Democrats

Key Facts President Trump’s approval rating has hit a new low for his term, according to polls released on October 18 by the Washington Post, NBC News and Axios, with multiple independent surveys pointing in the same direction. Negative sentiment is rising simultaneously across three tracks — economic anxiety, foreign-policy disagreement and dissatisfaction with government operations — handing Democrats a clear edge in the midterms. Open discussion of the polling outlook has begun inside the Republican Party, and several congressional campaigns are being forced to shift resources from an expansionary footing to a more defensive mobilisation strategy. ...

A Virginia court has struck down the state’s congressional redistricting plan, delivering a significant blow to Democratic efforts to gain electoral advantage through map redrawing. The court ruled that the plan violated state constitutional provisions regarding district boundaries. The decision could affect Virginia’s representation in Congress and have far-reaching implications for the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats had hoped to redraw districts to increase their House of Representatives delegation, but the court’s ruling has derailed those plans. Republicans welcomed the decision as a victory for electoral fairness. ...

Veteran Senator Sherrod Brown won the Democratic Senate nomination in Ohio, setting up a key battleground Senate race.