The Erick Erickson Show

Erick Erickson digs into the New York Times report that Mary Peltola's campaign, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides, and the Elias Law Group ran a "Ballot Composition Project" to put a second Dan Sullivan on Alaska's ranked choice ballot, and why he thinks the press is shrugging it off. He also covers Troy Jackson's Maine logging company that turns out to be a union consulting firm and the laundromat owner misled into his ad against Susan Collins, Abdul El-Sayed and Peggy Flanagan donor ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and why he is leaving the Georgia Senate line blank. Plus a salute to the Milwaukee Brewers' World Series win.

• Alaska Senate race: Mary Peltola, the Ballot Composition Project, two Dan Sullivans, Jared Kurtz, Mark Elias, the DSCC, Dana Bash on CNN, and the Justice Department's weak certification case
• Why ranked choice voting invites ballot stacking, from Alaska to New York City, and why Erick says it confuses voters and erodes trust in elections
• Maine Senate race: Troy Jackson's logging company that is really a consulting firm paid by the International Association of Machinists, and the Scarborough laundromat owner misled into a Troy Jackson ad against Susan Collins
• Michigan and Minnesota Democrats: Abdul El-Sayed, Peggy Flanagan, Muslim Brotherhood donor ties, Haley Stevens on CNN, plus Dave Jolly and James Talarico on transgender athletes in girls sports
• Why Erick is not voting in the Georgia Senate race, rising antisemitism and extremism on both sides, and a congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers on a small market World Series win over the big spending Dodgers and Mets model

Erick Erickson sounds the alarm on early voting data in Georgia, where Keisha Lance Bottoms could beat Rick Jackson for governor if Republicans stay home, and where the same weak GOP turnout shows up in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and North Carolina. He weighs Patrick Ruffini's numbers against a 3.4 percent third quarter GDP report, a likely December interest rate hike from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, and why tariffs, grocery prices and wages trailing inflation hurt Republicans heading into the midterm elections. Plus data center spending, the college work ethic problem, and a possible Canada trade deal.

• Georgia early voting: Keisha Lance Bottoms vs. Rick Jackson, Secretary of State turnout data, Fulton, Clayton and Liberty counties, weak rural and exurban Republican turnout, and absentee ballot requests
• Patrick Ruffini's national early vote tracker: 33 million ballots cast, Democratic surge in North Carolina and Georgia, and why Erick still thinks Republicans can narrowly hold the Senate (Ken Paxton, Mike Collins, Michael Whatley)
• Third quarter GDP at 3.4 percent, the data center building boom driving concrete prices, Kevin Warsh and the Federal Reserve on a December rate hike, Scott Bessent, and tariffs hurting the GOP
• Grocery price tracking in swing counties by Liz Mayer, wages six months behind inflation, and the affordability problem for Republicans
• College graduates and work ethic, the return of the Blue Book exam, Microsoft layoffs, and why Chick-fil-A alumni and classical education produce better workers
• Canada, the European Union and a possible Trump trade deal, plus a surge in Republican turnout in northern border states for Susan Collins and Mike Rogers

Erick Erickson breaks down the New York Times report that Obama-era FBI and Homeland Security investigators found evidence Rep. Ilhan Omar's 2009 marriage was fraudulent, why the statute of limitations stalled the case, and how Chief Judge James Boasberg is handling the sealed search warrant fight. He also takes listener calls on the border wall, munitions production, and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey's case that America should build weapons with the factories it already has, plus China, the power grid, and Taiwan.

• Ilhan Omar investigation: the New York Times report on an Obama-era FBI and Department of Homeland Security probe of her marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, the five-year statute of limitations, the Chris Hayes interview, and Erick's pattern-of-fraud theory involving her father's immigration status and her passport renewals
• Judge James Boasberg and the Justice Department: the sealed search warrant for Omar's home, 14 news organizations and Judicial Watch seeking access, the October 30 response deadline, and why a judge hostile to the Trump administration is still letting the investigation slow roll
• Anduril and Palmer Luckey: why American defense manufacturing should build weapons from existing factories like World War Two Jeeps and John Deere rockets, how Ukraine builds millions of cheap drones, and General Motors turning around munitions in six weeks
• Listener calls: border wall progress under the Trump administration, Rick Perry on surveillance and drones, the canceled migrant caravan, and a Dayton, Ohio caller on hypersonic missiles and what the United States does not advertise
• Power grid and Taiwan: the military preparing every installation to run off grid for 90 days, Chinese infiltration of the power grid, water supply and telecom, Europe's warnings about Russia, and Erick's case for being prepared without fear, plus Matt Gaetz and the Cheesecake Factory

Erick Erickson breaks down Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise comeback in the Israeli election, why early exit polls got the Knesset race wrong, and what it means for polling ahead of the American midterms. Then he takes on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s comments about Arab nations a week before Michigan votes, Abdul El-Sayed's Muslim Brotherhood ties, the 2002 UN Arab Human Development Report, and JD Vance on the unrest in France. Erick also explains why he is leaving one Georgia ballot line blank, his predictions for the Senate and House, and the Atlanta Dream versus Golden State Valkyries WNBA Finals scheduling mess.

• Israel election: Netanyahu and Likud lead, his coalition drops from 68 to 54 seats, exit polling errors, Knesset coalition math, and a possible caretaker government
• Midterm election 2026 predictions: Republicans hold the Senate, lose the House, why polling overstates Democrats, Ken Paxton in Texas, and Patrick Ruffini's data
• Why Erick is leaving a Georgia Senate ballot line blank, Mike Collins, and the case for keeping the Senate for judges and a possible Clarence Thomas retirement
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Arab culture, Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood, Mike Lawler on CNN, and the UN Arab Human Development Report on book translation
• JD Vance on rioting in France, immigration and assimilation, Democrats and post-election protests, plus Atlanta Dream versus Golden State Valkyries WNBA Finals and caller Charles on endless campaign calls

Erick Erickson breaks down the New York Times exposé on the Mary Peltola campaign's "Ballot Composition Project," which recruited candidates named Dan Sullivan to confuse Alaska's ranked choice voting ballot and peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan. He then explains how Republican text message fundraising on WinRed is killing the small donor base while ActBlue surges, why early voting data shows Republicans not turning out in Georgia ahead of Keisha Lance Bottoms, and what the Wall Street Journal reports about a post-midterm Iran strike.

• Alaska Senate race: Mary Peltola, the Ballot Composition Project, fake and look-alike Dan Sullivan candidates, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee involvement, and why ranked choice voting invites ballot stacking
• Republican small dollar fundraising collapse: WinRed versus ActBlue, James Talarico's ActBlue haul, spam text messages, the RNC's $64 million in refunded recurring donations, and why super PACs pay higher TV and radio ad rates than candidates
• Early voting red flag: Republican strategists say reliable early voters are not showing up, Georgia nerves over Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson, John King for insurance commissioner, and Greg Abbott in Texas
• Iran war: Wall Street Journal report of a short, intense US and Israeli campaign after the midterms, Patriot batteries and carrier groups, the Joint Chiefs' push for 15 more days of bombing, the Iranian missile shield, and Twelver Shia Mahdism
• Gallup record low support for reelecting Congress, Lisa Murkowski endorsing the Democratic governor candidate in Alaska, and Fox News ratings among 25 to 54 year olds

Erick Erickson digs into the Nielsen numbers showing Fox News headed for its lowest October in years, with just 98,000 viewers in the coveted 25 to 54 demo, and explains why populist movements like MAGA rarely survive the departure of the big personality, from Huey Long to Zell Miller to a post-Trump 2028 fight over Donald Trump's term limits and JD Vance. Then he takes calls on the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, why pastors stayed silent in the primary, early voting panic in Georgia and Michigan, and the Federal Reserve holding off on a rate hike until December.

• Fox News ratings collapse: Nielsen October numbers, a 32 percent drop in the 25 to 54 demographic, News Nation gaining, and why Erick says he refuses to be captured by his audience
• Populist movements after Trump: Huey Long, Zell Miller, the two term limit and the 22nd Amendment, JD Vance, 2028 presidential campaign talk, and the future of MAGA
• Texas Senate race: Ken Paxton versus James Talarico, undecided voters breaking for the incumbent party, and why Erick faults Texas pastors for staying quiet in the primary
• Midterm early vote: more than 33 million ballots cast, Michigan at one in five voters, Georgia passing two million early votes with weak rural turnout, and Patrick Ruffini on border state Republicans
• Federal Reserve holding rates until a likely December hike, Trump on working with a Democratic House, Christians killed in Nigeria, and Erick's warning about Carl Schmitt on the right

One week before Election Day, Erick Erickson breaks down Donald Trump's nonstop midterm campaign swing, why 13 visits to Kansas is a red flag for Roger Marshall, and how tariffs, diesel prices, fertilizer costs, and Canadian aluminum are hurting Iowa farmers and Republicans. He also digs into Georgia early voting numbers, the Anthropic Claude voter data controversy, the Los Angeles early ballot court fight, and why he expects a possible Democratic House takeover while urging listeners to stay calm, vote, and look ahead to 2028.

• Trump's closing campaign tour, 13 Kansas visits, Roger Marshall, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and the GOP House majority
• Tariffs, diesel and fertilizer prices, Iowa farmers, Canadian aluminum, and the Maine tariff waivers for Susan Collins and Mike Rogers
• Georgia early voting data (1.95 million ballots), rural turnout, and the Claude-built website and Anthropic paywall controversy
• Midterm forecast and 2028: Democrats and the House, Senate races with James Talarico, Ken Paxton, Mike Rogers, and Sherrod Brown, Hakeem Jeffries, JD Vance, Brian Kemp, and Ted Cruz
• The Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic rant: the Georgia Florida game rename and corporate sponsorship in college football

Erick Erickson explains why the Senate candidates with their own brand, Susan Collins in Maine and Mike Rogers in Michigan, are beating the ones who are only known as Donald Trump's pick, from Mike Collins in Georgia and Michael Whatley in North Carolina to Ken Paxton in Texas. Then he turns to Florida, where Democratic socialist Angie Nixon's Cuba embargo answer and a criminal referral over $270,000 missing from her charity are dragging down the whole ticket, plus Attorney General James Uthmeier's Sinaloa Cartel takedown in Tampa Bay.

• Midterm Senate races: Susan Collins, Mike Rogers, Ken Paxton, James Talarico, Mike Collins, Michael Whatley, Sherrod Brown, and why a candidate needs his or her own brand
• Scott Jennings and Van Jones on CNN: Abdul El-Sayed, Barack Obama's Detroit rally, black voters, Jewish voters, and Michigan early vote polling
• Georgia, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Iowa: Rick Jackson, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Greg Abbott, Ashley Moody, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the 2018 Brian Kemp lesson
• Angie Nixon: Florida Democratic Senate nominee, the Cuba embargo, Obama era policy, Cuban Americans, and the National Legal and Policy Center complaint over her charity
• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, the Sinaloa Cartel drug ring, Tampa Bay arrests, and Erick's golf trip with the Golfer's Journal Broken Tee Society

Erick Erickson unpacks Barack Obama's Cheesecake Factory joke from the Abdul El-Sayed rally in Michigan, why Donald Trump taking the bait four times hurts Republicans, and why the left's sneering at the middle class and small business owners is the real story. Then he reads the early vote one week before the midterms: Republicans leading in Nevada and Florida, the Texas Senate race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton tied, Susan Collins in Maine, Mike Rogers in Michigan, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and a first look at the Israeli election and Benjamin Netanyahu.

• Barack Obama's Cheesecake Factory and White House gold leaf jab, Trump's four responses, and Scott Bessent's Cheesecake Factory lunch
• The left's snobbery toward the middle class and small business owners, Boeing and Apple tariff relief, and Honda warning of a 50 percent tariff on Canadian auto parts
• Israeli election day: Benjamin Netanyahu in trouble, a surge in Arab Israeli and young voters, and what the media will get wrong
• Early voting a week out: Republicans ahead in Nevada and Florida, Byron Donalds over Dave Jolly, Greg Abbott's Texas turnout machine, and why late undecideds break for the incumbent party
• Senate map: James Talarico versus Ken Paxton, Susan Collins versus Troy Jackson, Mike Rogers versus Abdul El-Sayed, Sherrod Brown, Vivek Ramaswamy versus Amy Acton, and Matt Towery's warning on the GOP closing message

Erick Erickson opens an open line Friday revisiting the Ilhan Omar story, playing her own words to Chris Hayes and reading a Pirate Wires piece by Ashley Rindsberg that argues Snopes and the fact-check industry waved away questions about her father, Nur Omar Mohammed, while noting the immigration investigation began under the Biden administration. He then turns to the midterms: the Fox News poll with James Talarico and Ken Paxton tied in Texas, rural Georgia early voting down 50 percent from 2022, fake polls from firms like SoCal Strategies, Abdul El-Sayed on defense in Michigan, and farmer anger over tariffs. He also calls Vivek Ramaswamy's Amy Acton ad political malpractice for every Ohio Republican forced to answer for it.

• Ilhan Omar's clip with Chris Hayes, her father Nur Omar Mohammed, the Snopes "mostly false" rating, and why Erick says the investigation started under Biden, not Trump
• How Dan Rather, Power Line, Snopes, and PolitiFact explain the rise of the media fact-check industry and the left-wing narrative it protects
• Fox News poll shows James Talarico and Ken Paxton dead even in the Texas Senate race, plus rural Georgia early voting down 50 percent per the AJC's Patricia Murphy
• Fake polls and midterm Senate races: SoCal Strategies, 50 Plus One, Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers in Michigan, Peggy Flanagan, David Jolly, Angie Nixon, Ashley Moody, Sherrod Brown, and an 8 point Democratic generic ballot lead
• Tariffs hurting farmers in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, Argentine beef imports, and Vivek Ramaswamy's Amy Acton ad dragging Ohio Republicans into a fight