In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News, the California governor slammed the GOP-controlled Congress and the Supreme Court for bowing to Trump.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he’s “deeply confident” that California voters this week will approve the state’s Prop 50 ballot measure, which would allow the state to redraw congressional maps on a partisan basis ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In a wide-ranging interview, the California governor slammed the president’s push for mid-decade redistricting efforts in Republican states across the country, accusing the president of “rigging” next year’s congressional election and warning that Trump “is not screwing around.”

“He’s changing the rules. He’s rigging the game because he knows he’ll lose if all things are equal,” Newsom told Welker. “He did not expect California to fight fire with fire.”

Tuesday is election day in the US so I'm putting up the sticky a couple of days early so folks can get ready for the big ones to watch.

The US has a couple of different kinds of elections:

The Presidential election - Every 4 years, last one was 2024, next one is 2028. Also generally has a primary earlier in the year followed by the general election in November.

Mid-Term elections - Even numbered years that aren't Presedential are Mid-Terms, State and Local issues, along with every congressperson and 1/3rd of the Senate. Next one is 2026.

Off-Year elections - You are here. State and local elections, Governors, Mayors, things like that.

There are the odd "Special Elections" too for when someone dies or is replaced, but that doesn't apply here.

So what are we all watching this week? Feel free to namedrop your favorites in the comments, but here are some big ones:

1. New York City Mayor - Looks like Mamdani is the walk away favorite here, but we'll see!

2. California Prop 50 - This is the one that would re-district California to eliminate Republican House seats, a response to Texas and other states doing the same to eliminate Democratic seats.

3. Virginia Governor election - Democratic candidate Spanberger is the favorite, State Attorney General is much tighter. Thought to be one of the races that will be a referendum on Trump.

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/virginia-2025-spanberger-leads/

4. New Jersey Governor election - Much tighter than Virginia. Like Virginia, this is thought to be a referendum on Trump, Republican Jack Ciattarelli has the Trump endorsement. Neither side seems to be walking away with it at this point.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/can-democrats-find-their-footing-tight-new-jersey-governors-race-tests-trumps-2025-10-30/

House Republicans are exploring ways to prevent Zohran Mamdani from ever being sworn in as mayor even if he prevails in Tuesday’s election by using the Constitution’s “insurrection clause,” The Post has learned.

The New York Young Republican Club is pushing to prevent the NYC mayoral frontrunner from taking the oath of office Jan. 1 under an idea floated this summer.

It cites language in the post-Civil War 14th Amendment to the Constitution barring from office anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or who has “given aid or comfort to the enemies.” The group argues that Mamdani’s own statements calling to resist ICE could violate the prohibition.

It’s the same provision Colorado used to try to kick Trump off the ballot last year, only to get slapped down by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled that it was up to Congress to enforcement the amendment, giving majority Republicans a chance to test their authority.

David, a 29-year-old wearing a yarmulke who declined to give his last name, said the vote felt like an “existential” decision. He said he didn’t particularly care about how the mayor feels about Israel, but Mamdani’s focus on Israeli-Palestinian politics made it hard to believe he’s not antisemitic, and he worried whether that could bleed into other policies.

He said he planned to vote for Cuomo “reluctantly.” “He’s bad on everything,” David said of his preferred choice. “He’s a bad person.”

Eric Weltman, a 58-year-old wearing a suit and tie, proudly said he voted for Mamdani.

“He’s smart, competent, principled and progressive,” he said, adding he had no qualms about Mamdani’s positions on Israel.

“He’s going to be mayor of New York, not ambassador to Israel,” he said.

As for Needleman, the 77-year-old who quoted “Fiddler,” he said he couldn’t support Mamdani and felt Cuomo was too dishonest. So he decided to vote for Sliwa even though he disagreed with the Republican’s politics, saying Sliwa seemed like a “decent guy.”

The Trump administration's deportation program has divided Americans in recent months, marked by consistently strong backing from Republicans and MAGA Republicans, in particular, and less so among others. Earlier in Trump's term, it had larger majority approval, but since mid-summer, the program has hovered around more even division. Its approval is a bit higher today than last month.

A 28-year-old person in Orange County who earns $35,000 a year will see the monthly cost of the typical silver-tier plan rise from $130 to $290, according to estimates from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The typical family of four with a household income of $85,000 would see their monthly cost go from $489 to $901.

These increases are happening in order to pay for Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy.

People dependent on the ACA/Obamacare marketplaces are typically less wealthy than the local median. Florida household median income by family size is:

• 1 person - $65,801
• 2 people - $81,109
• 3 people - $93,983
• 4 people - $107,712

Rural US towns reel as policies like tariffs cause global manufacturing companies to reconsider major investment projects

A host of Trump administration policies – tariff measures and the end of clean vehicle tax credits worth thousands of dollars to car buyers – are causing multinational manufacturing companies to consider pausing hundreds of millions of dollars in future investments, a move that would hit small, majority-Republican towns such as Jeffersonville especially hard.

Moreover, a raid by ICE immigration officers on a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Ellabell, a small town in south-east Georgia in September that saw more than 300 South Korean workers detained and sent home has sent shock waves through places like Jeffersonville and the C-suites of international companies alike.

Another shining example of Republicans being hypocritical, hypersensitive, lacking in any critical thinking skills yet again.