Iowa's Open Senate Race Is Set: Ashley Hinson Faces Josh Turek in November
Ashley Hinson and Josh Turek won Iowa's Senate primaries and now contest Joni Ernst's open seat in the 3 November general election.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Kavita Desai
Political Correspondent
34 articles · Writes about Politics
Kavita Desai covers politics and Parliament for The NE Times, reporting on elections, legislation and the people and parties driving the global conversation.
Latest by Kavita Desai
Trump Opens a 90-Day Beef Import Window as Grocery Prices Become a Midterm Problem
Trump plans a 90-day expansion of low-tariff ground beef imports as record prices collide with ranchers’ effort to rebuild the US herd.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Trump's Endorsement Losses Reach Double Figures After Defeats in Florida and Wyoming
Three more Trump-backed Republicans lost on Tuesday, taking his 2026 primary defeats into double figures - matching 2018, 2020 and 2024 combined.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
A Historic Wave of CIA Retirements Leaves Former Officers Waiting Months for a First Pension Cheque
More than 1,000 of an estimated 22,000 staff have gone, and the agency's retirement branch says it is processing an unprecedented caseload.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Aisha Wahab Wins the East Bay Special Election and Becomes the First Afghan American Elected to Congress
The state senator took California's 14th District 53% to 47% over Melissa Hernandez, despite millions in outside spending against her.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Corporate Money Hits a Record $517 Million in the 2026 Midterms, Led by Crypto, Sports Betting and AI
Three industries with narrow regulatory interests have supplied at least $294 million of the total, beating the whole 2024 cycle in fifteen months.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Trump's Approval Map in August: Warning Signs in the Swing States That Elected Him
New state-by-state polling shows the president underwater in every major battleground, even as deep-red states hold firm ahead of November's midterms.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
The US Navy Is Discussing Renaming the Carrier Promised to Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller, and One Option Is USS Donald Trump
NBC News reports the Navy has stopped using the Doris Miller name internally for CVN-81, with a keel-laying ceremony expected by the end of 2026.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Mary Peltola Outpolls Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Primary, Handing Democrats Fresh Hope of a Senate Majority
The Democrat took 48% to the Republican incumbent's 43% in the all-party primary, as both advance to a ranked-choice general election in November.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
FBI Agents Search Eric Swalwell's Home and Seize His Phone and Laptop as the Sexual Misconduct Probe Turns Criminal
Warrants were executed at San Francisco airport and the former congressman's Washington home over the weekend, with an iPhone and MacBook Pro taken.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
ICE Detains the Captain of the Boat That Capsized Near Liberty Island, and Says He Will Be Deported After Trial
Manuel Hernandez faces 13 reckless endangerment counts over the August 8 capsizing that killed a Queens mother and her five-month-old daughter.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
The Reflecting Pool Fight Turns: Evidence-Destruction Accusations Fly as the Vandalism Cases Collapse
A foundation suing over the botched renovation says federal work could destroy evidence, while prosecutors drop the vandalism charges Trump once demanded.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
'It's Bonkers': Jennifer Hegseth's Hands-On Role in Her Husband's Pentagon Comes Under Scrutiny
A New York Times report says the defence secretary's wife sits in on sensitive matters without any official position, alarming Pentagon insiders.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Florida's Primary Night Upends the Script: Angie Nixon Beats Alexander Vindman, and Cory Mills Loses His Seat
The democratic socialist overcame a 16-to-1 fundraising gap to win the Senate primary, while Trump-endorsed Cory Mills fell to a TV anchor.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Jocelyn Benson Names Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks as Her Running Mate in Michigan's Governor Race
The Democratic nominee chose the first woman to lead Michigan's Senate at a Grand Rapids event, completing a ticket that faces John James in November.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Darline Graham Says National Security Is Not Her Thing, Six Days Before South Carolina's Runoff
Asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea, the appointed senator said she was not that informed, and Nikki Haley responded within hours.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Primary Night in Six States: Crowley Advances in Wisconsin as Progressives Notch Another Senate Win
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly beat democratic socialist Francesca Hong for Wisconsin's Democratic governor nomination, while progressive Peggy Flanagan won Minnesota's Senate primary in a night that mapped both parties' fault lines.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary at the End of August
President Trump announced that his 28-year-old press secretary will leave the podium at the end of the month, saying she will become an outside adviser and campaign for Republicans ahead of the November midterms.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
Jeanine Pirro Convenes a Rare Special Grand Jury in Washington, Target Undisclosed
The US attorney for the District of Columbia has empanelled a 23-member special grand jury, a seldom-used investigative body with an 18-month term, days after a public clash with the president over dropped cases.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
NYPD Says It Will Not Send a Security Detail on the First Lady of New York's Trip to Syria and Lebanon
City Hall said Rama Duwaji's police detail would join her family visit to Syria and Lebanon on the NYPD's recommendation; the department publicly disagreed, and the mayor blamed a staff miscommunication.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
US House passes early stopgap funding bill as Senate eyes a rewrite
The House voted 220-205 to keep the government funded through December 4, moving months ahead of the deadline to head off an election-year shutdown.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
Algeria's ruling FLN wins parliamentary vote as turnout hits a record low
The National Liberation Front secured the most seats, but participation of about 21 percent underscored deep public disengagement from politics.
Kavita Desai 4 min read
Wisconsin elections panel refers Elon Musk's $1 million voter payments to prosecutors
A bipartisan Wisconsin commission found probable cause that Elon Musk's $1 million election giveaways broke state bribery law, sending the case to a county DA.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
Japan's Takaichi navigates Diet endgame with testimony pledge and succession bill
Sanae Takaichi agreed to three days of Diet grilling as the session nears its 17 July close, while a landmark imperial succession bill advances in the upper house.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
Starmer bows out at final PMQs as Andy Burnham closes in on Downing Street
Keir Starmer pledged wholehearted support to his successor at his last PMQs, as Andy Burnham's unopposed path to the Labour leadership was confirmed.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
Spanish prime minister's brother convicted and barred from office in nepotism case
A Badajoz court convicted David Sanchez of administrative misconduct over a tailor-made cultural post, deepening political pressure on Pedro Sanchez's government.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
Maine Democrats race to replace Senate nominee through first-of-its-kind convention
After Graham Platner's withdrawal, Maine Democrats will pick a new US Senate nominee at a 601-delegate Bangor convention, with county meetings set for 18-19 July.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
House narrowly passes State Department funding bill with voting measure attached
The House approved a $47.3 billion State Department spending bill 217-209 after merging in the SAVE America Act, setting up a clash with the Senate.
Kavita Desai 3 min read
TMC Rebel MPs Name Floor Leader as Speaker Weighs NCPI Merger
Twenty rebel Trinamool MPs have merged with the NCPI and named a floor leader, leaving Speaker Om Birla a decision that could reshape India's anti-defection law.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Rahul Gandhi to Resume Campaign in Dehradun After Absence Row
Rahul Gandhi will address students in Dehradun on July 17, resuming a paused Congress campaign after a foreign trip and 20-day public absence drew BJP attacks.
Kavita Desai 5 min read
Showing the 30 most recent of 34 articles by Kavita Desai.