POLL PROBLEMS — Biden's approval rating is in a slump, and that's largely related to the coronavirus pandemic, POLITICO's Chris Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López reported . Sarah Longwell, a moderate Republican strategist and Biden supporter, recently assembled a focus group of Pennsylvania Democrats, where participants all gave Biden C-minus grades or lower. They pointed to the pandemic and the ways it continues to disrupt normal life, like supply-chain problems and understaffed restaurants. THE CASH DASH — Just over a year out from the 2022 midterms, Senate candidates in battleground states pulled in millions in campaign cash during the third quarter of the year. We'll get a fuller picture of the campaign finance landscape on Friday, when reports are due to the FEC. The third quarter covers July 1-Sept. 30. AL-Sen: Republican Katie Boyd Britt raised more than $1.5 million and has $3.3 million in cash on hand. AZ-Sen: Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly raised $8 million, including $7.3 million raised and a vendor refund from the last cycle. Kelly has nearly $13 million in cash on hand. OH-Sen: Republican Jane Timken raised more than $1.7 million, and has $3.1 million in cash on hand. PA-Sen: Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb raised $1.2 million and had $2.2 million in cash on hand. NV-Sen: Republican Sam Brown raised more than $1 million. His campaign did not provide a cash-on-hand figure. FIRST IN SCORE: Committees: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and its affiliated organizations raised $5.3 million in the third quarter. Arizona House: Republican Walt Blackman raised $335,000 for his bid against Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.). His campaign did not provide a cash-on-hand figure. Florida House: Republican Audrey Henson raised over $205,000 in the three weeks after launching her campaign. Henson is running for Rep. Charlie Crist's (D-Fla.) seat (Crist is running for governor). New Hampshire House: Republican Gail Huff Brown raised $220,000 over three weeks after launching her campaign against Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.). Huff Brown had $215,000 in cash on hand, WMUR's John DiStaso reported. Texas House: Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales raised nearly $650,000 for his campaign and leadership PAC, and will report $1.1 million in cash on hand. Wisconsin House: Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) raised $585,000 and had $2.7 million in cash on hand. THE RACE FOR CITY HALL — Three cities — Boston, Seattle and Cincinnati — are on the verge of electing Asian American mayors for the first time, POLITICO's Marissa Martinez wrote. City Councilor Michelle Wu, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, is the frontrunner in the Boston mayoral race. Former Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell, who has Black and Japanese parents, is locked in a tight race for Seattle mayor, and Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, who has Tibetan and Indian parents, is on the ballot in Cincinnati. "About 6 percent of the U.S. population is AAPI. But despite recently setting records for congressional representation with 18 AAPI senators and House members," Marissa points out. "Representation at the city level lags even further behind the population numbers. Just around 2 percent of elected city officials were Asian American as of 2020." THE MAP LINES — Virginia's redistricting commission imploded on Friday, when a failed vote led three Democratic commissioners to walk out of a meeting on state legislative redistricting, the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mel Lenor. If the commission does not meet a deadline today to agree on maps for the General Assembly, the conservative-leaning state Supreme Court will take over the redistricting process. The partisan battle on Friday was sparked when "Democrats proposed that the commission unite around a Senate map drawn by Democrats and a GOP-drawn House map as a starting point for more productive discussions," but "Republicans instead backed a GOP-drawn Senate map as a starting point." — The Texas state Senate advanced the congressional map that will allow Republicans to keep their advantage in the state, The Associated Press reported. The map heads next to the state House for approval. — Michigan's redistricting commission approved its first political map in a surprise vote on Friday, MLive's Lauren Gibbons wrote. The state Senate map slightly favors Republicans, and the commission voted to approve it as an "official draft" that will be presented during public hearings. — A coalition of Democratic groups objected to Colorado's new congressional map, saying it would dilute Latino representation in a document filed to the state Supreme Court on Friday. The League of United Latin American Citizens and Colorado Common Cause are among the groups challenging the map, The Colorado Sun's Thy Vo and Sandra Fish wrote. The court will hear oral arguments regarding the map on Tuesday, and will issue a decision on whether to approve the map by Nov. 1. — North Carolina Republicans released draft political maps last week, but they're likely to draw new versions in the weeks ahead, reports The Charlotte Observer's Will Doran. Republicans control the process in the Tar Heel State, and the state constitution bars Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper from vetoing new maps. The state's new congressional seat, under one proposed map, would be based around rural Cleveland County, where potential congressional candidate and GOP state House Speaker Tim Moore lives. JUST PEACHY — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger hasn't been afraid to push back on Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and it could cost him the primary, POLITICO's Marc Caputo wrote. Raffensperger became one of Trump's top enemies in the wake of the 2020 presidential race, when the former president pressed him to help overturn the election. Now, Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) is running against Raffensperger with Trump's blessing. Raffensperger hasn't backed down. His forthcoming book, "Integrity Counts," is a recounting of his "inspiring story of commitment to the integrity of American democracy," according to the publisher. "We're out there setting the record straight. No. 1 is that President Trump did not carry the state of Georgia," Raffensperger told Marc. — The five major candidates running for Atlanta mayor met in a televised debate Sunday night, and clashed over crime and public safety, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tamar Hallerman reported. The frontrunners for the open seat, former Mayor Kasim Reed and Felicia Moore, both pledged to hire more police during the debate, which was co-hosted by WSB-TV and the Atlanta Police Foundation. Early voting begins Tuesday in Atlanta. THE PROCESS — The leader of Wisconsin Republicans' 2020 election probe slammed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in a YouTube video on Saturday, after the governor called his investigation "a $700,000 boondoggle," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Patrick Marley reported. Michael Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice, issued and then walked back wide-ranging subpoenas to elections officials earlier this month, and recently told the paper that he did not understand how elections work. EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS — Trump is pressuring Texas state House Speaker Dade Phelan to advance a bill allowing for more 2020 election "audits," the Dallas Morning News' Allie Morris wrote. The secretary of state announced a plan to audit four urban counties, but Trump is backing a bill that would "let party leaders request audits in more counties and set up a process for future reviews." The legislation cleared the state Senate. — Speaking of Texas, Republican candidate for governor Allen West tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospitalized, the Dallas Morning News' Robert Garrett wrote. West has not received the coronavirus vaccine and said his oxygen levels were a cause for concern. He said Saturday he had received a monoclonal antibody treatment and was "already taking Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin protocols." West's wife, Angela West, is vaccinated and also tested positive. THE EMPIRE STATE — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign released a video highlighting her ascension to the governor's office. Hochul has been low key about her campaign for a full term, but released the 2-minute clip after a number of Democrats took steps toward running in the primary against her. State Attorney General Tish James and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams are considering campaigns. | 
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