{"id":23270,"date":"2026-07-31T15:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23270"},"modified":"2026-07-31T15:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:54:46","slug":"democrats-novel-red-state-strategy-from-the-politics-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23270","title":{"rendered":"Democrats\u2019 novel red-state strategy: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p id=\"anchor-86f9c1\" class=\"body-graf\"><em>Welcome to <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/link.nbcnews.com\/join\/5cj\/nbc-news-politics-signup\" target=\"_blank\"><em>From the Politics Desk<\/em><\/a><em>, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-14985f\" class=\"body-graf\"><em>In today\u2019s edition, Sahil Kapur explores how Democrats are trying to boost their odds of defeating Senate Republicans in deep-red states. Plus, Adam Edelman and Natasha Korecki report on the latest shake-up in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor.<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3394b9\" class=\"body-graf\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.nbcnews.com\/join\/5cj\/nbc-news-politics-signup\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-864819\" class=\"body-graf\"><em>\u2014 Adam Wollner<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"body-hori-rule\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"anchor-006099\" class=\"body-heading\">Democrats pursue a new Senate strategy in rural states: Dropping out<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"anchor-64b1bd\" class=\"body-heading\">By Sahil Kapur<\/h3>\n<p id=\"anchor-52dd05\" class=\"body-graf\">Facing slim prospects in rural red states, Democrats are embarking on a new tactic to expand the Senate map: encouraging doomed nominees to drop out of races to empower independent candidates to take on Republicans one-on-one.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-aad39d\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>Nebraska:<\/strong> Independent candidate <strong>Dan Osborn<\/strong>\u2019s campaign against GOP Sen. <strong>Pete Ricketts<\/strong> received a jolt this month when Democratic nominee <strong>Cindy Burbank<\/strong> dropped out and removed her name from the ballot. Two years ago, Osborn turned heads by coming within 7 points of defeating Republican Sen. <strong>Deb Fischer<\/strong> as <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> carried the state by 21 points. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-2daa53\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>Idaho:<\/strong> Democratic nominee <strong>David Roth<\/strong> dropped out Tuesday, giving independent <strong>Todd Achilles<\/strong> a one-on-one contest against Republican Sen. <strong>Jim Risch<\/strong>, who is running for a fourth term.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8ed791\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>Montana:<\/strong> Democrats are calling on <strong>Alani Bankhead<\/strong> to exit to clear the way for independent Seth Bodnar in the race against Republican nominee <strong>Kurt Alme<\/strong>. But Bankhead has resisted those calls, and even if she were to quit, said a spokesperson Montana Secretary of State <strong>Christi Jacobsen<\/strong>, Democrats would be required under state law to find another candidate rather than leave the ballot blank.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e6395e\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>South Dakota: <\/strong>Similarly, Democrats are pushing for <strong>Julian Beaudion<\/strong> to end her campaign and give independent <strong>Brian Bengs<\/strong> a boost against GOP Sen. <strong>Mike Rounds<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1b935e\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>Bottom line:<\/strong> Democrats see it as a win-win situation, arguing that even if the independent candidates lose, the one-on-one matchups could spook Republicans into steering money away from competitive races to hold on to deep-red states.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-355111\" class=\"body-graf\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/democratic-senate-candidates-pursue-new-strategy-rural-states-dropping-rcna589868\"><strong>Read more \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-abf9b8\" class=\"body-graf\"><strong>\ud83d\udcb0 Meanwhile: <\/strong>Senate Minority Leader <strong>Chuck Schumer<\/strong>, D-N.Y., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/trump-administration\/live-blog\/trump-congress-2026-midterm-blanche-doj-iran-ice-live-updates-rcna589931\/rcrd118103?canonicalCard=true\" target=\"_blank\">stopped by a fundraiser<\/a> in Washington yesterday for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate <strong>Scott Colom<\/strong>, two sources with knowledge of the event told NBC News.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"body-hori-rule\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"anchor-791020\" class=\"body-heading\">Democrat Mandela Barnes exits Wisconsin governor\u2019s race<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"anchor-9eceed\" class=\"body-heading\">By Adam Edelman and Natasha Korecki<\/h3>\n<p id=\"anchor-b19075\" class=\"body-graf\">Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. <strong>Mandela Barnes<\/strong> announced this afternoon that he is dropping out of the Democratic race for governor less than two weeks out from the primary.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-2baa9e\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly proud of all the things that we\u2019ve accomplished and all the resources that we have raised to spread our message,\u201d Barnes said in a video <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheOtherMandela\/status\/2082894497839468849\">on social media<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s become very clear who our nominee is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a49351\" class=\"body-graf\">That statement is a clear nod to state Rep. <strong>Francesca Hong<\/strong>, a democratic socialist who has expanded her polling lead ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-69cc0d\" class=\"body-graf\">Barnes\u2019 decision to exit the race is just the latest major development to rock what has been a volatile Democratic primary to replace outgoing Gov. <strong>Tony Evers<\/strong> in the key battleground state.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-08925d\" class=\"body-graf\">Lt. Gov. <strong>Sara Rodriguez<\/strong>, whom more moderate Democrats saw as a leading contender, dropped out of the contest this month, prompting Milwaukee County Executive <strong>David Crowley<\/strong> to re-enter the race with Evers\u2019 endorsement days after he had ended his campaign.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-184e72\" class=\"body-graf\">While Hong has established herself as the front-runner, Barnes\u2019 move could give Crowley a boost among Democrats who fear she\u2019s too far left to win the general election against the likely Republican nominee, Rep. <strong>Tom Tiffany<\/strong>. A Crowley supporter with knowledge of the team\u2019s strategy said a blitz with Evers was on the way, including ads and campaign events. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DavidCCrowley\/status\/2082910104299729324\">Crowley wrote on X<\/a>, \u201cTo everyone who backed Mandela: there\u2019s a place for you in what we\u2019re building.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"inline-video inline-video--in-body\" data-testid=\"inline-video\" id=\"anchor-59d987\">\n<div class=\"inline-video__background\">\n<div class=\"inline-video__player\">\n<div class=\"styles_gridStackWrapper__Z_AMc styles_videoContainer___xc7B video-container paused\" data-testid=\"gamma-video-player\">\n<div class=\"styles_gridStackWrapper__Z_AMc videoSlate styles_videoSlate__IvkAP\"><picture class=\"\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"focal\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1240px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-860x484,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2026_07\/1785444487767_now_mtp_full_hong_260730_S3_1920x1080-234yoo.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 758px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-1000x563,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2026_07\/1785444487767_now_mtp_full_hong_260730_S3_1920x1080-234yoo.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-760x428,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2026_07\/1785444487767_now_mtp_full_hong_260730_S3_1920x1080-234yoo.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-760x428,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2026_07\/1785444487767_now_mtp_full_hong_260730_S3_1920x1080-234yoo.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p id=\"anchor-e012a8\" class=\"body-graf\">Asked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/video\/francesca-hong-undecided-on-seeking-endorsement-from-mandela-barnes-after-he-suspends-campaign-267542597997\">in an interview<\/a> with \u201cMeet the Press NOW\u201d whether she was seeking Barnes\u2019 endorsement, Hong replied, \u201cAt this time, I am undecided.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ecb3b4\" class=\"body-graf\">She added that her campaign\u2019s focus is \u201cwelcoming everyone to our movement\u201d and that \u201cwe are certain that many of the former lieutenant governor\u2019s supporters share our values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-041028\" class=\"body-graf\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/democrat-mandela-barnes-drops-wisconsin-governors-race-rcna590096\"><strong>Read more \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"body-hori-rule\"\/>\n<div class=\"summary-box\" data-testid=\"summary-box\" id=\"anchor-3daf12\">\n<div class=\"summary-box__content\">\n<h2 class=\"summary-box__headline\">\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today&#8217;s other top stories<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"summary-box__items\">\n<li><strong>\u27a1\ufe0f Iran war:<\/strong> Iran vowed to \u201cpunish\u201d the U.S. after the American military said it had completed a \u201cheavy wave of strikes\u201d overnight, the latest retaliation for an attack by Tehran on U.S. forces in the Middle East. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/iran\/us-heavy-wave-strikes-iran-war-attack-trump-saudi-egypt-drone-oil-rcna589967\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u26a1 Minnesota cyberattack: <\/strong>A cyberattack this week targeting more than 30 municipal water systems across Minnesota bears the hallmarks of Iran-backed hackers, a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/security\/minnesota-cyberattack-hallmarks-iran-backed-hackers-source-says-rcna590069\" target=\"_blank\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>\ud83d\udcdd Strange bedfellows:<\/strong> Sens. <strong>Bernie Sanders<\/strong>, I-Vt., and <strong>Chuck Grassley<\/strong>, R-Iowa, say the Defense Department should perform its first successful full-agency audit, as required by federal law, or face financial penalties. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/iran-war-audit-pentagon-bill-bernie-sanders-chuck-grassley-rcna589687\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2b05\ufe0f Hitting the brakes:<\/strong> Trump threatened to withdraw <strong>Todd Blanche<\/strong>\u2019s nomination to be attorney general until two Republican holdouts leave office in January. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/trump-threatens-pull-todd-blanches-ag-nomination-gop-holdouts-leave-of-rcna590054\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f Vote watch: <\/strong>State officials are pushing back on the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s claims that it found tens of thousands of noncitizens on their voter rolls, asking it to explain how it arrived at its conclusion. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/elections\/states-push-dhs-explain-noncitizen-voter-claims-rcna589999\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"body-hori-rule\"\/>\n<p id=\"anchor-e45bc1\" class=\"body-graf\"><em>That\u2019s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today\u2019s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-51863b\" class=\"body-graf\"><em>If you have feedback \u2014 likes or dislikes \u2014 email us at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/mailto:politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bfdba4\" class=\"endmark body-graf\"><em>And if you\u2019re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/link.nbcnews.com\/join\/5cj\/nbc-news-politics-signup\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"body-hori-rule\"\/><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today\u2019s edition, Sahil Kapur explores how Democrats are trying to boost their odds of defeating Senate Republicans in deep-red states. Plus, Adam Edelman&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260729-Seth-Bodnar-vl-125p-258cf0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}