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Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, has a tough task. As he now runs for the US Senate, he claims to be a reasonable, non-Trump Republican, hoping to win over Democrats and independents in a state Joe Biden won by 33 points in 2020. He repeatedly insists he is a “straight shooter” who eschews “performative politics” and asserts he is “fed up” with politicians who are “more interested in attacking one another than actually getting anything done.” Yet while he casts himself as a sensible moderate who rejects attack-politics-as-usual, Hogan has mounted fierce negative assaults on his Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, the county executive of Prince Georges County.

Outside committees have spent more than $1.2 million on a handful of Colorado legislative races already this election cycle, highlighting the electoral fights that could determine how much power the majority Democrats will have in the Capitol for the next two years. The spending, most of it by party-aligned independent expenditure committees, largely targets nine House races and four Senate races throughout the state.

“This Jay Chen for American Congress, he’s perfect for China,” one agent told his colleague in a smoke-filled room at the “Chinese Communist Party Intelligence Division.” Chen, the agent said in stereotypically accented English, was “a socialist comrade” who supported Bernie Sanders “for supreme leader.” “Sanders loves Mao, Chen loves Sanders,” the other spy said, as the pair erupted in maniacal laughter. The two men were actors in an advertisement for GOP Rep.

The Supreme Court will begin a new term on Monday, in which it is set to hear pivotal cases for transgender rights, for our environment, and for gun violence. But the term’s biggest blockbuster could be a case that not only hasn’t yet been filed, but is still just a concept. That’s because in the next three months, the justices may be asked to inject themselves into the late stages of the 2024 election.

In late August, on the fringes of a press conference outside New York City Hall, a man wearing a “Kill your local pedophile” T-shirt and a “Babies Lives Matter” pin screamed at a transgender woman who had shown up to protest the speeches. “Is it a boy or a girl?” the man yelled at the protester, gripping a rainbow Trump flag in his fists.

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There are battleground states, and then there’s North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump won the state by 1.3 percent in 2020, his lowest margin of victory in any state, and polls now show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris within just 2 percentage points of each other there.