Mississippi’s 4th District House Race: Who Will Win?

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a retiring moderate who has often broken with his party, endorsed Republican Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) in a Monday op-ed published in The Journal News. Lawler is facing a competitive reelection race against Democrat Cait Conley in a swing district considered pivotal to Democrats' chances of retaking the House majority in November.

Golden praised Lawler for backing legislation that benefits Maine's lobster industry by delaying certain environmental regulations, despite the bill offering Lawler no political upside with his own constituents. Golden framed the endorsement as a statement about the value of bipartisanship, urging voters everywhere to support lawmakers willing to work across party lines. The cross-party endorsement is notable given the high stakes of the House battle, where control could hinge on a handful of competitive districts like Lawler's.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has moved South Carolina's Senate race to "lean Republican" from "likely Republican" and Mississippi's to "likely Republican" from "solid Republican," citing candidate quality and Democrats' broader push into red territory. Democrats are backing the shift with money: the Senate Majority PAC announced a $1.2 million ad buy in Mississippi attacking incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, boosting Democratic nominee Scott Colom. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews is challenging appointed Sen. Darline Graham. Both races remain steep climbs for Democrats given past Republican margins, but the ratings change adds two more contests to the list Republicans must defend amid economic headwinds ahead of the midterms.

Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney from Columbus, Mississippi, is challenging GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in November's election, aiming to become the state's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction and its first Democratic senator since 1982. Mississippi has leaned heavily Republican in recent presidential races, but Colom, who won the Democratic primary in March, is pitching a faith-based message on wages, health care, and jobs to attract Black voters and a share of white support. His campaign has drawn high-profile backing, including an ad from Barack Obama and a Jackson rally appearance and fundraising push from Raphael Warnock. The race will be decided November 3.

CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and Politico filed a joint lawsuit against the Trump administration after their reporters' White House press credentials were disabled over the weekend, calling the move an illegal "viewpoint discrimination" violating the First Amendment. Trump had announced he was barring the outlets over coverage he called "fake news," and reporters from all three organizations were turned away and had their badges deactivated on Saturday.

CNN was also removed from its rotating pool duties covering the president, and the broader TV pool said no replacement would cover presidential events in its place. The White House countered that access is "a privilege, not a right," while Vice President JD Vance called the outlets' coverage "far-left propaganda" and said the ban did not restrict their ability to report. Trump defended the move on Truth Social as targeting "fake news" rather than a free press he claims to "cherish." The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, follows similar litigation by the Associated Press over prior access restrictions. Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson is so far the only Republican lawmaker to publicly criticize the ban, though Mediaite reports others privately call it problematic.

Cleveland City Council voted 13-1 on Sept. 14 to adopt a resolution renaming a stretch of Lake Erie along the city's shoreline the "Gulf of Cleveland," a tongue-in-cheek response to President Trump's push to rename bodies of water, including his recent declaration that Lake Ontario would be called Lake America. The resolution, sponsored by Councilman Kris Harsh, directs city departments to use the new name on official maps and documents for the portion of the lake extending two miles offshore.

Cleveland's move echoes similar, mostly unsuccessful efforts elsewhere. Mississippi lawmaker Steve Holland proposed a satirical "Gulf of America" bill in 2012, years before Trump's own Gulf of Mexico renaming directive; it died in committee. West Virginia tried unsuccessfully in 2000 to rename part of the Ohio River the "West Virginia River." Pennsylvania State Rep. David Maloney is now circulating a memo — not framed as satire — proposing "Lake Pennsylvania" for Lake Erie, citing state identity and tourism. None of these renaming efforts carry legal weight beyond local or state symbolic use.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine attended the funeral of Pierre Damas Bel, a young Haitian man in Springfield who died by suicide in August after his family said he was bullied for wearing an immigration ankle monitor. DeWine, who lost his own daughter in a 1993 car crash, met privately with Bel's family and praised Bel as hard-working and emblematic of the American dream, saying "we needed him."

Bel arrived in Ohio in 2023 under Temporary Protected Status, graduated from Springfield High School, and was preparing to attend Wright State University when fitted with the monitor, which he said drew bullying and accusations of criminality. Pastor Carl Ruby compared his death to Emmett Till's, and Haitian Bridge Alliance co-founder Guerline Jozef said Bel "was killed by the system."

The funeral coincided with a Trump campaign rally nearby. The Trump administration ended TPS for Haitians this summer following a Supreme Court ruling, affecting roughly 340,000 Haitians nationally, including about 15,000 in Springfield.
Ohio Gov. DeWine mourned Haitian immigrant Pierre Damas Bel, whose death spotlighted bullying tied to ankle monitors and TPS policy.