Nine Republicans reached South Carolina's 11 August special Senate primary ballot and three were refused, with Mark Sanford entering a day before filing closed. Four outside committees reported roughly 3.4 million dollars of independent spending from 21 July, and Trump's endorsee is not the best funded. The Senate Budget Committee was discharged of the fiscal 2027 budget resolution a day after Ron Johnson took its chair, leaving the voter-ID grants waiting on floor time.
A safe seat drew roughly $3.39m in three weeks because the primary is the election, and in Washington a statutory discharge left the voter-identification money waiting on floor time alone.
Elections desk
Filing for South Carolina's 11 August special Senate primary shut at noon on 28 July. South Carolina certified nine of the twelve Republicans who lodged papers.
Duke Buckner, Russell Fry, Darline Graham, Mark Lynch, Mark McBride, Ralph Norman, Glenda Gail Parker, Mark Sanford and Samuel Shepherd reached the ballot. Three others failed the check. Nine names make a 25 August runoff likely.
Elections desk
Marshall C. Sanford filed a Statement of Candidacy at 09:13 on 27 July 2026. He named Sanford for Senate as his committee, at a Sullivan's Island address.
South Carolina certified him for the 11 August ballot the next day. Sanford governed the state for two terms and lost his congressional seat in 2018. He holds no office now, so winning costs his party nothing.
Four committees reported roughly $3.39m of independent spending in South Carolina's special Senate primary between 21 July and 4 August 2026.
American Leadership Action Fund opened with $620,000 of streaming advertising for Mark Sanford on 27 July. Palmetto Leadership Fund, registered on 15 July in Maryland, reported $1,000,469 for Russell Fry. Security is Strength PAC (a political action committee based in the state) reported $920,591.32 for Darline Graham.
Congress desk
The Senate Committee on the Budget was discharged of H.Con.Res. 113 on 23 July 2026. Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act did that automatically, one day after Ron Johnson took the chair.
The resolution passed the House 216 to 214 on 22 July. It now sits on the Senate Legislative Calendar as No. 468, carrying $10bn in election-integrity and voter-identification grants.
Silver Bulletin put Donald Trump's net approval at minus 20.6 on 3 August 2026, the lowest reading of either term.
Approval stood at 36 per cent against 35 per cent disapproval. Strong disapproval reached 47.6 per cent, strong approval 20.8. Its authors judged the D+6.4 generic ballot too low, because most recent surveys sample registered rather than likely voters.
The Justice Department opened a civil appeal in the Second Circuit on 28 July 2026. The docket number is 26-2060, in United States v. Board of Elections of the State of New York.
The district court order under appeal carries the date 10 July. Three federal circuits now hold live appeals in the voter-file programme. A Sixth Circuit panel has already ruled against it.
Legal desk
Two plaintiffs sued the Illinois State Board of Elections on 31 July 2026. Byron Sigcho Lopez and Jose Guerra brought the case in Chicago's federal district court.
The clerk logged it under section 1983 as a civil rights voting matter. Judge Franklin Ulyses Valderrama holds the case, and counsel appeared on 3 August. Lowdown has not read the complaint.
Elections desk
Michigan votes on 4 August 2026 in a statewide primary. Abdul El-Sayed has led Haley Stevens by ten to fifteen points in recent polling.
Silver Bulletin called him the clear favourite on 3 August. Stevens holds endorsements from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Gary Peters. On 4 August, with voting still under way, Lowdown reports no result.
Sideways on the legislative track and upward on the electoral one. The budget resolution has not moved since 23 July 2026, 12 days, and no mechanism forces it to, so the voter-identification grants are neither advancing nor dead. The South Carolina primary escalates on a fixed timetable regardless: early voting opens on 5 August, the vote falls on 11 August, and a nine-candidate field points toward a further round on 25 August.
