Josh Hawley

Ohio's 2026 governor's race could shape how the state's voter-approved reproductive-rights amendment is implemented, since the governor appoints health officials, directs funding, and decides how vigorously to defend abortion restrictions in court. Democrat Amy Acton supports abortion rights and pledges to protect the 2023 amendment while expanding access to contraception and IVF, though she has offered few policy specifics. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who did not respond to questions, has previously called himself "unapologetically pro-life" and backed six-week abortion bans during his 2024 presidential run, but has not detailed an Ohio agenda. Libertarian Don Kissick opposes both abortion bans and government efforts to expand abortion access, arguing government should stay out of the issue entirely.

San Francisco is retaining its network of more than 400 Flock automated license plate reader cameras, bucking a national trend of cities and states restricting or banning the technology over privacy and accuracy concerns. The city adopted a new policy last month that keeps the cameras active while adding oversight: police must now get supervisor approval and show a connection to an active criminal investigation before searching data older than 30 days.

That national pushback continues to grow. In Springfield, Massachusetts, protesters rallied at City Hall urging the City Council to cancel its Flock Safety contract, joining roughly 30 other Massachusetts communities that have already dropped the company. Critics cite abuse risks, including a documented case of out-of-state police searching a Massachusetts database to track a woman who traveled for an abortion, and fears the system could be used to monitor immigrants or protesters. Springfield police defend the cameras as critical to solving homicides and other serious crimes, citing strict access limits and audit logs.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has defended San Francisco's cameras similarly, pointing to crime declines since 2022. Support traces back to former Mayor London Breed's 2024 rollout and Proposition E. California lawmakers have repeatedly rejected statewide Flock regulations.

The Senate adjourned for a five-week recess until after the midterm elections, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressing confidence Democrats will retake the majority, citing strong candidates and a favorable political climate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans still expect to hold their majority, though likely narrower, given the map favors states Trump carried previously. Democratic strategists remain split between targeting flippable states like Alaska, Ohio, and Iowa versus reach states such as Mississippi and Florida. Separately, Cook Political Report shifted its Florida and Texas governor's races toward Democrats, now rating both Lean Republican rather than safer categories, citing Trump's weak approval ratings and a difficult midterm environment for the GOP, though Republicans remain favored in both pricey, traditionally red states.

Other developments: a bipartisan Senate permitting reform deal faces resistance in the House, where Democrats say they'd rather wait until after the election to negotiate from a stronger position. House Judiciary's Jamie Raskin asked federal watchdogs to probe taxpayer-funded Trump administration TV ads ahead of the midterms. Schumer also said he'll push AI safety legislation next year, with some Republican support, while Third Way unveiled a Supreme Court reform platform featuring 18-year term limits and an ethics code, aiming to shape Democratic discourse through 2028.

A survivor of the May tornado that struck St. Louis's Ville neighborhood traveled to Capitol Hill this week to lobby lawmakers for federal disaster recovery funding, as the city says it still needs roughly $1 billion to rebuild. Michael McLemore, whose neighborhood has seen widespread demolition of damaged homes, joined disaster survivors from 11 states as part of the advocacy group Rebuild, pushing for money through HUD's Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program, which has not received new appropriations since the end of 2024.

Sen. Josh Hawley has separately urged a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to unlock funding for the program, saying St. Louis and other Missouri communities need it. City officials, including chief recovery officer Julian Nicks, say the funds are essential to rebuilding lost rental and residential housing. Advocates warn housing instability will worsen as winter approaches, and are urging Congress not to let North St. Louis's long-term recovery needs be forgotten.