Skip to content
RollCall logo

Podcasts

Gathering threads: The stories defining the midterm elections

Political Theater, Episode 421

Texas Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido, seen here at a campaign rally in Goliad, Texas, on Sept. 12, is running against Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a district President Donald Trump won easily. The House race is competitive, and a case study for election year dynamics.
Texas Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido, seen here at a campaign rally in Goliad, Texas, on Sept. 12, is running against Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a district President Donald Trump won easily. The House race is competitive, and a case study for election year dynamics. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
By Jason Dick, Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire
Posted September 24, 2026 at 5:41pm

Jason Dick talks with Roll Call campaign writers Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire about their on-the-ground reporting as the midterm general election kicks into high gear; the latest batch of polling in key races; the crazy money being raised and spent; why we’re still not done with redistricting; and what to expect from their forthcoming Most Vulnerable Incumbents list.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Senate Majority Leader John Thune talks with reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. He’s been getting a version of this question a lot: Will you run for leader again?

‘The assumption is yes,’ Thune says of another leadership run

Newly installed fences surround the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Sept. 16. President Donald Trump threatened on Sept. 15 to keep the Kennedy Center closed for good after a judge ruled his name cannot be added onto the famed arts institution's facade.

Appropriators push to protect Kennedy Center from demolition

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., hold a joint news conference in the Capitol on Jan. 8.

Schumer, Jeffries sue to block federal agents at polls in November

Overton appears at her confirmation hearing on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

FDA nominee evasive on abortion pill but firm on vaccine safety

Klomp speaks at the White House on Sept. 30, 2025, with, from left, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and President Donald Trump. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate Finance approves Klomp nomination for HHS deputy

At the Races: Pivot time for Republicans