Welcome to From the political officea daily newsletter bringing you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, Jonathan Allen looks back on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Plus, Allan Smith takes stock of Republican candidates moving away from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
—Adam Wollner
Why AOC was in a dark red part of Michigan
Analysis by Jonathan Allen
representative Alexandria Ocasio-CortezThe turning point in the campaign with the Democratic candidate for Michigan Senate Abdoul El-Sayed today it was about much more than boosting him on Election Day in November.
It was also about all the election days that followed.
As a leader of the socialist-inspired wing of the Democratic Party who is considering a run for president, Ocasio-Cortez is eager to find evidence that progressives are as good as centrists at persuading undecided voters to choose Democrats — perhaps even better.
It’s a counterintuitive argument, and one that is central to the left’s strategy for winning primaries — including the Democratic nomination in the 2028 presidential election. In higher-turnout elections, the party’s voters often reject more liberal candidates, at least in part because they believe those candidates would lose to Republicans in the general election.
The left hopes that an El-Sayed victory will persuade the Democratic Party as a whole to change its behavior.
“What we’re doing is breaking the entire political calculus in America, period,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a fundraiser in New York this month. “Because if you can win, if Abdul can win in Michigan, anyone can win anywhere.”
For AOC and El-Sayed today, anywhere was Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
This 320-mile-wide rural swath, most of which is closer to Duluth, Minn., than Detroit, has long been an emblem of rural Republican strength. By campaigning there, El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez want to demonstrate that they are speaking to voters in the red zone and have subsequently managed to win converts.
But even though UP votes reliably with Republicans nationally, there are plenty of progressive voters. In areas dominated by one party, people who remain in the other party are often committed to ideological orthodoxy.
El-Sayed did well in the Upper Peninsula during her primaries, defeating centrist Democrat Haley Stevens in the three counties AOC was scheduled to visit today. Without converting a single Republican, he should be able to expect tens of thousands of votes in the region.
Kamala Harris even won one of the counties AOC traveled to – Marquette – 20,866 to 17,459.
Maybe El-Sayed will eliminate a few influential UP voters, but the real value of AOC’s presence is to bring out as many Democrats as possible. If it succeeds, the left will argue that its candidates are a better bet for the party in the general election. In fact, they are already starting to make this point before the votes begin.
Some Republicans in key elections break with Trump on tariffs
By Allan Smith
In a handful of battleground races, Republican candidates are trying to distance themselves from one of the presidents. Donald TrumpThe flagship political initiatives of: customs tariffs.
So far, three Republican Senate candidates and two of the party’s picks for governor are trying to portray themselves as seeking common ground on what has been Trump’s signature economic policy, particularly with the cost of living a top concern among voters.
The Senate candidates on the battlefield are Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, former Sen. John Sununu in New Hampshire and former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan. representative John James State Treasurer of Michigan and Pennsylvania Stacy Garrity also highlighted their disagreements with Trump’s tariff policies during their gubernatorial elections.
“So, of course, no one, I don’t think, agrees with the president 100 percent,” Garrity said during a debate last week when asked about specific areas of disagreement with Trump. “Really, who agrees with anyone 100%? And tariffs would be a perfect example. While some tariffs have helped manufacturers, others haven’t.”
The maneuvering comes as Republican candidates across the country try to determine where they can safely distance themselves from Trump without offending him or his devoted base, which they must go to the polls next month.
Trump has spent years reorienting the Republican Party from a position of supporting essentially unfettered free trade to a protectionist orientation. What makes the differences over tariffs interesting is that they are occurring primarily in states — Michigan and Pennsylvania — that were expected to reap some of the biggest benefits from these policies through the return of manufacturing jobs.
Read more →
🗞️ Other news of the day
- 🔎 Suspicious letters: Federal authorities are investigating letters containing suspicious substances that were sent to “various addresses throughout the country, including several congressional offices.” Read more →
- 🗳️Voting watch: This week, election officials across the country went out of their way to publicly debunk years-old conspiracy theories that have circulated online about poll workers writing on ballots. Read more →
- 💲 Rinse with cash: Democratic candidate for Texas Senate James TalaricoFacebook’s campaign says it raised $64 million in the third quarter of 2026, a staggering sum that would set a record. Read more →
- 🔵Watch 2028: Leading the polls for his candidacy for re-election, Senator. Jon OssoffD-Ga., sparks presidential buzz. But if Republicans win the governor’s race, they will hold the power to fill his Senate seat. Read more →
- ➡️ Iowa’s ‘cancer crisis’: Cancer rates are rising in Iowa, even as they are falling elsewhere, and candidates from both parties are talking about agricultural pollutants. Read more →
- 🛣️ Trump on the track: Trump supporters said the economic resurgence touted by Trump at a rally in Montana is not the reality they are experiencing. At a rally in Arizona, he said government officials who leaked information to the media “should be taken down.”
- 🚫 After reflection: Trump said government would not livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, canceling a plan Pete Hegseth announced last week. Read more →
- ⚖️ Technically speaking: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia failed the California bar exam when she took it after earning her law degree, according to a senior administration official. The official argued that Zacharia could technically be considered an “attorney,” but not an attorney. Read more →
That’s all that’s coming from the politburo for now. Today’s newsletter was written by Adam Wollner and Lauren Zola.
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