Election Season Is Already Here

Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford participate in a debate Wednesday. Morry Gash/AP

Today’s notice: Democrats are swinging for the fences in swing states. Republicans on Capitol Hill swing at each other over reconciliation. And senators say Signal isn’t just for chatting about bombing Yemen.

A New Hope (for Democrats)

As Democrats suffer blow after blow to their brand and political prospects, they’re looking for hope in the very states that cost them the 2024 election — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic state Senate candidate James Malone won over Republican Josh Parsons on Tuesday by less than a single percentage point in Lancaster County, a largely GOP-held agricultural region west of Philadelphia. Donald Trump carried the district by 15 points not even five months ago. (Democrats also won a Pennsylvania House seat in Allegheny County that handed them a one-vote majority in the statehouse.)