Politalking US 
In brief: Two recent national polls, a year apart and from different pollsters, both find term limits for Congress backed by more than three-quarters of Democrats and more than four-fifths of Republicans. A constitutional amendment to do it has been introduced in the current Congress. It has not moved, for the same reason every version … Read more
In brief: Two independent national polls fielded since April 2025 both find majority support in both parties for banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, with Republican support ranging from 58 to 83 percent and Democratic support from 61 to 70 percent depending on question wording. No ban is law as of this writing. … Read more
Reading When a new government policy gets challenged in court, the fight rarely ends with one judge’s ruling. It moves through a series of steps, each with its own name and its own effect, and understanding those steps helps explain why a policy can be “blocked,” then “unblocked,” then blocked again within a matter of … Read more
The EPA has proposed eliminating a longstanding federal requirement that states notify the public and take comments before issuing air pollution permits for data centers and other industrial facilities. States could still choose to offer public comment on their own, but the agency would no longer require it as a condition of an approved state … Read more
The Justice Department issued a new legal opinion this week requiring every agency in a state, not just the ones that run welfare programs, to report undocumented immigrants to federal immigration authorities if the state accepts certain federal aid. The opinion applies to states that participate in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security … Read more
Missouri’s Supreme Court unanimously blocked the state from using a Republican-drawn congressional map in November, ruling that voters must first get a chance to approve or reject it at the ballot box. Because that referendum can’t happen before Election Day, the map Missouri used before 2025 stays in effect for this year’s midterms instead. The … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. New Mexico’s 2nd District is one of 23 House seats nationally that Democrats are defending in territory Trump carried in 2024, and it is the only genuinely competitive district … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. Ohio’s 9th District, the “snake by the lake” seat that runs from Toledo to Sandusky, is held by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history, but a … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. Ohio’s 13th District, anchored in Akron, tells almost the opposite redistricting story from the state’s 9th District. The same Ohio Redistricting Commission map that made Marcy Kaptur’s seat more … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. Texas’s 34th District, running along the Rio Grande Valley and Coastal Bend to Brownsville, was one of five Democratic-held seats Texas Republicans targeted in a mid-decade redistricting pushed by … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. Maine’s 2nd District has been described by analysts as the most Republican-leaning district held by a Democrat anywhere in the country, and it is now open for the first … Read more
Why This Race Matters This overview reflects information available as of September 4, 2026. Candidates, polling, and endorsements may change before Election Day on November 3. North Carolina’s 1st District is the state’s only toss-up House race, and it exists in its current form because Republican state lawmakers redrew it in 2025 specifically to make … Read more
