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💫 Johnson's polarizing star The House Freedom Caucus is flirting with an identity crisis, including some members privately discussing whether to try booting freshman Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), four sources familiar with the conversations tell us. At least 10 of HFC's more than two dozen members will not return next term, including some of its most prominent voices. Why it matters: Gill is a prolific fundraiser, Fox News loves him, he's launched an ambitious bid to lead Republicans on House Oversight and leadership sees him as the future. But some of his colleagues say he's using them as a stepping stone. "He's not really in the Freedom Caucus. He's just using it for conservative bona fides," one HFC member told us. The caucus is "livid" at Gill, another HFC member told us. "Congressman Gill is laser-focused on getting out the vote and ensuring Republicans hold the majority this November," a spokesperson for Gill told us in a statement. Zoom in: Members say Gill benefited from introductions to HFC donors but hasn't adequately financially supported fellow members in difficult races. "For those of us who have been in meetings, who have been in the tough votes over the last two years, he's been MIA," one HFC member said, adding he's "totally looking for the ladder climbing." Gill raised $4.7 million in the third quarter, a massive haul for a freshman member. He's in an R+11 district. Gill's office pointed out he's given to over a dozen HFC members' campaigns. What they're saying: Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) accused the media of "ginning up stories about Republicans based on anonymous sources," insisting the group is "united and laser-focused" on advancing Trump's agenda. "I'm not frustrated with Brandon at all," Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.), also a freshman member of the caucus and no relation to Andy Harris, told us. "He comes to meetings. I don't know why they feel like he doesn't." The bottom line: "HFC is its own worst enemy sometimes," one GOP member told us. "They've managed to kick out, alienate some of their members that help them fundraise." — Kate Santaliz

😱 Nightmares turn real Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer are living out their Senate nightmares — with nominees they didn't want and former colleagues they no longer control. Why it matters: Together, Schumer and Thune are stuck with five Senate races in which their party establishments thought they had a better chance of winning with someone else. 🤠 Texas: Thune's efforts to stop Ken Paxton from winning the nomination failed. Now Republicans are spending more than $329 million to defeat James Talarico— and it's still a nail-biter. 🍑 Georgia: GOP leaders couldn't convince Gov. Brian Kemp to run. The eventual nominee, Rep. Mike Collins, has struggled to keep pace with fundraising juggernaut Sen. Jon Ossoff. GOP money is in retreat. 🦞 Maine: Schumer endorsed Gov. Janet Mills, but Graham Platner's implosion left Democrats with backup Troy Jackson against Sen. Susan Collins. ⛴️ Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens and made a name for himself nationally. But he won by just one point even though primary polls showed him up by double digits. He's now polling within the margin of error against the GOP nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers. 🏈 Minnesota: Peggy Flanagan ran as a progressive, said she would not support Schumer as leader and bested establishment-backed Rep. Angie Craig. But Cook Political Report moved her race against former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya toward Republicans even as it shifted other races toward Democrats. To make matters worse, Thune's and Schumer's former colleagues are creating fresh headaches by boosting candidates across the aisle. Former Sen. Joe Manchin, who flipped to independent in 2024 after being elected as a Senate Democrat, is campaigning for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), as Semafor reported. Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who also flipped from Democrat to independent before leaving office, is boosting Republican Jay Feely in her home House district. She even voted for him in the GOP primary, as Axios scooped. Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) endorsed Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in his reelection this summer. The other side: In two red states, Schumer landed arguably the best candidates he could get. Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper has all but put North Carolina to bed, and former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is keeping it too close for Sen. Jon Husted's comfort in Ohio. — Stef Kight

The Possibility of Escalation View in browser President Trump has been hearing lately from two trusted confidants, each promising a quick path to ending the war in Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that Iran is on the brink of economic collapse and that a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, combined with sanctions, will force Tehran to capitulate at the negotiation table. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a series of calls with Trump, has offered a different route: one more round of devastating U.S. and Israeli strikes to topple the regime. Now the Trump administration appears to be considering combining the two approaches, betting that Iran is already on the verge of economic ruin and that a few more major strikes will be enough to trigger regime change. The president is considering reviving his military campaign against Iran with several days of strikes, likely just after the midterm elections, officials told us. The potential targets include Iran’s missile and drone arsenal as well as its energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities. One outside adviser told us that “the economic pressure is working, and we believe Iran is getting close to the edge.” The new strikes, the person added, “would push them over.” Experience suggests that this may be wishful thinking. Economic pressure has badly weakened Iran, but the country’s negotiating position has hardly budged. Trump has thought before that Iran was on the verge of ruin—or already past it—only to discover that he’d miscalculated. And launching more strikes could spark a regional escalation without bringing the regime any closer to surrender. Speaking at Tehran’s Holy Defence Museum earlier this week, Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, named seven major fiber-optic cables beneath the surface of the Strait of Hormuz as potential “new targets” and teased that future attacks would feature “new weapons.” If the proposed U.S. strike plan fails to bring Iran to its knees, Tehran could emerge even less willing to make concessions. “Trump is desperate to find some options to take him out from this problematic situation,” Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer who specializes in Iran, told us. “But you cannot plan for a three-day war, because it is not a unilateral decision. You cannot control how Iran responds.” Nevertheless, the president appears intent on acting. “Something one way or another, it will happen fairly soon,” Trump told a reporter yesterday before boarding Air Force One. Despite all of the reasons resuming strikes could be a mistake, the president is tempted because he’s grown impatient waiting for the strategy of economic strangulation to work. He had originally hoped that Iran would come crawling back to the negotiations before the midterm elections, an official and another person familiar with the conversations told us under the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. That has not happened, and energy prices have stayed high—creating an awful political landscape for Republicans. Trump has toned down some of his apocalyptic rhetoric toward Tehran, but his frustration occasionally seeps through, often in late-night social-media posts. Trump has toyed with the idea of resuming hostilities before Election Day, a push championed by those in Washington who believe that a show of force could allow the president to claim some sort of October-surprise victory. Netanyahu has advocated for another round of strikes before his own election next week, a White House official confirmed to us. So far, Trump has held off on authorizing a pre-midterms strike; after we reported on the possibility earlier this month, the behind-the-scenes blowback from fellow Republicans was so intense that the president posted on Truth Social that he would not attack again before the election. U.S. officials stress that no decision has been made about whether to resume strikes post-election, although there have been very public signs of preparation. Some officials hope that uncertainty about what the United States will do—and when—will keep Tehran on edge. Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel and met with Netanyahu to discuss Iran. The State Department said yesterday that it was evacuating nonessential personnel and their family members from Saudi Arabia because of escalating attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Real questions remain about whether the Pentagon’s munitions supplies, which were growing dangerously low at the height of the conflict, would be adequate to defend U.S. interests in the Middle East. Meanwhile, even the hint of hostilities has spooked markets; the price of oil surged and the stock market fell today as word circulated about a possible return to war and Iran hit tankers in the strait. (The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. Central Command, which leads the war in Iran, declined to comment.) The costly U.S. naval blockade, which has effectively stopped Iranian oil exports, coupled with sanctions and damage from U.S. strikes, has put Iran’s economy under severe strain. Inflation is soaring; goods are scarce. The record-low value of the rial has left Iranians struggling to pay for basic needs. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said last week that the naval blockade had prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion worth of crude oil. The International Monetary Fund has projected that Iran’s economy will contract sharply in 2026. But while Tehran is trying to contain the damage through measures such as price controls and maintaining essential imports, there is little evidence that Iran is on the verge of imminent economic collapse. Over the summer, Bessent promised “financial violence” that would lead to Iran’s capitulation. Yesterday, the Treasury Department added sanctions targeting shipping networks and intermediaries “indirectly aiding Tehran’s ability to generate revenue to fund its military, weapons, and nuclear programs.” “I think it could be within weeks or months—and the economy doesn’t have to collapse. We just have to have the regime come to their senses,” he told reporters at an August G20 finance ministers’ meeting. But the belief that that point will come soon ignores the patterns of history: The hard-liners in Tehran have become inured to the suffering of their people over decades and have yet to capitulate. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has repeatedly urged Trump, who has endorsed the prime minister in his reelection bid, to launch strikes before Israel’s Tuesday election and the United States’ vote a week later, an Israeli television station reported last week. Netanyahu’s office has reportedly denied the claim. Regardless, the war is key to the political futures of Netanyahu and Trump. How and when it ends, however, is not entirely up to them. Related: Trump is preparing for a long war. Trump Jr. privately breaks with his dad on Iran

Washington resident charged with conspiracy in Canada school shooting pleads not guilty A Washington state resident charged with conspiracy in one of the worst school shootings in Canada’s history pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday. Read More.

Waze rejects Malaysia’s data risks claims after civil servants barred from using the app Waze on Thursday rejected Malaysia's claims that it collects sensitive government information or allows any entity to exploit personal user data, after the government banned civil servants from using the navigation app, citing its Israeli connection. Read More.

What to know about Ebola outbreak that has spread from Congo to multiple African countries The deadly Ebola outbreak that began in Congo in May is outpacing efforts to contain it, spreading to two other regions of Africa and taking advantage of gaps in surveillance. Read More.

Movie Review: In ‘Fatherland,’ Paweł Pawlikowski’s austere portrait of a fractured Germany In 1949, Nobel laureate Thomas Mann returned to Germany after years in exile to accept dual Goethe Prizes. Frankfurt, in West Germany, was Goethe’s birthplace 200 years earlier. Weimar, in communist East Germany, was where he lived and died. Both cities felt a claim to Mann's return for the bicentennial of Goethe’s birth. And Mann, who left Germany in 1933, saw it as an opportunity to address his divided homeland. Read More.

Airbnb guests no longer have to wash the dishes or strip the beds at checkout Airbnb guests can say goodbye to checkout chores like washing dishes, stripping beds and taking out the trash under a new policy announced this week. Read More.

Argentina follows Trump lead, designates criminal and guerrilla groups as terrorist organizations Argentina has designated five Latin American criminal and guerrilla groups, including Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, as terrorist organizations, aligning itself with the security policies of the United States, a close ally. Read More.

First Ebola patients in Nigeria and Kenya might have crossed paths at Uganda airport The first Ebola patients confirmed in Kenya and Nigeria might have crossed paths at an airport in Uganda earlier this month, African health officials said Thursday as they race to trace and slow an outbreak that has spread to several African countries. Read More.

Indonesian leader rejects market downgrade warning after stock market sell-off Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto rejected a warning from Morgan Stanley Capital International that could lead to the country's stock market being downgraded, saying his country would not be pressured by external parties. Read More.

Powerful earthquake in China’s Tibet region collapses hundreds of homes and kills at least 16 people BEIJING (AP) — A magnitude 7 earthquake hit China’s Tibet region on Thursday evening, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 and collapsing hundreds of homes in the northern regional city of Nagqu, official media said. https://apnews.com/article/china-earthquake-tibet-be27a2db79ada1c6309914d173b983a8?

Tom Skerritt, Star of ‘Picket Fences’ and ‘Alien,’ Dies at 93 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tom-skerritt-dead-picket-fences-alien-mash-1236738429/ ps:Didn't know that he was that old??

What a pair he and his wife were! Scamming people out of there money!! Only God knows if he really ever gave his life to Jesus!!! I pray that he did!!!!

🐋 1 for the road: A new hope Photo: The Center for Whale Research/NMFS/NOAA A new baby orca is making waves among the Pacific Northwest's endangered Southern Resident population, Axios Seattle's Christine Clarridge reports. The little guy is the newest offspring of orca J35, who made headlines in 2018 while carrying her dead calf on her head for 17 days. 🐳 Researchers with the Center for Whale Research spotted the newborn swimming alongside his mother Monday and again on Tuesday. He appears to be nursing, swimming and socializing well. Go deeper ...

🔓 Governments and companies worked through the night on urgent security updates after the AI-assisted discovery of major flaws in a programming language vital to 70% of global websites. Go deeper.

🌊 President Trump said last night that he would "probably pass" on renaming the Atlantic Ocean after Google CEO Sundar Pichai asked him not to do so. Google Maps and similar services have adopted Trump's rebrandings of the Gulf of Mexico ("Gulf of America") and Lake Ontario ("Lake America") for U.S. users. Go deeper. ps:Well ain't that nice of him! 👩‍⚖️ A federal judge ordered President Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over an edit of one of his speeches. Go deeper.

👾 Hackers lay dangerous mobile web traps Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Hackers are finding new ways to infect iPhones with spyware even without victims clicking a malicious link, Axios' Sam Sabin reports from new research. 🤳 Researchers at iVerify and Report URI say they've uncovered two campaigns in which criminal groups with suspected ties to China exploited online ads and legitimate websites to deliver iPhone spyware. In one case, iVerify found that a financial institution employee's iPhone was infected after they scrolled past a pro soccer ad on Instagram. The ad triggered an attack that stole the person's login credentials and searched their cryptocurrency wallets. In another, Report URI uncovered a campaign affecting nearly 8,000 legitimate websites after hackers purchased roughly 630 expired domains still used by those sites. The attackers used those domains to redirect vulnerable iPhone visitors toward spyware designed to steal their credentials and cryptocurrency. ⚠️ Experts advise keeping your phone updated, as the attacks exploited flaws in older software versions. Go deeper.

Anti-Trumpism fuels youth vote Data: Harvard Youth Poll, Fall 2026; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Nearly 2 in 3 U.S. adults younger than 30 who plan to vote in the upcoming midterms say their main motivation is to oppose President Trump and his policies, Emily Peck and Margaret Talev report from a new Harvard Youth Poll. 77% of respondents disapprove of the president's handling of the economy, including about half of young Republicans. Just 9% say the U.S. is headed in the right direction — the lowest in the survey's history. 💸 Topping the list of what young people consider serious threats to their long-term financial security: rising prices and the cost of living (79%), the power of large corporations (68%) and trade wars (68%). Nearly half said that their household is struggling to make ends meet or is getting by with limited financial security. Data: Harvard Youth Poll; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Stunning stat: For the first time in the poll's history, the share of young adults who said they expect to be worse off than their parents (27%) slightly exceeded the share who said they expect to be better off (25%). The difference was within the poll's margin of error, but the longer-term trend is striking. In the fall of 2021, 39% expected to be better off than their parents, while just 17% expected to be worse off. Go deeper ... Explore the data.

What’s So Radical About Angie Nixon? The Florida Democrat says she’s no extremist. She’s just running ‘toward the people and what it is that they need.’ Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon has a simple rebuttal to charges from her general election opponent, Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, that she’s an extremist and a radical, and therefore unfit to be the next U.S. Senator from the state of Florida. At a town hall in Lauderhill, a predominantly Black city in inland Broward County, west of the coastline and its better-known political and cultural centers, she told a story about a woman with breast cancer — a mother who had relied on Medicaid for her treatment and SNAP benefits to feed her children while she was too sick to work. Both programs had been cut after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last July. The woman’s cancer, Nixon said, has since advanced to stage IV. “This is what’s at stake right now in our country,” said Nixon, dressed in a black campaign shirt modeled after a vintage rap tee, with “ANGIE” splashed across a collage of her own image. “It is shameful that in one of the richest countries in the world, we have people who are dying because they don’t have access to quality healthcare.” Nothing about making sure people can see a doctor or paying workers a living wage, she continued, was “radical or extreme.” Among the people listening with just weeks to go before the Nov. 3 election was Michelle Waterford, a former teacher who had moved to South Florida from Boston. Waterford had been an independent before changing her registration so she could participate in Florida’s closed Democratic primary. She and her 21-year-old son, Nate, initially supported Nixon’s primary opponent, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. In June, they attended a candidate forum at a church in nearby Pompano Beach, where they expected to meet Vindman. He never showed up — but Nixon did. “She was everywhere,” Waterford told me. “He was nowhere.” By the end of the event, Waterford and several friends who had arrived supporting Vindman had switched to Nixon. Her reasons were not especially ideological. She liked Nixon’s positions on teachers’ wages and healthcare. The Waterfords also seemed to relish Nixon’s pugnacity. They parroted a quip they’d heard Nixon deliver at the Pompano Beach event when asked about her alleged support for abolishing the police. Nixon replied, “Why would I want to abolish the police? I want to put Ashley Moody in jail.” But more than anything, Michelle responded to the sense that Nixon was present and speaking to the problems she recognized in her own life. In Florida, it had been eight years since Democrats nominated a progressive for governor or U.S. Senate. The last time, in 2018, Andrew Gillum lost the governorship to Republican Ron DeSantis by less than half a percentage point. And until Nixon’s insurgent primary win on August 18, Florida Democrats have largely responded to the state’s rightward lurch by running a series of centrist candidates, including former Republican Charlie Crist against DeSantis in 2022. DeSantis cruised to victory with a near 20-point win. Two years later, in 2024, Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Rick Scott notched double-digit wins in Florida, cementing its shift from a purple battleground into a Republican stronghold. Nixon’s campaign, by contrast, marks a clear departure from that centrist approach, focusing on the affordability crisis, Medicare for All, and the need to get money out of politics. She had joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) two months before the primary, and her win was hailed as the first time a DSA member had captured a major-party nomination for statewide office. The circumstances of that membership remain murky: the organization neither endorsed nor anticipated her victory. When pressed, Nixon balked at the socialist label, describing herself as more of a “social democrat” and distancing herself from several of the group’s positions. But the willingness to confront corporate power remained. As Morgan Harper reported in a column for The Lever, Nixon rebuked Walmart at a Congressional Black Caucus event the company co-sponsored, criticizing it for taking government subsidies and tax breaks while its workers rely on government assistance. According to Nixon’s primary results, her message appeals to voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party in recent years. Nixon’s primary coalition extended into Republican-won territory, including Jacksonville, with particular strength in lower-income, less-college-educated communities. She also “won the rural vote by 20 points and carried 19 of the state’s 22 rural counties.” Overall, she trounced her establishment-backed primary opponent by double digits, despite being outspent more than 16-to-one. Before she took the stage at the Lauderhill town hall, I asked Nixon what she thought voters had been endorsing when they chose her. “They were endorsing someone who wants to put people first,” she said. Voters, she added, were tired of Washington’s “chaos and corruption” and wanted someone focused on putting more money in their pockets and lowering the cost of gas and groceries. She didn’t spare Democrats any blame for what she saw as an economic order shaped during the Obama years and carried forward under both Trump and Biden. “I think there’s some blame to go all around,” she said. “We need to start electing people who come from local communities, have community organizing experience, and have taken on big businesses.” However, Nixon was careful not to frame her primary victory as an ideological triumph. She didn’t invoke socialism or progressivism or suggest voters had endorsed a decisive move to the left. In fact, she rejected the political spectrum altogether. “It’s not about right or left or centrist or progressive. It’s about the [candidate] who’s going to run toward the people and what it is that they need.” Florida Dems Divided For progressive Florida Democrats, Nixon’s primary win is an indictment of a state Democratic Party that responded to Florida’s rightward turn by chasing moderate and suburban voters while neglecting much of its working-class base. Elijah Manley, a progressive organizer who lost this year’s congressional primary for Florida's 20th Congressional District to establishment Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, contrasted Andrew Gillum’s narrow gubernatorial loss in 2018 with the party’s much worse statewide performances in subsequent cycles. “The Florida Democratic Party believes when they lose that going further to the right is the strategy to win,” he told me. “That has proved election cycle after election cycle not to be a winning strategy.” For Manley, Nixon’s victory demonstrated something more specific than a statewide conversion to left politics. “It goes a little bit further than ideology,” he said. “It’s also coalition building.” Nixon traveled constantly, including to places conventional wisdom and strategists might have written off. “She threw out the consultant playbook.” Oliver Larkin — another progressive also-ran, who lost this year’s congressional primary for Florida's 25th Congressional District to establishment Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz — located the failure in what he called the “Chuck Schumer strategy,” referring to Schumer declaring that Democrats could accept losses among working-class voters on the assumption that they could make them up with more affluent suburban moderates. Larkin believes strategists have spent too much energy chasing swing voters while neglecting Black, Latino, and rural communities. Nixon, he said, demonstrated that “you can outorganize organized money” when a candidate’s message matches the economic conditions voters are experiencing. “When the Democratic Party is winning, it’s exciting young people,” Larkin said. “It’s exciting irregular voters.” He argued those voters are not looking for more bipartisanship but believe the institutions of both parties have failed them. He said Florida Democrats needed more voter registration, year-round community organizing, and less fixation on persuading Republican voters. When you start catering to Republicans, he said, it turns into a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Grand theories built around a single primary hold little appeal for Steve Schale, a longtime Florida Democratic strategist who helped run both of Barack Obama’s campaigns in the state. “I think everyone overreads every election way too much,” he told me. Schale didn’t dispute that Nixon assembled an unusual coalition, but he offers a more mundane explanation for much of it. Vindman, Nixon’s primary opponent, was new to Florida, had few deep relationships in the state and, in Schale’s view, ran as though the general election mattered more than the Democratic primary. “She frankly outworked the dude,” he said. Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, diagnoses the party’s recent struggles as a structural issue. When Republicans consolidated power after 2018, she told me, changes to voter-registration rules, voting-rights restoration, and vote-by-mail enrollment made basic organizing more expensive. At the same time, outside investment in Florida Democrats has cratered. Fried pointed to the collapse in presidential spending. In 2020, the Biden presidential campaign spent about $112 million on advertisements in Florida, compared with the Harris campaign spending $539,000 on the state by October of 2024. One oversight she placed closer to home was communication. Before she became chair in 2023, Fried said, the party had little coherent strategy for amplifying elected officials or maintaining a consistent message. It didn’t help that there was no Democratic governor, senator, or meaningful legislative power to speak of that could have commanded sustained news coverage. Fried resisted the idea of a leftward lurch among state Democrats in the wake of Nixon’s victory. “People are looking for fighters,” she said, adding that Nixon’s strength came from years of organizing and an ability to speak directly to the affordability crisis, not from a sudden statewide shift to the left. Reports of tension between Fried and Nixon surfaced almost immediately after Nixon won the primary, particularly around Nixon’s association with DSA. According to Axios, Nixon told Fried in a heated phone call, “You never gave a care about me from the beginning, and now you’re telling me how to run my campaign?” Fried sidestepped the suggestion that ideological concerns had resulted in limited party support, saying that Nixon was folded into the operation after the primary and that the party was fully behind Nixon. “She’s our nominee,” Fried said. Nixon’s progressive allies are circumspect about that support. Manley said national Democrats “have not been putting the resources into the race, and I don’t know how they expect to win Florida without investing in it.” Federal records lend weight to that appraisal. Through August 31, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) had given $62,000 in direct contributions to six other nominees but none to Nixon, while transferring only $29,000 to the Florida Democratic Party, compared with millions to several other state parties. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) recently called it “shameful” that the DSCC was not making an “equitable investment” in candidates like Nixon. Last month, Nixon herself told MS Now that when she asked the DSCC to contribute money to her campaign, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “We will see.” When commentators on the program asked why she thought the DSCC didn’t donate to her campaign, Nixon noted, “I am very vocal about putting working-class families first. I am very vocal about progressive values. I think that may be the main issue.” Nixon added: “Also, folks are a little gun-shy because, unfortunately, Vice President Harris lost as a Black woman. And so people are being very hesitant in terms of funding Black women. Especially in the South.” When asked about the lack of material support from the DSCC, Nixon told The Lever, “We’re thrilled with the support from Leader Schumer and Senator Gillibrand to host fundraisers and lean in with us.” (And separate from the DSCC, Schumer has contributed to Nixon through his PAC.) Larkin’s criticism was more local. He said state party leadership hadn’t done enough to make the national case for investing in Florida. “There’s a kind of condescension that people feel [that] if you’re not bringing your own massive donor network or national media profile to the table, then we don’t have time for you,” he said. Larkin wants the state party to make a much more aggressive push not just for Nixon, but for congressional, legislative and future presidential races, noting that he harbored some resentment that Nixon had been forced to seek that assistance herself. Economic Populism Is Nothing New In The South Scarcity has never been much of a deterrent for Nixon. She has spent most of her career building a movement without institutional help. She was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, a sprawling consolidated city-county of roughly 1.02 million people and 747 square miles — one of the biggest cities by land area in the continental United States. It is a place large enough to encompass dense urban neighborhoods, postwar suburbs, industrial warrens, wetlands, and semi-rural stretches within the same municipal boundary. The contrasts extend far beyond geography. Tony beach and riverfront enclaves are conveniently insulated from northwest neighborhoods like Moncrief, where Nixon grew up. In Moncrief’s ZIP code, 39 percent of residents live below the poverty line, more than triple the national average. Economic insecurity looms large over Nixon’s campaign. She has described watching her mother work two jobs to support the family, being bused out of her underserved school district, and later losing a cousin to gun violence. After graduating from the University of Florida, she moved into community labor organizing before becoming executive director of Florida for All, a statewide organizing coalition, and winning a Florida House seat in 2020. Afifa Khaliq, president of SEIU Florida Public Services Union, first met Nixon as an organizer in Jacksonville. Nixon later worked with SEIU’s state council on the campaign to raise Florida’s minimum wage and then organized adjunct faculty as the union’s higher-education director, hearing firsthand from workers struggling with healthcare, childcare, and stagnant wages. “When you hear her talking, those sound bites are coming from the workers directly,” Khaliq told me. “She does not need briefings about these experiences. She is a working-class family herself.” Khaliq suggests that Nixon’s politics developed out of an organizer’s habit: find out what people are angry about, ask them to talk about it, and build a movement around the common denominator. The Working Families Party, a labor-backed progressive third party, wants to see more candidates like Nixon — a thousand of them, according to Britney Whaley, its Southeast regional director. This summer, the party launched Southern Made, an ambitious effort to recruit and train 1,000 working-class candidates across 10 southern states by 2030. Announced alongside its endorsement of Nixon, the program seeks to cultivate candidates with her combination of working-class roots, community ties, and a platform centered on healthcare, housing, and wages. Whaley resisted describing the project as an exercise in ideological conversion. “A lot of folks don’t care whether you call yourself progressive or MAGA,” she told me. “What they care about is not being able to afford to live right now.” She argued that imposing the locutions of progressive politics on the South was less effective than addressing the specific conditions people faced. In New York, a transportation campaign may mean lowering subway fares. In the South, where public transit infrastructure is thinner, it may mean helping people get to a job at all. Much of the region has not expanded Medicaid, union density is weak, and Republican legislative supermajorities mean that organizers often count stopping legislation as a significant victory. “It’s not that you’re importing a different politic,” Whaley said. “It has been here in the South.” Among those making the case for a more working-class socialist politics is Eric Blanc, an assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. Blanc sees Nixon’s candidacy as an example of why conflating economic populism and ideological identity can be misleading. “You can’t really be a socialist without being an economic populist,” he told me, “but you can be an economic populist without being a socialist.” In Blanc’s telling, Nixon is not necessarily convincing working-class voters to adopt unfamiliar ideas. She is addressing material demands that have gone unmet for decades and connecting them to corporate power. Healthcare that people can afford and wages that keep pace with the cost of living do not require much ideological instruction. “The starting point is almost always people’s day-to-day struggles to get by,” Blanc said. What distinguishes Nixon’s populist rhetoric from populism on the right is that she repeatedly identifies corporations and billionaires as responsible for those conditions. Blanc said political content can matter more than whether the candidate foregrounds the word socialism for voters who do not spend much time thinking about ideological labels. Economic populism is nothing new in the South, Blanc said, calling it “a myth that there’s something inherent about the region that makes people averse to socialism.” In the early 20th century, Oklahoma became one of the strongest Socialist Party states in the country, powered heavily by tenant farmers and small agricultural producers. In 1914, Oklahoma’s Socialist gubernatorial candidate won more than 20 percent of the statewide vote, while more than 175 Socialist candidates won local and county offices. Farmers described themselves as workers and translated socialist arguments into the language of Jeffersonian republicanism and evangelical Christianity — political ideas made legible through institutions and traditions already familiar to rural voters. Two decades later, Black and white sharecroppers organized together in the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union, founded in Arkansas with Socialist Party roots. At its peak, the organization claimed tens of thousands of members across parts of the South and Southwest. And today its organizing principles echo in the Working Families Party and Nixon campaigns. She Knows Who She’s Talking To The voters I met in Lauderhill hadn’t previously thought of themselves as socialists, or even as notably progressive. One of them, Elizabeth Rodriguez, surveyed the room in a bright, patterned sundress and pale pink lipstick. An artist and single mother who grew up in Cuba and spent a decade in Canada, Rodriguez had never participated in politics before, much less volunteered for a campaign. That morning, she signed up. Affordable housing and childcare were among the issues that had drawn her to Nixon. “The reason I connect with her is because she talks about being a mother and a person that struggles every day,” Rodriguez said. As for Nixon’s identity as a socialist, Rodriguez’s experience in Cuba had made her wary of political systems that promised everything to everyone, and she spoke at length about the danger of concentrating power. But she also allowed that you can make a distinction between social programs and authoritarianism. At any rate, she seemed more concerned about whether Democrats could communicate to people who don’t spend their lives thinking about political terminology. Republicans, she offered, had learned how to communicate in brutally simple language. Democrats often sounded “aristocratic,” which put a wedge between the political class and what she called normal people. “They do need to communicate in simple words, like Angie,” Rodriguez said. “She knows who she’s talking to.” The national political climate is a tailwind in Nixon’s campaign, with the war in Iran driving up energy prices, the cost of everyday goods and services climbing, and Trump’s approval rating bottoming out. And yet defeating Moody remains a formidable undertaking. Republicans enjoy a prodigious registration advantage in Florida, and aside from Nikki Fried’s narrow 2018 victory for agricultural commissioner, Democrats have not won a statewide race there since 2012, when they captured a Senate seat, and Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than one percentage point. The state hasn’t elected a Democrat for governor since 1994. Toward the end of her town hall remarks, Nixon asked the audience for money. She said that organized people could beat big money, but they still needed coffers of their own. Then she told the story of one of the smallest contributions her campaign had received, which was also her favorite. “Thirty-three cents,” she said. “That is all that person had to give to me. That person realizes this is not my campaign — this is our campaign.” The audience responded with murmurs of recognition and assent. In her characteristically disarming mode, Nixon had spoken over the course of the afternoon about growing up around domestic violence, the struggles of single parenthood, and families working harder but still falling behind. But as the speech wore on, her tone shifted. Appeals to hardship gave way to attacks on her opponents. The Democratic response to Trumpism is often described as a restoration of law, norms, and competence; democratic institutions in lieu of spectacle and grievance. In Lauderhill, a more tangled outcome was on display. Nixon’s campaign was presenting itself as a rebellion against the political age Trump created while at times speaking in the same idiom that Trump helped normalize: “Governor Ron DeSantis needs to be in prison!” Nixon said from the stump. “Donald Trump needs to be in prison!” The crowd grew louder as Nixon worked through the litany. A “lock them up” chant broke out. In the far corner of the room, I spotted Michelle and Nate Waterford on their feet clapping and pumping their fists. Then Nixon began setting up the joke about defunding the police and locking up Ashley Moody. They already knew the punchline, but were eager to hear it again. https://www.levernews.com/whats-so-radical-about-angie-nixon/?

US jobless claims fell to 194,000 last week, lowest since July WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. unemployment claims fell to 194,000 last week, the fewest in three months and another sign that layoffs remain low and most Americans enjoy extraordinary job security. https://apnews.com/article/employment-layoffs-inflaton-job-cuts-8e962dcdefefa86ebc91ee9c663f1f3b?

👋 Good morning! On Oct. 22, 2001, "Pardon the Interruption" debuted on ESPN. 25 years later, it's still on the air. What began as an experiment has become an institution. Stat du jour: The Wizards season-opening win over the Bucks put them over .500 for the first time since Nov. 28, 2022 — 1,424 days ago. Welcome back, Wiz. In today's edition: World Series preview, Ant makes history, no surgery for Ohtani, Atlanta takes 2-1 Finals lead, NFL power rankings, "The JMU Way," and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Ant makes history: The Timberwolves blew out the Heat, 131-106, behind a huge night from Anthony Edwards (45 points, 10 rebounds), who joined Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history with multiple 40-point season openers. Full NBA scoreboard. ⚽️ St. Louis wins U.S. Open Cup: St. Louis City SC defeated the Columbus Crew in a dramatic penalty shootout to win the U.S. Open Cup, continuing their magic season and capturing the club's first trophy. ⚾️ No surgery for Ohtani: Though Shohei Ohtani dealt with knee and biceps injuries throughout the season, surgery is "not on the table," said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. He's expected to heal over the offseason, and "I fully expect him to pitch next year." ⚽️ Kane scores again: Bayern Munich and Arsenal played to a 2-2 draw in the headliner of Wednesday's Champions League action as Harry Kane scored in his 10th straight match in the competition, one shy of Cristiano Ronaldo's record. 🏈 QB1 in NYC: The Giants will start J.J. McCarthy at quarterback on Sunday against the Texans after the former first-round pick threw for 243 yards and a touchdown in replacement of Jameis Winston in the fourth quarter last weekend against the Saints.   Catch live games all season with NBA League Pass and follow the stars, rivalries and storylines as they unfold. Plus, get access to alternate broadcasts and nonstop NBA coverage. Blackout rules apply.   ⚾️ WORLD SERIES FALL CLASSIC? MORE LIKE SMALL CLASSIC (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) The 2026 World Series is shaping up to be a big celebration of everything, well, small. The Rays and Brewers are two of MLB's model small-market franchises, ranking in the bottom half of the league in both metro-area size and luxury-tax payroll. But they also play small — and that's a big reason they're still standing. Where's the power? Unlike most modern contenders, neither team relies much on the long ball. Milwaukee hit the third-fewest home runs this season, while Tampa Bay hit the ninth-fewest. And even during their most homer-heavy stretches of the regular season or playoffs, neither produced a league-average share of its runs via homers. So how do they score? Both teams ranked among MLB's Top 10 in offensive Wins Above Replacement (WAR) despite their relative lack of power. And while elite pitching and defense have helped carry them this far, their offenses have embraced a decidedly old-school approach: Singles, bunts, speed and situational hitting. Take a look: Both teams ranked among the Top 10 in the following nine traditional "small ball" categories during the regular season: Digging deeper: The Rays and Brewers were particularly good at putting the ball in play and making things happen. Hit parade: Tampa Bay and Milwaukee ranked first and second in both singles and infield hits. Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson led the majors with 61 infield hits — nearly 20 more than anyone else. The bunt is back: The teams combined for 82 sacrifice bunts and 81 more bunt hits. Brewers infielder David Hamilton led MLB in both categories individually. Move 'em over: Both clubs also finished in the Top 10 in contact rate, productive-out rate, advancing runners from second with nobody out, and getting runners home from third with fewer than two outs. Speed kills: In addition to measuring the ability to "manufacture" runs, these stats have a common thread: Speed. Both teams also ranked among MLB's Top 5 in fastest average home-to-first running time, giving them the wheels to turn routine grounders into something a lot more valuable. Bottom line: Sure, a World Series built around singles, bunts and productive outs might sound like something only baseball sickos could love. But throw in a bunch of guys flying around the basepaths, putting constant pressure on the defense, and making every opposing defensive play into an adventure? That sounds like fun to us. This story was written by Neil Paine, who we formally introduced in yesterday's edition.   🏀 WNBA FINALS REESE, DREAM GRAB 2-1 LEAD IN ATLANTA (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) The Dream rolled to a 97-71 blowout win over the Valkyries in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals to take a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals in front of a sold-out crowd in Atlanta. The star of the night for the second straight game? Angel Reese. Cassandra Negley, Yahoo Sports: Angel Reese thrives on perceived disrespect. The mere mention of that to her is disrespectful. She turns, her face shutting off, an "I don't care" signaling the end of a one-on-one conversation toward the end of shootaround. But she does care. Or else she wouldn't drop an aside that the goals she wrote down at the beginning of the season were ones "that many people may not think I can do." A shiny new Defensive Player of the Year trophy sat beside her on a black-clothed table. In her first WNBA Finals, Reese and the Dream disrespected themselves. Despite leading late on the road in Game 1, they let a victory slip by in the final minutes. They didn't play their style, and were exposed in the process. It pissed Reese off. That was exactly what she needed. "As soon as she stepped on the court, she was like, I'm going to be the best player on that court tonight," teammate DeWanna Bonner said ahead of Reese's Game 2 performance. She did it again in Game 3. With 21 points and 12 rebounds, the third-year pro became the second player in Finals history with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games. She also became the youngest, at 24 years old, with three straight double-doubles in the Finals. Keep reading: Behind raucous home crowd, Angel Reese, Dream make statement in Game 3   🏈 THE MIGHTY NORTH NFL WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) The undefeated 49ers remain comfortably atop our latest NFL power rankings, but lurking beneath them lie eight teams — comprising two entire divisions — who've gotten off to a historic start. Kings in the North: All eight teams in the AFC and NFC North are ranked inside the top 20, because all eight are currently over .500. How rare is that? Before this year, just three divisions since 2002 entered Week 7 with every team above .500, so pretty rare! AFC North: No. 4 Ravens (4-2), No. 10 Bengals (3-2), No. 16 Steelers (4-2), No. 19 Browns (4-2) NFC North: No. 5 Vikings (5-0), No. 6 Bears (4-2), No. 11 Lions (3-2), No. 14 Packers (4-2) Déjà vu: In 2023, the AFC North became the first division in the Super Bowl era to have every team finish above .500. Last year, the NFC North joined them as the second. Could both of them stay hot and pull off the feat simultaneously this fall?   🏈 7-0 THE JMU WAY JMU WR Chase Pensyl leads the Dukes onto the field prior to their game against Marshall earlier this month. (Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) James Madison, playing tonight at App State, made the CFP last season and is now the only 7-0 team in the country. How did a former all-women's college, tucked amid the rolling hills and blue crest mountains of the Shenandoah Valley, become one of the nation's fastest-ascending Division I athletic programs? Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports: The old-timers in Harrisonburg, Virginia, remember where this all started. It wasn't so long ago, in fact. In September of 1972, a 30-year-old man named Challace McMillin recruited 60 men to form the first-ever football team at what was, just five years before, an all-women's university called Madison College. As the story goes, McMillin wandered through class registration lines plucking the most burly of men. Half of them quit before the very first practice. It did nothing to slow then-president Ron Carrier's plans of creating a football program to "change the psychology" of a campus still transitioning to coeducational. Three years later, in 1975, Madison College finished undefeated and won the Virginia College Athletic Association. More than a half-century later, James Madison University's athletic program buzzes with fervor. Almost every fall sport is currently in first place in the Sun Belt; the school won 15 contests against power league programs last academic year; and the football program hasn't had a losing season since 2002. JMU's last two football coaches, Curt Cignetti (Indiana) and Bob Chesney (UCLA), are leading Top-10 ranked Big Ten teams, and its current leader, Billy Napier, has won his first seven games as coach. Last week, more good news arrived: The school accepted membership in the American Conference, just four years after transitioning from FCS to FBS. JMU administrators raised $5 million from donors to fund the Sun Belt exit fee and another $23 million from school-affiliated corporate sponsors to fund the American entrance fee. "If you are asking if I would have predicted 25 years ago or even 15 years ago, this level of success, no," said Charlie King, a now-retired, longtime JMU vice president. Keep reading: Why James Madison keeps winning, no matter who's in charge   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, OCT. 22 Maye and Williams after their first matchup in November 2024. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images) 🏈 Patriots at Bears New England and Chicago meet tonight at Soldier Field (8:15pm ET, Prime) in a battle of 4-2 teams led by QBs who went first (Caleb Williams) and third (Drake Maye) in the 2024 NFL Draft. Maye's back: The Patriots' 1-2 start coincided with some horrendous play from Maye, who threw for just 585 yards with 1 TD and 6 INTs. Since then, the Pats are 3-0 and the reigning MVP runner-up has thrown for 878 yards, 10 TDs and just one pick. 🏀 NBA on ESPN Tonight's doubleheader kicks off with LeBron James and the 76ers hosting his old friends from Cleveland (7pm). Then it's off to OKC, where the Thunder host the Nuggets (9:30pm). MVP battle: OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver's Nikola Jokić have finished top two in MVP voting for three consecutive seasons, and they've combined for five wins and 11 top-five finishes since SGA's rookie year (2018-19). More to watch: 🏈 NCAAF: James Madison at App State (7pm, ESPNU) … JMU (7-0) is in the driver's seat for another CFP berth, but App State has a penchant for upsetting the Dukes. 🏒 NHL: Hurricanes at Oilers (9pm, ESPN+) … Connor McDavid (6 G, 20 A) has scored at least one point in every game so far, putting him on pace for an absurd 243 points. 🏐 Women's Volleyball: UCLA at No. 1 Nebraska (7pm, FS1) … The Cornhuskers (19-0) are the nation's only undefeated team. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🏀 LET'S PLAY NBA TRIVIA (Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) Nikola Jokić, who makes his season debut tonight, has rattled off six consecutive top-two MVP finishes, tied for the longest such streak in NBA history. Question: Who are the other two players to accomplish that feat? Hint: Their numbers hang in the TD Garden rafters. Answer at the bottom.   🏀 NBA ON PRIME PERFECT 5 IS LIVE! New game alert! We just launched Perfect 5, a free-to-play game connected to each week's marquee "NBA on Prime" slate, which kicks off tomorrow night with Knicks at Celtics and Rockets at Spurs. How it works: Each player featured in the "Prime" doubleheader has a salary between $1 and $5, and you have a $15 budget to build a five-player roster. Players earn fantasy points in categories like points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers. The objective: Outscore the competition.   Trivia answer: Bill Russell (1958-63) and Larry Bird (1981-86)

US Supreme Court allows gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/repub/us-supreme-court-allows-gender-affirming-care-for-trans-people-in-federal-prisons/?

Despite earlier hesitation to campaign, DeSantis hosts event supporting Amendment 3 Gov. Ron DeSantis for more than an hour Wednesday sat at a table with Miami leaders in front of TV cameras and advocated for the proposed constitutional amendment to increase homestead property tax exemptions. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/despite-earlier-hesitation-to-campaign-desantis-hosts-event-supporting-amendment-3/? DeSantis’ congressional map was designed to flip 4 seats to the GOP — Will it? Among the four seats Florida Republicans are supposed to flip from the Democrats this year following their mid-cycle redistricting is Florida’s 22nd Congressional District in South Florida. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/desantis-congressional-map-was-designed-to-flip-4-seats-to-the-gop-will-it/? ps:Gerrymandering is what it's called!!!!! To avoid becoming roadkill, Florida panthers need critter crossings One of my favorite cartoons, drawn by a Pensacola artist named Jem Sullivan, shows a flock of sad-looking chickens gathered around a casket. The chicken minister delivering the eulogy says, “And though we’ll never know why Dave wanted to cross the road, we can rest assured that he is now, at last, on the Other Side.” https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/22/to-avoid-becoming-roadkill-florida-panthers-need-critter-crossings/? Bear killings skyrocket as garbage, bird feeders draw them into conflict Bears are having a very bad year. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/repub/bear-killings-skyrocket-as-garbage-bird-feeders-draw-them-into-conflict/?

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: NBA Opening Day, McDavid is on fire, meet our new hire, World Series payrolls, Big Numbers, college football midseason awards, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏒 McDavid makes history: Oilers superstar Connor McDavid notched three more assists in Tuesday's 4-3 (OT) win over the Wild to reach 20 through just nine games, the fewest in NHL history to hit that mark. He's also the sixth player ever with at least 25 points (6 G, 20 A) before his 10th game of the season. 🏀 Gamecocks top poll: For the fifth time in the past seven years, South Carolina will head into the women's college basketball season as the No. 1 team in the nation. UConn, USC, Duke and Michigan rounded out the top five of the preseason AP poll. ⚽️ PSG wins thriller: PSG took down Barcelona, 4-2, in Tuesday's Champions League action, as the two-time reigning champions handed Barça their first loss of the season in an epic match that featured four goals in the final 20 minutes. ⚾️ Record ticket prices: The get-in price for Friday's World Series opener in Milwaukee currently sits at $2,442 (via Gametime), making it by far the most expensive Game 1 ever. The previous record? $1,125 for Cubs-Indians in 2016. 🏈 Union calls for investigation: After the NFL concluded it would not punish the Eagles for how they handled the process of clearing Jalen Hurts to play with a blood clot, the NFLPA has called for a full investigation into the situation.   The new NBA season is here. Get the free NBA App and never miss a beat. See where every game is on, tap straight into the live action and keep up with the latest scores, highlights and alerts for your favorite teams and players all season.   🏀 BACK IN ACTION IN PHOTOS: NBA OPENING DAY (Sarah Stier/Getty Images) New York, New York The Knicks left Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night with shiny new championship rings, but the 76ers walked away with the win, spoiling the banner-raising celebration in the Big Apple with a 106-100 victory. LeBron finally wins debut: For the first time in his 24-year career, LeBron James won his first game with a new team (previously 0-4, including his second stint with the Cavs). He flirted with a triple-double (14-9-7) in 34 minutes, and connected with fellow newcomer Jaylen Brown on an alley-oop. Cade Cunningham put up 22 points and 8 assists in the comeback win. (Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) Detroit, Michigan The Pistons stormed back from a 22-point third-quarter deficit (and rattled off a 23-0 run in the fourth) to beat the Celtics, 121-113, in the matinee. The dizzying victory marked the largest comeback on the first day of an NBA season in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98). Historic in defeat: Paul George erupted for 38 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, setting the record for the most points in a Celtics debut. He also nailed seven threes, bringing his career total to 2,456 and passing Kyle Korver (2,450) for eighth-most all-time. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) San Antonio, Texas Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points) and the Thunder beat the Spurs, 116-104, in the nightcap, reminding the league of their championship pedigree in a statement-making opening win. This was a stubborn, veteran group that looked more prepared, more ready for the moment. Yikes, Wemby: The Thunder limited Victor Wembanyama to just 12 points and one made field goal (1-13 FG, 10-12 FT). "I need to go back to playing the basketball I like," said the preseason MVP favorite. "I'm good when I have fun … I was indecisive, overthinking it."   👋 MEET AND GREET WHO'S THE NEW GUY? Greetings, Yahoo Sports AM readers! If you've noticed a new person bombarding you with charts and data lately, allow me to introduce myself — I'm Neil Paine. I used to be the Sports Editor at FiveThirtyEight (RIP), and before that I worked as an analytics consultant for the Atlanta Hawks, wrote a weekly baseball column for The New York Times and worked for the Sports-Reference family of websites at their church-based HQ in Philly. Ever since, I've been running my own Substack while also writing for places like ESPN, NASCAR.com, Sherwood News, The Athletic and The Philadelphia Inquirer. I'm super excited to add Y! Sports AM to that list. The common thread running through it all is trying to understand sports through numbers — tracking historical data, building power ratings and forecast models, and creating cool data visualizations that help tell those stories in new ways. I'm constantly watching games in split-screen on my handy laptop (including Celtics-Pistons as I type this on Tuesday, lol), but my mind is usually wandering toward the larger patterns behind what we're watching, and how we can measure and convey them in ways that reveal something we might otherwise miss. Of course, I try to approach things with a sense of humor as well, leaning into the absurdity of the sports we love. I believe in taking the analysis seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. But above all, I hope to bring a spirit of curiosity that helps us learn more about this endlessly fascinating world of sports. I'm always looking for new questions I want to answer, and if I can get you wondering about some of those same things, I'll consider that a job well-done. So thanks for reading — and I hope I can help you see your favorite games in a slightly different light along the way.   ⚾️ LABOR BATTLE AND THEN THERE WERE TWO Did you hear that the World Series is a matchup of small-payroll teams? If, by some miracle, that narrative has eluded you, consider this your Lloyd Christmas "We landed on the moon!" moment. Uncharted waters: This is the first matchup this century featuring two teams ranked in the bottom half of league payrolls. Whoever claims the title will be the stingiest winner since the 2003 Marlins. You get the idea: We won't belabor a point that has undermined a matchup of each league's best team. The tale of the tape is clear, but what does a battle of baseball's have-nots mean (if anything) for the sport's future at this critical juncture? The game within the game: The timing of a comparatively thrifty World Series matchup could hardly be worse for owners, who have extolled the virtues of a salary cap in creating greater competitive balance. This story was written by Dylan Dittrich, who authors our new sports business newsletter.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Yahoo Sports) 🏈 105.6 passer rating Now that he's passed the threshold to qualify (1,500 pass attempts), 49ers QB Brock Purdy owns the highest passer rating in NFL history (105.6), well ahead of Lamar Jackson in second place (102.7). Not bad for the former "Mr. Irrelevant," picked last in the 2022 NFL Draft. MVP race: Purdy (+225 at BetMGM) — who's lighting it up for the undefeated 49ers with a 118.1 passer rating, 15 total TDs and just two interceptions — only slightly trails Bills QB Josh Allen (+190) as the betting favorite to win MVP. Patrick Mahomes (+900), Trevor Lawrence (+1100) and Joe Burrow (+1300) round out the top five. (Taylar Sievert/Yahoo Sports) 🏀 5.44 points Yahoo Sports' Ben Fawkes asked oddsmakers to rank the most important NBA players against the spread (ATS). The prompt: "If a player wasn't on the injury report and then was declared out before the game, how much would the line move?" Nikola Jokić (5.44 points) led the way for the third straight year, though Victor Wembanyama (4.86) is closing the gap. Other notable names: Steph Curry (3.96) is the first name off the list above; LeBron James (1.92) is all the way down in 36th, behind new Sixers teammates Joel Embiid (2.84), Tyrese Maxey (2.70) and Jaylen Brown (2.22); Cam Boozer (1.14), tied for 63rd, leads the way among rookies. (Yahoo Sports) ⚾️ 78 seasons The Guardians' ALCS exit means they've now gone 78 seasons since their last World Series title (1948), the longest active drought in MLB and tied with the NFL's Cardinals for the longest across the "Big Four" leagues. Arizona's drought will, however, pass Cleveland's assuming it doesn't win the Super Bowl this season. Look away, Clevelanders: The Guardians' drought has spanned 17 playoff appearances, breaking a tie with the Braves for the most consecutive trips to the postseason without winning it all. (Yes, 17 appearances in 78 years is pretty sparse, though 16 of them have come since 1995.)   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21 Angel Reese defends Gabby Williams during Game 2. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) 🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 3 The Dream host the Valkyries tonight (8pm ET, USA) after tying the series at one game apiece. And thanks to a schedule change that moved the game up a day, they'll play at the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena instead of their usual 3,500-seat venue, which is the smallest in the WNBA. Elite company: Dream star Angel Reese erupted for 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, joining Jonquel Jones (2019) and Breanna Stewart (2020) as the only players in league history to drop 30 and 15 in the Finals. ⚽️ U.S. Open Cup Final The Columbus Crew host St. Louis City SC (8pm, CBSSN) in the finale of America's oldest ongoing soccer competition. Columbus seeks its second title (2002), while St. Louis, a 2019 expansion team, seeks its first. Proud history: St. Louis City may have never won the U.S. Open Cup, but teams from St. Louis have won 11 times, second only to New York City (23). Yes, but: The last such win came 38 years ago, by far the city's longest drought in the tournament's 112-year history. Can the Gateway City ascend to the top of the sport again? 🏀 NBA Doubleheader After Tuesday's three-game opening salvo, tonight brings a full 11-game slate, headlined by a doubleheader on ESPN: Timberwolves at Heat (7:30pm) and Warriors at Lakers (10pm). Debuts to watch: Giannis Antetokounmpo's first game in a Heat uniform after spending his first 13 seasons with the Bucks is tonight's main event. But we've also got LaMelo Ball (Timberwolves) and Walker Kessler (Lakers) debuting with new teams. More to watch: ⚽️ Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal (3pm, Paramount+) … The reigning German and English champions headline today's nine-game slate. 🏒 NHL: Flyers at Sabres (7:30pm, TNT); Panthers at Senators (7:30pm, ESPN+) … Florida already became the first team in NHL history to have a player record a natural hat trick in three straight games. Can they make it four in a row? 🏀 NCAAM: No. 11 Louisville at No. 17 Kansas (7pm, ESPNU) … Tonight's exhibition features Jayhawks newcomer Tyran Stokes, the top-rated recruit in the freshman class. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   ⚾ LET'S PLAY WORLD SERIES TRIVIA (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) The Rays are one of five American League teams to make at least three World Series appearances (2008, 2020, 2026) since the year 2000. Question: Can you name the other four? Hint: No AL Central teams. Answer at the bottom.   🏈 COLLEGE FOOTBALL MIDSEASON AWARDS (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) We are somehow already halfway through the college football season. Our experts offer up their Heisman picks, title predictions, biggest surprises and more.   Trivia answer: Yankees (5x), Astros (4x), Red Sox (4x), Rangers (3x)