Northeast
DNC chair predicts wins in key governor races as Trump agenda faces first test
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: PHILADELPHIA, PA – Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin is confident his party’s investment in 2025’s most consequential elections will pay off.
“I do expect that we’ll win those elections in New Jersey and Virginia,” Martin said in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, pointing to the only two states holding gubernatorial contests this year. “We feel pretty bullish about our chances.”
Democrats are looking to rebound from last year’s setbacks – when the party lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority – with strong showings in next week’s races.
The New Jersey and Virginia contests are viewed as early tests of President Donald Trump’s agenda and as a barometer for next year’s midterm elections, when Democrats hope to win back control of Congress.
FIVE KEY RACES TO WATCH IN NEXT WEEK’S ELECTIONS
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin addresses party members at the DNC’s summer meeting, on Aug. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )
The DNC has dished out over $7 million – a party record – for get-out-the-vote and organizing efforts this summer and autumn in New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania, where Democrats are fighting to retain three state supreme court seats.
“I’ve always taken the position that every election matters, whether it’s an on year off year, whether it’s a local election, a federal election, every inch of ground that we gain here adds up,” Martin emphasized.
Martin said that since Trump returned to the White House in January, “there’s been 45 elections on the ballot. Democrats have overperformed in all of them to the tune of about 16 percentage points on average.” While confident, he added that “we’re not taking anything for granted.”
DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN NOMINEES IN CRUCIAL GOVERNOR’S RACE TOUT SURGE IN EARLY VOTING NUMBERS
Asked what a ballot box setback would mean for Democrats, Martin said his focus is on “turning out every single vote we can over these next several days left to make sure we do win.”
He reiterated, “I do expect that we’ll win those elections in New Jersey and Virginia. We have terrific candidates who are running great campaigns.”
Martin spoke during a two-day campaign swing through Pennsylvania, ahead of return stops to boost voter turnout in New Jersey and Virginia.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey, greets voters at a senior center in Elizabeth, N.J., on Oct. 29, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
In blue-leaning New Jersey, polls show a tight race between Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill and GOP rival Jack Ciattarelli, who is vying in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
Asked why Republicans feel bullish about their chances to capture the Garden State’s governor’s office, Martin told Politico in a recent interview that “New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum — or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year.”
Presented with his comments, Martin said that “we expect this race to be close, and it certainly seems like it will be close.”
And he noted that “history is not on our side in the sense that we’ve never elected, at least in 50 years, a Democrat to a third term in the governorship” in New Jersey.
HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND ANALYSIS ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS
Still, he argued that Sherrill “is running a really strong campaign on a message that’s resonating with New Jerseyans.”
In Virginia, recent controversy in the state’s attorney general race has complicated Democrats’ efforts to hold the governor’s mansion, forcing nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, to defend against GOP attacks. Polls had shown Spanberger with a solid lead over Republican rival Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
Jay Jones addresses supporters after winning the Democratic nomination for Virginia Attorney General as wife Mavis Jones looks on in Norfolk, Virginia, on June 17, 2025. (Trevor Metcalfe/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The controversy centers on Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones, who apologized for texts sent in 2022 comparing then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, saying that if given two bullets, “he would use both” on the Republican lawmaker.
Republicans have demanded Jones withdraw from the race.
“Let me be very clear, I immediately condemned those vile and indefensible comments and text messages that he made and called on him to apologize,” Martin said. “He needed to apologize to Virginians, which he did.”
Asked by Fox News Digital if he should have called for Jones to step aside, Martin said, “That’s not up to me to decide. That’s up to Virginians to decide whether or not his comments were disqualifying, and they’ll make their decision in a few days.”
Martin also called Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court retention elections in Pennsylvania “critical for our party, because what we’ve seen over many years now is attempts by billionaire donors and special interests to buy Supreme Court seats throughout the country, and it’s an attempt actually to thwart our democracy.”
“The reality is, is for us, this is a critical election for the National Democratic Party, because if they win here, if these billionaire donors are able to win these three Supreme Court races, they will certainly take this on the road and try to do this everywhere else in the country,” Martin warned.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The Republican National Committee (RNC), asked to respond to Martin’s remarks, pointed to its fundraising edge.
“Ken Martin has turned the DNC into a debt-ridden circus run by radicals — and we sincerely hope he keeps up the great work, RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels argued in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Regardless of what happens next Tuesday, it won’t be because of anything Ken Martin did. The DNC is broke, desperate, and wasting its last dollars trying to save face in blue states, and even then, Democrats are struggling to hold on.”
Read the full article from Here
Connecticut
The Houston Comets are back as the Sun sets on the WNBA’s time in Connecticut, where fans face unfortunate reality
FORT WORTH, Texas — The Houston Comets’ four WNBA championship banners and the jerseys of their icons have a rightful home again. If only it didn’t come at the expense of another.
The news of the Connecticut Sun selling to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and relocating to the Lone Star state as the Comets is a zero-sum game, transporting heartache elsewhere.
Advertisement
Sure, it’s a long-awaited victory for Houston and its fans, who were many and only grew in number as vintage became trendy. This city deserved the return of a team ripped from its clutches at the start of the Great Recession, and despite decent attendance throughout its success.
Yet, the basketball-crazed state of Connecticut will now feel that same void. It’s hard to overlook that the final report of the sale dropped while 12-time national champion UConn actively extended its winning streak to 53 with a victory in the Sweet 16 here in Fort Worth, Texas. Four hours from Houston.
Hey, the move screamed, look over there instead. The epitome of a Friday night news dump that everyone involved with hoped wouldn’t sting quite so much.
“The people at Mohegan Sun, they stepped up when they were needed and brought a team to Connecticut,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma told ESPN. “…We’re a proven [place] where people would support women’s basketball. Now [with them] moving, I think it leaves a void.”
Advertisement
The Mohegan Sun Tribe entered into the WNBA at a time when the NBA stepped out. It became the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team when it purchased the Orlando Miracle franchise for $5 million in 2003 and brought it to UConn’s backyard to play at their casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The move marked a historic first for the six-year-old league. That previous October, the WNBA’s Board of Governors changed its bylaws so that teams did not have to be located in NBA cities, play in NBA arenas and be owned by the league in conjunction with the NBA. The decision was sparked by declining attendance and falling TV ratings. Teams in Miami and Portland folded that same offseason.
As attendance booms and TV ratings explode nearly 25 years later, the Sun franchise’s sale for a reported $300 million is another screaming example that NBAers want back into the lucrative fold. All three incoming expansion teams that will join the W beginning in 2027 are connected to the NBA. So, too, are the Golden State Valkyries and Toronto Tempo. Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Seattle, Dallas and the incoming Portland Fire, which also took its folded name, are not associated by ownership with NBA teams.
The writing was scribbled on the Mohegan Sun’s yellowed walls long before news became public of a potential sale. Their arena holds 10,000, more than a couple of unfortunate WNBA stragglers, but nowhere close to the 15,000-plus atmosphere for which the league yearns. Though they maintained healthy attendance, the Sun never won a WNBA championship despite a run of success in the early 2010s that was hampered by health.
Advertisement
That player core departed for greener pastures, trading New England summers for sweltering hot desert heat kept at bay by sparkling, state-of-the-art practice facilities. Transportation was always a headache with the closest airport nearly an hour away. Players voiced displeasure at the overall location, desiring a city instead of an arena dropped inside a casino in the countryside.
The new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) passed by both the players union and WNBA Board of Governors this week wrote it all in permanent marker. The Sun can’t meet the new facilities, staff and financial standards set forth in it, a key bargaining chip pushed by the players themselves. The jump in salary cap alone, from $1.5M to $7M, is difficult to meet.
Advertisement
The unfortunate reality is the league outgrew the market and what it could offer, even if that contribution was a healthy women’s basketball base fed by the Huskies’ success. A team will be ripped from its home again, leaving behind fans who will hand down this hurt for generations. The women’s game is old enough to be shared that way now.
The Comets are finally back. And the Sun will become a vintage symbol of loss.
Maine
Howland woman charged with arson for 2022 fire at corner store
HOWLAND (WGME) — The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office says a Howland woman has been charged with arson in connection with a 2022 fire at the Howland Corner Store.
The fire happened on November 2, 2022 around 9:08 p.m.
First responders reported the fire was developing rapidly just after the store closed for the night.
Officials say 39-year-old Samantha Randall of Howland was arrested Friday and charged with arson.
The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office says a Howland woman has been charged with arson in connection with a 2022 fire at the Howland Corner Store. (State Fire Marshal’s Office)
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (2)
The investigation remains ongoing.
Massachusetts
A look inside the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Massachusetts – The Boston Globe
The latest USS Massachusetts is a Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine that can patrol undetected with an arsenal of Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes. The keel was laid in 2020 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, and construction costing about $2.8 billion continued through its christening in May 2023.
More than 10,000 shipbuilders — including electricians, pipefitters, welders, and myriad other workers — brought the submarine into being. Extensive and demanding sea trials followed the christening, and now the boat — as submariners like to call their vessels — will be formally accepted by the Navy.

During its initial trials, which were completed in October, the submarine’s systems and components were tested, including submerging the submarine for the first time and conducting high-speed maneuvers while on the surface and submerged.
The commissioning ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the Conley Terminal in South Boston. The public has been invited free of charge to the event, but the USS Massachusetts Commissioning Committee is no longer taking additional requests because of overwhelming demand.
To coincide with the ceremony, the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship, will proceed from its berth in the Charlestown Navy Yard toward the USS Massachusetts.
“In that moment, in one visual, there will be none older, none newer, none better, and none finer than the duo of the USS Constitution and the USS Massachusetts,” said Dinis Pimentel, chair of the USS Massachusetts Commissioning Committee.

“You’ll see Navy heritage and tradition, and our most capable, most lethal, and most stealthy submarine,” he added.
The ship’s sponsor is Sheryl Sandberg, the founder of LeanIn.Org and former chief operating officer of Meta Platforms.
The submarine’s home port is scheduled to be Groton, Conn., and its voyages over an expected life span of 30 years could take the ship on underwater assignments anywhere in the world.
More than half of its 377 feet is occupied by a nuclear reactor that could power a small city, according to the Commissioning Committee. Its crew is divided among the engineering department, which operates the reactor, and other sailors assigned to weapons, navigation, and on-board supply duties.
The USS Massachusetts is the 25th Virginia-class submarine, which usually are named for states, to be delivered to the Navy.
Pimentel said that having the commissioning in Boston is a natural fit during the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, and also considering the city’s close ties to the American Navy during that entire time.
“This is a capital ship,” Pimentel said of the USS Massachusetts, “and the Navy likes to be able to commission ships in places attached to their namesakes, where the area is meaningful.”






Globe Photo David L. Ryan Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.
-
Detroit, MI1 week agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
-
Sports6 days agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
New Mexico5 days agoClovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
-
Business1 week agoDisney’s new CEO says his focus is on storytelling and creativity
-
Technology5 days agoYouTube job scam text: How to spot it fast
-
Tennessee4 days agoTennessee Police Investigating Alleged Assault Involving ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson
-
Texas1 week agoHow to buy Houston vs. Texas A&M 2026 March Madness tickets