Mamdani vows to defy Trump in fiery final march from Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall ahead of Election Day
Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani struck a defiant tone in an early morning speech Monday in response to President Donald Trump’s “threats” to block federal funding to New York City if the democratic socialist is elected Tuesday. Mamdani marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall at sunrise in a dramatic demonstration on the eve of Election Day. Flanked by supporters, local officials and Attorney General Letitia James, Mamdani promised to fight back against the Trump administration. “What we have seen in cities and states across the country is the necessity of, not just using the bully pulpit but also the courts, to ensure that every dollar that a municipality is owed is a dollar that is paid,” Mamdani said. “And I will take every single day, after this election, to put together my city government, my city hall, to ensure that it is prepared not only for the threats from Donald Trump, but also the threats from an affordability crisis that has put one in four New Yorkers in poverty.” Trump told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell on “60 Minutes” Sunday that if Mamdani wins, it is “going to be hard for me, as the president, to give a lot of money to New York.” ZOHRAN MAMDANI LAUNCHES ANTI-TRUMP TOUR ACROSS FIVE BOROUGHS IN NEW YORK CITY “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump added. ZOHRAN MAMDANI VOWS TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP’S THREAT TO WITHHOLD FEDERAL FUNDING FOR NYC The president has criticized Mamdani’s mayoral campaign since the self-described democratic socialist defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June. Trump refers to Mamdani as a “100% Communist Lunatic” or “my little communist” — a moniker Mamdani rejects. This summer, after securing the Democratic Party’s nomination, Mamdani hosted a week-long “Five Boroughs Against Trump” campaign throughout New York City. “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m going to pick that bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,” Trump said on “60 Minutes.” Mamdani on Monday referenced Trump’s aforementioned comments as an endorsement of Cuomo. Trump has refused to endorse Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who is also on the ballot. “Late last night, Andrew Cuomo received Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Mamdani claimed. “If elected as mayor, our city will only descend deeper into a darkness that has forced too many of our neighbors to flee and made it impossible for working people to live lives of dignity.” When reached for comment, Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told Fox News Digital that Mamdani is “lying” about Trump endorsing the former governor. “There’s only one candidate in this race who has a record of fighting for New York and battling the Trump administration when it was in New York’s best interest and winning, and that’s Andrew Cuomo. We’re not going to let him gaslight his way through Election Day,” Azzopardi said. While Cuomo has the gubernatorial experience of going head-to-head with Trump during his first administration, Mamdani on Monday vowed to create an “alternative” to the Trump administration in City Hall. “We see Donald Trump make these kinds of threats to this city and to its elected officials on a regular basis,” Mamdani said. “The difference that we offer is a movement that will be unbowed by these threats, and we need not look far for an inspiration on how exactly to continue to fight for that which is correct in the city and in this state.” Joined by Trump-foe James, who pleaded not guilty last week to two felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, Mamdani said the attorney general “continues to show the courage that New Yorkers are desperate to see in elected officials, a courage to hold everyone to account to the same set of laws.” James filed the lawsuit against The Trump Organization in 2019, which found Trump and his company liable for civil fraud last year. She has also filed multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration this year, rejecting his executive orders and seeking to unleash federal funding. “Donald Trump may speak as if it is his decision, but this is money that this city is owed. This is money that we will expect to collect,” Mamdani said Monday. As Mamdani heads into Election Day, the democratic socialist is positioning himself as the candidate best equipped to challenge Trump, while attempting to connect Cuomo to the president. “We have long known that Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump’s puppet in this race. What we did not quite expect is for him to become his parrot in the final days, as well,” Mamdani said. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s comment request.
Senate returns to work as government shutdown nears longest in US history over Obamacare fight
The Senate returns to Washington, D.C., this week as the government shutdown nears a record-shattering milestone and as lawmakers remain entrenched in their positions. Come late Tuesday night, the government shutdown will officially become the longest on record, at 36 days, smashing through the previous record etched into the history books in early 2019. And while that record approaches, and payday deadlines are missed and federal benefits dry up, the Senate is still largely in a holding pattern. Still, there was newfound optimism among some lawmakers as bipartisan talks increased last week, and many hope that same momentum carries into this week. TRUMP’S ‘NUCLEAR’ DEMAND NOT LANDING FOR SENATE REPUBLICANS AMID SHUTDOWN But for now, neither side is budging from the positions they’ve maintained since Oct. 1, when the shutdown officially began. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his Democratic caucus want a deal on expiring Obamacare premium subsidies before they agree to reopen the government. Saturday was when open enrollment officially began nationwide. They’ve long warned that unless a deal was made before open enrollment, Americans that rely on the subsidies would see their premiums spike, despite the subsidies not expiring until the end of this year. “People are going to see drastic, drastic increases in their healthcare costs,” Schumer said last week. “People are going to sit at the dinner table Friday night with a pit, with a hole in the pit of their stomach, and say, ‘How are we going to do this?’” FOOD STAMP BENEFITS FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS IN JEOPARDY TODAY AMID SHUTDOWN Senate Republicans largely agree that there needs to be an extension of some kind to the subsidies, but they also want a host of reforms made to the program that was enhanced under former President Joe Biden. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has offered Senate Democrats a vote on the Obamacare subsidies, but they say that’s not enough and demand that President Donald Trump get involved. Trump officially returned to the country after a near weeklong trip to Asia but still appears to be keeping the shutdown at an arm’s length. While Schumer and his Democratic caucus’ demands have remained laser-focused on expiring Obamacare subsidies, they have also blamed Trump for not funding federal food benefits as he did in 2019, and Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have called for a meeting with the president. GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT But Trump won’t meet with the top congressional Democrats until the shutdown ends — a point he and Republicans have made time and time again. And he won’t budge on healthcare negotiations until the government reopens, either. “I’m not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way,” Trump said on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “There’s something wrong with these people.” Meanwhile, Trump has urged Senate Republicans to get rid of the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the upper chamber. Doing so is a proverbial third rail for Senate Republicans and a longstanding priority for Senate Democrats. He renewed that call over the weekend in posts on Saturday and Sunday to his social media platform Truth Social. “Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!! BE TOUGH, BE SMART, AND WIN,” he said.
Energy secretary reveals how US nuclear tests will work
Energy Secretary Chris Wright revealed the U.S. will not be testing nuclear explosions, putting to rest questions over whether the Trump administration would reverse a decades-old taboo. Testing will instead involve “the other parts of a nuclear weapon,” Wright told Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.” “I think the tests we’re talking about right now are systems tests,” he explained. “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.” His comments came after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would reignite “nuclear testing” because other nations were doing so. The president made the announcement on the way to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. WITH A NUCLEAR BACKDROP, TRUMP EASES TENSIONS WITH XI BUT MERELY RETURNS TO THE STATUS QUO He didn’t specify whether he meant explosives, which haven’t been tested by the U.S. since 1992, or the weapons that carry them. The only nation to conduct a detonation test in the last 25 years is North Korea in September 2017. The president said he’d directed the Pentagon — which is responsible for testing nuclear-capable vehicles — to resume testing. The Energy Department would have jurisdiction over testing explosives. TRUMP BREAKS 33-YEAR NUCLEAR TESTING SILENCE AS WORLD BRACES FOR DANGEROUS NEW ARMS RACE “We’ve halted it years — many years — ago,” Trump said last week. “But with others doing testing, I think it is appropriate that we do also.” Asked on Friday to clarify whether the U.S. would begin “detonating nuclear weapons for testing,” the president responded, “I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do.” Trump claimed in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview over the weekend that U.S. adversaries were secretly testing nuclear weapons. “Russia’s testing nuclear weapons, and China’s testing them, too,” he said. “You just don’t know about it.” China is rapidly expanding its nuclear silo and is expected to have nearly 1,000 warheads by 2030, according to Pentagon assessments. But Beijing has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1996. Russia has not been confirmed to have tested a weapon since 1990, but last week did claim to test two delivery vehicles: an undersea torpedo known as Poseidon and a nuclear-powered cruise missile. In 1996, the United Nations adopted a nuclear test ban treaty. The U.S. signed the treaty, but the Senate rejected its ratification. Most other nuclear-armed states also did not ratify the document. Still, it created a global norm against nuclear weapons testing. The U.S. regularly tests unarmed nuclear-capable weapons. Additionally, non-explosive or “subcritical” tests, which involve fissile materials but stop short of producing a chain reaction, have been conducted at the Nevada National Security Site for years. Officials say these experiments help validate computer models that simulate how aging warheads behave, allowing scientists to verify performance without explosive testing. The U.S. has conducted more than two dozen such tests since the late 1990s. “And again, these will be nonnuclear explosions,” Mr. Wright said. “These are just developing sophisticated systems so that our replacement nuclear weapons are even better than the ones they were before.” Washington is currently undergoing a three-decade, $1.7 trillion transformation effort to replace aging warheads with updated versions.
Antisemitism watchdog issues scathing ‘alarm bell’ report on Mamdani as NYC election nears
FIRST ON FOX: Fox News Digital exclusively spoke with the antisemitism research institute that released an 11th hour comprehensive report that summarized its concerns about New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. With just hours to go before Election Day, the report underscores the heightened scrutiny facing the socialist nominee. “It is incumbent on voters to understand the ideological context that Zohran Mamdani comes from and espouses,” said Charles Asher Small, founding director of The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), told Fox News Digital. The ISGAP Action report, titled, “Zohran Mamdani: From SJP to Gracie Mansion?,” dives into Mamdani’s background and rise to prominence. It explains the controversial views of his father, a professor at Columbia University, on Israel, as well as how Zohran founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Bowdoin College, his past statements and positions, and lists the anti-Israel individuals who endorse him for mayor. The report concludes with a section that explores the implications of Mamdani’s agenda. ‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE “He has repeatedly declined to condemn the slogan ‘globalize the intifada,’ ignoring the fact that the word ‘intifada’ is synonymous with terror attacks, suicide bombings, and incitement to kill Jews,” the report states. Mamdani has refused to explicitly condemn the phrase, instead simply saying he would “discourage” others from using it. The report states that Mamdani “downplayed” the Oct. 7 massacre carried out by Hamas while characterizing Israel’s response as “genocide,” and hits him for introducing a bill to “punish New York charities that support Israel.” Mamdani sparked a political firestorm last month, drawing outrage from the law enforcement community, after posting a smiling photo with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn cleric who served as a character witness for the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and has been a longtime defender of convicted terrorists, raising funds for their legal defenses. The ISGAP Action report mentions that association, while also looking into some other controversial associations the Mamdani campaign holds when it comes to radical Islam, which Fox News Digital reported on last week, including taking a $100,000 donation from The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) through a super PAC, “despite being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial.” MAMDANI’S MOTHER IN UNEARTHED 2013 INTERVIEW: ‘HE IS NOT AN AMERICAN AT ALL’ “The normalization of antisemitism and anti-democratic rhetoric is now mainstream,” Small told Fox News Digital. “The radical left, the extreme right and radical political Islam are attacking the democratic center, and these different political movements use antisemitism as a core element of their ideology, to scapegoat and blame the Jews for all that is wrong,” he said. “It is essential to understand that words and ideas lead to action. The antisemitic discourse of Mamdani will inevitably lead to increased hate and violence.” Hundreds of rabbis joined together to oppose Mamdani last month, Fox News Digital reported, declaring in a letter their position that Jewish Americans “cannot remain silent” on discrimination against Jewish people and calling on voters to reject Mamdani. Despite the fervent opposition from many in the Jewish community and numerous viral clips showing Mamdani — in his own words — using inflammatory language toward Israel, he holds a commanding lead in the polls heading into the election, and has also drawn support from some Jewish leaders. “There are significant levels of economic, social and political marginalization in New York and throughout the nation,” Small told Fox News Digital about Mamdani’s popularity. “People are frustrated as their needs are not being met. In stressful times, populism and extremism become more appealing. Mamdani appears to be addressing the disenfranchised, especially the young. He gives fantastical policies that are appealing, yet will be impossible to deliver.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the conclusion of the report, ISGAP Action makes the case that a Mamdani victory could potentially “shatter the city’s fragile communal trust and roll back decades of hard-won progress in protecting Jewish life.” “Zohran Mamdani’s rise is not simply the story of an ambitious local politician riding a wave of discontent over rents and inequality,” the report states. “It is the story of how radical anti-Zionism has been repackaged as socialist, populist, progressive politics — and how this ideology now threatens to erode the sense of security for New York’s Jewish community, the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, and whitewash and legitimize anti-Zionism, support for terrorism, and even antisemitism.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Trump pressed on whether he ordered DOJ to target James Comey, John Bolton, Letitia James
President Donald Trump indicated that he did not direct the Justice Department to target former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and New York State Attorney General Letitia James. During “60 Minutes” interview, CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell noted the three figures have been indicted and asked Trump whether those are cases of “political retribution.” “You know who got indicted? The man you’re looking at. I got indicted. And I was innocent,” Trump fired back. TRUMP TELLS ‘60 MINUTES’ IT WOULD BE ‘HARD’ TO SEND MONEY TO NEW YORK CITY IF MAMDANI WON O’Donnell pressed Trump on the matter, asking whether he directed the Department of Justice to target those people. “No. You don’t have to instruct ’em because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt, that the honest people we have — Pam Bondi’s doing a very good job, Kash Patel’s doing a very good job — the honest people that we have go after ’em automatically,” he said. TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS URGED TO CLOSE ‘CRITICAL GAPS’ IN ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIME REPORTING: ‘GROWING PROBLEM’ The president called out Comey, James and Senate Democrat Adam Schiff in a September Truth Social post highlighted by “60 Minutes.” “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” the president declared in part of the post. JAMES COMEY SEEKS TO DISMISS HIS CRIMINAL CASE, CITING ‘VINDICTIVE’ PROSECUTION “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” he asserted in another portion of the post.
Trump administration cites widespread misuse of SNAP as funding lapses during shutdown
As the Trump administration works to bring the nation’s largest food aid program back online, attention is shifting to just how expansive the program has become and to the administration’s push to ensure illegal immigrants aren’t among its recipients. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), meant to be a lifeline for low-income households, was set to expire over the weekend as the government shutdown entered its second month. CHARTS ILLUSTRATE THE SCALE OF SNAP AS MILLIONS FACE POTENTIAL BENEFIT LAPSE The sweeping program, which supports more than 40 million Americans, was among the first priorities Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins targeted for review, citing concerns about eligibility and oversight. “We sent letters to every governor in America being very clear that no illegal aliens can use SNAP, zero, zero, zero. We asked every state for the first time in history, this was in February, to send us their data,” Rollins said during an interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” She added that so far only 29 states have complied with the request, but Rollins said even that limited data has already revealed significant misuse. “We have found thousands and thousands of illegal use of the EBT card, we have been moving people off of SNAP, we’ve got about 700,000 people that we’ve moved off SNAP since the president took office, and we’ve arrested about 118 people,” Rollins said. She added that investigators also discovered about 5,000 dead people who were still receiving benefits. “It is time to drastically reform this program, so that we can make sure that those who are truly needy and truly vulnerable are getting what they need and the rest of the corruption goes away so that we can serve the American taxpayer,” she added. ‘THAT ENDS NOW:’ WHITE HOUSE VOWS REMOVAL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TAXPAYER BENEFITS Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) says about 41.7 million Americans, or one in eight households, rely on SNAP benefits each month. The highest share of beneficiaries live in New Mexico, Washington, D.C. and Louisiana, followed by Oregon, according to USDA data. Under former President Joe Biden, federal spending on SNAP reached record highs, $128 billion in 2021 and $127 billion in 2022, as pandemic-era aid expanded food assistance. Last year, SNAP cost $99.8 billion, with monthly benefits averaging $187 per participant, according to federal figures. FOOD STAMP BENEFITS FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS IN JEOPARDY AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON Adults ages 18 to 59 made up the largest share of SNAP recipients at 42%, according to USDA data. Many participants also relied on other government assistance, with 61% receiving income from programs such as Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or state aid. With millions of Americans depending on SNAP for food assistance, the program has become a focal point in the legal and political battles over government spending during the shutdown. A pair of federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to finance the program. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that SNAP funding could come back online as early as Wednesday. “There’s a process that has to be followed. So, we’ve got to figure out what the process is,” Bessent said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food benefits.”
NYC’s lone House Republican pledges to defeat Democrat redistricting threat to her seat
EXCLUSIVE: The lone House Republican representing part of New York City is facing a redistricting threat, and she has vowed to defeat it. “The Democrats have absolutely zero shame,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “This is the third time they are trying to redraw our district, to tilt the scale and change the rules to give their party an advantage because they just cannot — they cannot — tolerate a Republican representing the city of New York.” Malliotakis represents New York’s 11th Congressional District, which covers all of Staten Island and parts of south Brooklyn. She won her seat in 2020, defeating one-term former Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., who was elected in the “blue wave” of 2018. The Empire State was thrown into the national redistricting war last week when Democrat attorney Marc Elias’ law firm filed a suit aimed at changing the boundaries of Malliotakis’ district. LONE MARYLAND GOP CONGRESSMAN WARNS REDISTRICTING COULD CUT WHITE HOUSE TIES FOR ENTIRE STATE The lawsuit argued that the existing district dilutes the voting power of Staten Island’s growing Black and Latino voting populations, allegedly running afoul of minority protections in the New York Voting Rights Act. “This lawsuit is so frivolous, it has absolutely no merit. It has absolutely no legal, valid argument,” Malliotakis said. The New York City Republican pointed to her own non-White roots, being born to a Cuban mother exiled by the communist Fidel Castro regime. Her father is from Greece. MEXICAN IMMIGRANT-TURNED-CONGRESSWOMAN BLASTS DEM CLAIMS TEXAS REDISTRICTING HURTS HISPANIC VOTE “The fact that they’re claiming somehow Hispanics and minorities are disenfranchised when I’m the first Hispanic elected to represent the district makes it even more ridiculous,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that this will take time and resources to fight once again in court, but we will do that because the people of New York’s 11th district deserve to elect the person that they want, not who Washington Democrats think they want.” The district has largely skewed Republican in recent elections, voting for President Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Trump has already endorsed Malliotakis for re-election. ‘FULL OF S—‘: NEW YORK REPUBLICAN ACCUSES STATE DEMS OF HYPOCRISY IN REDISTRICTING PUSH Voters in New York’s 11th Congressional District did elect former President Barack Obama in 2012, however, and went in favor of Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The district voted for Republicans for Senate in 2022 and 2024. But the lawsuit comes as both Republicans and Democrats wage full-throated efforts to gerrymander congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas recently adopted a new map that more heavily favors Republicans, while voters in California are set to weigh whether to allow its Democrat-dominated legislature to redraw districts there to help the left. The White House has also pushed Missouri and Indiana, among other states, to also press for more GOP advantages. North Carolina Republicans approved a new map last month aimed at unseating moderate Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C. Meanwhile, Maryland Democrats recently backed off threats to draw the state’s own lone Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, D-Md., out of his seat.
Senate Dem candidate who wrote he ‘became a communist’ now says he was joking
Maine Democrat Graham Platner now says he was “joking” in years-old Reddit posts where he identified himself as a “communist.” Platner, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., in 2026, published the now-deleted Reddit posts between 2020 and 2021. In one of the posts, he wrote, “I got older and became a communist,” but he now claims it was merely “internet s—posting.” “I believe in Medicare-for-all. I believe in expanding the rights of workers to organize. I believe in taxing the ultra-rich. I believe in a fairer economic system,” he told NBC News on Sunday. “I also know that because I believe in those things, people will refer to me as that no matter what… That’s the joke.” He went on to explain away other posts he made at the time in which he described rural White voters as “stupid and racist.” MAINE DEM SENATE HOPEFUL BACKED BY BERNIE SANDERS APOLOGIZES FOR NAZI-STYLE TATTOO, VOWS TO STAY IN RACE “I did get in a fight with somebody and say that some rural White voters were stupid and racist,” he told the outlet. “I myself am a rural White voter in eastern Maine. These are my neighbors and my friends. I actually rise to their defense often and continue to do so.” “I don’t want to be flippant about it, but I was getting in arguments on the Internet … at a part in my life when I was looking for interaction and engagement, at a time where I was feeling quite isolated and alone and very disillusioned at that point,” he added. “I do not hold those feelings.” The internet posts were only one avenue of criticism Platner has faced in recent weeks. He also faced a whirlwind of backlash after photos revealed that he had a tattoo depicting the Totenkopf used by Hitler’s SS paramilitary forces. BERNIE SANDERS DEFENDS MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE UNDER FIRE FOR REDDIT COMMENTS Platner weathered calls for him to withdraw for the race, and a number of his top campaign staffers bowed out under the pressure. Nevertheless, he now claims his campaign is strong as ever. “It is amusing for me to watch the campaign described in the media as collapsing or falling apart — when internally, we frankly have not felt this strong since the beginning,” Platner told NBC News. “It hasn’t sunk my campaign. In fact it seems, in many ways, it’s strengthened us.” “I want to talk about my evolution as a human being,” he said. “A lot of Americans also want to have hope that you can change and that you can evolve, and that we can have a society that gives grace and forgiveness to people. Because if we can’t, if we think that people are just ossified into who they are right now, and can never be something different, then what’s the point?” “We find ourselves now in a significantly stronger position, team-wise,” he said. “While we lost some people, we’ve kept almost everybody, and people that have stayed are galvanized and committed.”
5 key races to watch on Election Day 2025
With one day until Election Day, and the latest polls pointing to a potential photo finish in the battle for New Jersey governor, the two major party nominees are urging their supporters to get out and vote. “When we vote, we win,” Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill told supporters. And her Republican rival, Jack Ciattarelli, told his supporters that “championship teams finish strong… let’s win this race.” New Jersey is just one of two states, along with Virginia, that hold statewide elections for governor this November. And the contests, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are viewed as crucial early tests of President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and explosive second-term agenda, as well as key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm showdowns for the U.S. House and Senate. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR CONFIDENT MAJOR INVESTMENT IN 2025 ELECTIONS WILL PAY OFF Also in the political spotlight this November is New York City’s high-profile mayoral election, the ballot box proposition over congressional redistricting in California and three state Supreme Court contests in battleground Pennsylvania. Democrats, who are aiming to exit the political wilderness following last year’s election setbacks when they lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority, are highlighting their success so far this year in special elections. “There’s wind at our back,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin recently touted. “We have overperformed in every single election that’s been on the ballot since Donald Trump was inaugurated.” TRUMP TAPS MASSIVE WAR CHEST TO MOTIVATE MAGA VOTERS TO HEAD TO THE POLLS But Republicans point to the multitude of problems facing the Democratic Party. “Sadly for the DNC, the truth is that Democrats’ approval rating is at a 30-year low as the party has hemorrhaged more than 2 million voters over the past four years,” Republican National Committee communications director Zach Parkinson told Fox News Digital recently. Here’s a closer look at 2025’s top elections. Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic he can pull off victory in blue-leaning New Jersey. In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, a recent public opinion poll suggested Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy. While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections. And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier. THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR Trump headlined a tele-rally with Ciattarelli a week ago, on the eve of early voting. Trump’s teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years. The race in New Jersey was rocked a couple of weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally. But Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal. Sherrill, who was never accused of cheating in the scandal, went on to serve nearly a decade in the Navy flying helicopters. The showdown was jolted again at last month’s final debate after Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was “complicit” with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to the medical publishing company he owned that pushed content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain. ONE OF THE TOP 2025 RACES MAY END UP IN A PHOTO FINISH And Trump recently set off a political hand grenade in the race, as he “terminated” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York. Sherrill, holding a news conference at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project “critical” as she took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli. Explosive revelations in Virginia’s attorney general race that the GOP is aiming to leverage up and down the ballot recently shook up the race for governor, forcing Democratic Party nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, back on defense in a race where most polls indicated her enjoying a sizable lead over Republican rival Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Virginia attorney general Democratic nominee Jay Jones was in crisis mode after controversial texts were first reported a couple of weeks ago by the National Review. Jones acknowledged and apologized for texts he sent in 2022, when he compared then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head. But he faced a chorus of calls from Republicans to drop out of the race. Earle-Sears hasn’t wasted an opportunity to link Spanberger to Jones. And during last month’s chaotic and only gubernatorial debate, where Earle-Sears repeatedly interrupted Spanberger, the GOP gubernatorial nominee called on her Democratic rival to tell Jones to end his attorney general bid. FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE VIRGINIA SHOWDOWN, HEAD HERE “The comments that Jay Jones made are absolutely abhorrent,” Spanberger said at the debate. But she neither affirmed nor pulled back her support of Jones. Earle-Sears has kept up the pressure. “Abigail Spanberger should have been the first to call for
After 15 killed in tragic tempo traveller-truck collision in Jodhpur, PM Modi announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for deceased families
After 15 people killed in a tragic road accident, where a tempo traveller rammed into a parked truck in the Matoda area of Phalodi in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, PM Modi has expressed sorrow and has announced Rs 2 lakh financial aid to the families of deceased.