Politico

Jon Ossoff is fundraising for Georgia Democrats. It’s a bet for his party’s future — and his own. If Democrats win big in November, Ossoff will have cemented a leading role in a key swing state.

The source of Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign ad attack fodder: A guest at his own wedding. Self-published articles from a longtime ally are showing up in the vulnerable Pennsylvania Republican’s attack ads.

Inside Mamdani’s fraught effort to rein in the NYPD unit he pledged to end. POLICING PROBLEMS: In the early days of his administration, Mayor Zohran Mamdani placed a new requirement on the NYPD: The department would have to secure permission from his office to deploy its Strategic Response Group to make arrests at protests. The directive, which hasn’t been previously reported, shows Mamdani sought to exert significant influence over a core function of the police department. Its existence also calls into question why the mayor hasn’t more frequently used that authority to stop the SRG from being deployed at protests.

Democrats are running pastors for office. Republicans are attacking their religious comments. Democratic Senate nominees James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, as well as two key Iowa House nominees, are seeing their remarks on Christianity picked over by the GOP.

Menin’s AI moment. CITY HAL 9000: Amid a mad dash to try to regulate artificial intelligence, City Council Speaker Julie Menin is looking to make her mark. The Manhattan lawmaker is planning to hold a hearing with all 51 members of the legislative body next week, and today confirmed the attendance of four major AI firms to discuss both the dangers the technology poses and a suite of Council bills that seek to protect New Yorkers. “Leading experts and AI executives themselves are warning about the potentially grave risks of rapidly advancing AI,.

ICE operations are making it hard for vulnerable Republicans fighting for their political survival. Immigration enforcement in Kansas, Texas, Florida and beyond is forcing battleground Republicans to answer for the fallout.

Poll: Trump’s MAGA loyalists don’t think he has an affordability problem. A recent POLITICO Poll found that cost of living concerns are reinforcing partisanship divides — and driving a wedge among Republicans.

Trump will hit several deep-red states in October campaign blitz. His visits come as the GOP rushes to shore up their own territory amid sky-high costs, an unpopular Iran war and some backlash to mass deportations.

Poll: A crack is emerging in Trump’s coalition over deportations. The president’s most loyal supporters are more inclined than other Trump voters to support a tough immigration posture — but new POLITICO Poll results show there are limits.

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics. Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.

Gina Hinojosa wants to make Texas a test case for Democrats’ future lead image.

Trump eyes an October campaign rally — in Alabama. The event is scheduled for Oct. 2nd in Mobile, but the plans are still subject to change, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Young men are swinging away hard from Republicans, pessimistic about economy, new poll finds. A new poll shows congressional Democrats with a growing lead among young men, who list cost-of-living issues as their top concern.

NRSC Chair Tim Scott leaves Georgia, North Carolina off his list of top Senate targets. He told Senate Republicans Wednesday that the campaign arm will focus money on other targets including Maine, Ohio, Michigan, Alaska, Texas and New Hampshire.