pressed Trump to Hold Off on Iran Strikes and Pursue Talks (WSJ); For sale: early access to Trump’s Truth Social posts (NPR); Republican Sen. Kennedy says he ‘wouldn’t bet my house’ on Blanche being confirmed (The Hill); RFK Jr. targets Fauci and pushes medical misinformation in fiery CNN interview (CNN); Former Texas Congresswoman, Fort Worth’s first female mayor, Kay Granger dies (CBS)
From the campaign trail
Democratic socialists are facing their biggest test yet in Wisconsin’s chaotic primary for governor. It’s easier for Zohran Mamdani’s wing of the Democratic Party to find its footing in deeper blue states like New York, but Francesca Hong’s candidacy gives Dems the chance to assess a DSA-aligned candidate in a battleground state. Some voters have a “real fear” that Hong’s connections to the DSA won’t fare well in a state Trump carried in 2024, NOTUS’ Elena Schneider reports.
“In a super, super purple state, I’m worried she’s not going to catch the people on the fence,” said one attendee at a Hong campaign event in Franklin, Wisconsin.
But Hong sees the rise of the DSA brand as a way to bridge gaps in the party’s voting base, saying it’s successful “especially among the voters who are hardest to reach, which are Gen Z and millennials.”
The road to reelection is getting rockier for Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) after his ex-father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), said Miller should seek professional psychological help and “should not serve in the House,” citing allegations of domestic abuse against his daughter and granddaughter, NOTUS’ Jenna Monnin and Reese Gorman report. That came after Miller livestreamed a 20-minute denial of the accusations yesterday, vowed to keep running for reelection and posted files, videos and audio recordings to Dropbox.
But the numbers already weren’t looking good for Miller. His Democratic opponent in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, Brian Poindexter, is polling at 44% to Miller’s 39% with 16% undecided, according to a recent poll conducted by a Republican firm and reviewed by NOTUS. That’s in a district Trump won by 11 percentage points in 2024.
Sharing is caring, or at least that’s the message the Democratic National Committee hopes other outside groups take from its first-of-its-kind deal with the liberal organizing group Swing Left to seamlessly share voter data collected on the campaign trail. The DNC is hopeful that the deal can serve as a template for future collaboration after the FEC opened the door to sharing with outside groups.
“It will help Democrats compete in 2026 while ensuring we’re not starting from scratch again in 2028,” Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left, told NOTUS’ Alex Roarty.
The life of the corporate donation taker. It’s chic in Democratic politics to say no to business-linked political action committees, but NOTUS’ Oriana González and Kadia Goba find it doesn’t protect members from the intense pressure to raise big sums — all the time. “I am deciding whether I’m going to committee or a meeting based on whether I have to meet with individual donors,” said one Democratic lawmaker caught in the middle. “That’s fucked up.” Democrats without major name recognition or national donor networks say taking corporate contributions can save them literally hours of call time per week. That plus eagerness to help battleground races pushes some former corporate-donation rejecters into sighing heavily and taking the money.
From the Hill
The Senate prefers not to be abolished, thank you. “No,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said flatly when NOTUS asked about the plank in the new Democratic Socialists of America platform calling for the Senate to be eliminated in favor of a unicameral legislature. Our Igor Bobic reports zero takers to the idea among senators who caucus with the Democrats.
NOTUS METRO
Sign up for our local newsletter, written by Martin Austermuhle and Zara Norman.
Local news: Let’s Talk About the Massive Parking Garage Trump Wants to Build at Dulles, by Martin Austermuhle
NEW ON NOTUS
The Trump administration plans to supercharge immigration enforcement with $1.6 billion in grants to state and local police agencies through September 2027, NOTUS’ Jackie Llanos reports. The push far exceeds previous federal funding for the 287(g) program, which allows for coordination between federal and state entities on enforcement efforts. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently called the program “the greatest partnership we can have.”
More: Trump, Burgum Blast Pirro For Dropping Reflecting Pool Damage Case, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
Rep. Marcy Kaptur Hospitalized After Hit-and-Run Crash in Ohio, by Jenna Monnin
Trump Sticks by ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Ahead of Blanche Confirmation Vote, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
NOT US
- How a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee, by Michael S. Schmidt and Jessica Silver-Greenberg for The New York Times
- The Democrats’ Biggest Donors Have Gone on Strike, by Maggie Severns, Laura J. Nelson and Ken Thomas for The Wall Street Journal
- MTG Teams Up With Tucker Carlson and Thomas Massie to Plot New Political Party, by Sean James for Mediaite
WEEK AHEAD
Today
Jay Clayton to be sworn in as director of national intelligence.
South Carolina Republican Senate special primary debate.
Tuesday
Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general.
Primary elections in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state.
Wednesday
Trump travels to Las Vegas to tout Republican tax policies.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on a contempt resolution against Anthony Fauci.
Thursday
Primary elections in Tennessee.
Friday
Final scheduled day in the Senate before August recess.
Monthly unemployment report released.
Saturday
Primary elections in Hawaii.
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Nikie Johnson. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP.
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