Trump Hopes Debate Will Shift Race: What to Know in Washington

Donald Trump offered to debate Kamala Harris in an attempt to recapture attention — and momentum — from her honeymoon period. But first, you should know:

• Trump holds a rally in Montana today, where Republicans are looking to pick up a Senate seat from incumbent Democrat Jon Tester. Meanwhile, Harris campaigns in Phoenix today as she courts swing-state Arizona.
• Sarah Elfreth is campaigning to be one of the first women to join Maryland’s congressional delegation in almost a decade.
• Swing-state voters say the economy is their top election issue.

Trump Agrees to Debate Harris

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump dangled a series of debates with Vice President Kamala Harris during a Mar-a-Lago press conference Thursday, making clear that he hopes to change the dynamics of a race that had turned against him.

Trump said he had agreed to debates with Fox News, ABC News, and NBC News in September, as well as a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News. The Harris campaign had previously agreed to a debate with ABC News on Sept. 10, and the network said they expected that contest to proceed. Trump’s campaign said his offer also included a Sept. 4 contest with Fox — which the former president had already floated — as well as the NBC forum on Sept. 25.

Harris will not agree to the Fox News debate, according to a campaign official. The campaign will discuss future debates if Trump shows up to the ABC contest, the official added. Read More

BIDEN’S SCHEDULE

• The president has no public events scheduled.

Swing-State Economies Shape Election

Voters say the economy is their top election issue, and it matters most in the seven swing states poised to decide the presidential race. Their economic cracks could be a political obstacle for Harris, who has to answer for decades-high inflation during the Biden administration.

In Blue Wall industrial states — Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — the combined growth from 2019 to the end of 2023 was just a third of that seen outside swing states, once you adjust for inflation and population increases.

In Arizona, which enjoyed strong real GDP per capita growth, inflation and soaring housing costs hit household budgets hard — much like Nevada and North Carolina. Georgia benefited from new investments in electric vehicle plants, but it’s also seen growth diluted by a swell of new residents.

Biden struggled to get his economic message to resonate in these critical states, even as unemployment sat near historic lows, inflation cooled, and the country recovered from the pandemic.

• Trump’s Term: All but one of the battlegrounds saw slower annual real per capita growth since 2019 than they did in the two years prior, when Trump was president. Trump is selling a memory in which life felt easier.
• Vance v. Walz: Some swing-state counties that will decide the election are among the slowest to recover from the pandemic. Trump chose JD Vance to appeal to those places. Harris is aiming for a similar effect with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. They’ll have to defend the long-term promise of Biden’s jobs and manufacturing agenda.

The mixed picture in swing states underscores a hard truth for the party: National data may point to a healthy US economy, but voters’ perceptions of it are heavily shaped by conditions on the ground where they live. Read More

House Hopeful Elfreth Shuns ‘Shiny Object’ Approach to Politics

Sarah Elfreth’s legislative chops helped her win passage of 91 bills while serving in the state Senate. She plans to take that workhorse approach to Congress if elected to succeed outgoing Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes in Maryland’s 3rd congressional district.

Elfreth secured the Democratic nomination in May’s crowded primary and will face Republican attorney Rob Steinberger in November. She has powerful backers in ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super-political action committee, which spent more than $4 million on her behalf in the primary.

If elected, Elfreth has vowed to legislate on major national issues like reproductive rights, as well as local ones, such as protecting the Chesapeake Bay and rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. Read More

• Hawaii Primaries: Sen. Mazie Hirono and Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda face minimal or no opposition in Hawaii’s Democratic primaries Saturday and are overwhelmingly favored to win new terms in November, Greg Giroux reports. Hirono is set to win a third term in a strongly Democratic state that last elected a Republican to the Senate in 1970. Voting concludes at 7 p.m. local time, or 1 a.m. Sunday in Washington.

More on Election 2024

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AI-Generated Campaign Ads Evade US Election Officials’ Scrutiny

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With US Chips Act Money Mostly Divvied Up, the Real Test Begins

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Microsoft Says Iranian Hackers Targeted US Political Campaigns

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US Calls for Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Aug. 15 With Qatar, Egypt

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To contact the reporters on this story: Giuseppe Macri in Washington at gmacri@bgov.com; Jon Reid in Washington at jreid@bloomberglaw.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com