New TPOR poll: James Talarico up 5 points over Ken Paxton, 49% to 44% But the more interesting number might be the fav/unfav Talarico is +8 at 50/42 Paxton is -15 at 39/54 texaspublicopinionresearch.s…

🚨☀️AM: NEWS: TEXAS PAC, the Senate GOP-linked group, could reach $200M in spending in Texas. GOP private polls mirror the public polls and have Paxton down. SLF “hopes and expects that other partners will help carry the load during the final stretch in Texas.” AKA they want Trump to get off the sidelines and spend tens of millions for Paxton, trumps’s hand picked candidate in the lone star state. link.punchbowl.news/click/47…

👀 👀 Looks like Senate Democrats are about to spend big in Texas to boost James Talarico. A new super PAC incorporated tonight, called Texas Forever, is affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, the Schumer-aligned big-money group. Suffice it to say, this was not done by accident.

News: Shontel Brown is officially launching her bid to be the next top Dem on the House Agriculture Cmte. "This isn’t abstract to me. My family relied on a hand up from SNAP," Brown writes in her Dear Colleague letter>>> punchbowl.news/brown-ag-comm…

🚨BREAKING NEWS: TEXAS PAC, the super PAC run by leadership-backed SLF, will have $100M in TV reservations by tomorrow in the LONE STAR STATE. they are currently at $65M. That means they are adding another $35M plus. @punchbowlnews text subscribers had it first.

More Friday night ad news: @CLFSuperPAC placed a $4.85M buy (!) in Cleveland market AdImpact thinks this is to help Rep Max Miller’s (R) reelection in #OH07 Buy runs from 9/30 to E day

News: @HouseMajPAC is cutting its planned buy in #MI08 — a show of confidence in the reelection of Dem @repkmr The GOP nominee, Tom Smith, dropped out before the Aug primary, but still won the nomination over a Trump-backed candidate

Some news here: leaders of CPC, Blue Dogs + New Dems all oppose a caucus rules change They discussed going to Jeffries as a united front w their opposition but didn’t pan out New Dem Chair Brad Schneider: “I am going to have my conversations 1-on-1 with leadership”

The top 3 House Dem leaders were asked at presser about possibility of kicking Rep MGP off top committees “There is no daylight between the 3 of us” @RepJeffries said of him Katherine Clark/Pete Aguilar Clark has said members who vote for GOP rules shouldn’t sit on A committees

This is a stunning ad from Maria Elvira Salazar, a south Florida House Republican. “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today. You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism. I'm not talking about giving them amnesty. I'm talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”

Gavel wars: Reps Gil Cisneros and Sharice Davids launch bids to be top Dem on the Small Business Committee The current ranking member — Nydia Velazquez — is retiring Cisneros letter: punchbowl.news/signal-2026-0… Davids letter: punchbowl.news/09-16-2026-re…

Gavel watch: Sharice Davids is officially running for the top Dem slot on House Small Business Committee Check out her Dear Colleague letter Gil Cisneros also running punchbowl.news/09-16-2026-re…

Whip Katherine Clark is more pointed in her comments. “In my opinion, we need team players and team players get to sit on exclusive committees” This is hinting at proposed rules changes which would punish caucus rebels

the vote isnt closed, but the rule is losing. the rule would allow russia sanctions legislation to come to the floor. JARED GOLDEN and MARIE GLUESENKAMP PEREZ are yes. They were excoriated by their party last week for this. ANDY HARRIS, TIM BURCHETT and RALPH NORMAN are nos.

New: Michele Tafoya is running for #MNSEN as a moderate R but she supported some high-profile Jan 6 rioters on her podcast She called one her "J6 brother" + said another "really did nothing wrong" Tafoya on J6: “It was not 9/11. It was not Pearl Harbor" punchbowl.news/article/campa…

NEWS from @allymutnick and me: REP. JIM JORDAN pledged $1M to NRCC in a closed party meeting this morning. VP JD VANCE urged House Republicans to open their wallets for the NRCC. DARIN LAHOOD also pledged 500k. BRANDON GILL, running for House Oversight, pledged $1.1M. (@punchbowlnews text subscribers had it first -- duh)

SCOOP: Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) is running for the top Republican spot on the House Oversight Committee. More in Punchbowl AM. punchbowl.news/archive/91526…

Texas PAC, the group SLF is using to play in #TXSEN, has started placing buys $13.7M so far in three markets for Ken Paxton (R)

Trump doubles down on ribbing Ken Paxton (which he says was not on the teleprompter and which aides have begged him not to do): "He may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best looking guy I've ever seen" but adds he was a great AG #TXSen

Now SCOTUS will decide the fate of Rep Emanuel Cleaver (D) and #MO05 If the justices deny the stay, the 7R-1D map will remain for 2026. If they grant it, the 6R-2D map is back