NationalWatch

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status on Wednesday.

Vance made the statement while taking questions from reporters at a campaign rally in Detroit. A reporter asked Vance about Walz’ attempt to frame him as a member of the elite who attended an Ivy League school.Yea

“I came from a family where nobody in my family had ever gone to law school. I grew up in a poor family. The fact that Tim Walz wants to turn it into a bad thing, that I actually worked myself through college, through law school and made something myself –  to me, that’s the American dream. And if Tim Walz wants to insult it, I think that’s frankly pretty bizarre,” Vance said before launching into an attack on Walz.

KAMALA HARRIS’ TREATMENT OF STAFF UNDER SCRUTINY AS REPORTS OF POOR OFFICE CULTURE RESURFACE

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

“As a marine who served his country in uniform when the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do it, and I did it honorably,” he said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with.” 

Vance continued, “I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through, and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE

Vance went on to highlight comments from Walz on gun control, saying the governor had used his questionable military history in an attempt to push gun restrictions.

Vance blasted Walz for invoking his history in the military when calling for tighter gun control. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

“He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen Valor garbage,” Vance said.

Vance also urged reporters to hold Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris accountable. Harris has not taken questions from the press in the 17 days since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her.

Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland on Aug. 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE

Former President Trump has accused Harris of hiding behind her teleprompter even as Biden “hid in his basement.”

There are 90 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting starts as early as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of “election season.”

VANCE PRAISED FOR ‘ABSOLUTE FIRE’ TAKEDOWN OF HARRIS-WALZ ‘TAG TEAM’ RIOT ENABLERS: ‘MAKE AMERICA BURN AGAIN’

Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris (Getty Images)

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

TIM WALZ’S SELECTION AS HARRIS RUNNING MATE DRAWS SKEPTICISM, EVEN AMONG ANTI-TRUMP FIGURES

A voter fills out a ballot in Lake Orion, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between “early in-person” and “mail” or “absentee” voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is early in-person voting, where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is voting by mail, where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on lection day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with seven more battleground states starting that month

This list of early voting dates is for guidance only. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes, and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.

Seven more battleground states open up early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

KAMALA HARRIS HAS AVOIDED INTERVIEWS FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS SINCE BECOMING DEM NOMINEE

Early voters cast their ballots in Ferndale, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

September deadlines

In-person early voting in bold.

Sept. 6

• North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

• Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters

Sept. 17

• Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 19

• Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

• Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
• Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
• Virginia – In-person early voting begins
• Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 21

• Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
• Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
• Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 23

• Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
• Oregon, Vermont – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 26

• Illinois – In-person early voting begins 
• Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
• Florida, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
• North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 30

• Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent

October deadlines

Oct. 4

• Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

• Michigan – In-person early voting begins 
• Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• Montana – In-person absentee voting begins
• Nebraska – In-person early voting begins 
• Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
• Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 8

• California – Ballot drop-offs open
• New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
• Indiana – In-person early voting begins
• Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

• Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

• Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
• Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

• Georgia – In-person early voting begins
• Utah – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

• Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
• Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
• Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

• North Carolina – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

• Washington, Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
• Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

• Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins 
• Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins 
• Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

• Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins 
• Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

• West Virginia – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 24

• Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

• Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

• Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

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Oct. 30

• Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

• Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins

Trump still has an edge, but the race is closer than ever. That is the outlook in the first Fox News Power Rankings with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket and two new running mate picks.

The race to be ‘someone else’

When this cycle began, most voters didn’t want President Biden or former President Donald Trump in the race.

In a Fox News survey conducted weeks after the midterms, 64% of voters said they wouldn’t like to see Biden run for re-election, and 58% said they weren’t happy about Trump running either.

Fox News Power Rankings forecast shows a slight Trump edge over Harris. (Fox News)

Voters were not glad Biden was running in 2024. (Fox News)

Throughout his campaign, reliably blue voters drifted away from Biden, and he lagged with independents.

The top reason was clear and consistent: voters thought he was too old for a second term.

Last month, the president acquiesced to his doubters and stepped out of the race. On Monday, Harris became the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, Republicans have been rallying around Trump. 

Voters are not glad that Trump is running in 2024, either. (Fox News)

But the former president has proven there is a ceiling in his level of support, particularly with independents.

Collectively, the polls suggest that the winner of the 2024 presidential race could be the candidate who reminds voters least of Biden or Trump.

In other words, Harris and Trump each have up to 90 days to prove they can be “someone else.”

The type of “someone else” matters. 

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

A majority of Americans say Biden is too liberal. In June, 56% of adults said they felt that way, and so did 56% of independent voters.

Trump’s “MAGA” movement is also unpopular. In a survey last year, only 24% of Americans said they had a positive view of the movement, and only 12% of independents agreed.

That makes both candidates’ vice presidential picks missed opportunities.

Fox News Power Rankings’ election countdown calendar. (Fox News)

There is also little time left in the race. Most Americans now cast a ballot before election day and early voting kicks off in 30 days.

After a sleepy start, America is sprinting to the finish line.

Eliminating the age problem gives Harris a strong start, but Walz doesn’t help her 

If Harris’ goal is to not remind voters of Joe Biden, she starts with a clear advantage. The vice president is 22 years younger than her boss.

Fox News Power Rankings analysis shows that Harris has wiped out Biden’s polling deficit. (Fox News)

That has helped wipe out Biden’s deficit in national polls.

After the presidential debate, Biden had support from 42% of registered voters in an average of polls, with Trump at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a 7-point gap.

In the first polls from the same outlets after Harris became the likely nominee, she improved to 47%, with Trump still at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a race within the margin of error.

We know age was the driver of this upswing because when these polls were conducted, Harris hadn’t changed anything else.

Tuesday, she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Polling showed whether Biden is too liberal. (Fox News)

Walz has supported a long list of socially progressive policies. He signed a law that made illegal immigrants eligible for drivers’ licenses, and another that, per a memo circulated by allies, made Minnesota a “Trans Refuge State.”

He has also faced criticism for his slow response to rioting, looting, and arson after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

With reporting over the weekend that Harris had narrowed her choices to Walz or moderate Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had a 61% favorability rating in a must-win swing state, Harris’ decision seems unhelpful to her campaign.

Walz is unlikely to hurt the campaign either.

His signature policies include expansions of paid family and medical leave, legislation protecting abortion rights, education funding and drug affordability. 

Fox News Power Rankings analysis shows the top three issues in battleground states. (Fox News)

Those positions are all in line with Biden and Harris’ agenda over the last four years and are popular in battleground states.

Democrats are also excited about his “folksy” demeanor, military service, and working-class background.

And while there is no polling evidence so far that Walz has outsized appeal with Midwestern voters, he doesn’t underperform with them either. In the midterms, he won re-election by seven points.

The problem is more that Walz doesn’t help Harris win over independent voters who already say that Biden is too liberal.

Trump can’t redefine himself, and Vance doesn’t help either

Meanwhile, while voters prefer Trump on policy, he must show independents that he is a more honest and temperate man than he was in his first term.

Surviving a terrifying assassination attempt gave Trump an opportunity to do this, and surrogates were eager to play up the “changed” Donald Trump throughout the Republican National Convention.

An uneven convention speech and an aggressive appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last week proved Trump is still Trump.

His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been unhelpful so far.

Vance earned his spot on the ticket because he was the most aligned to Trump and the “MAGA” movement out of all the leading candidates. The polling shows that “MAGA” has limited appeal outside the Republican base.

New polling shows that “MAGA” is broadly unpopular with voters. (Fox News)

Vance has also had to defend several comments he made about women.

In a 2021 interview, he called some Democratic politicians “childless cat ladies,” and the same year, said rape and incest were possible circumstances of a child’s birth that society views as “inconvenient.” Vance said he meant society sometimes sees babies as inconvenient in a Fox interview last week.

Like Walz, Vance brings a Midwestern background to the ticket.

Republicans are excited about his ability to empathize with working-class voters who propelled Trump to victory in 2016 and say his military experience will be an asset.

He has cosponsored bipartisan legislation to lower the price of insulin and make banks more accountable when they fail.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: IS KAMALA HARRIS UNBURDENED BY WHAT HAS BEEN?

And in the midterms, Vance won his race by about six points against one of the strongest Democratic candidates in decades.

Overall, Trump’s combative personality and the Vance pick are not quite the strategic mistakes that some analysts say they are.

The “MAGA” movement excites core Republican voters, and firing up the base was a key factor in Trump’s 2016 win.

But depressing Democratic turnout was also key to that victory. The polling now shows that Harris has fired up her base too.

Trump has an edge in the forecast, but it’s a very close race

The Fox News Power Rankings map shows the forecast as of Aug. 7, 2024. (Fox News)

With Harris at 47% and Trump at 49%, the national race is very tight.

Harris’ five-point improvement over Biden comes from upswings in two of three key groups that had drifted away from the incumbent president.

Harris has flipped the race with young voters. Biden had support from 40% of voters aged 18-29 after the debate; the vice president now sits at 56%.

She has similarly improved with Hispanic voters, increasing her support from 41% after the debate to 57% now.

Fox News Power Rankings show Democrats’ performance with key groups. (Fox News)

Trump continues to perform much better with Black voters than he did in 2020.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis had just 8% of African American or Black voters supporting Trump. He pulls 23% among registered voters in the same groups now, nearly tripling his support.

Watch that number as election day draws closer. There is evidence in past cycles that many Black voters “come home” to the Democrats, but the margin could determine the winner of the election.

With Democrats re-energized, Harris looks stronger in battleground Minnesota

Fox News Power Rankings’ list of most competitive swing states. (Fox News )

Only one competitive state moves further into Democratic territory in this forecast, and it’s Walz’s home, Minnesota.

Harris already had an advantage in this reliably blue state.

In a set of Fox News battleground state polls from late July, Harris had support from 52% of voters in Minnesota, 6 points above Trump at 46%.

That is just about the same as Biden’s vote share in 2020.

Minnesota has also voted for Democrats in every election since 1972.

Fox News Power Rankings’ list of less competitive swing states (Fox News)

Trump rallied there last week, and his campaign announced they were opening more field offices there in June, so it remains in a “competitive” category.

But unless there is a future drop in Harris’ support, she is in the driver’s seat. Minnesota moves from Lean D to Likely D.

A big month ahead for the Power Rankings

This is the first of several Fox News Power Rankings forecasts in August.

Look for the first Senate, House, and governor forecasts for 2024 starting Monday next week.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Then, on Sunday, Fox News Democracy 24 special coverage begins for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

That’s also the date for the next Power Rankings Issues Tracker, Fox’s polling tracker for the issues and candidate qualities that will define this race.

Democratic state attorney general Bob Ferguson took the most number of votes in Washington state’s nonpartisan gubernatorial primary Tuesday. He will face Republican Dave Reichert, who placed second, in the Nov. 5 election to replace termed-out Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

In Washington’s “top two” primary system, all candidates for congressional and state offices are listed on the same ballot. The two candidates who receive the highest number of votes move on to the general election, irrespective of their party affiliations. 

The state’s top lawyer since 2013, Ferguson is running on a platform of continuity and reform, and has positioned himself as a defender of progressive values in a state known for its Democratic leanings. He won with 74% of the vote on Tuesday night, and will square off against Reichert, a former sheriff and former congressman, in the Nov. 5 general election.

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

Aerial view of Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Ferguson’s campaign has been marked by his sharp criticism of his opponent, former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, on hot button issues such as abortion, as Ferguson has attacked Reichert for his previous support for a nationwide abortion ban as out of touch with Washington’s values. 

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Ferguson’s endorsements include prominent state leaders like U.S. Senate Pro Tempore Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee.

Washington hasn’t elected a Republican governor in 40 years, making it an uphill battle for Reichert in November.

Vice President Harris has taken a 3-point lead over former President Trump as she gains ground on key issues, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by NPR, PBS and Marist, found Harris leading Trump 51% to 48%, but clarified that the difference is within the margin of error. Harris has also narrowed Trump’s lead on key issues like the economy.

Trump still holds a significant 6-point lead when it comes to illegal immigration, according to the poll. Meanwhile, Harris leads on abortion issues by a massive 15 points.

The Marist poll was conducted from August 1-4 and advertised a margin of error of 3.4%. 

TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ‘MORE LEFT THAN BERNIE SANDERS’

Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a 3-point lead over former President Trump as she gains ground on key issues, according to a new poll. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The survey comes days after a Fox News poll found Trump and Harris deadlocked in Pennsylvania, a key swing state for the presidential election.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

People take their seats ahead of U.S Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ rally with her newly chosen vice presidential running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 6, 2024.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The state of the race in the Keystone State is similar to where it was in April, when Biden and Trump were tied 48-48%. The survey, released Friday, shows Harris and Trump locked in a tie in Pennsylvania at 49-49% – barely different from what the final election results were in the state in 2020 (49.85% Biden vs. 48.69% Trump).

Harris announced her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Tuesday. Several liberal media figures expressed concern when word came out about her selection, with some pundits questioning the “weird” choice. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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The poll further showed Trump closing the gap with voters under 30 (-27 points in April to -4 points today), voters 65 and over (-5 to -1), suburban women (-32 to -12) and those with a college degree (-18 to -10), and widening it slightly among Independents (+8 to +9).

Political insiders and advisers in former President Obama’s orbit are increasingly joining Vice President Harris’ campaign as she prepares to face off against former President Trump in November. 

Harris has less than 100 days to inspire voters to rally behind her White House run after President Biden dropped out of the race in the wake of mounting concerns over his mental acuity and 81 years of age. The vice president officially clinched her party’s 2024 presidential nomination on Friday, earning more than a majority of votes from convention delegates, the DNC reported. 

After Biden’s departure from the race, Harris is in the midst of building out her campaign team, most notably adding a bevy of Obama orbit insiders and advisers to her election effort. 

Last week, Harris hired David Plouffe as a senior campaign adviser after he managed Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 and served as a senior aide to Obama’s successful 2012 re-election effort. Harris also hired Stephanie Cutter as her campaign’s senior adviser for strategy messaging, after Cutter’s work as deputy campaign manager for Obama’s 2012 election. 

BARACK, MICHELLE OBAMA ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT AFTER DAYS OF SILENCE

Vice President Harris and former President Obama (Getty Images)

Harris also brought on Mitch Stewart as a senior adviser for battleground states after he worked for both of Obama’s campaigns as a grassroots strategist, the Washington Post reported. David Binder, who has long worked with Harris, is also expanding his role in the campaign to oversee its team of pollsters. Binder previously worked on Obama’s public opinion research team. 

OBAMA ALLIES, ADVISERS HELPED LEAD THE CHARGE AMONG DEMS LOOKING TO SINK BIDEN AHEAD OF OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Harris also brought on veteran Democratic operative Jennifer Palmieri as senior adviser to Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff. Palmieri served as White House director of communications under the Obama administration and as director of communications for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 White House bid. 

Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff, and Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser (Getty Images)

Harris also previously tapped Obama’s former attorney general, Eric Holder, to lead the vetting process of her potential running mates, while Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who worked as Obama’s 2012 deputy campaign manager and Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign chair, was announced as Harris’ campaign manager. 

OBAMA’S INNER CIRCLE SIGNALS 44TH PRESIDENT FIRMLY BEHIND HARRIS DESPITE NOT SAYING SO PUBLICLY

Vice President Harris (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The 44th president had remained coy for days last month before offering his endorsement of Harris’ presidential run. Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama has typically held his endorsement card close to his chest. He endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016, while his endorsement of Biden in 2020 was only made days ahead of the Democratic National Convention. 

Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama officially endorsed Harris last week in a video. 

“I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” Michelle Obama said in the video while speaking to Harris. 

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” former President Obama added. 

HARRIS EDGES CLOSER TO TRUMP IN NEW POLL CONDUCTED AFTER BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL

Michelle Obama (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Harris, who also ran for president in the 2020 cycle before dropping out and running alongside Biden, had long had a friendship with Obama before entering federal politics. 

Harris was among the first elected Democrats in the nation to endorse Obama’s first run for president in the 2008 election, snubbing Hillary Clinton in favor of the then-Illinois senator. 

Harris was in attendance when Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, after first meeting him in 2004 when he was an Illinois state senator running for the U.S. Senate, the Washington Examiner previously reported. 

“Barack Obama will be a president who finally ends the era of fear that has been used to divide and demoralize our country,” Harris said during California’s Democratic convention in 2008. 

As Harris built her political career from San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general and then senator, Harris was even dubbed “the female Obama” by some political analysts. 

EX-OBAMA ADVISER SAYS BIDEN CAN’T BEAT ‘FATHER TIME’ AND IS ‘NOT WINNING THIS RACE’

President Obama greets then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris and then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco on Feb. 17, 2011. ( Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris became the Democrat nominee for president upon Biden’s withdrawal from the race after his disastrous June debate performance against Trump, which included the president losing his train of thought, stumbling over his words and appearing more subdued than during other public events in recent years. The debate performance opened the floodgates to traditional Democrat allies and legacy media outlets joining conservatives in their concerns over Biden’s mental acuity and age. 

After the White House and Biden campaign repeatedly denied the president would drop out of the race, Biden announced in a tweet on a Sunday afternoon last month that he was leaving the race and would carry out his final months in the White House. 

Ahead of Biden dropping out of the race, Obama allies notably helped lead the charge in calling for the president to get out of the race in favor of a candidate they believed was more suitable to take on Trump. 

OBAMA AGAIN STEPPING INTO ROLE AS JOE’S CLOSER AHEAD OF TRUMP V BIDEN REMATCH

Obama’s former chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said last month that Biden is “not winning this race.” Actor George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, at a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles. Clooney has long had a personal friendship with the Obamas, including vacationing with the first couple in previous years.

Former President Obama and Vice President Harris (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Another ally in Obama’s orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race last month, saying he attended the fundraiser in L.A. with Clooney and Obama and witnessed firsthand Biden’s state of mental acuity. Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor – known collectively as the “Obama Bros” when they worked in the White House – also dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of “Pod Save America” in June to trashing Biden.

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Harris announced her running mate on Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Harris and Walz are expected to travel to Chicago this month for the Democratic National Convention while the election cycle enters its final months.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

EXCLUSIVE: The No. 3 House Republican leader says Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate is the best-case scenario Republicans could have asked for.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the highest-ranking congressional Republican from Walz’s home state, spoke with Fox News Digital after Harris announced the Midwestern progressive would join her on the Democratic Party ticket in November.

“This could not be a better contrast with Donald Trump, who literally has run a business empire, has been incredibly successful. These two don’t know the first thing about running anything,” Emmer said. “And Tim Walz — I mean, look, he’s, he’s tried to turn Minnesota into Kamala Harris’ California for the last six years. He is a radical progressive.”

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE 

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer, the highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of his state’s governor, Tim Walz. (Getty Images)

Harris met with Walz along with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the weekend to help finalize her decision, just over two weeks after she took over the mantle when President Biden dropped out of the race.

Emmer said Walz was “absolutely” the best option for Republicans to run against and said Shapiro was “clearly too fiscally conservative” a choice for Harris.

“Tim Walz literally has mismanaged the state from day one. Not only did he pick winners and losers during his mishandling of the pandemic situation, but he allowed Minneapolis to burn to the ground, just not willing to deal with criminals,” Emmer said.

Walz has already been accused of waiting too long to send in the National Guard when Black Lives Matter protesters set fire to public property and clashed with police during the summer of 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd.

HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT

Looters carry items out of a Target store in the aftermath of extensive rioting, looting and arson in shopping and commercial areas of South Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. (Scott Takushi/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images)

Republicans are also likely to attack him for his handling of COVID-19, Emmer suggested. During the pandemic, Walz was criticized by opponents of government COVID mandates for policies on masking indoors and for a hotline set up by the state government to report instances of rule violations.

Emmer said Walz’s push for more electric vehicles in the state, including the Clean Cars Minnesota program, would also be another point for Republicans to target.

“This guy has embraced the radical left approach towards energy, trying to destroy our efficient, abundant energy supply. He wants Minnesota to be like California sooner than later by eliminating gas-powered vehicles,” Emmer said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and governor’s office for comment. 

2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS RACE TO DEFINE VICE PRESIDENT

Harris announced Walz as her pick Tuesday. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Trump seemed similarly fired up over Harris’ decision, writing on Truth Social in all capital letters, “THANK YOU!” shortly after the announcement was made official.

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Top Democrats, however, have praised her choice of the Midwestern governor. 

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will lead America into a brighter future for everyone. Onward!” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X.

Ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on MSNBC, “Tim Walz I know very well. He served in the House. To characterize him as left is so unreal. He’s right down the middle. He’s a heartland of America Democrat.”

Politicians, pundits, and conservative voices reacted to news of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee by claiming it is evidence that Democrats have a problem with antisemitism within the party.

“The Walz selection shows just how deep the Dems’ antisemitism problem runs,” Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro posted on X after Walz was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday over Gov. Shapiro.

Shapiro, who is Jewish, was forced to defend his stance on Israel during the VP selection process after an op-ed he penned more than three decades ago, in which he wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people, resurfaced. 

Many commentators have made the argument that Shapiro was ultimately not selected because of the wing of the Democratic Party that opposes Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza.

DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT LEFT’S ‘STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF ANTISEMITISM’ IN ATTACKS ON POTENTIAL VP PICK SHAPIRO

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L) speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s amazing that despite America’s right, left, and center agreeing that Josh Shapiro was Harris’ best pick for VP, at the end of the day, Shapiro being Jewish disqualified him,” former GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin posted on X. 

“It says so much about the state of today’s Democratic Party.”

“Let’s be honest,” GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X. “Kamala is the most anti-Israel member of Biden’s team, always siding with Hamas and Iran’s interests. Shapiro and Walz’s views on Israel aren’t that different. But Harris catered to her pro-Hamas, antisemitic base who opposed Shapiro because he’s Jewish.”

“Kamala Harris did not pick Josh Shapiro because antisemitic progressives did not like that he is Jewish,” NRSC spokesperson Mike Berg said in a statement. 

“It was Harris’ first major decision as the nominee and she caved to the pro-Hamas contingency within the Democratic Party.”

BBC CHAIR DENIES PLEA FROM 200 JEWISH STAFFERS CALLING FOR FORMAL PROBE INTO ANTISEMITISM AT THE NEWSROOM

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz laughs as he stands with Fridley, Minn., Mayor Scott Lund during a visit to the Cummins Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minn., Monday, April 3, 2023.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Despite not being chosen by Harris to be her running mate, Shapiro gave a fiery speech ahead of Harris and Walz speaking at a Philadelphia rally to kick off their swing state tour Tuesday evening, taking shots at former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

“I lean on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said during the speech. “And I am proud of my faith!”

“The only reason Josh Shapiro was not selected as VP is because he’s a Pro Israel Jew,” prominent Austin, Texas attorney Adam Loewy posted on X. “The Left would have melted down. There is simply no other reason you pass on the wildly popular Governor of the THE MOST IMPORTANT swing state.”

“They just couldn’t stomach a proud Jew,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg posted on X. “There was no amount of apologizing for being Jewish and supporting Israel that Shapiro could ever do to be acceptable. That’s today’s Democratic Party.”

“The Left did it to Joe Lieberman,” Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer posted on X. “Now, they did it to Josh Shapiro. The D party is not home for strong supporters of Israel.  It’s time for the Jewish community to recognize the power in the D party rests with its anti-Israel progressive base.”

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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

“If it’s not Josh Shapiro…they will have not picked Shapiro frankly out of antisemitism in their own caucus and in their own party,” Trump VP candidate JD Vance said on Tuesday morning before the pic was announced.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response. 

Paul Hudson emerged with the victory in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, one of the most competitive races in the country.

Hudson was leading Michael Markey Jr. approximately 55% to 45% when the race was caklled by the Associated Press.

Markey Jr., who touted his business experience throughout the campaign, painted himself  as a “disrupter” who would work to “get things” done if elected to Congress.

KEY PRIMARIES IN 4 STATES ON TUESDAY TO SET TABLE FOR NOVEMBER SENATE, HOUSE SHOWDOWNS

GOP Congressional candidate Mike Markey Jr. (Markey campaign)

“I’m like, ‘Why are we using, you know, what makes me a disrupter?’ [My team is] like, ‘Mike, you started your first business at 14 years old, you got into real estate before you were 15, you started a financial firm during the worst economic crisis hopefully we ever see in our lifetimes,’” he told ABC News 13 in an interview earlier this month. “They’re like, ‘That makes you a disrupter. You go against the grain, you get things done.’”

Hudson, an attorney, ran on a platform of stability. He argued that the district’s voters are “uneasy” about the current political climate and promised “common sense for crazy times.”

“When I’ve talked to voters, I get a sense that people are really uneasy about the state of the country right now, and that there’s a deep sense that the country is going in the wrong direction,” Hudson told ABC News 13.

Michigan Republican House candidate Paul Hudson. (Hudson campaign)

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

WASHINGTON – JULY 25: Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., speaks with Roll Call in her office in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hudson will now face Democrat incumbent Rep. Hillary Scholten in November’s general election.

Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, which features all of Grand Rapids and much of the surrounding area, is seen as one of the biggest swing districts in the country after the state’s 2022 redistricting saw the boundaries of the district drawn more competitively. 

Former Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., is running for Michigans open Senate seat

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Scholten, who is serving her first term, was able to wrestle the district away from former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer in 2022. The district is classified as a “likely” win for Democrats in this year’s contest, according to the Cook Political report.

Carl Marlinga edged out three other candidates in a competitive Democratic primary for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District and will battle incumbent Republican Rep. John James in November.

Marlinga defeated Diane Young, Emily Busch and Tiffany Tilley according to a call from the Associated Press.

Marlinga, a former judge, entered the race seeking a rematch with James and touted his long record as a prosecutor and judge throughout the campaign.

KEY PRIMARIES IN 4 STATES ON TUESDAY TO SET TABLE FOR NOVEMBER SENATE, HOUSE SHOWDOWNS

Carl Marlinga candidate for the US Representative in Michigan’s 10th District. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

“After decades of doing the right thing for the right reasons, sometimes having some rocky headlines, but as long as you do the right thing for the right reason, you usually come out ahead,” Marlinga told Michigan Advance. “And most voters in the county will describe me that way.”

Tilley, who has served as the co-vice president on the State Board of Education since 2018, ran on a platform of gun safety, recounting stories of losing family members to gun violence.

“No other person in this race has that type of background, has that type of experience or even has that type of passion that I have, that I’ve brought forth,” Tilley told Michigan Advance. “I’ve been fighting for people for over 20 years. Most candidates in the race can’t say that.”

US Representative of Michigan John James waves as he walks off stage after speaking during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) (Angela Weiss)

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

Young, who has experience in financial planning, ran on the need for Congress to reform tax and welfare policy while shoring up social security.

“I’m deeply in tune with the issues that everyday people are facing,” Young told Michigan Advance. “From taking care of their children, to how they’re going to fund their retirement, to how critical Social Security and Medicare are to creating a safer and secure retirement for people.”

Busch, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state House in 2022, also ran heavily on gun safety, noting her experience of picking up her son from school after he survived the deadly Oxford High School shooting in 2021 and also citing the shooting on the campus of Michigan State University last year.

Representative John James, a Republican from Michigan, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Monday, July 15, 2024.  (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“When the Michigan State University shooting happened, it resonated across the entire state and region,” Busch told the Michigan Advance. “So that was the night that actually pushed me off the cliff to run for Congress.”

[Winner] will now take on James, who ran unopposed in the district’s Republican primary, in November’s general election. Jones narrowly won the 2022 race, edging Marlinga 48.8% to 48.3%.

According to the Cook Political Report, Michigan’s 10th Congressional District has a “lean” Republican classification.

Paul Junge won the GOP primary for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, securing the Republican nomination. He will now move on in hopes of replacing retiring Democrat Rep. Dan Kildee.

Junge defeated Mary Draves and Anthony Hudson with 73%, when the race was called by the Associated Press.

KEY PRIMARIES IN 4 STATES ON TUESDAY TO SET TABLE FOR NOVEMBER SENATE, HOUSE SHOWDOWNS

Rep. Dan Kildee is leaving Congress at the end of the current term

Junge, who twice ran unsuccessfully for the 8th Congressional District seat, served in the Department of Homeland Security during the administration of former President Donald Trump and was an investigative counsel for Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley.

He ran the 2024 campaign on fighting against inflation and the border crisis, citing the opioid epidemic for “devastating forgotten communities.”

“Stopping the rising cost of goods and improving the economy for working families is a top priority to my campaign,” Junge told the Midland Daily News. “Equally as important, I will fight to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and poisonous synthetic opioids across our southern border, which are devastating forgotten communities across our state and across our country.”

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

Draves, who runs an auto repair business with her husband, argued for energy independence and border safety during the campaign.

“The United States was energy independent when President Trump was in office, meaning we were a net exporter of energy. If we have enough energy here, we don’t have to rely on foreign sources for energy and then we can innovate and grow our businesses here,” Draves told the Midland Daily News. “The number one thing we need to do is stop the influx of illegal immigrants coming into this country and the flow of fentanyl over our border. A strong America is a safe America and a prosperous America.”

GOP Congressional candidate Mary Draves. (Draves campaign)

Hudson, a native of Texas and an Army veteran, was making his second bid to represent the 8th Congressional District and ran a campaign centered around border security and jobs.

“I am just the average, everyday American citizen that is upset with where our country is headed and wants to run for office so that we can make the positive change that is necessary,” Hudson told the Midland Daily News. “I want to help in getting people to move back to the state of Michigan by bringing jobs to Michigan and be on the front lines of fighting all these Chinese companies that (Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer wants to bring into our state.”

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a United Auto Workers rally, Detroit, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)

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Jung will now face the winner of the Democratic primary, in which three candidates will seek to replace Kildee.

Kildee has represented Michigan’s 8th Congressional District since 2012, but announced he would not run for re-election last November.

Incumbent Andrew Bailey won the Republican primary for Missouri attorney general, setting the stage for the general election match-up against Democrat Elad Gross. 

Republican Trump attorney Will Scharf conceded to incumbent Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in the state’s Aug. 6 primary election.  Bailey led the race by a whopping 63% to 37% early Wednesday morning, according to the state of Missouri elections website.

Scharf received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, his law degree from Harvard University, clerked for two federal appeals court judges and has worked at CRC Advisors, a conservative public relations firm.

SUPREME COURT REJECTS MISSOURI EFFORT TO BLOCK SENTENCING, GAG ORDER AGAINST TRUMP IN NEW YORK CASE

Former President Donald Trump, left, poses for a photo with Will Scharf, right, at a Republican Jewish Coalition event. (Will Scharf)

In addition to being one of Trump’s lawyers, Scharf has worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney in St. Louis, and worked on the campaign and later in the office of then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.

Bailey, meanwhile, has spent nearly his entire career in Missouri. 

EXCLUSIVE: MISSOURI AG TORCHES KANSAS CITY’S ‘RETALIATION’ AGAINST CHIEFS KICKER EXPRESSING CHRISTIAN BELIEFS

The Army veteran received his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Missouri, worked in the state attorney general’s office, and he was an assistant county prosecutor and a state government lawyer before joining the office of Gov. Mike Parson, who eventually appointed him as attorney general.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey arrives to testify during a House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Bailey, most recently, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for reportedly flying illegal immigrants to Missouri.

Bailey, in June, also filed a lawsuit against the State of New York for what he called “their direct attack on our democratic process through unconstitutional lawfare against President Trump.”

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The Supreme Court ruled on that effort Monday, rejecting Bailey’s effort. 

Bailey had argued the First Amendment rights of voters in his state were being violated due to the gag order imposed on the former president in New York v. Trump. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican Joe Kent have finished first and second in Washington state’s primary in the 3rd congressional district setting up a one on one matchup in November.

Washington state uses a top two primary system in which all candidates regardless of party appear on the primary ballot and the top two candidates.

Gluesenkamp Perez has represented Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which consists of the southwestern counties of Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania, as well as a small portion of southern Thurston county, since 2022.

Two years ago, Gluesenkamp Perez came out of nowhere to win a congressional seat against Kent, who had Trump’s backing in a district that hadn’t been in Democratic hands for over a decade. She took over a seat held by a more moderate Republican who lost the primary in part because she voted to impeach Trump after the January 6th Capitol Hill riot.

TIM WALZ SLAMMED AS ‘POLITICAL CHAMELEON’ AFTER DITCHING FORMER PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT STAND

Washington state employs a top two voting system (Getty Images)

Kent, who narrowly lost to Gluesenkamp Perez by less than a percentage point in 2022, was recently endorsed by Trump for the second time.

“Joe is a Gold Star Husband, who bravely served our country as a Special Forces Combat Veteran,” Trump wrote in his endorsement. 

“His opponents cannot compete with Joe in any way, shape or form! In Congress, Joe will work tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Stop Inflation, Uphold the Rule of Law, Secure our Border, Support our Military/Vets, and protect our always-under-siege Second Amendment.”

OBAMA TAKES SUBTLE SWIPE AT VANCE WHILE PRAISING WALZ AS ‘IDEAL’ HARRIS RUNNING MATE

Washington, DC – July 27 :  Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) poses for portraits on Capitol Hill on Thursday, July 27, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Gluesenkamp Perez, who was ranked by the Lugar Center and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy as having one of the most bipartisan voting records in the U.S. House, is yet to endorse VP Kamala Harris for president and her office told Fox News Digital late last month that she has “no plans” to do so. 

Republican Leslie Lewallen and Independent John Saulie-Rohman also ran in the 3rd Congressional District primary.

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Republican Congressional candidate Joe Kent speaks at a campaign event on October 5, 2022 in Morton, Washington.  (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Kent faced stiff competition from Lewallen, a former King County prosecutor, as she gained a groundswell of support from conservatives looking to move the seat back into more moderate Republican hands.

Associated Press contributed to this report

An Indian-born U.S. military veteran won the GOP primary in the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas on Tuesday, a seat Republicans are hoping to win back in November.

Dr. Prasanth Reddy, a former physician-turned-high level Labcorp executive, was heavily favored to win the primary against challenger Karen Crnkovich.

Reddy was endorsed by top House Republicans including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and was named to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) “Young Guns” list just last week.

He’s now moving on to face Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., a moderate Democrat seeking a fourth term in the House.

“Extreme House Democrat Sharice Davids has fueled the border, crime and cost of living crises that are wreaking havoc on Kansans’ safety and security. Prasanth Reddy is in a prime position to flip Kansas’ 3rd District red and help grow our House majority in November,” Delanie Bomar, a spokeswoman for the House GOP campaign arm, said last week.

Representative Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas, speaks during the DNC Women’s Leadership Forum conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Bloomberg)

WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS HAVE BANNED TRUMP AND WHY? AN OVERVIEW 

The winner will face off in November against three-term Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., pictured here.

Reddy had far outraised Crnkovich during the primary cycle, bringing in more than $1.3 million compared to her total of just over $150,000.

Both totals are significantly lower, however, than the $3 million and change that Davids has managed to raise. 

FLASHBACK: THESE ARE THE 10 REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP 

Davids flipped the seat blue when former President Donald Trump was in office. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Davids won her seat during the blue wave of 2018 and was among the first Native American women to be sworn into Congress. Davids is also the only Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has her seat ranked as an R+1 district, making it a top target for Republicans hoping to keep and expand their razor-thin House majority.

GEN Z STOPPED REPUBLICANS’ EXPECTED RED WAVE – HERE’S HOW GOP CAN WIN OVER YOUNG VOTERS

GOP challenger Prasanth Reddy was endorsed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Davids won the district after defeating incumbent former Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., by just under 10 points, and has modestly expanded her margin of victory since.

The district is majority-White and includes much of the Kansas City metro area. It’s also the least red of Kansas’ congressional districts.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers won the Republican primary for Senate in Michigan on Tuesday and will battle it out in the November election for the state’s open Senate seat. 

Rogers served in the House from 2001-2015. During his tenure in Congress, he was chairman of the Intelligence Committee. 

He faced off against another former Rep. Justin Amash, who aligned himself with more libertarian-leaning politicians. Amash served from 2011-2021.

Amash left the Republican Party in 2019, criticizing the two-party system in particular. He has also been an outspoken voice against former President Trump— which is unusual among elected Republicans. 

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS ‘INVISIBLE’ IN CRITICAL SWING STATE OF MICHIGAN: REPORT

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (MI) gestures as he speaks on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024.  (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

He is also a Palestinian-American, like many others in the state of Michigan, and has been critical of U.S. funding to Israel. The Michigan Republican primary field was initially much larger, with former Rep. Peter Meijer making a run as well, before ending his bid earlier this year. 

KEY PRIMARIES IN 4 STATES ON TUESDAY TO SET TABLE FOR NOVEMBER SENATE, HOUSE SHOWDOWNS

Businessman Sandy Pensler recently suspended his campaign for the nod and endorsed front-runner Rogers at a Trump rally in Michigan. Trump endorsed Rogers in the primary in March. 

Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., is seen on the House steps of the Capitol on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rogers will now take on the winner of Tuesdays Democrat primary in the November general election, in what will be pivotal race to determine whether Republicans will hold the Senate majority and by how many seats. Non-Partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report rated the race as a “Toss Up” alongside races in Montana, Ohio, and Nevada.

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It’s customary for me to write a piece this month titled “Beware the Ides of August.” It’s a take on Shakespeare, where Julius Caesar is warned “Beware the Ides of March.” The middle of March is what spells doom for Caesar. And over the years, I have found that the month of August – often the midway point – to be the most dramatic, historic and often volatile period in politics and government.

Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in August 1974. The U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Martin Luther King Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in August 1963. There was the riot in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017. There was even an earthquake in Washington, DC in August 2011. And not the political kind.

Will August 2024 measure up?

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: A PORTRAIT OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO, HOME TO JD VANCE

July of 2024 is like, “August, hold my beer.”

We’ve got a lot of August to go. But July earned a special spot in the pantheon of extraordinary political months. The shooting of former President Trump followed by the decision by President Biden to bow out of the 2024 campaign were extraordinary news events. And then there was the political hailstorm which pelted the news cycle for nearly three consecutive weeks after President Biden’s horrific debate performance in late June. We haven’t even mentioned the Republican convention in Milwaukee and Mr. Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio as his running mate. Those tectonic shifts were significant enough. But failed to rival the sheer intensity of the assassination attempt of the former President coupled with Mr. Biden dropping out.

An astonishing case study into the intensity of the July news cycle came on July 24. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slated to deliver a controversial speech to a Joint Meeting of Congress. Bipartisan Congressional leaders – but mainly Republicans – invited Netanyahu to speak to Congress for a record fourth time. But Netanyahu’s address would temporarily take a backseat to some of the other events.

Former President Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. US President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, following his historic decision to end his reelection bid.  (Getty Images)

Consider how the story shifted throughout the day on July 24.

Netanyahu would have constituted the news lede early that morning during any other period. But the testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray to the House Judiciary Committee that morning eclipsed Netanyahu for a time. Wray was already scheduled to appear before the panel prior to the Trump shooting. But the failed assassination of the former president now commanded most of the nation’s news oxygen. Especially with Wray appearing before a House committee to discuss the FBI’s inquiry into the shooting.

Netanyahu wasn’t due to speak to the Joint Meeting of Congress until the afternoon. But Netanyahu’s address infuriated the left and many pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel demonstrators. They flooded the streets of Washington and clashed with police. They burned American flags and hoisted Palestinian flags in front of Union Station, just blocks from the Capitol. The dramatic video and audacity of the demonstrations captured the news cycle for a bit before Netanyahu’s speech.

ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS INVADE CAPITOL HILL BUILDING ON EVE OF NETANYAHU ADDRESS

Then came Netanyahu’s presentation to Congress. The news here was just not what the Israeli Prime Minister said. But multiple sub-angles highlighted the controversy of Netanyahu’s speech. Many Democrats boycotted the Joint Meeting. There was the fact that Vice President Harris – who serves as President of the Senate – did not preside because she was speaking to a Black sorority in Indiana. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., – the highest ranking Jewish member in Congressional history – refused to shake hands with Netanyahu on the House floor. Netanyahu railed against the demonstrators near the Capitol, calling them “useful idiots” for Iran. Democrats who did attend the speech lamented that Netanyahu failed to offer a plan to get hostages back or call for a ceasefire.

But by nightfall, Netanyahu was old news.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

President Biden was now healthy enough after a bout with COVID. He planned to speak to the nation about his monumental decision against seeking a second term. Yes. The president formally told the nation via X on Sunday he was standing down. But a nationwide address to the country is another level.

Never mind that buried in all of this was the fact that Harris quickly wrapped up what appeared to be support from Democratic delegates and Democratic lawmakers to stand-in for Mr. Biden. The country was exploring who Harris was and determining how she measured up to former President Trump. There was also a deep dive amid this into Vance, his policy positions and explorations of his 2016 book, Hillbilly Elegy.

HOW DEMOCRATIC CONCERN ABOUT BIDEN WENT QUIET FOR A FEW DAYS

There was a lot going on.

So August, beware. You have a lot to live up to.

Not that those of us involved in politics or media are asking for another hellish news cycle.

Sure. There will be the Democratic National Convention at the end of August in Chicago. Harris just selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate. There’s plenty to chew on. But these events don’t seem as dynamic as what we wrestled with in July.

Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at Girard College on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

That’s not to say that other major things won’t bubble up this month. The Middle East is white hot. There are grave concerns about a conflagration which could engulf the entire region. One could always fret about the chances of hostilities between China and Taiwan. Another major political narrative could emerge about former President Trump, Harris, Vance or Walz. Mr. Biden is still President and questions abound about his final months in office. And then there is the unknown. August has a way of surprising people with historic events and episodes which spring out of nowhere, shifting the course of history.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in early August, 1990, setting off the first Gulf War a few months later. The Soviets shot down a Korean jetliner in late August, 1983, killing an American congressman and hundreds of others. Walz was major political news. But the decision by 2008 Republican presidential nominee and late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to select former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as his running mate was a shock. Tapping Walz paled in comparison to the Palin pick. Never mind that a hurricane cut short the GOP’s convention that year. That’s because in 2006, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, forever altering the trajectory of former President George W. Bush.

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So, beware the ides of August – just because it’s August.

But last month, it was “Beware the Ides of July.”

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., announced on social media Tuesday that his phone was seized by the FBI last week – just one day after he won a Republican primary in the Volunteer State.

Ogles, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, shared a statement on X about the investigation, which reportedly involves campaign finance filings. Sources confirmed to Fox News that FBI agents executed a search warrant at his D.C. office last week.

“It has been widely reported for months that my campaign made mistakes in our initial financial filings,” the Tennessee politician said in his post. “We have worked diligently with attorneys and reporting experts to correct the errors and ensure compliance going forward.”

“Last Friday, the FBI took possession of my cell phone.”

SEN. HAWLEY REVEALS NEW WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS ABOUT SECRET SERVICE FAILURES AT TRUMP RALLY: ‘SCARED TO DEATH’

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., announced that he is being investigated by the FBI. (Getty Images)

Ogles added that he believes the phone seizure is related to the campaign filings, and vowed to cooperate with authorities.

“It is my understanding that they are investigating the same well-known facts surrounding these filings,” the Republican added. “I will of course fully cooperate with them, just as I have with the Federal Election Commission.”

“I am confident all involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancies were based on honest mistakes, and nothing more.”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., talks with reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. (Getty Images)

Last Thursday, Ogles won a high-profile primary battle against Nashville Metro Council member Courtney Johnston. His supporters included former President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“Andy is working hard to Grow the Economy, Stop Inflation, Secure our Southern Border, Uphold the Rule of Law, and Defend our Second Amendment,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in May. “I was proud to help Andy flip a Democrat seat in 2022, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement for re-election. He will not let you down!”

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, holds the number one pick coin during the biennial office lottery on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to Ogles’ office and the FBI for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick, called President Biden “fit for office” last month after the president’s poor debate performance against former President Trump. 

“Yes, he’s fit for office,” Walz said July 3 at a meeting of governors at the White House after he was asked about Biden by a reporter. “Three and a half years of delivering for us, going through what we’ve all been through. None of us are denying Thursday night [June 27] was a bad performance. It was a bad hit, if you will, on that, but it doesn’t impact what I believe that he’s delivering.” 

Harris’ campaign told Fox News Digital that Walz stands by his comments. Walz’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Biden faced increased public pressure from Democrats to drop out of the race after his shaky debate performance and eventually announced July 21 he wasn’t going to seek re-election. 

TIM WALZ SLAMMED AS ‘POLITICAL CHAMELEON’ AFTER DITCHING PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT STANCE

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, Vice President Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick, called President Biden “fit for office” last month after the president’s poor debate performance against former President Trump.  (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The president plans to remain in office, however, until the end of his term. 

“This is Joe from Scranton,” Walz continued. “He talked about building the middle class. He did it. He delivered. And I think this idea that you get in your own head, you get a little bit cycled up on that. What we saw in there today was a guy who was the guy that all of us believed in the first time who could beat Donald Trump and did beat Donald Trump.” 

Biden was pressured to step away from his re-election bid as polls continually showed him behind Trump, and Democrats were worried Biden couldn’t beat Trump again.

Biden endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination after he announced he was withdrawing from the race, and she announced Walz as her running mate Tuesday. 

WHO IS TIM WALZ?

Gov. Walz backed President Biden’s re-election bid last month at a White House press conference, telling reporters Biden was “fit for office.”  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Biden praised the decision Tuesday.

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“Kamala Harris has made a great decision in choosing Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate,” the president posted on X. “I’ve known Tim Walz for nearly two decades, first during his time in Congress and as Governor. A husband and father, he’s been a school teacher and a high school football coach. He served for 24 years in the Army National Guard and became the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress. As Governor, he’s been a strong, principled, and effective leader.”

PHILADELPHIA — Democrat Gov. Tim Walz is not a household name outside his home state of Minnesota.

So, in the hours after Vice President Harris named the former longtime congressman and two-term governor as her running mate on the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket, the Harris campaign instantly began working to showcase Walz.

His biography was blasted out on social media platforms, including Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, and the Harris campaign spotlighted the governor in a new video.

And the vice president and Walz on Tuesday evening, in Pennsylvania’s largest city, will kick off a jam-packed campaign swing through the key battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of their 2024 election matchup against former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

This image shows the scoreboard at Liacouras Center, the venue for Vice President Harris’ first rally with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, 2024. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

The introduction to Walz is needed because 7 in 10 Americans didn’t know enough about the governor to form an opinion, according to a new poll by Marist College for NPR and “PBS NewsHour.”

As she boarded Air Force Two on her way to Philadelphia, Harris said Walz “is going to make a great vice president” when asked why she chose him over some of the other front-runners in the veepstakes: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Shapiro is expected to address the crowd at the rally.

WHAT THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS’ NEW RUNNING MATE

The Harris campaign on Tuesday afternoon said it hauled in more than $10 million from grassroots supporters in the hours after the vice president announced her running mate, which it said was “one of the campaign’s best fundraising days this cycle.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz/File)

The naming of the 60-year-old Walz was not a shocker as his name was instantly thought to be in contention in the 16 days since Harris succeeded President Biden as the party’s standard-bearer.

Walz, a former high school teacher and coach who spent nearly a quarter-century in the National Guard, was elected to the House in 2006 and re-elected five times. He represented Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, a mostly rural district covering the southern part of the state.

Having the plainspoken Walz on the national ticket not only helps Harris in Minnesota – a state that leans blue in presidential elections that the Trump campaign has been aiming to flip this year – it also benefits the vice president in the two neighboring Midwestern battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan.

WHO IS TIM WALZ? MEET THE HARRIS RUNNING MATE WHO CALLED REPUBLICANS ‘WEIRD PEOPLE’

The governor will also be able to showcase a slew of progressive policy victories in Minnesota, including protecting abortion rights, legalizing recreational marijuana, and restricting gun access to curb shootings. And the naming of Walz over more moderate Democrats such as Shapiro and Kelly will please the progressive wing of the party.

“As a governor, a coach, a teacher and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his,” Harris said in announcing her choice.

Vice President Harris boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 6, 2024. She was to attend a campaign event in Philadelphia later in the day after announcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris said “one of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep.”

“It’s personal,” she said. “He grew up in a small town in Nebraska, spending summers working on his family’s farm. His father died of cancer when he was 19, and his family relied on Social Security survivor benefit checks to make ends meet. At 17, he enlisted in the National Guard, serving for 24 years. He used his GI Bill benefits to go to college and become a teacher.” 

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It was a very different take from the Trump campaign, which instantly targeted Walz.

“Kamala Harris just doubled down on her radical vision for America for tapping another left-wing extremist as her VP nominee,” the moderator in a new Trump campaign video charged. “Tim Walz will be a rubber stamp for Kamala’s dangerous liberal agenda.”

GOP running mate Sen. JD Vance criticizes Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at a Trump campaign event in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, 2024. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

And Vance, who was in Philadelphia hours before the Democrat ticket arrived, called Walz’s record as governor “a joke” and said he was “one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level.”

Vance is tailing Harris and Walz with small-scale events this week as they hold rallies in key swing states.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Former President Trump has moved into the lead among Jewish voters in deep-blue New York.

Trump garnered the support of 50% of likely Jewish voters in New York, according to a Siena Research Institute poll released Tuesday, a slight lead over Vice President Harris who garnered the selection of 49% of respondents.

While the lead for Trump is slim, it marks a dramatic change from the former president’s prospects against President Biden, who in June led Trump among likely Jewish voters, 52%-46%, in the state.

However, the race has changed dramatically since the last poll, with Biden opting last month to drop out of the race and immediately endorse Harris, who quickly worked to secure the Democrat nomination.

DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT LEFT’S ‘STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF ANTISEMITISM’ IN ATTACKS ON POTENTIAL VP PICK SHAPIRO

Both the Trump and Harris 2024 campaigns have put out ads attacking each other for their U.S. southern border policies. (Getty Images)

Harris’ journey to the top of the Democrat ticket comes as some supporters of Israel have worried that her support for the Jewish state has started to wane, with some arguing that she has distanced herself from the Biden administration since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Harris became the first administration official to call for an “immediate cease-fire” to the conflict in March, and she also became the first administration official to warn of “consequences” for Israel if it went ahead with a planned invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah in an interview with ABC News later that month.

Harris has also faced questions about her relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, most notably after she appeared to dodge questions about whether the Israeli leader had become an “obstacle to peace.”

“I believe that we have got to continue to enforce what we know to be and should be the priorities in terms of what is happening in Gaza,” Harris said in response. “We’ve been very clear that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. We have been very clear that Israel and the Israeli people and Palestinians are entitled to an equal amount of security and dignity.”

Vice President Harris (Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters/File)

VP SHORT-LISTER SHAPIRO ON DEFENSE OVER ISRAEL AFTER DECADES-OLD COLLEGE PAPER SURFACES

The poll also comes just before Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was the only Jewish candidate in the running. The move prompted some to speculate that the choice was made as a result of Shapiro’s lack of popularity with members of the Democratic Party, who have taken a more sympathetic approach to Palestinians since the war broke out in Gaza.

Nevertheless, Jewish voters have traditionally supported Democrat candidates for decades. According to an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, Jewish voters have on average supported Democrats over Republicans by a margin of 71% to 26% since 1968.

Jewish voters supported Biden over Trump 68% to 30% in 2020, while in 2016 the same group chose Clinton over Trump by a margin of 71% to 26%.

President Biden (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images/File)

But the poll wasn’t all bad news for Harris, who overall solidified her lead over Trump among all likely voters in the state. Harris now leads Trump 53%-39% among likely New York voters, according to the Tuesday poll, a large improvement from the eight- to 10-point lead Biden had in previous versions of the poll.

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The Siena College Research Institute poll was conducted between July 28 and Aug. 1 and surveyed 1,199 likely voters in New York, 8% of whom were Jewish; the poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.