Economic dissatisfaction is at highest level since 2010, signaling trouble for House Democrats
People walk past a ballot drop-off sign outside the Allegheny County Clerk’s Office building on the eve of the US midterm elections in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 2022.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Americans are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the US economy at levels not seen before a midterm election since 2010, according to a new NBC News poll released over the weekend.
The latest survey found that 81% of respondents were somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the state of the economy, while only 19% were satisfied.
The dismal economic outlook could have big repercussions for Democrats on Election Day. The last time Americans were this unhappy with the economy before an election was in 2010, when 84 percent of voters told pollsters they were dissatisfied with the American economy.
That year, Republicans won 63 seats in the House, the largest party swing since the late 1940s.
Heading into Election Day, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has called 36 House seats a tossup, 26 of them held by Democrats and just 10 by Republicans. Another 15 Democratic-held seats in the House are considered competitive, but lean toward the Democrat.
– Christina Wilkie
Man throws beer can at Sen. Ted Cruz during World Series victory parade, police say
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign event for Neil Parrott, Republican candidate for Maryland’s 6th congressional district, in Frederick, Md., Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. Parrott is challenging Democratic Rep. David Throne, D-Md.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who is not running for re-election this year, was hit with a can of beer while participating in a World Series victory parade for the Houston Astros, police said.
A purported video of the incident shows Cruz, standing in the cockpit of a military vehicle, raising his arm and trying to move out of the way as a can sails toward him from the screen. The can appears to bounce off the senator’s body, at which point another man in the truck appears to point law enforcement in the direction from where the can was thrown.
Before the incident, videos show Cruz being booed loudly by crowds on the street for the Astros’ victory parade, echoing weeks earlier when Cruz was booed and booed by baseball fans at Yankee Stadium.
Houston police said Monday afternoon they arrested a 33-year-old man who “threw a beer can at US Sen. Ted Cruz while the senator was in a cart in the 2400 block of Smith St.”
“Beer may hit Senator in chest/neck area. Senator did not require medical attention,” police said on Twitter.
The alleged can thrower was taken to jail and charged with assault, according to department tweets.
– Kevin Breuninger
Oregon votes on stricter gun laws, the only ballot measure nationwide that addresses gun violence
Oregon voters will determine Tuesday whether to pass stricter gun laws, the only ballot measure nationwide that addresses gun violence.
The gun control initiative, which critics say is the “most extreme” in the country, requires people to obtain permits and complete safety training to acquire a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines and calls for the State Police to create and maintain a searchable database of gun ownership.
Supporters, including gunshot survivors in the state and across the country, say Oregon Measure 114 is needed to reduce gun injuries and deaths.
Read more from NBC News.
— NBC News
Nancy Pelosi reveals how she learned of a brutal attack on her husband
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds her weekly news conference with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 14, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned her husband Paul Pelosi had been brutally attacked last week when Capitol Police officers knocked on her door at 5 a.m., she revealed in a new interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“I look up, I see it’s 5, they must be in the wrong apartment,” Pelosi recalled thinking. But the banging continued, “bang, bang, bang, bang, bang on the door,” he said.
“So I run to the door, and I’m really scared. I see the Capitol Police and they say, ‘We have to come in and talk to you,'” Pelosi explained.
“And I’m thinking that my children, my grandchildren. I never thought it would be Paul because, you know, I knew he wouldn’t come out here, let’s say. And so they came in. At that time, we didn’t even know where was,” he said.
Paul Pelosi was attacked on October 28 by a hammer-wielding intruder who had broken into the couple’s home in San Francisco. Police arrived at 2:31 a.m., and Paul Pelosi was taken to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery to repair a fractured skull.
US Capitol Police first learned of the attack when they noticed patrol cars and sirens in a live broadcast from Pelosi’s home on monitors at the Washington headquarters.
— Christina Wilkie
Some of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s top donors are privately sounding the alarm over GOP candidate Lee Zeldin’s surge
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a New York Women’s Get Out The Vote rally ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections in Manhattan, New York on November 3, 2022.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Some of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s top donors are privately panicking over Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin’s recent surge in the polls ahead of Tuesday’s legislative session, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Republican, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has trailed Hochul by single digits in some recent polls, prompting the governor’s corporate backers to push him to change tactics, these people said.
In early October, Hochul led Zeldin by an average of 14 percentage points, according to data from FiveThirtyEight, which aggregates data from several polls. RealClearPolitics, which analyzed several polls conducted in the second half of October, showed Zeldin closing in on Hochul, who was up an average of 6 percentage points. A mid-October Quinnipiac poll showed an even smaller lead for Hochul, who was ahead of Zeldin by just 4 percentage points at the time.
Business leaders have encouraged Hochul in private meetings, including one with top real estate executives in late October in New York City, not to focus on the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and other social issues. They, instead, have advised him to show how he will fight inflation and a recent rise in crime in the city, said relatives of the talks.
– Brian Schwartz
Pelosi says her decision on whether to retire from Congress will be affected by the attack on her husband
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 29, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the brutal home invasion and attack on her husband Paul Pelosi by a conspiracy theorist will affect her decision on whether to step down.
The formidable Democrat from California has led the Democratic Party in the House for nearly 20 years. But with Republicans expected to win a majority of seats on Tuesday, even before the attack there had been widespread speculation that Pelosi, 82, would decide to retire before handing the gavel to the current leader of the Republican minority, Kevin McCarthy.
In her first major interview since the Oct. 28 attack, Pelosi did not confirm whether she has made a decision about her potential retirement. But he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that his “decision will be affected by what happened in the last week or two.”
“Will your decision be affected in any way by the attack?” Cooper asked.
“Yes,” Pelosi replied.
“Is going to?” Cooper reiterated.
“Yes,” Pelosi repeated.
– Christina Wilkie
The DOJ announces it will monitor polls in 24 states during the midterm elections
The Justice Department announced it will monitor polls across the country to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws, just a day before midterm elections that could realign the majority party in Congress.
The department’s Civil Rights Division selected 64 jurisdictions in 24 states, including Alaska, Florida, Georgia and Nevada, for oversight of both general elections and early voting. The division has routinely monitored field elections, beginning with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Staff from the US Attorney’s offices and the Office of Personnel Management will assist DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in overseeing efforts and maintaining contact with state and local election officials.
Poll monitoring is part of the division’s mission to protect the civil right to vote under the Voting Rights Act, the Alien and Uniformed Citizen Absentee Voting Act, the National Registration Act voters, the Help America Voting Act, civil rights laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the DOJ.
— Chelsey Cox
‘No specific credible threats’ against Americans on Election Day, White House says
Americans should not be concerned about their safety on Election Day, and the Biden administration has not been informed of any “specific credible threats,” White House press secretary Karine said. Jean-Pierre.
“Law enforcement has informed us that there are no specific credible threats at this time,” Jean-Pierre said at the White House press conference. “Americans should feel safe going to the polls. It’s important that they do.”
President Joe Biden has repeatedly condemned threats of political violence ahead of the midterm elections and in the wake of the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
“It remains important for the president to state firmly and unequivocally that violence has no place in our democracy,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that Biden believes leaders of both parties have a duty to.. .