Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff has taken part in a number of campaign receptions, while Governor Tim Walz will speak to the International Association of Fire Fighters on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, will trek through Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
But, of course, the presidency is only one race being decided in November. And some of the races down-ballot are just as bloody. They also might have a massive impact on the top of the ticket.
Here is a roundup of the most important non-presidential races that could make a huge difference.
One persistent problem for many Republicans, even before Joe Biden stepped aside, was that even as Trump beat Biden in numerous swing states, Senate candidates continued to underperform him . Nowhere is this problem more persistent than in Arizona.
Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020 and the state has not elected a Republican to the Senate since John McCain won re-election in 2016. Now, Ruben Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran and Democrat who was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is running against Kari Lake, the news-anchor-turned election denier who lost her race for governor in 2022.
Democrats hope to hold the seat after Kyrsten Sinema, the mercurial Democrat-turned-Independent, announced she would not seek re-election.
But while Lake narrowly lost her race in 2022 (which she refuses to admit), polling shows Gallego firmly ahead of her . Indeed, Lake might even be a drag on Trump. During a recent rally in Arizona where she appeared alongside Trump, someone shot a photo of a teleprompter saying “ wrap asap” and “please get off stage” as Lake delivered remarks.
On Monday, Gallego received another huge boon when the Arizona Police Association — the state’s police union that endorsed Trump, no less — endorsed Gallego. The move is a huge blow to Lake. It means that we should expect to see plenty of Trump-Gallego voters.
Montana’s Senate race is in many ways the opposite of Arizona’s. After Democratic-turned-Independent Senator Joe Manchin’s retirement in West Virginia, it’s almost guaranteed his place will be taken by a Republican in a state where every county voted for Trump. That leaves Republicans with a majority in the Senate if they flip Montana. Democrats hope that Senator Jon Tester can pull off another miracle victory.
That will be tough. Trump won Montana by more than 16 points in 2020. Similarly, Tester’s fellow Montanan, Senator Steve Daines, is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and has a vested interest in getting retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy elected.
Robinson’s history of inflammatory remarks have put him at a significant disadvantage. A High Point University/SurveyUSA poll showed Stein with a 14-point lead. The move just might be enough to tip the state toward Harris.
The former swing state of Florida has become the nerve center of the Republican Party. Nevertheless, Democrats believe they have a legitimate shot to topple Republican Senator Rick Scott.
A poll earlier this month from Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research USA showed that Scott has a four-point lead against former Democratic congresswoman Mucarsel-Powell. But the state will soon have a ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights after a six-week ban went into effect, and another ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. Democrats hope that both will give them a much-needed boost in Trump’s new home state.
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