Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joins Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera, Erie County Legislator John Gilmour and Penn Dixie Executive Director Philip Stokes for a ceremonial groundbreaking for the future entrance of the Penn Dixie Site on Jeffrey Boulevard in Hamburg.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's blunders and bluster are about to become a central argument against Republican lawmakers in the upcoming midterm election, according to a new report.
Democratic candidates and campaign strategists consider the controversial Donald Trump Cabinet member to be a target-rich subject when it comes to putting their GOP opponents back on their heels, Politico reported Thursday.
"The more Hegseth puts himself out there, the more he does the work for us," said Matt Corridoni, a Democratic strategist told Politico.
"Normally the Secretary of Defense is not such a politically focused position, but he has pushed it into hyper politics. So you're going to see candidates using him as a foil more and more."
Hegseth's television personality has made him instantly recognizable, and his record of controversy provides endless ammunition for Democrats in key districts, the report states.
"Campaign planners said they expect candidates to call out Hegseth even more as the war against Iran continues," the report stated. "Trump has repeatedly said the Defense secretary was among the first and most vocal proponents of the fight, which has now lasted more than five months and led to a spike in global energy prices."
Cait Conley, an Iraq war veteran running for New York's 17th Congressional District, has been particularly brutal, calling Hegseth unqualified and incompetent while quipping that he knows "more about botox than bombs."
Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot running for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, has made Hegseth's removal a centerpiece of her campaign. She's called for his resignation at every stop, framing him as a threat to military integrity.
"Pete Hegseth is a disgrace to the office that he holds, and the reason why I believe he is deeply dangerous is partially because of the polarization," Bennett said.
"We have an obligation to call those things out when we see it, and to make sure that we are standing up for our service members who do not have the ability to speak out about these things."
A political expert issued a dark warning on Monday as the country prepares for the November midterms.
President Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to meddle in the 2026 midterms. He has called on the Postal Service to create a national voter database and send mail-in ballots only to people on that list, a move that the courts have upheld thus far. He has also repeatedly called on Republicans to pass the SAVE American Act, a bill that would rewrite the way U.S. elections are conducted.
David Rothkopf, a political analyst and columnist for The Daily Beast, argued during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" that Trump has weakened America's election security infrastructure and plans to use that to his advantage in the midterms.
“Buckle up, everybody,” Rothkopf warned. “The next 90 days are going to be a weird and wild ride.”
One looming issue for the midterms is that the Supreme Court has yet to rule on an appeal the Trump administration filed regarding new rules it set for mail-in ballots. Experts have speculated that the Court could rule on it using the so-called shadow docket, an emergency procedure that allows the court to issue a ruling without explaining its rationale.
Rothkopf noted that the efforts are all part of Trump's continued efforts to stay in power, which appear to be failing.
“Donald Trump is drowning in failure,” Rothkopf said. “Nothing he says or does is working anymore. And so he’s got to try these wild schemes to distract from it, to get attention, to hope it disrupts something.”
