Freshman

Democratic candidate David Jolly and Republican Rep. Byron Donalds outlined contrasting positions ahead of Florida's gubernatorial election. Jolly said he would impose a moratorium on hyperscale data centers on his first day in office, citing health and environmental concerns and polling showing broad voter opposition. Donalds countered that siting decisions belong to local governments under existing law, pledging to guard against utility rate hikes and protect water supplies. On AI, Jolly called for guardrails around job displacement and classroom use, while Donalds argued the technology is already too widespread to regulate away and pointed to space-industry growth as an economic opportunity.

The candidates also diverged on Amendment 3, the property tax relief measure on next month's ballot. Jolly said he plans to vote no, warning it would strip funding from law enforcement, and favors targeted relief such as a homestead exemption for first-time buyers. Donalds backs the amendment, arguing property taxes have surged and that public safety funding is protected. Both campaigns have intensified outreach to Black voters in the closing weeks: Donalds unveiled a coalition of Black leaders and faced pointed questions from students during a visit to Florida A&M University, while Jolly has accused him of pursuing an "anti-Black agenda," citing past votes and remarks. A Donalds win would make him Florida's first Black governor; a Jolly win would end a decades-long Democratic drought in the governor's mansion.

Judith "Judy" G. Bainbridge, the longtime Furman University English professor widely regarded as Greenville, South Carolina's foremost historian, died Sept. 17, 2026, two weeks short of her 90th birthday. A service is planned for Oct. 17 at the Garden Room at Furman Chapel.

Bainbridge joined Furman in 1976 after teaching in Charlotte, later retiring in 2007 but continuing to write. For 22 years she authored a biweekly history column for The Greenville News, producing more than 500 installments between 1999 and 2022, and wrote seven books, including "Greenville's Heritage" and "A Short History of Greenville." Her work frequently linked the city's past to present-day issues, from a 2019 column on the 1918 Spanish flu republished during the COVID-19 pandemic to reporting on the historically Black New Washington Heights neighborhood. Colleagues and former students, including South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Letitia Verdin, credited Bainbridge with shaping careers and correcting long-held myths about Greenville's founding figures and institutions. Mayor Knox White opened a Sept. 28 City Council meeting with a moment of silence in her honor.

Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, sparked bipartisan backlash after posting on social media about Asian American students cheering at a University of Texas football game following a comeback win over Ohio State, calling them "foreigners" and saying they showed how "Americans have been displaced by foreigners." Two students identified in the photo, Dhairya Gupta and Rahul Kodali, said they are U.S. citizens and called the post racist; Gupta said the incident showed racism "isn't looked down upon as much as it used to be." UT Austin enrollment data show international students make up less than 10% of the student body, with Asian students, mostly U.S. citizens or permanent residents, accounting for about 22.4% of enrollment. French has refused to delete the posts, denied regret when asked directly, and said "Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth," using the controversy for fundraising.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn condemned the posts as racist, warning that tolerating such intolerance is "how great political parties self-destruct," and Rep. Dan Crenshaw also criticized French. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and GOP representatives including Jared Patterson, Jeff Leach, Matt Shaheen, and Lacey Hull called on French to delete the posts, while former Speaker Dade Phelan called him "unfit for office." Gov. Greg Abbott said the message wasn't his but stopped short of directly condemning French, instead touting support for freezing H-1B visas at universities; he has since endorsed French, as has Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Attorney General Ken Paxton, facing a Senate primary challenge from Democrat James Talarico, deflected criticism onto Talarico rather than address French's remarks. French previously faced calls to resign as county chair over a poll on Jews versus Muslims.