Welcome to Friday the 16th, and 18 days out.

Early voting is well underway across the country and is about to begin in even more states. The last major fundraising disclosures were due yesterday, and James Talarico’s record-breaking $64 million haul was the big news of the day.

Troy Jackson in Maine out-raised his Republican opponent incumbent Senator Susan Collins. Jackson brought in a whopping $20.4 million to Collins’ $3.9 million. Collins’ haul is lower than some House candidates. We’ll have a full rundown and analysis on Monday. 

What I’m more interested in as we hit the final two weeks is who is going where. Namely two former presidents and progressive patriarch. 

Barack Obama is hitting the trail, stopping in Ohio to support Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, the Dems running for U.S. Senate and Governor, respectively. You can read Kim Lyons’ brief about the rally at The Caucus. Obama is also scheduled to go to Michigan and campaign with Dr. Abdul el-Sayed in his run for U.S. Senate and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for Governor. Obama also was in Texas way back in May with Talarico and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa.

Bill Clinton is going to Florida to campaign with Republican-turned-Democrat David Jolly, who is running for Governor in a tighter-than-expected race against Congressman Byron Donalds. Donalds has led in every poll, except for one that had them in a tie.

Senator Bernie Sanders, on the other end of the Left’s spectrum, is taking his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour to the Sunshine State to go on the road with progressive candidate for U.S. Senate Angie Nixon. No word yet on if they four will ever link up. But as completely insane as that green room conversation would be, I’m not counting on a group picture happening.

Sanders then heads west to Texas, which starts early voting Monday. Stops include El Paso and Houston with Beto O’Rourke and Congressman Greg Casar, and Amarillo. Talarico has indicated he won’t be joining any of the Vermont senator’s rallies. 

Clinton and Obama have served their two full terms as POTUS; Sanders, now the age of 85, is unlikely to mount yet another run for the Oval Office in 2028, but he’s still the patriarch of the far-left wing of the party. His heir apparent AOC is also hitting her own stops. 

The next two weeks are all about getting out the vote. The very few voters left undecided will be up for grabs, but this late in the game if the deluge of TV ads and mail pieces haven't convinced them yet, it’s anyone's guess who they vote for. So the primary work is mobilizing voters who don’t turn out every election but only vote for one party when they do. If there was ever a time for candidates to call in their chit with the big dogs, now is the time.

Be sure to join The Caucus to get the latest on who is where and what early voting numbers start looking like. Have a great weekend! 

— Jake Rakov

When the election cycle started, most pundits called the U.S. Senate race in Texas a reach, and almost no one gave the party a shot at winning the governor’s office for the first time in 36 years. But then State Rep. Gina Hinojosa decided to run against three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, whose closest win came in 2022 when he beat former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke by nearly 11 points.

Hinojosa looks poised to not only get much closer, but could even win. The Caucus rates the race as R Advantage, just one step up from Toss Up. This week we ran an exclusive Q&A with the rising Democratic star, who has a Day 1 plan that most Texans would like if they give her a chance.

Read Jake Rakov’s full Q&A with Hinojosa at The Caucus.

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