Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

Can Dems rebuild a blue fence in the Midwest?

In Midterm Matters, we look at hot-button US midterm news to separate the signal (need-to-knows) from the noise (the chatter).
Ari Winkleman
Tracy Moran
By Tracy MoranOctober 26, 2022
Tracy Moran
Tracy Moran was a former managing editor at GZERO Media. Tracy has 20+ years of experience as a print and digital journalist, having worked for USA Today, Deutsche Welle, OZY, and newspapers and digital outlets in the UK and Germany. She lived in Europe for several years and now lives with her family near Washington, DC. Tracy earned her Master's in international affairs from George Washington University, where she specialized in West European and Middle Eastern politics.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

In Midterm Matters, we look at hot-button US midterm news to separate the signal (need-to-knows) from the noise (the chatter).

Today, we head to the Rust Belt. Yes, that bunch of states that used to lean so reliably left that they were once called Dems' Blue Wall — until 2016, when Donald Trump smashed a red wrecking ball right through it to win the presidency.

Noise: Ohio has been aboard the red train since the Trump years. With industrial decline plaguing much of the region, we’ve seen plenty of chatter about Republicans gaining more traction as working-class voters switch allegiances to the GOP. But …

FiveThirtyEight forecasts that Democrats are leading in gubernatorial races in the three Rust Belt battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer is ahead of Republican rival Tudor Dixon by the widest margin, with both school shootings and abortion as hot topics. Next, in Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro is leading his Republican opponent and 2020 election denier, Douglas Mastriano, in a tighter race that has controversially featured the role of religion in both men’s lives. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is a toss-up: Gov. Tom Evers (D) is only slightly ahead of his Republican challenger, Tim Michels, with lots of squabbling over crime figures.

Signal: While Republican congressional and presidential gains in the region are real, these gubernatorial races show us that Dems still have lasting strength in the Rust Belt.


This comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Sign up today.

pennsylvaniamichiganrust beltrussia-ukraineohious midterm electionsmidterms matter

Latest Videos

Russia-Ukraine ceasefire postedplay icon
Puppet Regime

Russia-Ukraine ceasefire posted

Could Trump’s foreign policy sink the GOP?
The Debrief

Could Trump’s foreign policy sink the GOP?

Trump's Russian diesel deal and what it means for Ukraine
Quick Take

Trump's Russian diesel deal and what it means for Ukraine

How Hamas has held onto power in Gaza
GZERO World Clips

How Hamas has held onto power in Gaza

Three years on, Gaza remains in limbo
GZERO World Clips

Three years on, Gaza remains in limbo

How October 7 changed the Middle East, three years on
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

How October 7 changed the Middle East, three years on

More For You

Coke trade booms despite crackdowns

Coke trade booms despite crackdowns
Will Fitzpatrick
Over the past year, the Trump administration has unleashed a massive military campaign against suspected drug traffickers in South America and the Caribbean, including dozens of lethal airstrikes on alleged smuggling vessels. Despite these tactics, which human rights lawyers and activists have questioned, “massive” amounts of cocaine continue to [...]

Nord Stream sabotage trial begins in Germany, Mauritius sees rare unrest, Poland considers bringing back the draft

Serhii Kusnetzow, a former Ukrainian army officer charged by German federal prosecutors with being a co-perpetrator of a war crime over the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts, attends his trial in Hamburg, Germany.

Serhii Kusnetzow, a former Ukrainian army officer charged by German federal prosecutors with being a co-perpetrator of a war crime over the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts, attends his trial in Hamburg, Germany, October 14, 2026.

Markus Scholz/Pool via REUTERS REFILE
Nord Stream sabotage trial begins in GermanyA Ukrainian former special forces officer is accused of war crimes for leading the September 2022 sabotage of the massive undersea pipeline, which once carried Russian gas to Germany. The officer’s lawyers say Nord Stream was a legitimate military target following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and [...]

The GOP’s Musky scent

The GOP’s Musky scent
Musk’s cash splash – which makes him the largest known midterm donor – is meant to help Republicans head off a so-called “Blue Wave” of Democrat support that could cost the GOP not only the House, but possibly the Senate as well. It signals that Musk intends to remain a fixture of Republican politics, despite his rocky exit from the Trump [...]

Cyberattacks target freezers in France, Iran strikes vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Former DRC president teams up with M23 rebels

Boxes of perished goods are seen outside an Intermarche supermarket in Paris the day after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 13, 2026.

Boxes of perished goods are seen outside an Intermarche supermarket in Paris the day after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Lucien Libert
Supermarket cyberattacks turn the heat up in France Hackers set their sights on an unusual target in France this week: supermarkets. On Monday, attackers used remote software to raise the temperature on fridges and freezers to around 122 degrees Fahrenheit, spoiling food and sparking fires. While the full scale of the attack remains unconfirmed, [...]