Today’s notice: Senior Night in Massachusetts. Why Abdul El-Sayed apologized. Democrats in disarray on Capitol Hill. Interior Department fears. DOJ election monitoring plans. And: How to run against an independent.
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THE LATEST
Age is just a number: Two big takeaways from the Democratic primaries in Massachusetts last night: the polls were right, for once, and there are still no easy ways to summarize what has happened inside the party this year. Safe-blue House seats with very little chance of being flipped by Republicans were held by older incumbents against younger, progressive-leaning challengers — though both Reps. Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch had more of a race than they’re used to. Contrast that with other safely blue places in New York or Colorado or etc., where incumbents could not catch a break.
Trending
In the Senate primary, incumbent Ed Markey dispatched a challenge from the younger Rep. Seth Moulton early in the night, suggesting he’s one older Democrat who remains clued in to what it takes to win in his state. Moulton came into Congress by beating a nine-term incumbent, NOTUS’ Christa Dutton writes, and has repeatedly pitched himself as a leader for a new generation. The problem is voters seem to really not care for Moulton, no matter how old or young he is. There’s a lesson here for would-be presidents in 2028, Democrats told Christa: They need to bring new ideas and not just a more recent DOB.
Of note: “Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are the remaining members of Congress who were in office during Gerald Ford’s presidency,” the Washington Examiner’s David Mark wrote on X.
More on NOTUS: U.S. Strikes Targets in Iran and Tehran Fires Back | Trump Nominates Hung Cao for Navy Secretary | Florida Becomes First State to Remove Flock Cameras From State Roads | Trump’s Call to ‘Let Data Reign’ Clashes with Republicans’ Caution
Open tabs: Case against suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing can proceed to trial (CNN) | Putin Pledges Increased Strikes in Ukraine and Support for Iran (NYT)
From Michigan
Abdul El-Sayed talks to NOTUS: It’s been a few weeks since El-Sayed narrowly won the bitter primary to become Michigan Democrats’ Senate nominee and he is still struggling to unite a fractured Democratic electorate. In an interview with our Alex Roarty for the On NOTUS podcast out today, El-Sayed explained his recent in-depth apology for his response in March to an attack on a Michigan synagogue. He condemned the attack at the time but also tried to make a larger political point about Middle East violence. (“Hurt people hurt people,” he said of the attacker, who had lost family in an Israeli strike.) He now says that approach was a mistake.
“I wanted to make sure that folks understood that the attempt to offer a broader context in a moment so close to an attack like that was ill-timed. It was ill-suited for the broader goal I had, which is to say when a community is attacked, it’s wrong,” El-Sayed told NOTUS. “There’s plenty of opportunity to talk about how things are interconnected, but not in the acute moment of pain.”
Is this the approach that finally puts the primary in the past? Polls continue to show a very tight race with Republican nominee Mike Rogers, and plenty of Democrats still consider El-Sayed to be a liability. But if he can make unifying moves like the apology stick, he can move on to the kind of general election he promised voters.
One that sounds like this: “A beta his whole life,” is how El-Sayed described Rogers.
From the Hill
Big mad: “I am fucking livid,” said a House Democratic aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, and then did, after two moderate Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state, bailed out House Republicans from an embarrassing loss on the floor. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the caucus was “blindsided” by the pair’s support of a GOP rule, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra and Kadia Goba report, and Democratic leaders are now looking at how to discipline the defectors whose actions they called a “significant breach of trust.”
Golden didn’t hold back when asked to explain his vote: “The idea that anyone represents their constituents, came here, introduces a bill to support that constituency, would do anything but vote for it is fucking nuts. Could you imagine going home to your constituents and being like, ‘I was trying to help you, but I had to vote no’?”
More on NOTUS: House Republicans Pass Resolution Denouncing Socialism | House Votes to Censure Chuck Edwards Over Harassment Allegations
From Interior
Parks & Uncertainty: Current and former Interior Department staffers fear a major overhaul ahead after National Park Service brass called an unusual in-person meeting with superintendents of all the country’s national parks later this month, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Eric Katz report. “Attendance is mandatory and expected. We will use this time to discuss agency priorities, our FY 2027 outlook, and other matters important to the work ahead,” an NPS official wrote. The meeting comes right after reassignments affecting some of Interior’s top experts.
From the DOJ
All-call: The leader of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has one request for her staff: become election monitors. It appears to be part of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s plan to send an unprecedented 1,000 monitors across the country to polling locations for the midterm elections. In an email obtained by NOTUS’ Eric Katz and Derek Hawkins, Dhillon said she was looking for staff to volunteer and work polling places across the country on Election Day or in a call center in Washington.
“I’m writing to encourage each of you to sign up and join us in this effort,” Dhillon wrote. While the DOJ has repeatedly sent election monitors to voting places, this new request carries significance amid the Trump administration’s efforts to oversee how voting in states is conducted.
NOTUS PERSPECTIVES
After the vote to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards yesterday, Dana Milbank argues the only thing Mike Johnson’s House is good at doing is wrongdoing.
NOTUS METRO
Sign up for our local newsletter, written by Martin Austermuhle and Zara Norman.
Local news: D.C.’s Strict Gun Laws Are Being Put to the Test, by Martin Austermuhle
What to Do in the D.C. Area Over Labor Day Weekend, by Rebecca Ritzel
Sports desk: 10 Things We Learned From Commanders Training Camp, by Martenzie Johnson
NEW ON NOTUS
Labeling the unlabeled: Independent candidates for Senate have popped up across the red-state map this cycle, trying to give voters an alternative where Democrats can barely fantasize about being competitive. Republicans think they have a pretty handy way to deal with this, NOTUS’ Raymond Fernández reports — calling them Democrats. Independents, meanwhile, welcome the challenge.
That’s how it’s playing out in Nebraska, where Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is vying against independent Dan Osborn.
“Our approach is straightforward: expose the truth about Dan Osborn’s far-left views and the Democrat infrastructure behind his campaign,” Ricketts’ deputy campaign manager, Max Oberg, told NOTUS in a statement.
More: Media Site Asks Judge to Block Trump From Posting Official News on Truth Social, by Gavin J. Quinton
Milo Yiannopoulos Says He’s ‘Ashamed’ of Supporting Trump After Deportation, by Torrie Herrington
New Emails Show Bovino Was Under Investigation Prior to His Retirement, by Angie Orellana Hernandez
NOT US
- Ghislaine Maxwell’s Prison Transfer Application Released, by Jason Leopold for Bloomberg
- White House prepares for Democratic investigations, by Sophia Cai and Myah Ward for Politico
- How a Teenager’s Cancer Treatment Became a MAHA Crusade, by Elizabeth Barber for The New York Times
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton. Photo by Charles Krupa/AP.
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