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By Daniela Altimari and Andrew Menezes

At 250, America is a nation unsettled.

“American Pride Falls to 25-Year Record Low“ blares the latest Gallup poll. Eight in 10 Americans say the U.S. has moved away from its founding principles, a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found. And just a third of the public believes in the American dream, according to an AP/NORC poll released last month.

Even our birthday celebration is marked by controversy. The renovation of the Reflecting Pool in Washington has been marred by peeling paint and algae blooms. The Great American State Fair on the National Mall has been dogged by poor turnout and empty exhibition booths, spawning 1,000 think pieces. On Saturday, President Donald Trump, who is not known for his unifying rhetoric, will deliver an address on the Mall that might only inflame those divisions. 

Beyond the traditional Republican-Democratic divides are deep rifts within each party. Democrats are still struggling to find their way out of the wilderness following the party’s humbling losses in 2024. Rival factions from the left and the center are battling, and anger at incumbents, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., remains palpable.

Republicans can’t seem to get their legislative agenda through Congress despite having trifecta control of the federal government. Trump, who has remade the GOP in his image, has seen his job approval numbers slide over the past year, and it’s unclear who will lead the party when he exits the White House in January 2029.

For now, the nation’s semiquincentennial hasn’t found its way into too many campaign ads.

Republican Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member running in a key Nebraska swing district, alludes to the milestone in his general election launch video by pondering what our Founding Fathers might think of entrenched members, congressional stock trades and government shutdowns. 

Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, a Marine veteran seeking a battleground House seat in Arizona, struck a more optimistic note in an ad showcasing veterans.    

“America, we serve for you,” says Mendoza as “America the Beautiful” plays in the background.

Starting gate

The fading edge of incumbency: Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette was counting on her decades of experience in Congress to sweep her to victory. But the 15-term House incumbent lost her primary to Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist making her first run for elective office. DeGette isn’t the only House Democrat to fall short this year and at least a dozen other long-established Democrats in safe seats face serious intraparty threats in the coming weeks.

Rocky Mountain rumble: DeGette was not the only Democratic incumbent in Colorado to lose a primary Tuesday. Sen. Michael Bennet came up short in his bid for governor, falling to state Attorney General Phil Weiser. Meanwhile, Manny Rutinel, the more progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for the battleground 8th District, coasted to the party nomination and will next face vulnerable Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. 

SCOTUS rush: The end of the term brought a flurry of Supreme Court opinions, including a pair that have major implications for campaigns, our colleague Michael Macagnone reports. The court overturned a key campaign finance restriction, clearing the way for political parties nationwide to spend unlimited amounts on behalf of candidates in federal elections. And it upheld a Mississippi state law that allows election officials to count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but that arrive up to five days later, turning aside a challenge from Republicans and allowing similar laws in more than two dozen states.

Making history: Rep. Julia Letlow is set to become the first Republican woman elected to the Senate from Louisiana after winning a weekend primary runoff over state Treasurer John Fleming. GOP incumbent Bill Cassidy was eliminated in the first round of voting after finishing third behind Letlow and Fleming. 

A congressman returns: New Jersey Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. returned to Washington this week after an almost four-month-long absence, which he said was a result of him seeking treatment for depression. Our colleague Nina Heller has more.

ICYMI

House endorsements: Maggie’s List, which works to elect Republican women, is backing former White House and congressional aide Bea Valenti in her challenge to Democrat Kathy Castor in Florida’s redrawn 14th District. On the Democratic side, BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has endorsed former Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson in the state’s open 2nd District. And Stop Gun Violence, a gun owner- and sportsman-led gun violence prevention group, rolled out a slate of Democratic House endorsements. The full list is here.

Senate endorsements: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is backing Democratic Rep. Angie Craig for Minnesota’s open Senate seat and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is backing Democratic Sen. Edward J. Markey for reelection in Massachusetts. And in the contentious fight for Michigan’s open Senate seat, each of the main Democrats running picked up a key endorsement.

Detroit Free Press Editorial Board has endorsed state Sen. Mallory McMorrow while The Detroit News Editorial Board is supporting Rep. Haley Stevens. And New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backing former local public health director Abdul El-Sayed.

Heading to the Big D: Republicans will gather in Dallas on Sept. 9-10 for their first-ever midterm convention, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. “It will be a RALLY like none other!” the president added. 

Colorado redistricting: Democratic attempts to redraw Colorado’s congressional map for the 2028 and 2030 elections suffered a blow when the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a series of redistricting-related ballot measures violated the state constitution.

#NMGOV: Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor, has endorsed state Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard as her running mate. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver won the lieutenant governor nomination in the June 2 primary but later dropped out due to health reasons. The State Central Committee of the New Mexico Democratic Party will meet on July 25 to vote on Haaland’s pick, Source NM reported.  

Call me Mr. Mayor? Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley launched his campaign for Chicago mayor over the weekend, joining a growing February 2027 race to take on incumbent Brandon Johnson. Quigley is also seeking reelection to his Chicago-area House seat this fall.

Nathan’s notes

2026 hasn’t been a very good year for members of Congress hoping to get elected governor. But the primaries so far merely serve as opening acts for a series of competitive gubernatorial elections this fall, Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales writes. 

There are slightly more Republican governors in office right now than Democratic ones, 26 to 24, but Democrats currently appear more likely to add to their gubernatorial roster this year, according to Nathan.

What we’re reading

From red to red: The Wall Street Journal traces Colorado’s political shift, from a deeply Republican state to one that has embraced a democratic socialist running for Congress.

Tech influencer: She has Elon Musk’s cell number and she made Mark Zuckerberg sweat. Now celebrity tech journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher is turning her focus to the 2028 election, The Associated Press reports.

There’s always a tweet: Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence is the latest progressive House candidate to see a resurfacing of previously deleted tweets, Semafor reports. Lawrence, who’s in a competitive Democratic primary in Michigan to take on GOP freshman Tom Barrett, says some of those posts are “out of step with what I believe now.”

Dusting off the old playbook: NOTUS looks at how Republicans are trying to replicate Trump’s 2024 turnout operation to help save their majorities in Congress this fall. 

The count: 8

That’s how many sitting members of Congress have managed to overcome the cycle’s anti-Washington sentiment and win statewide primary bids for new roles.

In contrast, 11 members have lost statewide primaries for other offices this year. 

Of the seven incumbents who’ve competed in primaries for governor so far, just two – Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Republican Tommy Tuberville of Alabama – were successful. Sherrill went on to win New Jersey’s general election last year and Tuberville is the prohibitive favorite to be elected Alabama’s next governor.

Of the 11 House members running for the Senate, six have been successful in their primaries so far, all on the Republican side. The latest,  Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow, finished ahead of two opponents who had prior statewide success: state Treasurer John Fleming and incumbent Bill Cassidy. 

In this year’s remaining primaries, 14 members — six Democrats and eight Republicans — are vying for new statewide positions. Two Democrats are running for governor, four for the Senate. Seven Republican members are running for governor, and Wyoming’s at-large House member, Harriet M. Hageman, is looking to switch chambers.

– By Roll Call’s Ryan Kelly

Key race: #MO01

Candidates: Five Democrats are running in the Aug. 4 primary, but the race is primarily a rematch between Rep. Wesley Bell and former Rep. Cori Bush. Bell, the former St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, defeated Bush by 5 points in 2024, after a deluge of anti-Bush ads funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC and other pro-Israel groups.

Why it matters: The 2024 1st District Democratic primary foreshadowed many of the themes dominating this year’s midterms, including the battle between progressives and moderates, spending by pro-Israel super PACs and the rising clout of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Cash dash: Second-quarter campaign finance reports aren’t due until July 15, but at the end of the first quarter filing period, Bush had a negative balance in her account. Bell ended March with $1.2 million on hand. There are also signs that outside money will once again play an outsize role in the race: AIPAC-affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project has made more than $400,000 in ad reservations in its quest to defend Bell, Axios reported.

Backers: Bush has the support of the progressive group Justice Democrats and the St. Louis chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. She was also endorsed by Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a fellow democratic socialist who was also defeated in a 2024 primary. As the incumbent, Bell has the support of House Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. He’s also won the backing of several prominent labor unions, including the Missouri AFL-CIO.

What they’re saying: Bell portrays himself as a progressive fighter with a pragmatic streak and points to his record of delivering federal funding for infrastructure and public safety projects and securing disaster relief following a string of devastating tornadoes last year. Bush, a nurse and pastor, was active in the racial justice movement in Ferguson, Mo., following the killing of Black teenager Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014. She has focused on affordability, public health and ending military aid and arms transfers to Israel.

Terrain: The dark-blue seat is centered on St. Louis and, after mid-decade redistricting, is the only Democratic-leaning district in Missouri. 

Wild card: When she arrived in the House in 2021, Bush joined the progressive  “squad,” a coterie that included Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Should she return to the chamber in 2027, Bush will find a larger block of leftist colleagues following recent wins by DSA-backed candidates in New York and Colorado.

Coming up

On the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will deliver what’s being billed as a major speech Friday in front of the George Washington desk at City Hall. He’s expected to be surrounded by naturalized citizens. Hours later, Trump is scheduled to deliver his America 250 address at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.

Photo finish

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