Ground Game

Presidents tend to stay out of primary politics in midterm elections, backing nominees only after voters have had their say. But Donald Trump has put his finger on the scale in Florida's gubernatorial race by tweeting his endorsement of Rep. Ron DeSantis, who has closely aligned himself with Trump.

With Republican candidates moving to the right in Arizona, can a former Green Party activist win over centrists?

Allegations of sexual misconduct have cost a lot of powerful people their jobs in the age of #MeToo, but in state politics, many candidates are following the example of President Trump and weathering the storm.

President Trump has launched tariffs he believes will lead to better trade deals for U.S. manufacturers in the future, but retaliatory tariffs are hurting farmers now. How will Republicans in trade-dependent states like Tennessee stay true to their free-trade philosophy while backing the popular president?

Georgia's Stacey Abrams faces an uphill battle to become the first black woman elected governor in the United States. But her star power has drawn national attention and motivated some of her party's most loyal voters: fellow black women.

Candidates with complicated relationships with President Donald Trump face uphill battles in places where the president is popular, like reliably Republican North Dakota. The president's chance to nominate another Supreme Court justice just adds pressure from both sides.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement put the national spotlight onto abortion and state restrictions that could be upheld by a more conservative court. We look at one such law in Iowa and the possible impact of the court vacancy on the midterm elections.

In Texas, can outrage over the Trump administration's policy that led to children being separated from their parents at the border let Democrats flip a coveted Senate seat from Republican control? Rep. Beto O'Rourke is grabbing headlines on the issue, but on the ground, the state's deeply conservative politics seem to favor incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz.

Mitt Romney faces a primary June 26 in his bid to replace Orrin Hatch as Utah's next U.S. senator. AP reporters Steve Peoples and Lindsay Whitehurst discuss his evolution from fierce critic of candidate Trump to a supporter of the president. How does his change of tune play in Utah?

Coming soon....