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Sam Forstag used to parachute out of planes to fight wildfires for a living. Now, he could become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. House from Montana in more than three decades.
Forstag, 32, a smoke jumper and former union leader, faces Republican Aaron Flint, the chosen successor of retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke (R). This open seat — which the Cook Political Report now considers a toss-up — was ranked likely Republican just weeks ago.
Forstag answered rapid-fire questions about his policy stances on data centers, health care and top priorities in Congress if he wins.
Leading up to the 2026 midterm elections, The Washington Post is grilling candidates in races across the country, pressing Republicans and Democrats to share their takes at high speed.
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 20, and this guy who spent a year foraging every meal will probably make you feel a little guilty about your breakfast this morning.
Today’s edition of The 7 briefing leads with the deteriorating relationship between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Yesterday, Trump suggested that Zelensky should be replaced. Meanwhile, the U.S. is delaying the transfer of crucial Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
We are also two weeks out from the midterm elections. In the briefing, we cover a discreet effort from U.S. national security officials to advise states on how to deal with the possibility of election meddling from the Trump administration. We also look at potential impacts of redistricting in Texas.
Finally, we include an entertaining article about the film everyone is talking about. Our colleagues got together to discuss the new documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
Read today’s edition of The 7 here.
Three Democrats from different parts of Virginia campaigned together Monday and invoked the war in Iran as a major election issue that goes beyond its effect on the price of gas.
The unpopular war, which has roiled oil markets, has been a drag on Republicans in the midterms. But in one of the most military-dependent states, the consequences go beyond the pocketbook.
“This war … is sending our sailors overseas under an administration that’s lying about the number of casualties,” former representative Elaine Luria said at a rally in eastern Henrico County, outside Richmond.
Luria is challenging Rep. Jen Kiggans, a fellow Navy veteran, in Virginia’s 2nd District, which is anchored in Virginia Beach and touches several important Navy installations.
Henrico prosecutor Shannon Taylor, who is challenging Rep. Rob Wittman in the 1st District, also cited her opponent’s support for the war. And former representative Tom Perriello, who is challenging Rep. John McGuire in the 5th District, said he is seeking to retake the seat he lost in 2010 partly “to end this war.”
Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg — a military veteran and possible Democratic presidential hopeful for 2028 — was on hand Monday to amplify the message and encourage Virginia Democrats to think big about taking control of the House. The party needs a net gain of four seats for a majority.
“The road to that majority runs right through here, and it depends on you,” he told an enthusiastic audience of more than 200 people waving signs for all three candidates.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that New Mexico “should immediately change its name to New America,” repeating his controversial and far-fetched idea.
“We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America! The name would add great value and prestige to the State!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
While Trump can use executive authority to rename bodies of water and other geographic features, he lacks authority to rename New Mexico or other states. That would probably require action by the state and Congress. The president could instruct government agencies to refer to New Mexico under a new name.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 19, 2026
Trump first said last month that New Mexico should be renamed, part of his second-term campaign to rebrand parts of the United States that share names with foreign countries. Trump previously ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America and that Lake Ontario be renamed Lake America.
New Mexican lawmakers immediately panned Trump’s idea, and a Republican running for Congress in the state has also distanced himself from it.
“It’s not something that’s legislatively possible, so nothing’s going to change,” Greg Cunningham, who is seeking to unseat Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico), said in a debate Friday night.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday announced that the state had secured an arrest warrant for former Cuban president Raúl Castro, charging him with conspiracy to commit murder in the fatal downing of two civilian aircraft in 1996.
A federal grand jury in Miami earlier this year indicted Castro — who ran Cuba from 2008 to 2021, after his brother, longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro, stepped down — on murder and conspiracy charges in relation to the same case, alleging that Cuban military forces were acting on Castro’s orders when they shot down the two planes.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the matter.
The federal indictment, and now the state charges, would be difficult to act on and remain largely symbolic, but they come as the Trump administration continues to ratchet up pressure against Cuba’s government.
In a news conference, Uthmeier argued that the Florida arrest warrant, in addition to the federal charges, has “real consequences.”
“If you have a Communist sympathizer that ends up back in the White House, they cannot pardon, they cannot commute, they cannot immunize these dictators from our state proceedings,” Uthmeier said. “It matters.”
The downed planes were flown by members of Brothers to the Rescue, a U.S.-based humanitarian group formed by Cuban exiles in Miami to search for and rescue refugees fleeing the island by sea. The Florida charges accuse the Castro regime of spying on Brothers to the Rescue as well as American government offices as part of the alleged conspiracy.
“Raúl Castro called for the planes to be shot down,” Uthmeier said. “He called for murder.”
Saudi Arabia, which in recent weeks has weathered barrages of attacks by Houthi militants, on Monday announced that it would postpone its flagship investor conference until next year.
The Future Investment Initiative, which typically brings together business companies and leaders from around the world and is billed as “Davos of the Desert,” had been scheduled to begin in Riyadh, the capital, on Oct. 26.
New dates for the forum will be announced “very soon,” according to a statement from Maha al-Saud, chief executive of FII Institute.
“This decision comes from a deep commitment to our partners, members, speakers, and delegates,” said the statement, which did not directly reference Houthi attacks.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia last weekend struck the international airport in Riyadh, killing 13 people, and have since hit the state-owned oil company and various oil infrastructure across the country. The airport in Riyadh, which the Houthis have repeatedly targeted, remained closed as of Monday.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is backing Yemen’s military coalition, which is fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen, aiming to take back territory the militia group seized along the Red Sea.
The spiraling conflict is now the most volatile front in the regional conflagration set off when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
Neither Saudi Arabia nor the Houthis see an off-ramp, according to officials and analysts, with more escalation likely.
Jon Stewart just extended his contract with Skydance-owned Paramount to continue hosting “The Daily Show” on Mondays through December 2028.
Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic and others will continue to host the show on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Stewart’s place on the show had been an open question since the 2025 Paramount-Skydance merger, amid speculation that the new David Ellison-owned conglomerate would scrutinize content critical of President Donald Trump and his administration.
The backstory: Days before the federal government approved the $8 billion merger, CBS parent Paramount canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show. CBS said it was for financial reasons, but Colbert had just criticized the company’s settlement with the Trump administration as a “big fat bribe.” Stewart took Paramount to task on air over it and openly speculated on whether “The Daily Show” could be next. “I’m not giving in, I’m not going anywhere, I think,” he said then.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything from them,” he later said on his podcast. “They haven’t called me and said, like, ‘Don’t get too comfortable in that office, Stewart.’”
But there have been signs that the new ownership of Paramount is not trying to rein in comedy that skewers Trump on its channel Comedy Central. Beyond Stewart’s contract extension, “South Park” has remained unrelenting in going after the president and administration.
Earlier this month, Skydance closed a $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. that also faced legal scrutiny and political pressure.
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