Wes Moore’s other 2026 battle: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Alexandra Marquez digs into the down-ballot stakes for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in next week’s election. Plus, Sarah Sternhagen breaks down how this midterm cycle became even more expensive than the last presidential one.

— Adam Wollner

Amid 2028 speculation, Wes Moore urges Marylanders to back him on redistricting

By Alexandra Marquez

BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is expected to cruise to re-election on Nov. 3. But he’s sweating the campaign nonetheless.

Moore’s political prowess is being tested at home beyond his own race for a second term, as Maryland voters prepare to take sides on a ballot question that would allow state Democratic leaders to redraw congressional district lines in a way that favors the party even more than the current 7-1 map.

Moore and his allies — including former President Barack Obama — are framing a vote for the ballot question as a vote to fight back against President Donald Trump and Republicans, an argument that might usually be expected to find purchase in a deep-blue state.

But it has become apparent in recent weeks that support for the ballot measure may not be as strong as Moore and other Maryland Democrats had hoped, and a major late effort has ramped up to promote passage of the measure. If it doesn’t pass, it would be a major political setback for Moore amid wide speculation that he’s gearing up for a potential 2028 presidential campaign.

A poll released this month by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found that a majority of likely voters in the state (53%) planned to vote against the measure. That included 42% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters who planned to vote no.

So far this month, Fight Back MD, a group supporting the measure, has spent $550,000 on TV ads urging voters to vote in favor of Question 3, according to AdImpact. Last week, Moore’s campaign decided to switch advertising from promoting his re-election bid to urging voters to support the measure.

One Democrat noticeably absent from the push is state Senate President Bill Ferguson. While he worked in August to convene a special session to pass a measure to put the redistricting question to voters, he hasn’t publicly or privately committed to pursue redistricting during next year’s legislative session if it passes.

A longtime Democratic strategist in the state also pointed to the fact that Maryland voters are usually well-informed about national politics, particularly those who live in counties that border Washington.

“I wonder if there aren’t a lot of people in the state, Democrats in particular, who don’t feel like co-opting the Republican strategy of mid-decade redistricting is the best way to fight back,” said the strategist, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “If they heard anything in the news about mid-decade redistricting, it’s about, you know, Republicans or Donald Trump breaking the rules. They may not be that comfortable with that.”

Read more →

Green wave: The 2026 midterms are the most expensive election cycle ever

By Sarah Sternhagen

The 2026 midterm winners won’t be known for a few more days, but we already know one result: This election cycle has become the most expensive to date, according to AdImpact.

The ad-tracking service has tallied over $11.21 billion in total political ad spending and reservations in the 2025-26 election cycle, as Republicans and Democrats fight for control of the House and Senate, dozens of governorships and more.

Election spending has risen over the years, but presidential elections typically see more ad spending than the midterms. This cycle has broken that pattern, surpassing the 2023-24 election cycle’s total advertising cost of $11.2 billion, of which $3.2 billion was spent on the presidential race alone.

The 2021-22 midterm election cycle saw $8.97 billion in ad spending across the country, according to AdImpact data, while the 2020 presidential election cycle had a total spend of $9.02 billion.

All told this cycle, Republicans have spent $5.18 billion, per AdImpact, while Democrats have spent $4.77 billion.

The Texas Senate race has been the most expensive in the country with over $563 million already spent on ads there. Republicans have put up more than two-thirds of that as they try to defend the seat.

Read more →

🤠 Deep in the heart: Speaking on Texas, President Donald Trump is back in the Lone Star State for a pair of rallies today, Natasha Korecki and Matt Dixon note. Since Oct. 1, Trump has visited Texas more than any other state in his midterm swing, according to NBC News event tracking.

🗞️ Today's other top stories

• 📊 The Data Dive: In his subscriber-only newsletter, Steve Kornacki explores how Michigan’s Senate race is a test for Republican Mike Rogers’ and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s potential weaknesses with their respective party bases. Read more →
• 📺 Final countdown: The DCCC is committing $15 million to TV ads in 49 House districts in the final week before Election Day, seeking to expand the map in new districts and using its dollars to project confidence about making big gains. Read more →
• 🤖 New frontiers: Building the Future, a pro-data center super PAC, is spending a combined $3 million to back Kansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson and South Carolina Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham. Read more →
• 🗳️ Vote watch: The Justice Department asked Washington state to set aside 400 ballots from voters it says may be noncitizens. An appeals court blocked a similar request from the DOJ in California. And Trump said he is offering $1 million to anyone who reports voter fraud in the upcoming election or past ones that leads to a conviction.
• 🇨🇦 Trade wars: The Trump administration’s combative approach to Canada appears to be softening slightly, just days before the midterms. Read more →
• 🎬 Take three: Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmission of national defense information and conspiracy to transmit national defense information It’s the third federal case against Comey, a longtime Trump target. Read more →
• 🎸 Pulling the plug: Rock star Neil Young filed a $10 million lawsuit over Trump’s use of his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” at campaign events — the second time the artist has sued over Trump’s use of his music. Read more →

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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