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The Wall Street Journal: Weeks Before the Midterms, Almost Everything Is Getting More Expensive
As prices have increased in the weeks leading into the midterms, the central question for voters is whether they think Trump and Republicans have delivered on their economic promises. “We’ve seen some increase in wages,” says The Winston Group’s David Winston in the Wall Street Journal. “But it hasn’t been enough for voters to get to a conclusion that they’re in a better position to handle current prices”. Read the full piece here.
Latest Posts
Roll Call: Trump On The Ballot – Will It Help Republicans?
New PISA Results: Reading A Continued Struggle For US Students
Republican Trouble In Ohio
Policy and Politics
Republican Trouble In Ohio
In August of last year, Sherrod Brown announced he was a launching a comeback campaign after his defeat in 2024, leading many Republicans to scoff at the idea. In an August 2025 blog post, we wrote: Although Ohio has seen an increasing trend of Republican party ID, Republicans should take Brown’s
Winners and Losers: Campaign Ad Spending In Four Senate Primaries
Recent Senate primaries have revealed some interesting trends about campaign ad spending. As we have seen in Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and Texas, there are signs that millions being spent on campaign ads may be reaching their limits. The chart shows ad spending by or on behalf of each candidate. Florida: Socialist
Socialists On The March – 3 Reasons They Are Gaining Momentum
Socialist candidates are having success in many Democratic primaries across the country. The latest shock for Democrats was in Florida with Resistance hero Alexander Vindman losing to socialist Angie Nixon, despite his 37:1 campaign ad spending advantage. Democrats may be breathing a sigh of relief by averting a Wisconsin catastrophe
The Wall Street Journal: The Republican Party Is Losing Its Edge With Voters on the Economy
The Winston Group’s David Winston was recently featured in an article from The Wall Street Journal about cost-of-living worries and how the preference for Republicans to handle economic issues has started to slip. If Democrats win by double digits among independents and can sustain leads on the economy, a Blue
GOP’s Big Opportunity With 127 Million Filers: The Standard Deduction
In efforts to sell their Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans have focused more of their messaging on no tax on tips and overtime, but they may be missing their biggest opportunity to reach the most people with the standard deduction. The IRS says that about 90% of tax filers — 127
Are Tax Cuts Depriving The Government Of Needed Revenue?
Republicans have just passed the one year mark of their signature legislative accomplishment, The Big Beautiful Bill. One of the main Democratic criticisms of the BBB and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is that tax cuts “deprive the federal government of needed revenue.” Given the nation’s bleak fiscal
New PISA Results: Reading A Continued Struggle For US Students
The Tuesday after the unofficial end of summer brought news that was on balance bad, but not wholly unexpected from the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The biggest headline was in reading. Between 2022 and 2025, US 15-year-olds’ reading scores dropped a precipitous 14 points. This mirrors
“Are The Schools Ready?” “Ready For What?”
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, Center for Education Reform founder Jeanne Allen spoke at length about all the positive developments related to school choice happening around the country. As she discussed the current environment, Allen also described the dynamics of the last several years
How Do State Standards Map To NAEP Standards?
Earlier this month, the National Center for Education Statistics released the preliminary findings of its state/NAEP standards mapping study. For this initial research while the full report is prepared, researchers analyzed the shares of students reaching proficient on each state’s annual math and reading assessments and identifies the corresponding NAEP
Roll Call: Trump On The Ballot – Will It Help Republicans?
At last week’s GOP convention, President Trump implored his supporters to pretend he’s on the ballot. Will that help Republicans? In his latest column for Roll Call, the Winston Group’s David Winston digs into previous elections to answer that question, and analyzes how presidential job approval comes into play in
The Ripon Forum: The Political Landscape for Republicans Heading into the Fall
In their essay for the latest edition of The Ripon Forum, The Winston Group’s David Winston and Myra Miller assess the political environment for Republicans as the midterms approach. While it is typically difficult for the incumbent president’s party in a midterm cycle, they write that 2026 is not a
Roll Call: The Big-Money Bust May Be A Game Changer
In his latest column for Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes about the recent defeats of several well-funded Senate candidates in their primary races, and why this may signal that it may not be “your father’s midterms” two months from now. From Michigan to Minnesota to Texas, we’ve seen