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Competitive Senate and gubernatorial races saw some of the largest increases in advertising spending over the last week, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Overall, $749 million was spent in competitive federal and governor’s races between Oct. 20 and 27.
Over that time period, Kansas’s Senate race saw an influx of $25 million, bringing total spending in the campaign to $67 million. Voters in Kansas have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, but the race is rated as a toss-up.
Michigan’s Senate race saw a 19 percent rise in spending, and Iowa’s Senate contest had a 21 percent increase. Both races are toss-ups.
Ohio’s gubernatorial race had a jump of more than 15 percent in ad spending over the past week. The Cook Political Report moved the contest from a “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat” on Friday after GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy received backlash for an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s mother. Ramaswamy’s campaign has spent twice as much on ads as Acton’s overall, though their spending was nearly even in the past week: $6 million versus $5 million.
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 28, and I’m pleased to know that I’m not the only one who is getting irritated by blindingly bright car headlights.
Elections in the U.S. and further afield are the top topics in today’s edition of The 7 briefing.
First, we look at Israel, where exit polls indicate the outcome of yesterday’s elections is unclear. It could be days or even weeks until we learn whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or challenger Gadi Eisenkot are able to form a governing coalition.
Back at home, The Post this morning published a guide to seven races that will determine control of the Senate. While Democrats are favored to retake the House, the fight for the Senate is tighter. The outcome will have huge implications for President Donald Trump.
Further down, we cover an alarming story about your phone location data. A psychologist offers advice on breaking anxiety spirals. And Trump has a lot of thoughts about other men’s looks.
Read today’s edition of The 7 here.
Republicans, after making a concerted effort at outreach to Arab Americans in 2024, have used alienating rhetoric about the group throughout this election cycle.
In Michigan, where a toss-up Senate race is underway, President Donald Trump called the Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, a “jihadist” who was “on the side of the terrorists” and would “have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate.”
In a Monday campaign stop for Mike Rogers, the race’s Republican nominee, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insulted Arabs, falsely claiming they fail to produce science and literature.
Arab Americans, who were evenly split in the 2024 presidential race, already were gravitating to Democrats.
In Dearborn, the first Arab American-majority city, many Trump 2024 voters describe El-Sayed as an “America First” candidate due to his opposition to unconditional military aid to Israel and focus on the domestic economy.
El-Sayed himself recently embraced the America First label in a campaign ad on the conservative Fox News and Newsmax networks.
“Mike Rogers will put Israel first,” said Michigan voter Mustapha El-Jaroudi, 27.
Having voted for Trump twice, El-Jaroudi now calls the president “a con artist” who betrayed his campaign refrain of “no new wars.”
Read the stories of El-Jaroudi and other Arab American Trump 2024 voters to learn why they turned away from the president and embraced El-Sayed, a son of Egyptian immigrants.
Several veterans groups have declared neutrality on President Donald Trump’s triumphal arch, breaking from other veterans and advocacy groups that have said the towering structure will harm the experience of visiting nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
“Our organizations … do not write to endorse or oppose any specific architectural design or proposal,” the Vietnam Veterans of America and three other associations said in a statement shared with The Washington Post, distancing themselves from efforts by other veterans to halt construction. The groups called for Americans to unify around the prospect of a new monument to honor veterans built in Memorial Circle.
The move comes as U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan weighs whether to let the arch move forward. A September YouGov poll found that 48 percent of Americans oppose the arch, and 30 percent support the project, with the remaining 22 percent unsure.
The Post on Tuesday published an analysis of how the towering arch’s shadows would move across the graves of veterans and their next of kin from the Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, World War I, Spanish-American War and Civil War, according to a 3D model.
The symbolism of Trump’s arch overshadowing graves has drawn rebukes from VoteVets, a political organization aligned with Democratic veterans, which last month launched a campaign to mobilize more veterans against the planned 250-foot-tall arch.
Jay Kalner, the president of the Vietnam Veterans of America’s Northern Virginia chapter, and other local VVA leaders oppose the arch, Kalner told The Post on Tuesday.
A federal review panel, which Trump has stocked with allies, is expected to approve the arch as early as Nov. 5. Administration officials hope to begin work immediately afterward.
Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama, is reviewing a lawsuit brought by three Vietnam War veterans who say that the arch would disrupt the experience of visiting the cemetery and interfere with the intent of nearby monuments.
Additional Coverage
A Sphere entertainment venue is officially coming to Prince George’s County following a vote by the county council Tuesday.
The 8-0 vote authorized the county to issue up to $215 million in special obligation bonds to help build the 6,000-seat entertainment venue, operated by Sphere Entertainment Co. The venue, a smaller version of the famed Sphere in Las Vegas, will cost approximately $1.4 billion to build.
Sphere National Harbor is estimated to generate $63 million for Prince George’s in annual taxes once operational, according to an economic impact report released by the county.
Throughout negotiations between county leaders and Sphere Entertainment, county workers and labor unions pushed for more protections for workers during construction.
There is currently a labor peace agreement that protects individuals who will work at the Sphere once it’s operational. Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy (D) said that is not outside the norm for Sphere Entertainment.
“They have never entered into what’s called a project labor agreement, and they did not do so here on this project,” she said at a news conference after the council’s vote.
Braveboy added that “everyone, including the unions we talked to, expect to work on this project, and they will.”
A Cairo court Tuesday moved to shut down Mada Masr, one of the last independent publications in Egypt, on the grounds that its editor, Lina Attalah, was running the news site without a license.
The court fined Attalah the equivalent of $53,400 and ordered her detained until the fine was paid later that day, a Mada Masr representative told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Attalah is set to appeal the decision, arguing that the site had applied for a license twice but received no response to its application, the representative said.
The incident comes after a crackdown on the press last month: Egyptian authorities arrested the entire newsroom of the fact-checking site Matsda2sh on charges that it was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Islamist organization was banned in Egypt after the country’s current president, Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, took power in a 2013 coup. Sisi, whom President Donald Trump has called “my favorite dictator,” has since crushed dissent, banned protests and imprisoned thousands including journalists and human rights advocates.
There are 25 journalists behind bars in Egypt, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based rights group.
The arrests have drawn the attention of Congress, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) calling for the release of the fact-checkers.
“This assault on the free press must end NOW. Journalism is not a crime,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) said in a post on social media after Attalah was initially summed last week.
President Donald Trump, campaigning for Republicans in hotly contested Texas, claimed Tuesday that he was poised to receive “a gift” of 1 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, following what he described as the U.S. takeover of the country.
The big shipment of Venezuelan crude due at a Texas port, however, is not free — but rather, deeply discounted.
The shipment is the first under the contract signed in August between the United States and North American Blue Energy Partners, a firm controlled by the Venezuelan billionaire Alejandro Betancourt. Under the deal, the U.S. has the right to purchase 20 percent of NABEP’s crude at $30 a barrel — or less than a third of the current market price, according to two people familiar with the shipment who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
As part of the U.S. agreement, NABEP secured rights to vast reserves in Venezuela.
The crude arriving Tuesday is set to arrive on two different tankers. Oil experts have said the deal is not expected to have a significant impact on U.S. gas prices.
U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan 3, and Trump has since backed Maduro’s No. 2, Delcy Rodriguez, as interim president. Trump’s words on Tuesday suggested the extent to which the White House is seeking to leverage its influence over oil-rich Venezuela for political benefit at a time of high gas prices amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
“We took over Venezuela very successfully and they’ve sent me as a gift a boatload of a million barrels of oil and I’m going to give that to the United States of America,” Trump told reporters in Texas. He added, “we’re going to accept a million barrels of oil. And I’m going to give it to you people to use it the way you want and oil prices are going to be dropping very sharply very soon.”
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