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The crisis of pro-Nazi ideology coursing through the conservative movement has grown so dire that it has even alarmed some Republicans into speaking out.

Just last week, Vice President JD Vance was asked about this crisis during a meeting with Jewish Republicans and he tried to deflect, baselessly claiming that immigrants and their “ethnic hatreds” were somehow responsible for rising antisemitism among white Americans.

In reality, the Trump administration has become a safe haven for people — men, in particular — known for associations with Nazism. The latest example is that of Nate Hochman, who is perhaps best known as the staffer who was let go from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign after his promotion of a video with Nazi imagery.

The New York Times tracked Hochman’s trajectory after his 2023 firing, as he went from a right-wing advocacy group to a gig working for a bigotry-spewing Senate Republican, Missouri’s Eric Schmitt — and, more recently, to a top role within the State Department.

According to the Times:

But Mr. Hochman’s career was not over. Within a year, he was making videos with America 2100, a right-wing advocacy group with ties to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Then came a stint working for a Republican senator on Capitol Hill.

This year, Mr. Hochman took a position as a senior aide to one of the most powerful figures in the federal government. He joined the State Department under Mr. Rubio and now works as deputy director of the agency’s policy planning office. According to Mr. Hochman’s email signature, he is also Mr. Rubio’s chief speechwriter.

Mr. Hochman did not respond to a request for comment.

“Nate Hochman is a trusted and key member of the department who has worked tirelessly to advance the president’s foreign policy agenda,” Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement.

By the State Department’s own admission, Hochman is key in helping effectuate the Trump regime’s bigoted foreign policy agenda. And Hochman isn’t the only such example within this administration.

Paul Ingrassia, for example, remains a top lawyer at the General Services Administration despite saying he has a “Nazi streak.” And Peyton Rollins was reportedly hired as a key communications official for the Department of Homeland Security, at age 21, after producing social media posts for the Labor Department that mirrored white supremacist rhetoric and Nazi imagery.

Yet, conservatives are the ones attempting to portray liberals as extremist ideologues.

Federal agencies providing safe harbor to such employees is a crisis that GOP officials should have to answer for. In a just world: Under oath. At the ballot box. And in the media as well.

I long for a media environment where conservative lawmakers are asked to disabuse the literal Nazism linked to Trump officials like these — people with actual power over government policy — with the same ferocity that liberals get asked to disabuse the views of, say, podcaster Hasan Piker or some members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Because we’re witnessing a real crisis of extremist ideology, not a theoretical one, finding a home in the federal government.

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Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., said Tuesday that credible complaints of inappropriate behavior “must be fully examined and addressed” following reports that her administration is conducting an internal investigation into alleged misconduct by Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell.

In her statement, which did not mention Caldwell by name, Sherrill said she demands “that everyone in my administration hold themselves to the highest standards and put their obligations to public service first” and that she will “take appropriate action quickly” if the evidence warrants it.

A spokesperson for Sherrill confirmed to MS NOW that the governor’s statement was issued in response to reports of the probe into Caldwell’s alleged misconduct. The spokesperson declined to answer additional questions.

The New Jersey Globe first reported news of the investigation into Caldwell on Friday. The probe has focused on “alleged in appropriation behavior with women and possible ethics violations that include the purported offer of state jobs,” according to the outlet, citing anonymous sources “outside the governor’s office.” Those sources also stated that former state Attorney General Christopher Porrino has been leading the inquiry.

Caldwell and Porrino did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s inquiries on Tuesday.

Caldwell, who also serves as secretary of state, was elected alongside Sherrill last November. He also serves as a Methodist pastor and most recently served as president of Centenary University in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

State Republican leadership has called for Caldwell’s resignation.

Jesse Rodriguez contributed to this report.

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One of the more dramatic differences between Donald Trump’s first and second terms is his territorial ambitions. After having said effectively nothing about this on the campaign trail in 2024, the president spent much of 2025 emphasizing his desire to annex Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Gaza Strip.

In 2026, he’s gone much further.

In recent months the Republican has begun treating Venezuela as a colony and promoting online images that have raised the specter of the South American country becoming a U.S. state. Trump has also recently boasted that the U.S. has “essentially taken over” Iran, after publishing similar content to social media about the Middle Eastern foe also becoming a U.S. state.

This dovetailed with the American president publishing a list of what he considered U.S. territories — a list that included Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, both of which are sovereign.

Over the holiday weekend, Trump went further still, using his platform to impose an American flag over an even larger part of the planet.

Trump posts a map depicting the US conquering the entirety of North America

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-09-07T16:46:45.882Z

Under this vision, the United States would include Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, much of Central America, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the rest of the Caribbean.

The image did not go unnoticed abroad. In fact, Icelandic officials summoned the U.S. ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, for an official meeting on Monday to remind him that the Arctic nation is independent and would remain so in the future. (Long told an unfortunate “joke” about Iceland becoming an American state earlier this year, which made Trump’s online map that much more notable.)

There was related pushback from officials in Mexico and Denmark, both of which are U.S. allies.

There’s no reason to assume the White House will actually try to acquire any or all of these countries, even as Trump appears to have wandered into yet another international incident of his own making for no reason whatsoever.

As for the Republican’s apparent interest in empire, I have some bad news for Americans who voted for the GOP ticket in 2024 because they were moved by Trump’s vows of a foreign policy rooted in restraint and non-interventionism.

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When the polls close in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, the primary season will unofficially be over.

A few primaries remain, including Rhode Island’s competitive governor’s race on Wednesday, but both parties will have chosen their nominees for the races that will determine control of Congress.

Since the primaries kicked off in earnest in early March, strategists from both parties and independent analysts have pored over results looking for answers. But every theory has proved only provisional.

Are Democrats facing a Tea Party movement of their own? Not exactly. Are voters concerned about older politicians? Sometimes.

Still, the primaries offered some clear lessons about how voters are responding to President Donald Trump and national Democratic leaders, the role age can play and the unusual map that awaits in November.

Trump put himself on the ballot

Facing a tough midterm environment, some presidents might have stepped back and let candidates run their own races. Not Trump. His endorsements helped unseat two Republican Senate incumbents — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and gave every other GOP candidate reason to seek his approval or fear a similar fate. Now, even as some Republicans quietly scrub his name from their websites for the general election, Trump is staging an unprecedented midterm convention built around two speeches of his own.

Democratic voters did not take orders from D.C.

National Democrats had clear preferences as the primaries began. Party leaders rallied behind Haley Stevens in Michigan, Angie Craig in Minnesota and a string of House candidates the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee considered better bets for November. But in several of the year’s most closely watched contests, voters went with someone else. Although sometimes that meant a more liberal pick, it was hardly a progressive revolt. Sometimes, as in Wisconsin, Democratic voters chose the more moderate candidate backed by party leaders. But voters made clear it was their choice to make.

Age was a concern, but not a deal breaker

Americans broadly support the idea of putting a maximum age limit for members of Congress. But the primaries showed that age alone was not disqualifying. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, 80, beat a younger challenger in Massachusetts, as did Reps. Bennie Thompson, Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch. But younger challengers prevailed when they were able to make a broader case for generational change, as Luke Bronin did with Rep. John Larson and Melat Kiros did with Rep. Diana DeGette. On the Republican side, the highest-profile incumbent losses were more about loyalty to Trump than age.

Democrats shifted tactics on gerrymandering

For years, many Democratic-led states have pursued reforms intended to curb gerrymandering, while the GOP has generally been less interested. But Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting in Republican-controlled states prompted a shift in Democratic strategy. The party still opposes gerrymandering in principle, but it has become more willing to support counter-maps meant to offset a Republican advantage in another state. California voters approved a new map explicitly designed to counter the Texas GOP redraw. And in Virginia, a poll found that voters narrowly backed a Democratic-backed map even though many also said it was unfair.

The Senate map is still hard for Democrats

An already difficult Senate map grew more complicated when Democratic senators in Michigan and New Hampshire announced their retirements. To win a majority, Democrats need a net gain of four seats, requiring them to hold those open seats, defend Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia and flip several Republican-held seats. The primaries produced an unusual map in which toss-ups include Texas, where Democrats haven’t won a Senate race since 1988; and Ohio, where former Sen. Sherrod Brown is seeking a comeback. But even a strong November would most likely leave Democrats with only a narrow majority.

This is a preview of MS NOW’s Project 47 Newsletter. As President Trump continues implementing his ambitious agenda, get expert analysis on the administration’s latest actions and how others are pushing back sent straight to your inbox every Tuesday. Sign up now.

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In recent decades, federal agencies have sometimes utilized polygraph tests as part of a background-check process for applicants seeking sensitive positions, but the idea of using them more broadly to crack down on media leaks is unprecedented.

At least, it was.

In the spring, MS NOW reported that FBI Director Kash Patel has ordered the polygraphing of more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail, as well as other staff, as part of an apparent panic about alleged leakers among his team. There was a similar controversy late last year about the use of polygraphs at the Department of Homeland Security.

But to fully appreciate the scope of these efforts, look no further than the Pentagon. The New York Times reported:

U.S. government investigators have taken the extraordinary step of subjecting roughly 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, including about how the Iran war has created a shortage of crucial munitions, according to officials briefed on the move.

The investigators asked military officers and civilian employees on the Joint Staff if they disclosed classified information to members of the press, and about whether they provided information about diminished U.S. munitions stocks.

The Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that the polygraph tests were conducted last month in the wake of multiple reports about “diminished stocks of crucial munitions” as a result of the war with Iran. (The White House has repeatedly suggested those reports were false, though the search for leakers suggests it was the denials that were actually untrue.)

To be sure, there have been reports for months about the Defense Department utilizing polygraphs more broadly, but it’s worth appreciating just how unusual these circumstances are. Indeed, the Times explained, “The scope of the investigation is without parallel. Mass polygraph tests have never been administered to the top ranks of the U.S. military in modern history.”

The article quoted Rear Adm. Donald J. Guter, a retired top judge advocate general for the Navy, who added, “I’ve never seen polygraphs employed this broadly or at this seniority level. In my experience, it’s unprecedented.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had already earned a reputation for creating a culture of fear at the Pentagon. There’s fresh evidence that the hapless Cabinet secretary is making matters worse.

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The Trump administration wants to hear nothing about the public’s opposition to data center protests. Indeed, it has proposed to gut a critical portion of the Clean Air Act requiring states to notify the public about applications for air pollution permits from alleged “minor” industrial sources. Instead of those notifications and opportunities for public comments on applications remaining mandatory, they would be completely up to an individual state.

The proposal making public comments optional is one in a suite of actions proposed in recent months by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to allow unfettered construction of data centers fueled by the artificial intelligence boom.

Zeldin proposes to let data centers start construction even before receiving pollution permits to meet the Trump administration’s goal of making the United States the “AI capital of the world.”

Zeldin proposes to exempt data centers that purport to generate their own electricity from accountability for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions under the Acid Rain Program. He also proposes to let data centers start construction even before receiving pollution permits to meet the Trump administration’s goal of making the United States the “AI capital of the world.”

None of this is surprising. Zeldin continues his feckless plunge from the EPA nominee who at his Senate confirmation hearing said climate change is real to a Trump puppet who repealed the landmark finding that carbon dioxide, methane and other global warming gases endanger public health. After that repeal, he spoke before the climate-denying Heartland Institute to “celebrate vindication” of the Trump administration’s rollbacks of federal environmental policies related to global warming.  

Zeldin’s level of tone-deafness is rivaling that of his boss. Just as Trump’s Iraq quagmire is sabotaging his “Day One” promise to fix inflation, Zeldin’s actions are likely only to inflame the passions that have made data centers the one environmental issue uniting communities across party lines: from the bluest parts of New England and the West Coast to the reddest parts of the deep South and Midwest.

Zeldin calls data centers a “minor source” of pollution, reportedly in the same league as a gas station or a laundromat. Put that in the Trojan horse department. The World Resources Institute says that a single average data center in 2024 took up the space of 450 football fields. A current AI data center uses the power needed to light up 100,000 homes. The noise involved in the construction and the roar of operations can harm human health by raising blood pressure, stress levels and causing sleep deprivation.

Then there’s water and air. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute says the daily water consumption of a large data center can be up to five million gallons, equivalent to towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. There is growing scientific evidence that emissions of fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from gas-fired turbines and backup diesel generators will contribute to higher rates of asthma and untold overall health costs.

A Harvard School of Public Health study said that just one data center in Virginia, which currently has the most data centers in the nation at nearly 700, is responsible for between $53 million and $99 million in annual health damages from associated air pollution and between 3.4 to 6.5 premature deaths a year in the affected area.

A Harvard School of Public Health study said that just one data center in Virginia is responsible for between $53 million and $99 million in annual health damages from associated air pollution.

Author Michael Cork said his study demonstrated that “when large data centers use fossil fuel turbines for power in populated areas, even modest increases in air pollution can have real health consequences.” Cork said the findings were also important because, outside of academic efforts such as his, data center air pollution permitting is occurring “without any clear accounting of their public health costs—and that gap means health damages are systematically left out of these important decisions.”

Such accountability is precisely what Zeldin is trying to eliminate, a year and a half after pledging in his Senate confirmation hearing that the EPA would be “transparent and accountable to Congress and the public.” Actually, it is overkill. Data center developers need little help from Zeldin as they are quite successful on their own in negotiating secretly with local politicians and sealing their lips with nondisclosure agreements.

Developers promise economic development before the public can consider the environmental and energy effects and the relatively miniscule level of permanent employment for “factories” 450 football fields in size. Large data centers can employ roughly 25 to 150 permanent workers, according to Business Insider, while Brookings puts the figure at 100 to 200. Workers in data center communities see overall “little gain,” Brookings said, as area wages are unaffected while home prices rise. 

The playbook is so easy to understand, the public gets it and is taking matters into its own hands. A nationwide day of action this summer against data centers claimed 142 protests in 42 states. The U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker is currently showing more than 650 active or proposed local moratoriums across 44 states, especially on hyperscale projects.

The website Data Center Watch claims that the first quarter of 2026 saw a record grassroots victory of 75 data center project delays or cancellations worth $130 billion. Even in Texas, another data center behemoth, Gov. Greg Abbott has paused data center build-outs until the state can better audit grid connectivity.

A July Politico poll found that support for data centers among Trump voters has dropped from 45% to 34% over the past six months.

Such is the rise in opposition to data centers in one’s backyard that several polls, including a new Economist/YouGov survey, are finding majority opposition by Republicans. A July Politico poll found that support for data centers among Trump voters has dropped from 45% to 34% over the past six months.

A Brookings analysis last month predicts that data centers could be an important issue in the fall midterm elections, saying, “With income inequality at record levels, billionaires maintaining close relationships with political leaders, and tech firms paying relatively low tax rates, a ‘techlash’ is building that poses substantial risks both for AI and data centers.” As an example of the critical eye that even some conservatives are casting on data centers, a Virginia Republican activist told The American Prospect Magazine, “I don’t care if President Trump is pushing it. I don’t want it. I don’t care if Biden is pushing it. It’s bad for our communities. They take our water, they take our power. They give us no jobs.”

Zeldin can do all the streamlining he wants to create a glide path for data centers. Across the nation, the people know what’s in this Trojan horse. They trust no part of it. As much as Zeldin wants to silence the public, the protests are rising to the decibels of data centers themselves. 

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Donald Trump is in a hurry. He cannot wait for cumbersome bureaucratic processes, slow-moving courts or even the law itself. 

He must have his arch, and he must have it now.

On Thursday, Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum announced that excavation will begin over the next two weeks for the gargantuan, garish arch Trump has been yearning to install near Arlington National Cemetery. The president calls it a “Triumphal Arch,” though what triumph it is supposed to commemorate is unclear. It will stand as a 250-foot monument to his ego, his insecurity and his bad taste. 

For the dozens of existing monuments and memorials in the area, “the undertaking would result in adverse effects,” the National Park Service acknowledged in a legally mandated report.

But there could still be a happy ending to this story — if the next president has the courage. Yet just as an executive order can be revoked or a piece of legislation revised, what Trump constructs can be deconstructed. We are not stuck with the monuments to his narcissism. 

The president now spends a great deal of his time working on his vanity construction projects, especially his ballroom. He is desperate to leave a physical mark on the D.C. area, so that generation after generation will know how great he was. Policy successes are for lesser presidents; his legacy will be cast in stone and adorned with gold. 

There are obvious problems with almost all of these efforts, from the comically disastrous resurfacing of the Reflecting Pool to the blinding gold leaf he lathered on a pair of statues on the Memorial Bridge — at a cost of $5 million. But the “Arc de Trump,” as some have taken to calling it, is uniquely vulgar. 

The arch will be made of granite and (of course) gold. For the dozens of existing monuments and memorials in the area, “the undertaking would result in adverse effects,” the National Park Service acknowledged in a legally mandated report. “It would alter significant views, vistas, designed spatial relationships, commemorative axes, cultural landscape features, circulation patterns, setting, feeling, association, or nighttime visual character.” 

The next Democratic president and Congress will confront a complex and challenging project of de-Trumpification.

Most significantly, a straight visual line currently runs from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery, symbolically linking the president who saved the Union with the sacrifices of those buried there. Trump’s arch, when completed, will blot out that view from either end.

The next Democratic president and Congress will confront a complex and challenging project of de-Trumpification. Agencies that Trump has gutted or neutered, like the Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will have to be rebuilt. Those he has corrupted to their core, such as the Department of Justice, will have to undergo a kind of decontamination process: removing the hacks and cronies he has installed, rebuilding their ranks with professionals and recommitting the federal workforce to an ethic of service to the country, not to one man or party.

Alongside these practical steps, it will be important to give the nation a symbolic, visual representation of the transition underway. They must see that the recklessness, lawlessness and corruption of the Trump era are being put behind us so something better can take its place. And there is no better way to do that than to remove the monuments Trump has erected to himself.

Some cases will be easier than others. Where he has affixed his name, from the Kennedy Center to the Institute of Peace, a Democratic administration can simply remove it. Tear down and shred those North Korea-style banners hanging from federal buildings. Cancel the Trump Gold Card, revamp and rename the Trump Accounts and TrumpRX. Put “Gulf of Mexico” and “Lake Ontario” back on the maps and “Department of Defense” back on the documents. Cancel the “Trump Class” battleships. Melt down the gold $1 coins bearing Trump’s face that the administration illegally produced.

Trump’s second administration, with its many attacks on the federal government’s capacity, has reminded us that it’s easier to destroy than to build.

Not everything can simply be destroyed. For Trump’s ridiculous ballroom, a renovation would probably be better than simple obliteration. The space can be repurposed into something useful, such as offices and meeting rooms. Maybe name it the Barack Obama Center for American Diversity.

But there is only one solution for the arch. 

The project has not yet received final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, though he has stocked it with sycophants who will sign off at some point. But he has begun the work anyway. After all, who’s going to stop him? We saw what happened with his ballroom, where he similarly began construction before getting approval. The Supreme Court has let work continue while it considers the legal questions. 

When the time comes, the next president can follow all the precedents on executive authority that Trump has established and the Supreme Court has all but rubber-stamped. Fire the relevant commission members and appoint new ones who will approve the changes, repurpose whatever funds are required and squeeze through any necessary legal loophole to get the work underway.

The president will likely get his arch, in all its gold-plated garishness. But like everything about this presidency, it need last only as long as those who come after him allow. Trump’s second administration, with its many attacks on the federal government’s capacity, has reminded us that it’s easier to destroy than to build. So let’s get those wrecking balls ready.

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New Hampshire is one of the final states to hold its primaries this year, and there is no doubt that the road to a successful midterms will be paved in the Granite State.

While more and more states have become more uniformly Republican or Democratic, in New Hampshire, split-ticket voting remains common, even routine, despite Republican control of the governor’s office, Executive Council and both chambers of the state Legislature. Yet Democrats hold both Senate seats and both House seats. In a state where diversity of ideas and thought is still reflected at the ballot box, candidates and campaigns matter more, and voters can shake hands and speak directly with those running multiple times throughout the campaign.

With senior Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retiring, the open Senate seat is a must-hold for Democrats to flip the chamber as a whole, and a big opportunity for Republicans.

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas is now running for the Senate. He is a four-term congressman who has won in a GOP-leaning district, including beating Karoline Leavitt in a general election in 2022. But in order to make it to the general, he must prevail in Tuesday’s primary against a relatively unknown progressive challenger, scientist Dr. Karishma Manzur. Polls show Pappas with a lead but a recent University of New Hampshire poll showed his margin shrinking. Add in the unpredictability of primaries this year, and this contest is worth watching closely, at least as a test of Pappas’ strength ahead of a competitive general election.

On the Republican side are two former senators who have both lost races against Shaheen. Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the Senate, moved north after losing to Elizabeth Warren in 2012, and ran unsuccessfully against Shaheen in 2014. His opponent, John E. Sununu, is looking to regain the seat he lost in 2008. In addition to his term in the Senate and three terms in the House, Sununu is part of the state’s political royalty: His brother just finished eight years as a popular governor, and his father served as governor and White House chief of staff to George H.W. Bush.

Thanks to his name and a Trump endorsement, Sununu is almost assured a primary win. But the president’s backing could be problematic in a general election, since Trump’s approval ratings in New Hampshire are negative by 20 points or more. Recent polls of a Sununu-Pappas matchup show a close race, ranging from a 7-point Pappas advantage to a 2-point Sununu lead.

The race to replace Pappas in the state’s first congressional district is heating up, too. The Democratic field of eight candidates includes Shaheen’s daughter Stefany Shaheen, former Obama administration official and Marine veteran Maura Sullivan, and union activist and teacher Carleigh Beriont. The race has been somewhat ugly with accusations of AIPAC influence, nepotism and which candidates are authentic progressives. Polls show Sullivan with a narrow lead over Shaheen, but with many voters undecided and a large field, anything could happen.

In the Republican primary, the two major candidates are Trump-backed developer Anthony DiLorenzo and metal fabrication business owner Hollie Noveletsky, who finished second in the 2024 GOP primary. Recent surveys show nearly half of voters undecided.

Two years ago, Pappas carried this district by roughly 8%, and Kamala Harris carried it by just 2%. Whoever emerges from Tuesday’s contests, Democrats simply have to win this district if they hope to win a House majority.

Finally, New Hampshire’s outsize influence on presidential nominations makes it attractive for ambitious out-of-state politicians. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., will be at the Democrats’ Labor Day Breakfast, as will progressive California Rep. Ro Khanna. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will attend a fundraising dinner for the state party. Other potential Democratic candidates have already made stops in the state, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will visit the state the day after the primary and his fellow Republican Rick Scott will be there the following week for a dinner.

New Hampshire may be the ultimate skeleton key to GOP or Democrat majorities. But it is also clear that some are eager to help their party’s fortunes now in order to increase their own fortunes in the future. Election Day this year is Nov. 3. The presidential race in New Hampshire begins Nov. 4.

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