3 Races Expose Backlash: Israel, Tariffs, Immigration — SkimNews
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- Abdul El-Sayed defeated former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race while advocating an end to unconditional U.S. military support for Israel and countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia; AIPAC spent at least $30 million backing Haley Stevens in the primary and millions more helping Rogers.
- Chicago Council on Global Affairs reported that Israel’s favorability rating fell on a 100-point scale from 52 in 2022 to 30 among Democrats, while Republican ratings declined from 69 to 62 by October.
- Trump said nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. security assistance to Israel would end this year, while J.D. Vance listed changing the U.S. relationship with Israel as one of four major adjustments Republicans should make to win back voters.
- Canada designed retaliatory tariffs to target states with competitive midterms; the Globe and Mail reported that Michigan’s exports to Canada fell about $3.5 billion from 2024 to 2025 and the state lost more than 15,600 jobs, while Canadian imports to Maine fell 8% from January to August 2025.
- Chris Pappas defeated John E. Sununu by nearly 14 points; the National Taxpayers Union Foundation estimated retaliatory Canadian tariffs had cost New Hampshire $1.1 billion since January 2025, Sununu called the trade war a “huge mistake,” and Pappas highlighted legislation exempting small businesses from tariffs on Canadian goods.
- Maria Elvira Salazar was barely holding a lead at the time of writing in a more-than-70%-Latino Miami-Dade district that Trump carried by 15 points in 2024; a Florida International University survey found 61% of Cuban Americans backed continuing the U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba, but 76% disapproved of Trump’s deportation of Cuban nationals without criminal records and 48% disapproved of his handling of the economy.
- Democratic Party won three heavily Latino Florida House seats that Republicans had redrawn, disproving the assumption that Trump could retain his 2024 Latino support; Salazar said Republicans needed to course-correct on the economy and immigration.
Why it matters: Canadian retaliation cost New Hampshire an estimated $1.1 billion, and Democrats won three heavily Latino Florida House seats after immigration and affordability backlash. For Republicans, Trump’s nearly $4 billion annual Israel assistance announcement and Vance’s four-part adjustment list show the same voter pressure reaching a traditionally supportive party.
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