This midterm election is the first so-called “normal” election since the pandemic … and there’s a lot we really don’t know about what the election will look like. And elections haven’t just changed because of Covid — the contested 2020 election and the January 6th riot have made us question basic assumptions about how much Americans really trust elections.

Chuck speaks with Michael McDonald, the author of “From Pandemic to Insurrection: Voting in the 2020 US Presidential Election” and a professor of political science at the University of Florida.

LINKS:

https://www.electproject.org/

Less than one month out from Election Day, Georgia's Herschel Walker is in the midst of a scandal amid allegations he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion, and Pennsylvania's John Fetterman speaks to NBC News in an interview that does little to assuage health concerns as he recovers from a stroke. Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod and Stephen Hayes, co-founder and editor of the Dispatch, join Chuck to give their read on the latest midterm developments.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb was sworn into office in January 2022. Chuck talks with the mayor about crime, economics, and the role that sports can play in supporting the city. 

Less than six weeks before November’s midterm elections, Democrats lead Republicans by more than 20 points among Latino voters, but that Democratic advantage has declined from previous election cycles, according to a new national NBC News/Telemundo poll of the Latino electorate.  Aileen Cardona-Arroyo, vice president at Hart Research, one of the polling partners for this survey, and Natasha Korecki, senior national political reporter for NBC News, join Chuck to discuss the results.

LINK: https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/first-read/gop-cuts-democrats-lead-latino-voters-new-poll-shows-rcna50189

Meet the Press Reports: In 2014, only 3 people donated at least 10 million dollars to House and Senate races. In 2022, that number is up to 18 – a six-fold increase. 

Former FEMA Director Craig Fugate, one of the most experienced disaster recovery experts in the world, talks about Hurricane Ian and how state and federal agencies should view future storm preparation.

Young Russian men are fleeing their country, as Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a surprise announcement drafting additional troops into his invasion of Ukraine. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul joins Chuck to analyze Putin's fluctuating strategy, as his originally planned swift incursion meets the stronger-than-expected shield of the Ukrainian defense.
 

As the list of individuals donating millions and billions of dollars grows, so do concerns that political campaigns are being controlled by this rich donor class, made up of individuals who have an outsized influence on who wins elections and who runs the country.

Chuck is joined by Russ Feingold, former Democratic senator from Wisconsin and co-author of a new book, “The Constitution in Jeopardy: An unprecedented effort to rewrite our fundamental law and what we can do about it.”

The generic ballot is dead even at 46-46 between Democrats and Republicans, according to the latest NBC News poll, with Senate candidates on either side duking it out on on a diverse set of priorities from one state to the next. NBC News Senior Political Editor Mark Murray and Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors editor for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, join Chuck to break down the races to watch, just about six weeks out from the midterms.