- Yiddish lessons with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, teaching us new ways to insult Republicans. What a mensch.

We’re two weeks out from midterm elections, and the heat is on. 
 

• The New York gubernatorial race has become unusually and uncomfortably close. Incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who took the reins after disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) stepped down, is fighting for her political life. Republican nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) has been focusing on crime and sidestepping hot-button issues like abortion, despite supporting abortion bans  and being bffs with the extremely felonious, disgraced former president, DonaldTrump. Fanning “crime” agitprop has become a favorite strategy of Republican candidates in battleground states, which has moved the issue near the top of voter concerns. 
   

• Also in New York, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is scrambling to save its chairman, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), as Republicans continue to pour money into Maloney’s district, and polls moved the race for NY-17 from “lean Democratic” to “toss up.” The DCCC made a quick decision to spend more than $600,000 on TV ads to bolster Maloney after Republicans funneled almost $8.8 million to the campaign of his opponent, Assemblyman Michael Lawler. Like Zeldin, Lawler is fanning fear of crime and citing Maloney’s past support for criminal-justice reform measures like ending cash bail. Some Dems have voiced frustration that the party has to pull an emergency cash lever in the home stretch to save its chairman, as it did in 2020 for then-chair Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), because of what it signals to the larger party when its captain has to be thrown a life preserver. 
   

• In one of the highest-profile contests in the nation, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-PA) and his Republican opponent TV Dr. Mehmet Oz will square off tonight for a televised Pennsylvania Senate debate. This race is widely seen as one which could determine control of the upper chamber and thus whether President Biden will be able to staff his administration and appoint judges. It will be a pivotal moment for Fetterman, who has endured relentless attacks on his “fitness to serve” from Oz, who’s sought to capitalize on the stroke Fetterman suffered back in May. But independent experts consulted by the Associated Press say Fetterman appears to be recovering remarkably well. The Pennsylvania governor’s race is significantly more comfortable for Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro, because his Republican opponent Doug Mastriano is such an odious fringe lunatic that many prominent Pennsylvania Republicans have publicly endorsed Shapiro.

Knowing the obstacles ahead, big-name Democrats from all wings of the party, including former president Barack Obama, President Biden, and AOC, have all made impassioned pleas to voters while campaigning for other Dems across the country. 

• Races in New York and Pennsylvania may be tighter than party leadership would like them to be, but the most vulnerable Democrat in the country is probably Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). Masto has struggled to build a personal brand, as she eschews the media spotlight and speaks carefully and deliberately about policy (can you imagine?!). Her race is further complicated by the transient nature of Nevada’s population, 70 percent of whom live in Las Vegas County. She is the only Latina senator and delivered for her state’s embattled hospitality industry during the pandemic, but rent and gas costs in Nevada have risen faster than almost anywhere else in the country, and she was first elected by a razor-thin margin in 2016 despite being hand-selected to succeed the beloved Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). Her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, is the fortunate son of a Nevada political dynasty, and was one of the leaders of Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results as state attorney general. Latino voters are central to the victory of any candidate in Nevada, and as we have seen in other states, the Democrats’ advantage with Latino voters has shrunk. 

• Speaking of marginalized voters, the Brennan Center for Justice found that  Asian, Latino, and Black voters in Texas have had their ballots rejected at much higher rates than White voters thanks to the state’s new voter-ID requirements. The office of the Texas Secretary of State declined to comment. Yeah, I bet! Voter-suppression measures across the country have specifically targeted voters of color, and are part of a larger Republican strategy to make every battleground state and district winnable without popular majorities. This effort is backstopped by proponents of the Big Lie, who have filled local election-administration positions at an alarming rate across the country—vacancies created by the constant harassment of election workers by those same MAGA conspiracy theorists. 

Democrats have a mountain to climb in the next couple weeks, but the problems they face today both structurally and with voters will not go away even if they pull out an upset. The current Dem leadership will either have to substantively address those issues or we’ll be facing the same predicament two years from now.

The 2022 Midterms are underway and the fate of the House and Senate are at stake...but voting doesn't stop there. In Crooked’s new Youtube series, Breaking Down the Ballot, Strict Scrutiny host Melissa Murray explains the importance of filling out our ENTIRE ballot including the key role of Attorney General. By hearing from current Attorneys General running for re-election (Dana Nessel in Michigan, Aaron Ford in Nevada, and Josh Kaul in Wisconsin) and Democratic nominees vying to win key swing states (Jen Jordan in Georgia and Kris Mayes in Arizona) we'll learn what a state attorney general does and how they can affect everything from abortion rights to election security.

Want to get involved and help elect a Democratic Attorney General in your state? Sign up for Vote Save America to volunteer or donate now: VOTE SAVE AMERICA and watch this video on the Pod Save America youtube channel!

Joscelyn Funnié and Deborah Shaw are veteran attorneys in the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General who in 2019 exposed massive, unprecedented fines imposed on disabled and poor elderly people, and then were subsequently removed from their jobs and put on paid administrative leave as a disciplinary measure before being reinstated. But since being brought back under Inspector General Gail Ennis—a Trump appointee—the two allege they have been excluded from meaningful assignments, meetings, and collaboration with colleagues, as well as given tasks below their experience and abilities, and denied opportunities for advancement. Their claims are supported by two senior officials in their department, and echoed in contemporaneous emails between Funnié and Shaw and their respective supervisors. Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit that represents Washington whistleblowers, says these tactics represent significant evidence of retaliation. Both women continue to be given administrative busywork as their case is held up in the Merit Systems Protection Board, which the Senate finally staffed up this spring after five years without a quorum, leaving thousands of appeals like theirs in limbo.

Hope Hicks, who served as disgraced former president Donald Trump’s communications director, will have a formal, transcribed interview with the House January 6 Committee. What took so long?

A Russian court rejected WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal of her nine-year prison sentence for marijuana possession, which could move the needle closer to a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. 

The Congressional Progressive Caucus withdrew its letter to the White House urging a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal announced today, saying the letter was drafted months ago but “released by staff without vetting.” Okay love you, CPC, but blaming staff? 

A new police report confirms that the 19 year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a student at a St. Louis, MO, performing arts high school was armed with an AR-15-style assault weapon and more than 600 rounds of ammunition. 

Adidas ended its partnership with rapper Kanye West over his antisemitic remarks and hate speech, the latest brand to cut ties with him. 

Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota all have ballot measures this November to legalize recreational marijuana. If all pass, recreational marijuana will be legal in half of all U.S. states. 


Rishi Sunak became the first non-White Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the third Prime Minister this year today, meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace today, as tradition holds. I know we're one to talk in the U.S., but U.K. Prime Minister at this moment has big “Captain on the Titanic” energy!

Workers at a Starbucks near Boston University in Massachusetts shut their store down for two months this summer by striking over what they said was retaliation for unionizing. When Buffalo-area locations became the first Starbucks stores to unionize in the country earlier this year, the campaign spread rapidly, and roughly 250 stores have unionized in the intervening months. But election filings have dropped precipitously and the battleground has now shifted from simply winning union elections to dealing with a hostile corporate management trying its hardest to reverse organizing gains. The union, Workers United, has stepped up efforts to win concessions from corporate, including ideally a commitment by the company to stay neutral in future elections (which would make it easier for workers to unionize), paid leave, and more. Winning such concessions would greatly expand the union’s reach, especially at a time when public support for organized labor is at a 50-year high. The National Labor Relations Board has issued multiple complaints against Starbucks for firing union supporters and withholding new benefits and wage increases from unionized employees, and agency judges have ruled against the company in a few such cases. All eyes will be on the Starbucks union as the United States moves into the next phase of the fight for labor rights.

The world is ending. And if you think this is some sort of game, well...good. Because it is. 

DOOMLINGS is a delightful card game for the end of the world. Score points by playing Traits for your Doomlings' species, making them more adaptable, resilient, and mischievous. Play Traits over multiple rounds, called Ages. But be warned: hidden in the Ages are Catastrophes—special rounds that befall the planet. After three Catastrophes, the world ends, and the player with the highest score wins. 

DOOMLINGS is for 2-6 players, ages 10+, and takes 20-45 minutes to play. It's perfect for dinner parties, family game night, and when you just need a break from prepping your bunker.

DOOMLINGS was funded on Kickstarter in 49 minutes, and catapulted into the top 0.1% of Kickstarters of all-time! It’s been played in over 80 countries around the world and has over 2,500  reviews!

Get 20% off using code CROOKED on doomlings.com!

Citing low polling and in the interest of ensuring his state goes blue, Everett Stern, an independent candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, dropped out today and “fully” endorsed Democrat John Fetterman. 

Montgomery County, MD, the DC suburb with 1.1 million residents, just approved a 30 year growth plan calling for denser development in an effort to change the socioeconomic landscape of the area currently segregated by race and income. 

Adult workers with disabilities have seen a major boost in employment, thanks to the pandemic-induced explosion in remote work and similar arrangements. 

Automotive giant Hyundai broke ground on its $5.54 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia today, expected to bring over 8,100 jobs to the area.