Harris and Trump face off for the first time in second presidential debate

Welcome to the Tuesday, Sept. 10, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Harris and Trump face off for the first time in second presidential debate
2. A look at the November ballot in Louisiana
3. Incumbent Ryan Zinke (R), Monica Tranel (D), and Dennis Hayes (L) are running in the general election for Montana’s 1st Congressional District

Harris and Trump face off for the first time in second presidential debate

ABC News will host a second presidential debate tonight, Sept. 10. It will be the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris (D) and former President Donald Trump (R).

The moderators are David Muir and Linsey Davis. The debate will be hosted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The debate starts at 9 p.m. EDT and will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks. Candidate microphones will be muted when it is not the candidate’s turn to speak, and there will be no live audience.

When this debate was scheduled, President Joe Biden (D), who dropped out of the race on July 21, 2024, and Trump were the only two candidates who had qualified.

• To qualify, candidates must satisfy the constitutional eligibility requirements.
• Candidates must be on enough state ballots to be eligible to win at least 270 electoral votes.
• Candidates must have at least 15% support in four national polls that meet ABC’s editorial standards.

On preparing for the debate, Harris said, “We should be prepared for the fact that [Trump] is not burdened by telling the truth. He tends to fight for himself, not for the American people, and I think that’s going to come out during the course of the debate.” Jason Miller, a senior Trump advisor, said “Kamala Harris’ values have not changed, and we will be educating the American public as to what that means policy-wise, in great detail.”

For the first time since 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is not hosting the debate because both major party presidential candidates declined to participate in CPD-hosted debates.

The following chart shows the number of presidential and vice presidential debates that took place in each election cycle between 1960 and 2024.

A video, transcript, and summary of tonight’s debate will be available here.

A look at the November ballot in Louisiana

Continuing our coverage of statewide elections, today we dive into elections in Louisiana, which is holding primaries on Nov. 5. Instead of conducting a classical primary election, Louisiana uses a majority-vote system, which Ballotpedia calls the Louisiana majority-vote system. A candidate who gets a majority of the votes cast in the primary wins outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round of voting is held between the top two vote-getters.

All six of Louisiana’s U.S. House districts are up for election. At the state level, one seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission and nine seats on the Louisiana intermediate appellate court are up for election. Of the local elections within our coverage scope, voters will select seven members of the Orleans Parish School Board, and the city of Baton Rouge is holding primaries for several local offices. Finally, one statewide ballot measure and a number of local ballot measures in East Baton Rouge Parish and Orleans Parish will be on the ballot.

U.S. House

• This is the first election to take place after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed revised congressional maps into law on Jan. 22, 2024. On May 15, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana’s April 30 ruling striking down the state’s congressional map. As a result, the original map will be used for Louisiana’s 2024 congressional elections. For information about redistricting in Louisiana after the 2020 census, click here.
• Twenty-four candidates—10 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and one unaffiliated candidate—are running for Louisiana’s six U.S. House districts. The four candidates per race are more than the 3.67 candidates per district in 2022 but less than the five candidates per district in 2020 and 4.67 in 2018.
• The number of candidates running in 2024 is also the second-fewest in the last 10 years. Twenty-two candidates ran in 2022, the fewest in the last 10 years. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 30.8 candidates ran each election year.

• The 6th Congressional District is the only open district. Incumbent Rep. Garret Graves (R-6th) did not run for re-election. Graves said he decided not to run for re-election because of the revised congressional maps. In the 2022 election in this district, Graves won 80.4%-13.0%. However, The Cook Political Report now rates the district as Solid Democratic.
• The five candidates running in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Congressional Districts are tied for the most running in Louisiana’s primaries this year.
• All six primaries are contested this year. Between 2022 and 2014, an average of 5.2 primaries were contested each election year.
• Five incumbents—one Democrat and four Republicans—are in contested primaries. An average of 4.2 incumbents were in contested primaries between 2022 and 2014.
• The 4th Congressional District is guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats appeared on the ballot. Republicans are running in every congressional district.

State executive

• Louisiana is holding an election for one of five seats on the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
• Jean-Paul Coussan (R), Nick Laborde (D), and Julie Quinn (R) are running for the District 2 seat.
• In the last election for this seat, Craig Greene (R) defeated incumbent Damon Baldone (R) and Lenar Whitney (R) with 54.94% of the vote.
• The Louisiana Public Service Commission is a five-member state executive board. The Louisiana Constitution of 1921 originally established the commission. It succeeded the Railroad Commission of 1898.
• According to its website, the Commission “exercises regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities providing electric, water, wastewater, natural gas and certain telecommunications services in Louisiana.”

Judicial

• Nine seats on the Louisiana intermediate appellate court are up for election. Only two are contested.
• Kelly Balfour (R) and Eboni Johnson-Rose (D) are running in the primary for the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal 2nd District.
• Clayton Davis (R) and Anthony Eaves (R) are running in the primary for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal 2nd District.

School boards

• Seven seats on the Orleans Parish School Board in Louisiana are up for election this year.
• Districts 2 and 4 are the only contested districts. Gabriela Biro (D), Eric Jones (D), and Chan Tucker (D) are running in District 2. Donaldo Batiste (D) and KaTrina Chantelle Griffin (D) are running in District 4.

Municipal

• The city of Baton Rouge is holding primaries for metro council, city constable, and city court judges.
• The city of New Orleans, was expected to hold primaries for constables, clerk of city court, and city court judge on Nov. 5. The election was canceled after only one candidate filed for each seat, the first time this has occurred since Ballotpedia began covering these elections in 2014.

Ballot measures

• The Louisiana Legislature referred one constitutional amendment to the Nov. 5 ballot.
• The Louisiana Outer Continental Shelf Revenues for Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund Amendment would require the state to deposit federal revenue it receives from energy production (including wind, solar, tidal, wave, and other alternative or renewable energy sources) in the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.
• Local measures will also be on the ballot in East Baton Rouge Parish and Orleans Parish.

To see more upcoming election dates, see our elections calendar.

Incumbent Ryan Zinke (R), Monica Tranel (D), and Dennis Hayes (L) are running in the general election for Montana’s 1st Congressional District

Throughout the year, we’ll bring you coverage of the most compelling elections — the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here.

Today, we’re looking at the general election for Montana’s 1st Congressional District on Nov. 5. Incumbent Ryan Zinke (R), Monica Tranel (D), and Dennis Hayes (L) are running in a rematch of the 2022 election between Zinke and Tranel.

This race is one of 57 U.S. House races Ballotpedia has identified as battlegrounds. The following map displays the 2024 House battlegrounds shaded by the incumbent’s or most recent incumbent’s political affiliation.

Zinke was first elected in 2022, defeating Tranel 49.6% to 46.5%. Montana’s 1st Congressional District was created after the 2020 redistricting cycle. Montana previously had a single, at-large district after redistricting in 1990. Zinke previously represented Montana’s At-Large Congressional District from 2015 to 2017.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is supporting Tranel as part of its Red to Blue program that backs challengers to Republican incumbents. The DCCC did not target the district in 2022. In response to the DCCC’s support, Tranel said, “Montanans are tired of the chaos and know I will represent our community.” Zinke said his political record shows his experience in “serving our great nation and state” and that he is “a champion of the issues most important to Montana.”

Zinke served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Donald Trump (R) from 2017 to 2019. He served as a U.S. Navy SEAL officer for 23 years and served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013. Zinke is campaigning on his experience as Secretary of the Interior. He said he worked towards “restoring the voice of state, tribal and local communities in land and wildlife management decisions” and increasing access to public lands. He is also campaigning on his military experience, saying he “made sure veterans receive the care and respect they deserve.”

Tranel is an attorney. She represented the United States in rowing at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. Tranel is campaigning on her legal experience, saying that she has “taken on out-of-state billionaires and corporate monopolies to stop them from ripping off Montanans” as an attorney. Tranel said she would “work to create an economic environment where our local and small businesses can thrive” and that she believes corporations have hurt the economy.

According to second-quarter 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Zinke raised $6.8 million and spent $3.8 million, and Tranel raised $3.1 million and spent $1.0 million. To review campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.

All 435 U.S. House seats are up for election in 2024. Republicans have a 220 to 211 majority with four vacancies. As of September 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 52.2%-45.3%.