memeorandum: Midterm special: Key House, Senate and governor races to watch (Axios)

8:10 PM ET, May 29, 2022

Top Items:

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Trump's new obsession — CASPER, Wyo. — DONALD TRUMP has a new target for political attacks and scapegoating: transgender people. — Trump spoke for over 90 minutes at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper on Saturday. It was ostensibly a speech in support of HARRIET HAGEMAN …

Discussion: NPR, Raw Story, CNN, Washington Examiner and Washington Post

U.S. Department of Justice:

Justice Department Statement on the Mass Shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX — The U.S. Department of Justice today released the following statement from spokesman Anthony Coley: — “At the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the U.S. Department of Justice will conduct …

Discussion: NPR, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Axios, Vanity Fair, rbc.ru, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, USA Today, Insider, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Twitchy and Townhall

New York Times:

78 Long Minutes — When families learned that a gunman had entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, at 11:33 a.m. on May 24, a brutal wait began. Police on the scene did not stop the gunman until well over an hour after he walked into the school, raising questions about whether lives …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller and Insider

Associated Press:
Justice Dept. to review response to Texas school shooting

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Metro.co.uk, TMZ.com and WHYY

Maya Shimizu Harris / Casper Star-Tribune:
Trump tells Wyoming to ‘fire’ Cheney

Discussion: Washington Post, Insider, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Cowboy State Daily, Fox News, The Hill, Newsweek, Washington Times, RedState and Bloomberg

Associated Press:
TIMELINE: Texas elementary school shooting, minute by minute

Discussion: Denver Post, NewsNation and KDFX-TV

Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
Biden travels to Texas to meet with families of school shooting victims

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Zandar Versus The Stupid and KDFX-TV

TMZ.com:

Nancy Pelosi's Husband Paul Arrested for DUI in Napa — NANCY PELOSI HUSBAND ARRESTED FOR DUI IN NAPA — EXCLUSIVE — Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was arrested this weekend for DUI ... TMZ has learned. — The House Speaker's spouse was arrested just before midnight Saturday night …

Peter Sblendorio / New York Daily News:

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul arrested for DUI in California — Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, was arrested late Saturday and charged with driving under the influence in California, booking records show. — The arrest was made in Napa County …

Discussion: CBS News, Insider, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, Forbes, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, The Daily Wire, New York Post, Mercury News, Twitchy, ABC7 and Just The News

Axios:

Midterm special: Key House, Senate and governor races to watch — The midterm outlook for House Democrats is so bleak that even members in districts President Biden won by 10 to 15 points are in danger of losing their seats, according to election experts. — Driving the news …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Hill

Steve Benen / MSNBC: Why Rubio's complaint about the NBA and its message on guns matters

Last Positivist / The Sooty Empiric:

A Brief But Angry Post — Today's post is about a thing that frequently makes me angry. This particular blog post is sparked by this piece on the breakdown of a dispute resolution process in a chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. It's worth reading the write up and reflecting on it.

Abigail Adcox / Washington Examiner:

Kinzinger says he is ‘open’ to ban on AR-15 and other gun reforms — Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) indicated his support for gun reform legislation, including raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21, breaking from many of his Republican colleagues. — In the wake of the shooting …

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, Yahoo News, Mercury News, RedState, The Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 5-29-22: Sen. Chris Murphy & Rep. Adam Kinzinger

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Politico and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Michael Powell / New York Times:

What Lia Thomas Could Mean for Women's Elite Sports — Although the number of top transgender athletes is small, the disagreements are profound, cutting to the core of the debate around gender identity and biological sex. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: We can do this better

Ezra Klein / New York Times:

What America Needs Is a Liberalism That Builds — Give this article- - - Read in app — Early in Joe Biden's presidency, Felicia Wong, the president of the liberal Roosevelt Institute, told me that Biden was badly misunderstood. He's been in national politics for decades …

David French / The French Press:

To Do the Right Thing, You Might Have to Die — What does a uniform mean? — It's been years since I've seen Americans so united by grief and fury. The grief is for the 19 children and 2 teachers murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The fury is against the police officers …

Discussion: The Western Journal and Politico

Julie Turkewitz / New York Times:

Colombia Live Updates: Leftist and Right-Wing Populist Head for June Runoff — Two anti-establishment candidates, Gustavo Petro, a leftist, and Rodolfo Hernández, a right-wing former businessman, captured the top two spots in Sunday's presidential election. … Here's what you need to know:

Discussion: Associated Press and Breitbart

Associated Press:

Christian nationalism on the rise in some GOP campaigns — PITTSBURGH (AP) — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise.

Discussion: Raw Story

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Why the press will never have another Watergate moment — Fifty years ago, the nation was gripped by media coverage of Nixon's crimes — and there was no Fox News to tell it to look away. — You'll be hearing a lot about Watergate in the next several weeks, as the 50th anniversary of the infamous June 17 …