"And Im glad to be part of that.Johnson's campaign is part of a major change in strategy for Florida Democrats. Long accustomed to being on the losing side of razor-close races, state Democrats are mounting challenges in Republican strongholds not necessarily to win but to lose by less. For years, Florida Democrats largely have focused on running up the score in heavily Democratic urban precincts in South Florida in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. But Florida Democrats are hoping that enthusiasm rises from the bottom up and compounds quickly. Were fielding candidates to win races, and we think that Trump will win Florida," said Florida Republican Party Chair Joe Gruters, who is running for reelection to his state Senate seat.

WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he is putting Russia and other foreign governments on notice that he would act aggressively as president to counter any interference in U.S. elections. The statement came hours after Democratic leaders issued a new warning that Congress appears to be the target of a foreign interference campaign. Biden said last week that he had begun receiving intelligence briefings and warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the presidential election. In the end, former special counsel Robert Mueller charged 25 Russian nationals for their roles in foreign interference and influence during the campaign. Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, said Monday she was glad Biden was speaking up.

The lawsuit on behalf of Michael Cohen was filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was returned to the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, on July 9. Cohen, 53, had been furloughed in May as part of an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in federal prisons. He had served only a year of his three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes. Monday's lawsuit said Cohen made it clear recently that he planned to release a tell-all book just before the November election. Cohen has remained in solitary confinement since he was taken to Otisville, the lawsuit said.

In the race for Montana's lone U.S. House seat, Republican Matt Rosendale faces opponent Democrat Kathleen Williams. In the race for Montanas lone U.S. House seat, Republican Matt Rosendale is hitching his wagon to President Donald Trump even as the president's national approval ratings worsen. Like Rosendale, Williams comes to this race with something to prove. The House seat opened up this year after Gianforte decided to run for governor, with incubment Democrat Steve Bullock termed out and running for U.S. Senate. She hopes to bring that same spirit to the U.S. House, where hyper partisanship has gotten out of control," she said.

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump points as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally, in Toledo, Ohio. Multiple polls suggest that a majority of voters, including many Republicans, simply don't believe what Trump says about the pandemic. Meanwhile, Trump also refused to say whether he would accept the results of the general election. Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor and a Trump ally, tells us that he sees no clear strategy coming from the Trump campaign. ___2020 Watch runs every Monday and provides a look at the week ahead in the 2020 election.

I have to see, Trump told moderator Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging interview on Fox News Sunday." Im not going to say no, and I didnt last time either.The Biden campaign responded: "The American people will decide this election. Trump contends that a series of polls that show his popularity eroding and Biden holding an advantage are faulty. First of all, Im not losing, because those are fake polls, Trump said in the taped interview, which aired Sunday. Trump, however, is unable to point to language from a Biden-Sanders task force policy document released this month by the Biden campaign.

WASHINGTON Democratic leaders said Monday they are concerned that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign to influence the 2020 presidential election and have asked FBI Director Christopher Wray for a classified counterintelligence briefing. The letter to Wray from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees contains no details about the threats, though they describe them as serious and specific. They requested the briefing for all members before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess. Democrats, including members of the Senate intelligence panel, have also voiced concerns that an ongoing probe into Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his work in Ukraine would amplify Russian disinformation. That probe is being led by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis.___Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks during an event on regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, July 16, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is refusing to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote, as he scoffs at polls showing him lagging behind Democrat Joe Biden. I have to see, Trump told moderator Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging interview on Fox News Sunday." Trump contends that a series of polls that show his popularity eroding and Biden holding an advantage are faulty. First of all, Im not losing, because those are fake polls, Trump said in the taped interview, which aired Sunday.

Democrats have at least a punchers chance of grabbing Republican-held seats in four states Trump won by double digits: Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky and South Carolina. They argue that Trump's name on the ballot will give Senate candidates in Republican states a major edge and say they're spending there because Democrats are raising sums that can't be ignored. An expensive battle is brewing over Ernst's Iowa seat, with outside Democratic and GOP groups each planning to spend over $20 million. Kelly has a solid chance of defeating GOP Sen. Martha McSally while Harrison is waging an unlikely drive to oust Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally. Republicans are eyeing Alaska, where GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan's likely opponent is Al Gross, an independent with Democratic support.

(AP Photo/Dan Sewell)CINCINNATI During a background briefing with reporters in December, President Donald Trump's reelection campaign team gave only passing mention of Ohio. Trump's campaign has budgeted $18.4 million in television advertising in Ohio for this fall, second only to Florida, according to campaign advertising tracking data. Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points four years ago. In nearby Hilliard, Democrats won their first seat on the City Council in three decades. Even as Trumps standing began to fall after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Ohio was not seen as a concern, campaign officials said.

FILE - This June 30, 2020, file photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have made it crystal clear: Given the chance theyll push through a Supreme Court justice nominee should a vacancy open on the high court before Election Day. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have tried to make it clear: Given the chance, they would push through a Supreme Court nominee should a vacancy occur before Election Day. He said he would release a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees by Sept. 1. In 2018, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said that if he were still the committee chairman in 2020 and there were a Supreme Court vacancy, he would not take up the nomination.

Trumps long-in-coming campaign shakeup rearranged some big job titles but isn't likely to change the identity of the person truly in charge of day-to-day operations: Kushner. But it also shows a new willingness by Trump to diversify his inner circle, even if Kushner remains at the helm. That process began when Trump first elevated Stepien to senior adviser and returned Jason Miller to the campaign last month. We have a better team, better voter information, a better ground game, better fundraising, and most importantly, a better candidate with a better record, Stepien said. Despite the campaign shakeup, most in the GOP believe the candidate will determine his own fate.

NEW YORK President Donald Trump is adamant that he wants another four years in office. But he offered few clues about what he would do if he remains in the White House. He similarly stammered through an interview last month when pressed by a friendly TV host to talk about what a second term would look like. Trump is reshaping his campaign, announcing Wednesday that veteran GOP operative Bill Stepien will replace Brad Parscale as campaign manager. When asked for the presidents second-term agenda, the White House pointed to Trumps response to COVID-19 but offered little in the way of specifics.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on companies connected to a Russian businessman who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and suspected of helping finance the covert social media campaign aimed at American voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The actions announced Wednesday take aim at front companies that officials say Yevgeny Prigozhin has relied on to process millions of dollars and to evade sanctions in Sudan, where the Trump administration says Russia has been involved in paramilitary operations and supporting authoritarian regimes. Todays actions will further limit attempts by Prigozhin and his backers to foment disorder or undermine democratic reforms in Sudan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement announcing the sanctions by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Prigozhin, whose close relationship to Putin has earned him the nickname of Putin's Chef," attracted attention in 2018 after he and Russian companies he controlled were indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. He was accused of financing an effort to use social media posts to spread disinformation and to divide American public opinion on hot-button social issues ahead of the election.

Sessions faces former Auburn University football Coach Tommy Tuberville in the July 14 Republican runoff. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)MONTGOMERY, Ala. Seeking to reclaim his old Senate seat from Alabama, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions faces former college football coach Tommy Tuberville a political newcomer endorsed by President Donald Trump. Trump casts a long shadow over the Alabama race, backing Tuberville after turning decisively against his former Cabinet member. We dont want him back in Washington. Sessions responded quickly: My honor and integrity are far more important than these juvenile insults. He may be endorsing Tommy Tuberville today, but then they can have a falling out, McDade said.

The California secretary of state's election data obtained by the AP showed 102,428 mail-in ballots were disqualified in the states 58 counties, about 1.5% of the nearly 7 million mail-in ballots returned. To count in the election, ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received within three days afterward. California traditionally has offered mail-in voting only to those who request ballots. He called mail-in voting safe and secure, pointing to a series of studies that found no evidence of significant fraud. By contrast, in rural Plumas County northeast of Sacramento, all of the 8,207 mail-in ballots received were accepted.

Trump campaign officials believe they missed that opportunity in trying to wrest Midwest states from the Democrats in 2016. Trump said hed get tough on China, one of Biden campaign ads says. The Biden campaign says Trump has weakened relations with allies and pulled the U.S. out of international organizations, giving China more room to exert its own influence. Biden campaign officials say that if Biden is elected, he will restore relationships with U.S. allies and rally the international community to form a united front against China. That first phase is smaller than the comprehensive deal Trump had hoped for and leaves many of the thorniest issues between the two countries for future talks.

Twenty-five percent of the Republican president's senior staff are nonwhite, compared to 36% of Bidens senior staff. Along with adding more people of color to his campaign, Biden has promised an administration that looks like America if he is elected on Nov. 3. His campaign declined to discuss minority representation on the campaign staff. The Biden campaign said LGBTQ staff and staff of color hold such positions as senior advisers, deputy campaign managers, national coalitions director, chief financial officer, chief operating officer and national press secretary, among others. Trumps campaign defined its senior staff as senior leaders who meet regularly to make decisions.

But it made plain his intention to test the reach of liberal populism as he tries to create a coalition that can defeat President Donald Trump in November. Trump and his Republican allies argue that Bidens positioning, especially his ongoing work with progressives, proves hes captive to a radical left wing. Whats different in 2020, he said, are the countrys circumstances a public health crisis, near-Depression level unemployment, a national reckoning on racism and the office Biden now seeks. The former vice president also has amassed an impressive slate of endorsements and built a stable of regular campaign surrogates, including all his major primary rivals. For his part, Trump accused Biden of plagiarizing his economic populism but also tarred Biden as a leftist who cant win.

DES MOINES, Iowa Joe Biden's presidential campaign has lined up a senior team in Iowa, a sign Democrats see the state where Republican Donald Trump beat them handily in 2016 as within reach. Joining Norris as Biden's Iowa campaign director is Lauren Dillon, who directed Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar's 2020 Iowa caucus campaign. She was a senior advertising strategist for Democratic Senate candidates during the 2018 midterm elections after serving in several roles at the Democratic National Committee. The tightening in Iowa follows incremental gains by Democrats since Trump carried the state. The Trump campaign named a senior Iowa team almost a year ago, including Eric Branstad, son of former Gov.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump won the White House on the promise of bringing a conservative shift to the Supreme Court. But this year and last, even with two justices Trump hand-picked, the court has shown it is no rubber stamp for him or his administrations policies. Thats drawn the presidents ire and teed up a renewed battle over the court as Trump seeks political advantage ahead of Novembers election. Supreme Court judges, he said at a July 2016 rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Biden months ago made something of a promise related to the Supreme Court, saying hed be honored to appoint the first African American woman to the court.

Its the first of a series of addresses Biden plans as he shifts his line of attack against President Donald Trump to the economy. The Biden campaign also pointed to an uptick in foreign procurement and continued outsourcing of jobs by U.S.-based corporations during Trumps presidency. Biden voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement in the Senate in 1994, an anchor of Trumps criticism and Sanders attacks before that. That includes joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Biden advocated when he served as President Barack Obamas vice president. That raises the possibility that Biden could declare that spending to be deliberate deficit spending to stimulate the struggling economy.

They're growing more vocal about describing Marshall as the best alternative for keeping the Kansas seat out of play in a potentially difficult fall for defending Republicans' Senate majority. You're seeing a lot of people starting to circle the wagons around Roger Marshall, said Kelly Arnold, a former state GOP chairman. Kobach, Marshall and Bob Hamilton, the founder of a Kansas City-area plumbing company, are running with eight other candidates in the most crowded GOP field since Kansas began holding Senate primaries more than 100 years ago. That was showing their hand, that they wanted everybody to be for Marshall, said Tim Shallenburger, a former Kansas GOP chairman and state treasurer. He said the party always anticipated that its last candidate event on July 15 might involve them talking issues rather than throwing jabs. He said any of the major GOP candidates are better alternative than Bollier.

Shrugging off the risks, Trumps team is pumping millions of dollars into the broadside and vowed this week not to back off. The author says it is likely, however, that both Biden and Trump are super agers whose life expectancy would extend well beyond average. A poll commissioned by the Republican National Committee this spring determined that attacks on Biden's mental acuity didn't sway persuadable voters. Public polling also suggests that more voters may trust Biden's ability to handle the rigors of the presidency more than they trust Trump. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said that attacks on Biden's age and mental competence should resonate with every American. He insisted that Trump's team would not back off the line of attack, despite concerns of ageism.

Biden hoped the task forces would promote party unity and help him avoid a repeat of 2016, when many Sanders supporters remained disillusioned enough that they stayed home rather than support Hillary Clinton against Trump. Their conclusions come as Biden and Democratic Party officials enter the main phase of writing the platform. Bidens economic plan is expected to mix policies he proposed to little fanfare during the primary with additional ideas developed since he became his party's presumptive presidential nominee. That announcement is expected to build on the task force recommendations. Prakash noted that the economic team did its work mostly via weekly teleconference sessions, thanks to the pandemic.

Still another said Republicans worry the GOP brand of cutting taxes could be overshadowed by Trump's drive to defend Confederate monuments. 2 Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said last week. He said GOP candidates need to do what they need to do to win. Republican Senate candidates will have to defend things President Trump says and does between now and Election Day, said Rory Cooper, a Republican strategist and longtime Trump foe. He said he believes independent swing voters abandoning Trump will be willing to back GOP Senate candidates and expressed cautious optimism.

A key to doing that is a deeper understanding of Latino voters' backgrounds thanks to new advancements in micro-targeting." Its not about taking an English campaign ad and translating it into Spanish and considering that Latino outreach." Bertica Cabrera Morris, a Latinos For Trump advisory board member, said Democrats relying too heavily sub-ethnicity modeling could seem patronizing. It has more than 3 million eligible Latino voters, about 20% of total eligible voters statewide. Pealosa said party staffers and volunteers have created customized talking points to reach different Latino communities, such as Biden opposing Maduro.

Now, during a national reckoning on racism, Democratic Party leaders want those symbolic changes to become part of a fundamental shift at the ballot box. North Carolina, Georgia, Texas these are becoming real two-party states, said Republican pollster Brent Buchanan, whose firm, Cygnal, aides GOP campaigns across the country. Senate contests in South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi could be much closer than typical statewide races in those Deep South states. Obama won North Carolina and Virginia in 2008, leaning more heavily on diverse cities and battleground suburbs. In South Carolina, Harrison sees progress, even as more tangible policy fights remain.

Biden and his allies are working feverishly to establish a social media force of their own. The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media landscape. Biden and his allies are now working feverishly to establish a social media force of their own. Trump and Biden have strikingly divergent tactics on social media. Theyve been very good at promoting values and shying away from being baited into the same tactics (as the Trump campaign), Venuto said.

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)COLUMBIA, S.C. Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has teamed up with the mayor of South Carolina's capital city to help municipalities stem the spread of the coronavirus. Columbia, South Carolina, Mayor Steve Benjamin said Thursday that he and Buttigieg have been co-chairing the Pandemic Resilience Working Group for Americas Mayors. South Carolina Gov. Recent escalating numbers have placed South Carolina third in the nation in newly diagnosed cases over the past 14 days adjusted by population. More than 39,500 positive tests for the virus have been conducted, and more than 1,100 people were hospitalized in South Carolina after developing COVID-19.

The group, 43 Alumni for Biden, has recruited at least 200 former White House officials, campaign aides and Cabinet secretaries who worked under Bush to join the push against the Republican incumbent. Theyre planning to roll out supportive testimonial videos featuring high-profile Republicans and launch a voter turnout effort in key states, aimed at turning out disaffected Republican voters. We ask them to go to the White House and do what they think is in the best interest of the country. Two groups, Republican Voters Against Trump and the Lincoln Project, have already been airing ads in key states boosting Biden and attacking Trump. And last month, a group of GOP operatives opposed to Trump launched Right Side PAC, which is aimed at turning out disenchanted Republican voters.

(AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)LOUISVILLE Taking the offensive after her narrow primary win, Democratic Senate nominee Amy McGrath challenged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to disclose what he knows about intelligence assessments suggesting Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. She later accused the senator of dereliction of duty," unwilling to challenge President Donald Trump and hold Russia accountable. In a Senate speech Wednesday, McConnell warned again of Russian efforts to undermine U.S. interests in the Middle East. In recent days, McGrath barely held off a late surge from progressive state Rep. Charles Booker to win by 15,149 votes in the Democratic primary. Kentucky switched to widespread absentee voting for the primary amid the coronavirus pandemic, and election officials needed days to count ballots.

While Trump avoids wearing a mask in public, McConnell said facial coverings are really important until a vaccine is found. 3 Republican in the House, tweeted a picture of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, wearing a mask with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks. At the same time, Trump has been criticized by some Republicans for inconsistent leadership during the sweeping national protests against police brutality. Jerry Falwell Jr., a Trump confidant and the president of Liberty University, conceded that the president has not been clear enough about his plans. To be sure, Trumps White House has set records for turnover, but efforts to prepare for life after the administration have been taken up in earnest in some corners of the White House complex.

FILE - In this June 25, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden pauses while speaking during an event in Lancaster, Pa. Biden and his leading supporters are stepping up warnings to Democrats to avoid becoming complacent. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden plans Tuesday to blister President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as he tries to demonstrate to voters how hed handle the public health and economic crisis if he were in the White House. Trump has often contradicted Faucis guidelines on coronarvirus, and the veteran of six administrations has been largely out of public view in recent weeks as COVID-19 cases have spiked across the country. Biden also plans to prioritize personal protective equipment. Biden called early in the pandemic for Trump to use the Defense Production Act, usually a wartime statute, to direct private sector manufacturing capacity to produce more health care materials needed to prevent, treat and combat the virus.

While Trump avoids wearing a mask in public, McConnell said facial coverings are really important until a vaccine is found. 3 Republican in the House, tweeted a picture of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, wearing a mask with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks. At the same time, Trump has been criticized by some Republicans for inconsistent leadership during the sweeping national protests against police brutality. Jerry Falwell Jr., a Trump confidant and the president of Liberty University, conceded that the president has not been clear enough about his plans. To be sure, Trumps White House has set records for turnover, but efforts to prepare for life after the administration have been taken up in earnest in some corners of the White House complex.

This year, Trump has seized on efforts across the country to expand the ability of people to vote by mail. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting, even in states with all-mail votes. We can safely go to the polls and vote during COVID-19," he said in his Phoenix speech. This isnt a fight he picked," said Trump campaign political adviser and senior counsel Justin Clark. Imposing a new voting system in a hurried fashion ahead of November only exacerbates the real, underlying concerns about the security of voting by mail without the proper safeguards," said White House spokesperson Sarah Matthews.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

President Donald Trump meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. Last weekend, Serbia's autocratic right-wing president, Aleksandar Vucic, strengthened his hold on power there in a parliamentary election that was boycotted by opposition parties. The Polish election is widely seen as an important test for democracy, in this case in the fifth most populous country in the 27-member European Union. Trzaskowski entered the race late after an election originally scheduled for May 10 was scrapped due to the pandemic. The people of Poland think the world of him, Trump said Wednesday at a joint news conference with Duda.

Oklahoma voters will vote in Tuesday's primary election on State Question 802, which would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to expand Medicaid health insurance. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, Pool, File)OKLAHOMA CITY A question on whether to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma and a crowded Republican field vying to challenge the state's lone congressional Democrat are drawing the most attention ahead of Tuesday's primary election. According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, states that have expanded Medicaid through a ballot measure include Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah. This is going to cost our state $200 million," Stitt said during an event this week with Americans for Prosperity. Republicans clearly see OK-5 as one of their best chances to flip' a House seat, and theyre correct to see it that way," said Matthew Motta, a political science professor at Oklahoma State University.

With his rhetorical turn, Trump is feeding red meat issues to a base that helped spur his upset victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. The reality is this is a different election than 2016 was, said Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign. In 2016, a lot of voters went to the polls asking what kind of president Trump would be. Indeed, while many national and battleground polls show Trump trailing Biden, surveys have suggested that some of the former vice presidents support is lukewarm. 3 is a big day, Trump told attendees at a Students for Trump event in Phoenix.

Trzaskowski, who is a runner-up candidate in Sunday election for the nation's president, suspend his campaigning to come to the site. The election will be a test for Duda and the populist ruling party that backs him, Law and Justice. Duda's main challenger, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, also made his final remarks to voters Friday. But I will not allow attempts at breaking the Constitution or the rule of law, Trzaskowski said. In Poland the president can propose new legislation and can veto laws passed in parliament.

The state's June 30 primary will decide the Republican nominee for the first open governors race in more than a decade. Some high-profile Utah Democrats have encouraged voters to register as Republicans to vote in the primary, which is closed to non-members. Hard-right candidate Greg Hughes, a vocal Trump supporter, has railed against the party switching, saying Democrats are joining the party to blunt his recent rise in polling. We wont allow anybody to wait any longer to make that change.For party officials, the Democrat influence on the Republican primary is frustrating. I think it shows a lack of integrity, said Utah Republican Party Chair Derek Brown.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

RALEIGH, N.C. A 24-year-old real estate investment CEO won Tuesdays Republican primary runoff for a western North Carolina congressional seat over President Donald Trumps endorsed candidate for the nomination. Madison Cawthorn defeated Lynda Bennett to complete an upset for the GOP nomination in the 11th Congressional District. Bennett had received the presidents backing on Twitter and the earlier endorsement of Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who until recently had held the seat. Cawthorn called for the runoff after he finished second to Bennett in a 12-candidate primary in early March. Poll workers wore face masks and provided voters single-use pens and cotton swabs to mark ballots.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2018, file photo, former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic candidates in Miami. Democrats are eagerly embracing Obama as a political wingman for Joe Biden, who spent two terms by his side as vice president. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)WASHINGTON Former President Barack Obama raised more than $4 million from 120,000 individual donors ahead of his first fundraiser for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. You have the 4 million Obama 2012 voters that sat out in 16, Obama obviously has cache with them. And both Biden and Sanders have made overtures toward progressives, with Biden embracing some of Sanders policies and Obama praising him by name in his endorsement video for Biden.

President Donald Trump points during his campaign rally at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, June 20, 2020. The political world was genuinely surprised to see thousands of empty seats at Trump's comeback rally in Oklahoma over the weekend. And perhaps more importantly, the finger-pointing inside Trump's campaign will intensify ahead of a possible staff shakeup. ___2020 Watch runs every Monday and provides a look at the week ahead in the 2020 election. ___Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.

Historians offer up precedent that might come with some lessons: James Garfield let the people come to him. What Garfield started in 1880, other Republicans would emulate and another future Ohio president would perfect. With McKinley's 1896 campaign, the front porch campaign became a front porch strategy. But in the age of COVID-19, echoes of Garfield's front porch strategy are apparent again. Biden's campaign strategy against Trump might be seen as a sort of virtual front-porch campaign in itself, said retired long-time Democratic consultant Gerald Austin.

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)DES MOINES, Iowa After Donald Trump carried Iowa in 2016 by nearly 10 points, its swing state status was in doubt. But now, with stunning swiftness, Iowa Democrats have spun from distraught to hopeful. I am more hopeful than I have been, said Scott Brennan, a former Iowa Democratic Party chairman who is now a member of the Democratic National Committee. An Iowa poll conducted last week by The Des Moines Register underscored the shifting landscape for the president. President Trump won Iowa by over 150,000 votes in 2016, flipping Iowa by 9% after Obama won the state twice," campaign spokesman Ken Farnaso said.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, facing a competitive North Carolina reelection contest, is looking forward to campaigning" with Trump, Tillis' spokesperson said. GOP Sen. Steve Daines tweeted, Montana cant wait to have you back, Mr. President! after Trump promised to help him battle a strong Democratic challenger. Republican candidates are hostages, said Trump critic Tim Miller, an aide to past GOP presidential contenders including Jeb Bush. Anyone who wants to win in November should be running with the president, said Trump campaign spokesperson Erin Perrine. In the House, Democrats hope to use allegiance to Trump that GOP candidates touted in primaries against them in general elections.

Steve Bullock speaks at an event marking a conservation agreement at a former mining site in Jardine, Mont. Steve Bullock never got to square off directly against President Donald Trump before dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary race last year. But the two-term governor is getting another chance on his home turf by trying to oust a strong Trump ally, first-term Republican Sen. Steve Daines in Montana's U.S. Senate race. Steve Bullock never got to square off against President Donald Trump before dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary last year, but the two-term governor is getting another chance on his home turf by trying to oust a strong Trump ally in Montana's U.S. Senate race. To hear Bullock tell it, he doesn't see the Senate race as an extension of his presidential run or Daines as a proxy of Trump.

Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are rejecting liberal calls to defund the police as President Donald Trump and his allies point to the movement as a dangerous example of Democratic overreach. Other opponents of the movement include Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a former presidential candidate and one of two black Democratic senators, and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Municipal officials in Minneapolis have endorsed the defund the police language backed by some civil rights activists and a handful of progressive House Democrats. Protesters over the weekend also painted DEFUND THE POLICE in large yellow letters on a street close to the White House. Some Democrats described it as bad politics, even if most Democrats shared the desire to overhaul policing.

They argue, without offering evidence, that it will lead to increased voter fraud, even as they have encouraged Republicans cast ballots by mail in a number of recent elections. Democrats say the Republican opposition to mail-voting is also a smokescreen being used to push for broader voting limitations. Republicans have argued that their efforts are aimed at limiting widespread voter fraud, though theres little evidence to back those claims up. Historically, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting. Its going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better-funded program.Democrats say Trump's claims of voter fraud have morphed what was once a quiet focus of the party into a broader culture war issue.

In this June 1, 2020, photo President Donald Trump returns to the White House after visiting outside St. John's Church in Washington. And while Biden and Trump have already secured their places on the November ballot, there will be lessons to learn. Before the protests exploded, polls suggested that Biden was eating into Trump's support among white people. But the political world is eager to learn more about Biden's specific governing plans should he defeat Trump in November. ___Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.

WASHINGTON Utah Sen. Mitt Romney on Monday became the latest prominent Republican to cast doubt on his support for President Donald Trump's reelection, saying he would stay quiet about whom he'll be supporting in November. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, told reporters on Capitol Hill that I'm not going to be describing who I'll be voting for." In 2016, Romney said publicly that he would support neither Trump nor Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The relationship between Trump and Romney is acrimonious. Romney was the only GOP senator to support removing Trump from office after the president's impeachment trial earlier this year.

WASHINGTON Joe Biden formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Friday, setting him up for a bruising challenge to President Donald Trump that will play out against the unprecedented backdrop of a pandemic, economic collapse and civil unrest. The former vice president has effectively been his party's leader since his last challenger in the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign in April. Biden spent 36 years in the Senate before becoming Barack Obama's vice president. This is 77-year-old Biden's third bid for the presidency and his success in capturing the Democratic nomination was driven by strong support from black voters. At one point, the Democratic primary included dozens of candidates of different races, genders and generations and an openly gay man.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus in Wilmington, Del. Biden has won the last few delegates he needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president. The former vice president has effectively been his party's leader since his last challenger in the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign in April. This is 77-year-old Biden's third bid for the presidency and his success in capturing the Democratic nomination was driven by strong support from black voters. At one point, the Democratic primary included dozens of candidates of different races, genders and generations and an openly gay man.

He later watched with dismay Trump's hard-line response to the police killing of George Floyd and the civil unrest that followed. Lund, who is white, now plans to vote a straight Democratic ticket and rejects any effort by Trump to put a silver lining on the nation's pain. "Even the most die-hard Trump supporters are exhausted.Trump is leading a nation grappling with unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression. She said she wasn't going to support Trump before Floyds death but is now considering recruiting new Democratic voters. But back in Wisconsin, a state Trump narrowly carried four years ago, the restaurant worker Lund isn't so sure.

Republican leaders looking to broaden the party's appeal were buoyed Tuesday when Iowans refused to renominate Rep. Steve King, known for racially incendiary comments. Republican leaders are taking steps to withhold support from candidates with extreme views. King was stripped of committee assignments last year by House Republican leaders after he defended white nationalism. In Kansas, Pompeo failed to file this week to become a Senate GOP candidate. Emmer, the House GOP campaign chairman, said people are nervous about safety and Trumps stance will prove a winning November message.

WASHINGTON WASHINGTON (AP) Two Republican-led Senate committees have launched election-year investigations into the Justice Departments Russia probe, resurrecting the issue at the urging of President Donald Trump while reigniting the partisan hostility that comes along with it. In a Senate office building next door, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved its own slate of three dozen subpoenas related to the Russia probe over strong Democratic objections. Speaking on the committees investigation, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told Johnson that I continue to be concerned that this is politically motivated even as he voted to move ahead. The president has continued to rail against the Russia probe, which he calls a hoax. Among the names on that list is Trumps Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, who was vice president when the Russia probe began.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. Before the coronavirus upended the world, West Virginia Gov. The irony is, he could be the comeback kid because of the crisis," said Robert Rupp, a history and political science professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Journalists can ask questions through a teleconference call but the governor's office picks the questioners and does not allow follow-ups when answers are vague. Trump won almost 70% of voters in West Virginia in the last presidential election. All I am doing is trying to take care of West Virginia, Justice told reporters recently.

Protests continue over the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD, he tweeted. Act fast!One day after a crackdown on peaceful protesters near the White House, thousands of demonstrators massed a block away from the presidential mansion, facing law enforcement personnel standing behind a black chain-link fence. The fence was put up overnight to block access to Lafayette Park, just across the street from the White House. More than 20,000 National Guard members have been called up in 29 states to deal with the violence.

It also left Marshall and Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state who lost the 2018 governor's race, as the top rivals in a GOP field of 11 candidates. Many Republicans fear that Kobach's nomination would put the seat in play even though Republicans have won every Senate election in Kansas since 1932. He said GOP voters know he strongly opposes abortion and dismissed the nervousness among some top Republicans about him. But Marshall pollster Robert Blizzard said Marshalls fundraising will improve with Pompeo officially out of the race. Marshall faces plans for $2.2 million in television ads attacking him by the national anti-tax, free-market group Club for Growth.

In this Dec. 10, 2019 photo, Maria Jose Chapa gestures during an interview after officially opening the first Hispanic Federation field office in Davenport, Fla. In one central Florida county wedged between Orlando and Tampa, the Hispanic registered voter population is booming, and Puerto Ricans are driving the increase. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)