PUT DOWN THE PHONE — Cunningham, the North Carolina Democratic Senate nominee, admitted to sending intimate text messages to a woman who isn't his wife. The texts, which were first obtained by the conservative site National File, show Cunningham talking to a woman about meeting up and kissing — "Sounds so hot and so fun!" one text from the candidate read — and led to an apology from him, although he will not drop out. "I have hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry. The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do," Cunningham said in a statement to The News & Observer's Brian Murphy, Tara Copp and Ames Alexander. (The texts were a front page story for both the N&O and the Charlotte Observer.) The revelations marked a tumultuous 24 hours in the Tar Heel State, and landed just a few hours after Tillis' positive coronavirus diagnosis became public, POLITICO's James Arkin and Burgess Everett reported. The DSCC indicated it was sticking with Cunningham, while the NRSC suggested there was more to the story. Murphy and Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer have the follow-up story, trying to answer this question: "Given the pace and seriousness of the news — more than 209,000 people have died of coronavirus and Trump remains hospitalized with the disease — how will voters judge Cunningham's scandal, especially in light of other sex-related issues involving prominent politicians in recent years?" END OF THE LINE — Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) had decided to retire in 2022, foregoing a reelection bid (which was considered unlikely) and a campaign for governor (which had been more expected), James, John Bresnahan and Holly Otterbein reported. (The news was first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari and William Bender ). His announcement will set off a mad scramble in the Keystone State for both the open Senate seat (Toomey is expected to finish out his term) and the governor's mansion, where current Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is term-limited. James, Bres and Holly's story jumps into a long list of potential candidates, but it'd be easier to say who has ruled out a run: basically nobody. COUNTING HEADS — The Census Bureau told employees on Friday that enumeration will continue through the end of the month, after a battle with a federal judge over a previous ruling, I wrote. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered that the count continue and that it inform employees as much, after the Bureau put out a statement earlier last week saying today was the "target date" to cut off self-response and field operations. But the legal battle continues: There's arguments in a circuit court taking place today. THE CASH DASH — Ten days until quarterly FEC reports are due. Here's some more early announcements; If a cash on hand amount isn't mentioned, the candidate didn't include it. — FL-15: Democrat Alan Cohn raised over $1 million. — FL-16: Democrat Margaret Good raised $1.1 million — MI-03: Democrat Hillary Scholten raised $1.5 million. — MT-AL: Democrat Kathleen Williams raised more than $2.3 million. — OK-05: Freshman Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn raised $1.4 million. — SC-01: Republican Nancy Mace raised $2.3 million. DEEP IN THE HEART — Top aides of Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton have asked federal law enforcement to investigate their boss over "allegations of improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential crimes," KVUE's Tony Plohetski and the Austin American-Statesman's Chuck Lindell reported. Further details were not available, and a statement from Paxton on Saturday said the complaint was "was done to impede an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing by public officials including employees of this office," and did not elaborate further. (And, not for nothing: Paxton is leading the fight to challenge the Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court.) THE DEBATE STAGE — We had a jam-packed weekend of Senate debates across the map. In South Carolina, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and Jaime Harrison met for their first fiery debate (where Harrison brought his own plexiglass shield). More from James : "Harrison accused Graham of flip flopping on his word and breaking the trust of his voters. Graham, the three-term GOP incumbent, warned South Carolinians they wouldn't recognize their country if Democrats took control in Washington." (Plus local coverage from The Post and Courier's Jamie Lovegrove.) Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper met Friday for their first debate. The Pueblo Chieftain's Ryan Severance wrote, "Gardner characterized Hickenlooper as someone who thinks it's all about him and his own self-interests and not the people of Colorado, while Hickenlooper said change is needed in Washington and that nothing is going to change if new people aren't sent there." And in Iowa, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst and Democrat Theresa Greenfield had a debate Saturday as the state approaches early voting, the Des Moines Register's Brianne Pfannenstiel reported, writing "though much of Saturday's debate was cordial, it grew more tense as it progressed, with each candidate accusing the other of being dishonest on multiple occasions." Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and his Republican challenger, Daniel Gade, met for a debate on Saturday centered on racial inequity, The Washington Post's Meagan Flynn wrote. There's one Senate debate on the docket tonight: Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Republican Mark Ronchetti meet tonight at 8 p.m. Here's the full Senate debate schedule from James, for Pros. — But that's not all! In Montana, there was a gubernatorial debate Saturday between Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney and freshman GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte , their first of two debates. POLITICO Campaigns' Sabrina Rodríguez writes in: "Gianforte and Cooney were quick to disagree on how they'd handle the pandemic, as Cooney said he would rely on 'science and best practices' — a clear jab at Gianforte, who has been criticized in the past for promoting herd immunity and holding controversial views on climate change and evolution. Gianforte said he'd 'rely more on personal responsibility' to deal with the coronavirus. Montana has had a statewide mask mandate in place since July, which has received backlash while cases have continued to increase. "The biggest takeaway for voters, both candidates agreed, is their differing credentials for the job. Cooney has been in public office for more than 40 years; Gianforte, one of the richest lawmakers on Capitol Hill, is a tech entrepreneur. Both have past unsuccessful runs for the governor's office, with Cooney having run in 2000 and Gianforte doing the same in 2016. " The second debate will be at 9 p.m. on Tuesday; Here's the local coverage from the Great Falls Tribune's Phil Drake. THE SENATE MAP — Duty and Country, which is affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, is dumping $7.5 million into the open Kansas Senate race between GOP Rep. Roger Marshall and Democrat Barbara Bollier, James reported, a major sign the race in the red-leaning state is competitive. THE HIGH COURT — Despite the positive tests among senators, the Senate Judiciary Committee does not intend to delay Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation proceedings. And those upcoming hearings could give battleground senators a lifelong among conservatives, POLITICO's Marianne LeVine writes : "Republicans view the Supreme Court confirmation fight as an opportunity to energize conservative voters … 'If you ask me what's the most important thing I could be seen as doing in South Carolina? Confirming a Supreme Court justice, a conservative justice,' Graham said. 'It doesn't hurt me at all to be doing my day job for something this important.'" THE GOVERNATORS — A central issue in the Missouri gubernatorial race between GOP Gov. Mike Parson and Democrat Nicole Galloway will be the pandemic, especially after Parson and his wife contracted (and subsequently recovered from) the disease, Sabrina wrote. ON THE AIRWAVES — Here's the Friday ad roundup, just for our Pro subscribers. The ad of the day is not due to its contents (folks, you'll be shocked to learn that Democrats are swinging away over health care), but where it lands. In OR-04, House Majority PAC has its first ad attacking Republican Alek Skarlatos, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio in OR-04. The race has largely flown under the radar, but super PAC spending in a district that Hillary Clinton carried by the skin of her teeth makes it worth watching. And, because I make the rules, we're getting two ads of the day today. The second is from Democrat Mark Kelly, who is challenging Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) in a special election. The Kelly ad stars McSally's batterymate in the Senate, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema (who beat McSally in 2018). Sinema tosses the quickly-dying tradition of senators not campaigning against their colleagues: "Her false attacks against me were desperate and over the top. Now she's doing the same to Mark Kelly," Sinema says, before attacking McSally on health care. POLL POSITION — Some more polls! The USA Today/Suffolk poll in Arizona also tested the Senate race, and found Kelly leading McSally, 49 percent to 40 percent. — Plus the rare high-quality, public House poll: A poll from Syracuse.com/Siena College found Democrat Dana Balter and GOP Rep. John Katko in a tight race in NY-24, 45 percent to 42 percent (414 likely voters; Sept. 27-29; +/- 5.1 percentage point MoE). Biden led comfortably in the district, 53 percent to 34 percent. CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We have the time, and we don't have as much life left to live." — Bob Mulliken, an 80-year-old Biden supporter who has been campaigning for Democrats, to The Washington Post. | 
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