#POLITICO

THE NAIL BITER — New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is still too close to call as you wake up this morning. With 88% of the expected vote in, incumbent PHIL MURPHY is trailing Republican JACK CIATTARELLI by just over 1,000 votes. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN returned from Europe overnight to a Washington...

OFF TO THE RACES — NYT’s Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT): “I'll just say it: GLENN YOUNGKIN should seriously consider running for president in 2024.”. PELOSI VS. MANCHIN ON PAID FAMILY LEAVE — Speaker NANCY PELOSI announced today that she’s shoehorning four weeks of paid family leave into the House’s reconciliation bill — to hell with Sen. JOE MANCHIN’s (D-W.Va.) opposition. The move, announced in a “Dear Colleague” letter, comes as Democratic leaders are trying to pass the Build Back Better (BBB) bill through the House.

TERRY MCAULIFFE wanted GLENN YOUNGKIN and DONALD TRUMP to campaign together so badly that when it didn’t happen, McAuliffe simply invented a Youngkin-Trump event that didn’t exist. “Guess how Glenn Youngkin is finishing his campaign?” McAuliffe told a modest crowd outside a Fairfax brewery Monday night at his final rally....

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to join Democrats on the voting bill named for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).

The struggle for the party in New Jersey further deepens its setbacks nationally after Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia Tuesday.

Hello and welcome to Wednesday. Leverage — So now with the 2022 elections showing that Democrats have serious problems across the nation, does that bolster the position held by Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy?. Stepping up — Murphy has emerged as a leading critic of the mess in Washington, D.C., as...

Presented by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. With Nicholas Wu, Olivia Beavers, Andrew Desiderio and Sarah Ferris. WINTER OF DEMS’ DISCONTENT — Democrats on Capitol Hill will be reeling and possibly playing a big blame game this morning as they process last night’s election results, including the defeat of Democrat Terry McAuliffe by Republican Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, a state President Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points a year ago.

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina. Over the years, staffers for Vice President KAMALA HARRIS often referred to her as “KDH,” a shorthand for...

Edward Durr held a roughly 2,000-vote advantage Wednesday morning over Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Happy Wednesday, Illinois. Republicans surged in elections across the country last night: district attorneys in New York, a dead heat in the New Jersey governor's race and, of course, the marquee GOP win of the night, Glenn Youngkin's narrow victory in Virginia. “BIG wake-up call” for 2022, texted one Illinois lawmaker.

REPLY HAZY — A conversation between POLITICO’s former health editor Joanne Kenen and deputy health care editor Lauren Morello:. So Lauren, Virginia and New Jersey told us that voters don’t like Covid. Does Covid care?. Not at all, Joanne. I’m as tired of Covid as anyone, but the virus will...

BIDEN GETS IT DONE, DESPITE HIMSELF — To say Thursday was a roller coaster for President JOE BIDEN’s agenda wouldn’t do justice to how truly head-spinning the day was. The White House releases a Build Back Better (BBB) deal backed by MANCHINEMA (now they’re getting somewhere) — only to watch BERNIE SANDERS balk (never mind). The president delays his trip to Europe to rally House Democrats behind his plan — then whiffs, somehow neglecting to deliver the tough love message Democratic leaders wanted him to so they could pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) this week.

The voting machine accused the far-right cable channel of libeling and slandering the firm in its coverage.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says informants within the regime are helping her keep tabs on the government.

Scott Fairlamb, a Trump supporter who was filmed punching a police officer in the head, pleaded guilty to two charges in August.

Republicans were well-positioned to flip several of the top offices on Long Island.

James Savage says he was slandered in the aftermath of the election.

The voice of House battleground Democrats isn't afraid to openly criticize her party leaders if she thinks it will help them keep the House in 2022.

The House Republican conference is mostly avoiding the spotlight these days, getting fewer tough questions as the opposing party struggles. It doesn't mind at all.

San Francisco Health Officer Susan Philip said the requirement won't kick in for at least two months.